RAGINPIT MAGAZINE

Gather around my fellow fiends, as today I got to ask some questions to the East Bay's own Down Factor. George Anderson - Vocals/Guitar, Brooks Rocco - Guitar, W4D - Bass, and Ramon Ochoa on Drums whose double bass pedal work can be compared favorably with a jackhammer hitting concrete smashing it into rubble and dust.

Their brand of death metal possesses a musical virtuosity, a brutality that brings to mind such bands as Slayer, Fear Factory, Morbid Angel and yet suggests a progressive edge. Go to their site www.downfactor.com and have a listen and judge for yourself. Then run, don't walk to go buy a ticket to see them at their up coming CD release party for Murder The World at The Pound this October 22nd or at the very least to find out when they are playing at a venue near you.

So tell us when and how you all came together to form Down Factor.

George: By gun-point. Actually, this band has had a revolving door of musicians over the years as most bands do, but I guess as long as I'm here, Down Factor will be here. My guitar player and drummer now have been in the band for over 2 years now, which is the best thing that has happened to this band in a long time. Waylon just joined the band at the start of summer.

When I needed a guitar player, I asked Steve Smyth who taught lessons and he actually hooked me up with my last two guitar players. The guitarist before Brooks was a good player, but wasn't so much into music as he was into graphic animation. When he decided to leave, Smyth found Brooks for me and he's been the best guitar player to date. He has contributed quite a bit to Down Factor and it's all been good.

I've been through a bunch of drummers. This band has been really tough for drummers. They don't quite die off like they do in Spinal Tap, but not far off. Most drummers don't want to work quite as hard as I want them to and so many of them would tell me to go fuck myself. Then we found Ramon. Where as I was used to being the master and slave driver, the tables turned and I have never had to work so hard in my life. It's all for the best of course and I love the progress that I have made as a musician, but having been the driver for so long, it was difficult for me to learn new things.

Waylon Ford is the newest member and is the bass player. He's been in the band since the beginning of summer. We were looking for a bass player for nearly a year while we were writing the material for the new album. The last bass player was a good player, but just a little psychotic upstairs. A relatively good guy, good to play with, tight with the music, but hard to deal with between songs and every other moment that existed. Waylon is new and joined the band just prior to recording and we haven't played any shows with him yet, so we will see how this pans out. So far, he seems to be alright, but I don't have any stories at the moment.

Tell us about the influence's that help shape your sound.

Personal Influences:

W4D: KISS, Ministry, Suicidal Tendencies, Slayer, Rush, The Crue, BLS (Bozio Levin Stevens), Vai, Tm Stevens, Dream Theater, Crimson Glory.

Brooks: The glory days of the Bay Area thrash scene (Exodus, Forbidden, Vio-Lence, Possessed, and Kreator

George: My personal influences come from Slayer, King Diamond; I guess Metallica, Coroner, Forbidden, Kreator, and Maiden. Too many to mention.

Ramon: Lars Ulrich, Charlie Benante, Kim Ruzz, Dave Lombardo, Gene Hoglan, Simon Phillips, Rayford Griffin, and Pete Sandoval.

Band Influences:

Down Factor: Slayer. Sepultura. Fear Factory, and Nevermore.

Who handles the writing duties or is it a collaborative effort?

George: I handle much of the writing responsibilities, but that is starting to spread out a little more and is now more of a collaborative effort.

Tell us a little about Murder the World - where you recorded it, who produced it.

George: Murder the World was produced by myself and Juan Urteaga and was recorded at Trident Studios in Pacheco, CA. Probably the most fundamental aspect to the recording was the great guitar tone that Brooks and Juan dialed in for the guitars. That to me was a foundation piece and then we built everything around that.

Your last CD Pure seemed a bit more "thrashy" than what I have heard so far off the Murder The World sampler I have, it has a darker feel to me. Am I right about that?

George: Actually, I think this one has a thrashier feel to it than Pure. Pure has more of a groove feel to it than per se a thrash feel. Also the tone of Pure and feel is a lot darker than Murder the World. It's quite a bit slower too. The subject matter is similar between the two, although I think that MTW is slightly more focused.

Tell me a little about it? What has the feedback been like? How did you guys come up with the album's name?

George: The feedback I got from Pure was really good and so just knowing the progress from the last album to this one, I think the critics are really going to like it.

I came up with the title, Murder the World, from an old Clive Barker movie, The Lord of Illusions. The phrase itself is maliciously fun to say and just so blunt at the same time and when you apply it to politics, religion and global events, it hits home in a different kind of way that makes people think and question the things around them. This phrase is similar to others on the album where the chorus is simple and blunt for people who like to sing fucked up shit, but then it also has a deeper meaning for those who like lyrics to be cerebral. It's also a jab at Joe Jackass who knows nothing about metal and only knows to stereotype it. Let'em!

Murder the World is most definitely about politics and religion. The current state of affairs in our country and the blind zealous fervor of religious fanatics has just pissed me right the fuck off. It's so bad that I honestly have lost faith in the notion of democracy. Democracy in the hands of idiots is bad for everyone. We are seeing it again in Iraq. Where freedom is concerned, the majority rule is not right. It oppresses those who see differently at least in the construct of making laws. George Bush doesn't believe in democracy either. That's why he had to steal the election both times because democracy was against him. The album in part is about the hypocrisy of "do gooders" who say they love Jesus or Allah and say that you should spread love and good will, but then tell their congregations to hate other people, admonish racism and cultural differences and drive wedges between people so that people with different philosophies can't get along. Their love is conditional love. If you don't believe the same philosophy they do or choke down the body of Christ, then they hate you for it. Some leaders even tell their people to kill for it. Church leaders are liars and sinners who fuck little boys and then tell their people homosexuality is wrong. Yeah, so is pedophilia. Did you forget that? They get on their high horse, stand behind the podium and say, "This is what God wants! This is what Jesus wants!" Bullshit! It's what they want, as individual people, who abuse their positions to further their own earthly agendas of hatred and twisted lust. There are so many different philosophies out there and religions have been divided into factions so that they can all believe what they want to believe. They align themselves with other people who have the same philosophy and then condemn everyone around them. Even within the Christian church. There's Catholics, Methodists, Mormons, Protestants, Evangelicals. They are all the same, but just a little bit different because they all want to believe something different.

"Blood of the Patriots" is about George Bush's bullshit rhetoric of his "Patriot Act" or if you denounce what he does, then you aren't a "patriot." George Bush would be a tyrant like Saddam Hussein if he could get away with it. Many people have died defending this country to make it what it is and this asshole gets up in front of the world and spits on their graves while he furthers his agenda for economic interest through war and the acquisition of oil, while disguising it behind words like "Values" and "Freedom" and "Democracy." Cheney makes money on the war machine and George makes money off the oil and all of their friends make money on the "new" infrastructures they need to establish after they have destroyed everything and killed your children. It's all bullshit, but, "he's a good Christian," so that makes it okay, right?

"Gods of War" is about the same ideology and philosophy of one god that exists in people's minds, they just have different names, so they kill each other for it and their preachers tell them to do so. In the end, after they kill each other, there isn't one god who is supreme. It's death because everyone is dead. Yay. Wasn't that fun?

The song "Murder the World" is again, another chapter in the religious crusade to wipe out evil; however, religion is the evil itself and is the cancer that it promulgates to destroy. Don't get me wrong, I know that people need religion. Most people have pretty weak minds and can't fathom that when they die, they just die. They have to have the comfort that someone is going to be there for them later and that's fine, but when it gets to the point where they kill and hate other people for a figment of their imagination and the ideologies borne from extremist views, then they have gone too far. If the only book you ever read is The Bible, then you are ignorant as Hell. If you have religion, you have your head up your ass. The world is so much bigger than a little book and so much more interesting and by turning a blind eye to the world, praying for salvation, and judging and condemning differences around you, you miss the only life that you will ever have.

I see that you will be attending the MMA Awards in Hollywood at the end of month, are you receiving an award, performing or both?

W4D: The MMA's (Metal Music Awards) are not until next October 2006 in Hollywood, California. Yes, we will be performing. That is all we know as of yet.

For all the musicians that read our webzine, what gear is the band using? (A lot of them complain when I don't ask.)

W4D: I am at the moment using an SWR 900 rack mount head with Ampeg Cabs one 4 x10"and one 15". As for basses I proudly use Dean Guitars & Halo Custom Guitars.

George: I've played Ibanez guitars for years and I'm still looking for the perfect amp.

Brooks: I use Ibanez guitars, ENGL amps, and a pick.

Ramon: I use Pearl Drums, Axis pedal, Zildjian Cymbals, and a DM5 for my triggers.

Last question that I have been asking in all my interviews because of the varying perspectives I get is. What do you think of the state of the Metal scene?

W4D: Well to me it depends on what you are actually asking I mean metal is popular and tons of thousands of bands are out there and it is growing all the time. So in that case metal is kicking ass, but in the American market it just seems that metal is un-officially censored by the labels, the television, and the radio stations. They only play the same 13 – 25 bands all day long and usually they all sound the same. I mean to say if they would push let's say bands like Cryptopsy, Vader, Nile, Morbid Angel, and Down Factor (laughter) as hard as they push let's just say for instance A.FI., Blink 182, My Chemical Romance, or HIM. Then METAL… TRUE METAL would be in a much greater state than it is in now. They just don't push it as hard or as much as they should. That is one of the main things holding this industry back at the moment.

George: I think the state of the current metal scene is pretty strong. There are a lot of bands out there and there seems to be pretty good support. It is stronger in other parts of the world than in the US, but the US is really all about fashion, hype and popularity vs. killer music, but there is a lot of support in the US from companies like Jagermeister and Ozzfest that really help to bring metal to the public's ears.

Brooks: While I think it's great that metal, actual real metal, is being recognized on a wider scale in America these days, sometimes I get a little bothered that people aren't paying enough attention to the old school, the pioneers, the bands that actually saw beyond the then current state of things and did something proactive about it. It's taken a lot of steps to get to where we are today and sometimes people just don't understand the context of what these revolutionary bands did. It's not enough to wear a band's shirt, you have to actually know why that band did what they did and why you should give a shit.

Ramon: Summed up in a phrase "Your Favorite Band Sucks!"

Thanks for taking time off your hectic schedule to talk to us here at Raginpit. Good Luck.

Down Factor: Thanks for having us.

Links to Down Factor:
http://www.myspace.com/downfactorband
www.downfactor.com