RAYMOND HERRERA On FEAR FACTORY Legal Dispute: 'The Whole Situation Is Just Dumb'

BigMusicGeek.com recently conducted an interview with ARKAEA/FEAR FACTORY drummer Raymond Hererra. Several excerpts from the chat follow below.

BigMusicGeek.com: Taking everything into consideration, do you feel the release of (the ARKAEA debut) "Years In The Darkness" effectively signals the end of FEAR FACTORY or could ARKAEA continue to exist if and when an amicable reconciliation is truly reached?

Raymond: "It's funny because right now, there's a legal battle going on over the name and over the trademark. Essentially, Burt [Bell, FEAR FACTORY singer] and Dino [Cazares, FEAR FACTORY guitarist] have formed an alliance now. Christian [Olde Wolbers, FEAR FACTORY guitarist] and I were working to create the next FEAR FACTORY record when it all got pulled out from underneath us, so I think some people were just expecting us to wait around until it was time to do another FEAR FACTORY record. I'm down with doing another FEAR FACTORY record or not, ya know? It's all kinda up in the air right now. It's kinda become a legal battle more than anything else, which is really unfortunate. It's dumb, actually (laughs). I would say it's sad if it's something that wasn't pending, but the whole situation is just dumb. There's just no other way to put it. I'm trying to lighten it up, but… Christian and I are both very hard-working. We've tried to tour and tried to do a bunch of stuff, but it just hasn't happened. It was kinda a blow to us to have all this music written trying to get the wheels in motion and then just be told, 'Oh, we're gonna do something else.' It's not like we're eighteen years old, ya know? I'm thirty-six years old now (laughs). I figure I've only got about eight or nine years left where I'll still be able to do this stuff. I kinda feel like the time's tickin'. Plus, it always feels like were writing better and better stuff and we didn't want to sit around waiting to put it out when we can just make it happen, ya know? Especially when we have the means. We have the gear, we have the studio, ya know? We have a solid fan base and we have a label that's interested. When you have everything going for you, why wouldn't you do a record, ya know? So that's kinda the way we looked at it. We were like, 'Well, if this is what were gonna do, this is what were gonna do.' As far as FEAR FACTORY is concerned, I guess we'll see once all the legal smoke has cleared, we'll see what's gonna happen there. There's definitely been some twists and turns. And, oddly enough, none of it has had anything to do with either Christian or myself. At least if I had done something wrong, I could be like, 'Okay, my bad,' but as I'm sure you've heard, this all stems from Burton and Dino not getting along. That's why the band broke up in the first place. I was the one that had to kinda put the pieces back together by getting rid of Dino and trying to get Burt back onboard. …It's like, 'What did I do wrong?'"

BigMusicGeek.com: In hindsight, what were the main contributing factors to the group's latest bout of "interpersonal" turmoil? Is there is a general concern between yourself and Christian regarding the group's ability to truly survive the latest proceedings unscathed or, at the very least, with everyone's collective dignities wholly intact?

Raymond: "Unfortunately, a lot of has to do with small stuff, ya know? It's all state of mind and none of it is reality. That's probably the saddest part about it if you really want to say that it's sad. But it's not good for the brand. It's not good for the band at all, ya know? Whenever you make changes, people start to lose interest. We didn't know how well-received FEAR FACTORY would be when we did (2004's) 'Archetype' with not having Dino on it because he was a big part of the band. And I don't think anyone would deny that. But to make a double change like this… I just don't know if it's a smart move, especially this close to having been through another lineup change, ya know? I just think people will lose interest. Look, since all of this has happened, I've definitely heard from a lot of fans who were like, 'Man, I'm just so disappointed. I'm really turned off by all of this,' ya know? And it's not just towards Burt and Dino. It's almost as if I had something to do with all of this. People are definitely pissed off about it. They think its bull and I can relate, man. When that whole thing happened with SEPULTURA, that was kind of a big blow, ya know? I love Max (Cavalera) and I love the band, but when the change happened, it wouldn't have mattered if the singer was ten times better than Max because it doesn't matter. It's not about that. It's not about getting the best musicians in the world. It's about getting that notoriety and that's what you kinda missed. To throw a few different curves like that in a short time period isn't really good for anybody, I think, ya know? …When we got rid of Dino, I'm sure he had supporters that were like 'Screw FEAR FACTORY if you're not in it,' and I don't know to what extent that was really out there. As far as what we've seen on our side, it was probably damaging for a little while, but then I think we gained people's respect. Maybe that's what'll happen here if those two continue on without us or whatever. I don't know. I won't have analytics on how bad that will or won't affect things. But it can't be positive, ya know?"

BigMusicGeek.com: At this point, do you feel your relationship(s) with Burton and Dino have been irreversibly damaged?

Raymond: "If you had asked me that question ten years ago, I think I would have said yes. But now, being older and much wiser, I don't think anything is irreversible when it comes to relationships. I couldn't sit here and say yes or no. There's definitely been some damage done, but I don't think that anything that has been done is irreversible. I would be more than happy to make ARKAEA the main thing for me. If I never did FEAR FACTORY again, I would be fine, as bad or good as that may sound. Or I'd be happy to continue doing it. I think I'd be happy or comfortable either way. I think from a fan perspective, I think people would love to see the original line-up come back. And being that the two original guys that are the reason why the band split are now friends, it all really just makes sense, but at the same time, it somehow doesn't in a really weird way, ya know?"

BigMusicGeek.com: Ideally, if the "classic" FEAR FACTORY line-up does ultimately opt to reunite, what will Christian's role be within the group? Will he revert to playing bass or will he continue on as the group's second/co-lead guitarist?

Raymond: "I don't know. And it's funny because I've had this conversation with Christian a few times already. I wouldn't want him to go back to bass. We'd love to have a second guitar player. I've always wanted a second guitar player for FEAR FACTORY and we actually almost had one at one point. Around the time of the beginning of the band, I had a good friend who was a guitar player for another band. We brought him in, but it just really didn't work out, so I was bummed that it didn't work out because I always wanted to have two guitar players. Even though we don't have any solos, there's a lot of different rhythms that can be played with two different guitars. That would be really interesting for me because then I'd be able to pick and choose which rhythms I'd want to play off of. I just think it would be a pretty interesting style. I would love it if Christian would stay with playing guitar and we got a bass player. If we got a different guy to play bass. In my perfect world, that's what I'd love to see because from a fan standpoint, all the b.s. and pride aside, I think being able to write a record with Dino and Christian together would be great. I've never been able to do that. It's always been one or the other. I think for them to be able to work together would be the sickest thing they've ever done because Christian has really proven himself as a writer and I've become comfortable writing with Christian as you may have heard on the past few record, ya know? I think the dynamics between the two of them would be really sick because the one thing they both have in common is that their right hands and really, really fast. Above and beyond that, I just think their styles would meld really well. So who knows? Maybe that's a pie in the sky. Maybe that will happen and maybe it won't, but at the end of the day, I am a fan of the music we write. I actually can listen to a FEAR FACTORY record and not critique it because I truly enjoy what we play and write."

Read the entire interview at BigMusicGeek.com.