Former FEAR FACTORY Bassist Auditioning For MACHINE HEAD

Christian Olde Wolbers, who handled the bass duties in FEAR FACTORY for nine years (1993-2002) and then assumed the role of guitarist in a revamped version of the band from 2002 until 2008, has posted a video clip of him "auditioning" for the vacant bassist slot in MACHINE HEAD. Check it out below.

Despite the fact that he had played bass in FEAR FACTORY for almost a decade, the Dutch-born Olde Wolbers had started his career as a guitarist, having handled the axe in several groups in Belgium prior to joining FF in 1993.

In an interview with RoughEdge.com conducted back in August 1999, Christian recounted his decision — made on the recommendation of BIOHAZARD, with whom Wolbers was friends — to switch to the four-string instrument in order to join FEAR FACTORY.

"[BIOHAZARD frontman] Evan [Seinfeld] had seen me playing upright bass in a rockabilly band on the street in Belgium back in '90 or '91," Christian recalled. "He always thought I was a bass player. I had always played guitar in metal bands and hardcore bands. And [one night while we were hanging out] he said, 'Oh, you're a bass player — I have a band for you!' I kept telling him 'I'm not a bass player, I'm a guitar player now.' But he said, 'FEAR FACTORY needs a bass player — you're a bass player and you'd be perfect.' And I'd actually heard of FEAR FACTORY because someone told me about them while I was still in Europe. However, I really wasn't into the death metal scene too much, but I knew they were different. When I went to the audition and I was blown away when I saw Raymond [Herrera, drums] playing — I said, 'Alright, I'll play bass.' So I borrowed a bass from Evan and auditioned for a couple of days right before a tour with SEPULTURA and then I knew I was going to do the tour. After the SEPULTURA tour, the rest of the guys said, 'Do you want to be in the band?' I said, 'Hell yeah!' "

MACHINE HEAD is holding public auditions to find a temporary bass player. The San Francisco Bay Area-based band is seeking a musician to perform with them on this year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour.

To find a temporary bassist for the duration of the Mayhem festival, MACHINE HEAD turned to the nearly 800,000 fans on their Facebook page, asking interested parties to post a video clip of them singing and playing bass along to three tracks: "This Is The End", "Halo" and "Beautiful Mourning".

Once the band has narrowed down potential candidates, they will hold tryouts in person at a to-be-determined location.