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| Kerry's Coal Chamber Castle | home |
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| Interviews/Articles Page 3 |
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| Interview with Dez on December 19, 1996 |
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| SR: Do they have you working double time today doing interviews? |
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| Dez: You bet I am, but I like it. |
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| SR: You and I have a big thing in common. |
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| Dez: Yes, I love big rings. They're nice. Two of them are pig rings. The others are skulls. |
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| SR: We've got to get together and compare big rings. I think my rings are bigger than yours. |
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| Dez: (laughing) I know, but I've got a pretty big ring here. |
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| SR: Oh, my god. Is this the first band you've played in? |
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| Dez: No, it's not. It's the first band I wish to talk about. I've been in bands off and on all my life playing different styles of music. |
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| SR: I think this is the one. |
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| Dez: Yeah, I knew when I found Miguel (Meegs). I found him first. I knew we had something distinctive and different about us. |
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| SR: When did Dino Cazares from Fear Factory come onto the scene? |
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| Dez: Dino came into the mix about a year and a half into the project. He's always been friends with Meegs, our guitarist, and then he started coming to rehearsals and saw the shows getting bigger and bigger. He brought us to the attention of Roadrunner's Monte Conner. |
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| SR: Didn't Ross Robinson call Conner at the same time? |
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| Dez: Yeah, there you go. You've done your homework. |
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| SR: Conner has the best ears in the business. He's right up there with Brian Slagel at Metal Blade. |
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| SR: He's signed some of my favorite bands. |
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| SR: I'd have to say Fear Factory, Type O Negative, Sepultura to start. How was it playing on Ozzfest? |
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| Dez: They're my favorites too. I'd have to say that it was a good experience for us playing on that tour. It was great exposure and we were really proud to be a part of that show. We had a cool time that day and the crowd seemed to really dig us. We got to hang out with some of my favorites in the industry. |
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| SR: Yes, Biohazard, Danzig, Slayer, Fear Factory and Sepultura, not to mention the Oz himself. |
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| Dez: I had never seen Sepultura live before. This was my first time. I now believe they're the greatest band ever. |
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| SR: Did you get to meet Ozzy O? |
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| Dez: No, I didn't get to meet him. I wasn't fortunate enough this time, but I'm sure that some day I'll get to meet him. We thank him every day. It was so cool of him to add us. |
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| SR: Has it seemed that these last two years have gone faster than usual? |
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| Dez: Yeah, it has been quick yet there were a couple of moments when it slowed down when my head wasn't on straight and I left the band. That was slow for me. |
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| SR: That was about six months, before you rejoined. |
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| Dez: You know after we reformed, it has gone really fast. |
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| SR: Do you regret putting your career on hold for your wife? |
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| Dez: I think that everyone needs to grow and I think what happened was a growing experience. I learned a lot about myself and where I want to be in my life...and women in general and relationships. I'd never change anything in life. I don't believe in that. I'm a destiny guy. |
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| SR: We're just about six days away from the anniversary of signing with Roadrunner. |
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| Dez: This is true. It was Christmas '95. |
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| SR: Did you celebrate then or are you going to really celebrate now? |
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| Dez: We're going to celebrate the day the album comes out on January 28. We'll be on the road with downset. We'll celebrate that night in our own way. We celebrated the night of the signing too. We went down to the Rainbow in L.A. and had dinner and a few drinks. |
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| SR: I love the Rainbow. I've had some great times there. You never know who you'll find hanging out there on any given day. |
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| Dez: Oh, yeah. They have the best food in town. |
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| SR: Did the label give you a hard time about choosing your own producers? |
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| Dez: At first they really did; however, they've been pretty good about trusting our judgment all along. Trusting us with the sound, the look and everything else. They sent us in to do "Pig" and we did a demo of that song before we did the album. That was the testing for us, to see if we could work with them and for the label, to see if we had the desired talent for the record. It worked. After that everyone was pretty confident. |
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| SR: Did "Pig" have all the extra sounds we hear on the album? |
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| Dez: Yeah, but all the stuff at the end was little snippets from the album, people's moods and a lot of them mine. At first we were going to leave that stuff off, but then we decided not to do it. We didn't want to cheat the listener from hearing the real moods when I was being a little bitch and everyone else when they were having a good time. |
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| SR: I like the way you let the audience in on the making of the record. It's neat. Is NRG Studios a good place to work? It has been home to Hootie, White Zombie and Green Day. |
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| Dez: NRG is the best studio I've ever seen and I've ever been in. They were like family to us. I don't think Coal Chamber will ever record anywhere else, ever. I'm very confident about that. |
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| SR: Thirty days, that's all it took to record? |
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| Dez: It took about 45-50 days. All the songs were written. There were just little parts here and there that we had to adjust just to define our style. We really wanted to make this record distinctive of what we're going to be over the years to follow. |
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| SR: Those little interludes such as "Maricon Puto", 48 seconds and "Amir of the Desert "at .47 seconds are interesting little snippets. |
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| Dez: Right. "Amir Of The Desert" was written about our engineer Amir. We were just fucking around one afternoon and I was stoned. Everybody was just messing around and that's what came out. "Maricon Puto" is a late night track where our drummer Mike recorded tracks and then put them backwards and recorded tracks on them frontwards again. Just an extra little thing. |
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| SR: How aware were you and the other guys of how physically, mentally and emotionally draining making records would be? |
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| Dez: I don't think any of us were prepared mentally for this. I thought we were, but we weren't. We put each other to the test as well and I think it really came out angst-y and emotional because that's how we went into it. I went into it emotionally charged as did the other guys, but none of us were prepared. By the time we had finished it, we understood what we were doing. The next album will be more emotionally controlled I think. |
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| SR: I don't know that you should do that. I like all the angst. |
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| Dez: (laughing) I mean controlled emotionally as far as putting ourselves to the test. Very often in life you push yourself too much, but we'll keep ourselves in check. |
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| SR: "Loco" is the lead track and that's where we actually find the word "coal" in the lyrics. Did the band name come first or did the song? |
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| Dez: The band name came first. When I was writing that song, the word just fit. |
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| SR: A coal chamber is a pretty hot place to be. |
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| Dez: A very hot place. Actually...(lost connection) |
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| Dez: What happened? (Toni Eng explains that Sue didn't know we were interviewing on this line and she picked it up.) |
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| SR: That's alright. Not your fault. It's Ma Bell. |
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| Dez: I have my bass player here if you'd like to talk to her. |
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| SR: I think I want to stick with you because you wrote all the lyrics and you make the album with your words. "My Frustration" comes to mind. |
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| Dez: (laughing) That says the whole thing for me. (Toni comes in to tell us to wrap it up). |
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| SR: Okay, well then we'd better hurry along. Any outrageous things that happened while you were recording. |
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| Dez: A lot of things happened. Some I can talk about and some I can't talk about. (laughing) |
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| SR: Talk to me about "Unspoiled." |
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| Dez: It was a very emotional experience. It was a pretty fucked up day. |
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| SR: Yep, but you've put it all behind you now. |
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| Dez: This is true. After that session I went out and had a really good night. We all put this out as a unit and we felt the same things at the same time. |
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| SR: What mic did you use on "Clock?" |
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| Dez: It's a Radio Shack Realistic bull-horn. It was about $20 bucks. I used one of those on "Clock" and a little bit on "Loco" but it didn't make it to the album. If I had to pick a favorite song it would be "Loco" or "Bradley." They're both really close to my heart. |
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| SR: ...My life is mine/ I'm gonna take it back...from "Bradley." |
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| Dez: Bradley is my real name. It was written about my mother who writes these letters at Christmas-time every year saying ...My son is still in a band and he's doing this and that. It's hard to go to Christmas every year with these messages, not signed for years. |
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| SR: When will your band be up on the Roadrunner website? As of today, you're still not there. |
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| Dez: You're kidding me. I'll make sure that we're hooked up today. We were supposed to be up by last week. As soon as we hang up I'll check it out. |
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| Dez: No, I'm not an internetter and I'm not a big fan of technology. I want to raise my kids in Bali and wear grass skirts. That would be nice, but it won't happen, I know. I'm very anti-technology and it's taking over too quickly for me. Let me tell you this too. It's going to be one of the main ways to reach our audience so I don't want to be hypocritical about the technology and then use it to it's fullest extent. I'm planning to exploit the hell out of it. I should just say, personally I'm not one of those guys. I can't put two wires together and as far as fucking with my P.A. I don't even do that. |
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| SR: For the band's sake, you're willing to get out there. That's good..you'll use it in your public life and keep it out of your private life. |
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| SR: I can't wait to e-mail you. I love that stuff. What does touring look like now? |
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| Dez: We did the Ozzy thing and some shows with Godflesh who's one of our favorite bands. Now the next tour will be with downset for a while and label for dates. |
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| SR: What has been the most exciting part of this whole process for you? |
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| Dez: It just brought the band closer together as a unit. I think hearing it on the radio will be exciting too. Six months from now I'll have some crazy stories to tell. Just keeping our sanity and coming closer as a band is the story plus getting ready for the unknown out there. |
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| SR: Would you have chosen downset to tour with? |
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| Dez: Yeah, I want to tour with everybody. We'd love to tour with White Zombie, Pantera, Marilyn Manson, Tool, Korn, Helmet and Motorhead. Let's tour with everybody. |
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| SR: Is there an early influence that we might not recognize from you on this album? |
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| Dez: Personally, you're hearing a lot of subtle Peter Murphy, weird old Elvis just because I listened to him around the house as a kid. You're also hearing some Rob Zombie. |
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| SR: You're one of the youngest looking bands I've seen in a long time. You look maybe 20 and Meegs looks about 10. I'm looking at a picture with you doing the "Hook 'Em Horns" sign. |
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| Dez: Yeah, (laughing), our drummer Mike is 19 and everyone else is in their 20s. |
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| SR: Thanks, Dez. I'll be looking for you in Austin. |
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| Dez: I'm looking forward to meeting you. Thanks |
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A RARE PEEK INTO COAL CHAMBER SINGER DEZ FAFARA'S TORTURED CHILDHOOD
By: Corey Levitan
Typed by: Janet (thanks)
"After this interview, it's probably the last time I'm gonna talk about these things, because you never know how they're gonna come out in the press." So declares Dez Fafara, frontman for hard-rock warriors Coal Chamber,after opening up wide to Circus Magazine during an hour-long probe that blurred the lines between rock-star interview and therapy session.
Few fans know this, but Fafara was seriously abused by his peers at school and stepfather at home. And his pain from those memories is the key to understanding the singer's prolific creativity. "I don't want to come off as whining about my life," Fafara says, phoning from a tour stop in San Antonio, Texas. "But you're asking me personally what my life is really about, and you told me to be honest, so I'm gonna do it. Alot of times people want to get real personal and I'll say, 'You know what? I don't feel like it.' But today is fine, I feel like it."
Bradley Fafara grew up in a divorced home with the succession ofstepfathers. (The nickname "Dez" was conferred in his teens, after he was thrown on stage during a Black Flag show, landing by guitarist Dez Cadena.) "My real father was gone by the time I was two and I didn't meet him again until I was about 13," Fafara says. (Although young Dez didn't know his biological father, much of America did. Tiger Fafara, of Sicilian ancestry,was the actor who played Tooey on TV's "Leave It to Beaver" in the 1950s.)
Dez says he and his mom were always close, but he fought viciously with most of his stepfathers. One briefly kicked him out of the house at age 14. "I was smoking in his house and he didn't appreciate that," Fafara says."Now that I look back, I was extremely rude for doing that. I could have just snuck it outside. I was just waiting for something to happen." Fafara expresses no such regret about his failed relations with an earlier stepfather, however. "Me and my mom left him because of alcohol and other abuses," Fafara says, declining to get into the gruesome specifics. "He ended up committing suicide," Fafara continues. Enough said. Fafara lived in a blur of Los Angeles suburbs because one of his stepfathers built houses, living with his family in them until they were sold. Being the perpetual new kid in class did not bode well for our young hero, who seemed genetically engineered for popularity impairment to begin with. "I was tiny, TINY!" says the 5'7" musician. "And I was the kid who loved art class."
Compounding his feelings of isolation and inadequacy, Fafara was on Ritalin, the medication prescribed for kids with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). His lowest years were spent ant Nigel Junior High school in Laguna Beach,Calif. "I was kind of to myself really," Fafara recalls. "I only had a couple of friends -- one girl and one other guy, and that was it." Fafara says his choice of cafeteria table during lunch period was based solely on "where Iwouldn't get fucked with." The strategy wasn't always successful. One day, bullies slam-dunked Dez into a trash bin, then poured milk over his head. "I don't remember what it was about," Fafara says. "It could have been anything -- standing in the lunch line with long hair, or who knows? It was horrible." But Fafara says he believes that karma, the Eastern spiritual idea of reaping what you sow, paid his attackers a visit later in life. "I know those people who did that to me are probably working at 9-to-5s,hating their lives--those non-artistic, living pieces of shit," he says.
This was all a decade before "revenge of the nerds" posed a danger of becoming a miliatry operation. "I was never a violent person, so I couldn't have done something like that," Fafara says, referring to the Columbine tragedy. "But maybe that woke up counselors at school to really take a look at these kids that are wearing black, because that was me. All I wanted was to be left alone to do art andlet my mind grow. I was into literature. My best subject was English. That's why I write so much now."
Music was a natural refuge for Fafara, who formed the band that became Coal Chamber in 1994 with his friend, guitarist Miguel "Meegs" Rascon.(Bassist Rayna Foss-Rose and drummer MIke "Bug" Cox were added later.) "Since my earliest childhood memory, I've always had a radio in my room ,and I could sing any song on the radio," he says. "Then I got into my parents albums -- the Doors, Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival." But Fafara's creativity was always too rampant to be contained by one artistic outlet.
A former hairdresser, Dez is also a fashion designer -- with his own line of Goth clothes on the way -- an amateur painter and an author of children's books. "It's just artistic nature," he says. "It's always driven me." He's also a father. Fafara is helping raise the two young children of his current girlfriend, Anahstasia. And a source of more recent pain is how he can't fully be there for Tyler, the nine-year-old son of a failed marriage. "I'm missing out on his life," Fafara says, an agony made worse by thefact that Tyler is currently up against the same peer-group abuse his fatheronce faced.It's the subject of "Tyler's Song," from the band's second and most recent album, 1999's "Chamber Music." "Raise your guard again" Fafara sings his words of encouragement. "They don't give a damn. Go son." Tyler, whom Fafara says has already expressed a serious interest in music, is currently enrolled in karate classes to defend himself in school.
"For the artistic ones, for the intelligent ones, for the really passionate people in life, they are always condemned and persecuted for beingthat way -- because they're different," Fafara says. " The reason is that these people can move mountains, and they're persecuted in life only when they can be. But later on in life, they become the people everyone aspires tobe -- the musicians, the artists, the writers, That's one of the things that made me want to succeed. "What about the kid who hit me in the face when I didn't see it coming? Maybe he's listening to Coal Chamber and he's going, 'Oh my God, where do I recognize this person from?" "It's me, buddy."
Hit Parader - June
COAL CHAMBER - "Down N Diirty"
By: Bill Wesson
Typed by: Andrew (Thanks)
In year 2000, Coal Chamber has emerged as one of those classic "dirty little
secrets" that the heavy metal world so much enjoys springing upon the
mainstream rock community. Even with the success of their latest disc, Chamber
Music, the decidedly different band featuring vocalist Dez Fafara, guitarist
Miguel "Meegs" Rascon, bassist Rayna and drummer Mike, know that the vast
majority of the recored-buying masses still don't have a clue as to exactly
who and what they are. But quite honestly, such a notion doesn't bother this
shock-rock unit one bit. They're secure in the knowledge that they've already
attained a significant degree of success in the contemporary music world,
and that they've attained that success by clearly doing things in a way that
only Coal Chamber can fully appreciate.
"We have done things in an unconventional way for the most part," Dez
explained. "But we are not really a conventional band in any way. So I guess
that's to be expected. We never really knew how much acceptance our music
would get. But I also think we believed that there were a lot of kids out
there who were just waiting to get behind a band like this."
Despite the flood of publicity they've garned in the wake of Chamber
Music's release, and despite the avalanche of attention that came their way
thanks to their never-ending road work-which included a headline grabbing
stint at last year's Ozz Fest- the CC brigade apparently still have a ways to
go before attaining what many rock pundits have long predicted for them ...
rock and roll superstardom. They've managed to come tantalizingly close to
grabbing rock and roll's gold ring, but with the release of Chamber Music (whi
ch followed in the wake of their self-titled 1997 debut), the highly
theatrical, deeply spiritual and head-bangingly heavy music made by Coal
Chamber was supposed to carry them to the very apex of the rock world. After
all, bands like Godsmack, Powerman 5000, and even Staind have all recently
emerged from obscurity to obtain gold and platinum status. Why not CoalChamber?
"We didn't go into the studio this time thinking we had to make a hit
album." Dez explained. "We just wanted to pick up from we were last time and
take it from there. We learned a lot from the experience of making our first
album, and touring after it. This time I realized I don't have to scream my
head off in order to get my point across. You can balance out the raw power
with some melody and emotion and still play some very heavy music. I think
this album shows a different side to the band. There are elements of metal,
pop, and maybe even a little glam in there- and they're all a part of thisband."
Still, one must wonder id Coal Chamber hasn't become the least bit
paranoid about the level of their success- at least when you consider that
the kind of music they play is once again marked "hip" column of every trendy
media guide. One might have imagined that with the strength of their creative
division, the power of their live image, and the help of some of their
heavy-duty friends (not the least of who is their manager, Sharon Osbourne,
wife of you-know-who), Coal Chamber would find themselves safely ensconced in
rock's platinum paradise by now. But then again, nothing has ever come easy
for this quixotic quartet. In fact, it took them nearly seven years of hard
work- a time filled with personal and professional twists and turns- for this
Los Angeles- based unit to attain their current position in music industry
circles. But no matter what happened to them, what insults were hurled their
way, and what close-minded media members may have said, Coal Chamber rocked
on, polishing their brand of visual and audio dynamite until they were
eventually given a helping hand by Fear Factory's guitarist Dino Cazares.
"It was great when people started to step forward and recognize what we
were trying to do," Dez said. "When you work hard hard just to get noticed,
and just to be taken seriously, when people you respect stick out their hand
and offer to help, it's just one of the best feelings in the world."
Soon after meeting Cazares, the guitarist agreed to produce a demo tape
for Coal Chamber, a tape that featured a song called Loco. The tune was a
strangely infectious, right-between-the-eyes rocker which immedietly began
garnishing attention from some college and alternative radio stations. Record
labels, too, began to take notice of the group's special, darkly emotive
approach. But soon after entering the studio to begin work on their first
album, Coal Chamber, everything seemed to take a nasty twist for the band.
Dez' wife threatened to leave him if he maintained the kind of hectic touring
schedule and unpredictable work hours needed to break an up-and-coming rock
unit, a fact that temporarily forced him to leave the band.
"I left the band because of her and I was gone for almost half a year,"
Dez said. "But I always missed it. I just missed the music, the performing,
being with my friends and making music with them. I spent most of my days in
a haze, not really inspired anymore. Then Meegs came knocking on my door one
day and said, 'None of the other singers we have tried have been working out,
we really had magic. Let's do it again.'
After surviving his time of toil and trouble, Dez decided that rock and
roll was the most important thing in his life and rejoined Coal Chamber.The
singer's strange situation served as the impetus behind many of the songs
that eventually emerged on the band's debut disc, an album that through it's
left-field charms and razor-edged sounds quickly managed to attact the
attention of many of hard rock's elite. While the songs were slowly becoming
radio forces, and their videos were garnashing must-see status on MTV, it was
on stage that the music actually reached it's apex. Under the spotlight, with
rapidly expanding crowds urging them on, Coal Chamber's performances began to
take on a almost ritualistic feel with every show filled with both extreme
energy and suprising humor.
"You know what I've come to realize?" Dez asked with a grin. "We thrive on
all kinds of emotion. That's what drives this band and gives us our edge.
That's what keeps it real for us.
Chamber Music has now provided a second chapter to the Coal Chamber story,
adding more controversy and critical praise than ever to this band's ever
growing dossier. While some fans continue to insist that the band should be
lumped into the into the same Y2K rap/metal category as the likes of Korn,
Limp Bizkit, Powerman 5000, and Sevendust. But they've proven with their
latest cd that CC is a band apart. A group unlike anything or anyone else in
the rock world.
"There's not really any other rock band that sounds like us, and I think
we prove it on this album." Dez explained. "We've heard the comparisons, and
we are really flattered. But it is time for us to step out and show everyone
what Coal Chamber can do. We are not out to be different just for the sake of
being different. For us it's just a part of Coal Chamber."
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| Hit Parader - February 2000 |
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| Coal Chamber Out Of The Darkness |
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| After touring for more than two years in support of their 1997self-titled debut, Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara admits coming off of theroad to begin work on their long-awaited sophomore effort, Chamber Music, was"a life changer."
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| "We were so used to being on the road it was difficult adjusting to beingin one place," he says during a well deserved break from mixing the new albumat Labree Studios in Los Angeles. "I actually stayed on the road when theband took a short, well-deserved break, and lived on a houseboat in Las Vegasfor a while. It was only after we finished recording Chamber Music that Irented an apartment." |
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| The band is so content with their life on the road that they usually shunhotel rooms, preferring the comfort of a bus with bunks and the serene soundof its engine."We don't know how to live anyway else," laughs guitarist Meegs Rascon."And we have a sense of urgency to get back on the road," continues Fafara."It's been nearly eight months since we played a show. We rehearsed the otherday and all of us got goose bumps." |
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| Fafara, Rascon and drummer Mike "Bug" Cox rehearsed without bassist RaynaFoss, who recently married Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose and is in Atlantaawaiting the birth of their first child. Although she participated in thesongwriting and recording of Chamber Music, for the time being, her role inCoal Chamber will be understudied by an as-of-yet undermined bassist. |
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| Despite the length of time the band spent recording and promoting theirdebut, Coal Chamber's hiatus lasted little more than a month before theyreconvened in Boston to begin writing new material. During that time, theycomposed 32 tracks, which they eventually cut to 17 for inclusion on the newalbum. "I think we took the best course of action when writing," says Fafara."The Marilyn Manson and Korn albums had just come out, but we refused tolisten to anything new. What we did was experiment; that's why the songssound so good. We wanted all of the songs on the album to sound different,yet have continuity." |
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| "We want to give our fans a lot," explains Dez. "There's one new songthat we actually played on the road called, Not Living, which is about ourfans, who are the biggest reason for our success." |
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| Among those tracks are No Home, My Mercy and a cover of Peter Gabriel's Shock the Monkey featuring a guest appearance by Ozzy Osbourne. The band hadoriginally planned to record the cover tune for an EP, however, when itbecame evident that they would not have enough time between tours to recordit, the idea was scrapped."We've actually wanted to record Shock the Monkey for the past fiveyears,'' admits Fafara. "But I'm glad we waited. If we had committed thetrack to tape any sooner, it would not have come out as well as it did. Weneeded (producer) Josh Abraham, (keyboardist) Elijah Blue and Ozzy to bringit to fruition." Blue, who is a member of Deadsy and a great friend of Coal Chamber, isbest known as the son of Cher and Greg Allman. "Elijah is a musical genius," says Fafara. "It's hard to gain credibilitywhen you're the child of celebrities. But artists like Orgy and us are goingto continually talk about him. Once people know him as an artist, they're notgoing to care where he came from; they wouldn't care if he was hatched froman egg." |
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| Unfortunately, Blue will not be able to join Coal Chamber on the roadwhen they begin touring in earnest. The current plan is for the band to hirea keyboardist, who will perform with the band while standing to the side ofthe stage. |
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| Since Ozzy's wife, Sharon, is Coal Chamber's manager, it was not hardpersuading the legend to be part of the band's album."He cooked for us," recalls Fafara. "The first time we ever met Ozzy,Sharon began to prepare breakfast and Ozzy said, 'You can't cook. If youcook, I'm going to have to call an ambulance.' Afterwards we rode motorcyclesand hung out with his dogs on his property. But when Ozzy walks into a roomto work, everyone shines. Even though he is a legend, he's down to earth.He's the God of rock and roll. Black Sabbath influenced everyone who playsrock and roll. If they say no, they're lying." |
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| Chamber Music's first single is Tyler's Song, a song Fafara composed forhis eight-year-old son."One night while we were on tour, I called him and he told me that he hadgotten beat up at school," recalls the vocalist. "My response was 'raise yourguard the next time,' It became the song's chorus. I also tell him to respecthis mother. I haven't been in Tyler's life as much as I would like, but hehas a wonderful mother who is raising him right. He's a great kid who isvery well-mannered and very smart." |
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| Coal Chamber's success was a slow build. Thanks to a stubborn,never-say-die attitude and a tireless work ethic, the audiences of thenumerous bands they supported warmed to the Southern California upstarts.Presently, their debut is on the verge of being certified gold."When our first album was released, Sharon asked us what we wanted todo," recalls Fafara. "We told her that we wanted to tour. She asked us 'forhow long.' We responded 'forever' and she said okay. We also owe a lot to thepeople who talked us up a lot in the beginning such as Pantera drummerVinnie Paul. We ended up going out on the road with Pantera four times. A fanbase like Pantera's and Ozzy Osbourne's is impossible to win over unless youreally tour with them." |
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| "Ozzy's fans in Europe were particularly hard on us in the beginning,"remembers Cox. "We came out on stage and they didn't know what to think ofus. But after a couple of songs, they realized that we were as heavy as hell." Recently, while discussing Chamber Music with the European rock media,Fafara seemed to distance himself from Coal Chamber's debut. Clarifying hisstatements, the singer says the band still loves the first album" but we werereally raw musicians back then." "We've grown considerably since then," he continues. "We were alsoconstantly compared to a lot of the bands that came out at the same time Some critics unfairly branded the band "Korn Jr.," a tag they hope willdisappear once Chamber Music is released. |
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| "It's like when you have a brand new girlfriend," explains Fafara of theband's excitement with the results of their sophomore effort. "You're soproud, you want to show her off to everyone. The last one was fine and thetime you spent with her was great, but you want everyone to see the new one." Contrasting the simplistic, bottom heavy groove and angst-filled lyricsand vocals that are trademarks of the so-called new metal movement, ChamberMusic is full of lush, multidimensional soundscapes, quite an accomplishmentfor a record that was written and recorded in a little more than two months. "We conveyed our ideas to our producer and he helped them come to life,"says Rascon. |
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| Looking forward to at least two years of touring in support of ChamberMusic, the members of Coal Chamber have a few wishes when it comes to listing the bands they would like to open for on the road."We'd love to play with Marilyn Manson," says Fafara. "It would be insane. We'd call it the Marilyn Chambers tour (an obvious reference to the 1970s adult film star of the same name)." |
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| Although he has rented an apartment, the singer admits it will be a long time before he truly settles down. "We are about to embark on another two year blur," says Rascon. "If we settle down, we'll lose our game face. If I'm on the phone asking my pool cleaner if he skimmed it properly, how much angst can I have when I go onstage a few hours later? |
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| Yep, we're coming back to your town again. It's time again to make way for the underdogs." |
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