"If everybody remembers, Burt was the one who left the band. I begged him to come back and when he did I had to get rid of Dino."

One of the greatest metal drummers of this planetВ called us at the Tangra Metal Shock show around 11 pm BG time (10 pm CET).

And weВ asked Raymond about this big Fear Factory vs Fear Factory case, but weВ are mainly talking about this great new band - ARKAEA, where Raymond plays with Christian Olde Wolbers. So this is 50% of Fear Factory after all.

an interview conducted by Vassil Varbanov

IT’S BEEN LIKE TWO YEARS SINCE YOUR LAST INTERVIEW HERE. BACK THEN YOU WERE A BIT DISAPPOINTED BY A FEAR FACTORY CONCERT THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN HERE IN BULGARIA BECAUSE OF THE PROMOTER, BUT NOW OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE A BETTER REASON TO BE HERE WITH US – THE FORTHCOMING ARKAEA ALBUM.

SO, IT IS YOU, CHRISTIAN AND THE TWO GUYS FROM THREAT SIGNAL. HOW DOES IT FEEL INSIDE OF THE BAND?
It’s great. Christian has known Jon longer than I have. He produced the first Threat Signal record and this is how he met Jon Howard, the singer. I had just met him at the time we started to work together. I’ve known Jon for a year now and it is great. It has worked out really well. And Pat is a great guy too.

WELL, MUSIC WISE HE IS CLOSER TO YOU. AS A DRUMMER YOU’RE MORE INTERESTED IN THE CHOICE OF THE BASS PLAYER. SO – WAS PAT THE FIRST CHOICE?
Actually from what I know, Christian was talking to the guy from Mudvayne and also to Sam from Limp Bizkit. And as time went on Jon started to insist more and more that Pat should be the bass player. He is actually a great choice - a great player, really quick.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, HOW MUCH TIME DID IT TAKE TO RECORD THIS NEW ALBUM ‘YEARS IN THE DARKNESS’ AND ACTUALLY – WHERE?
We started recording in September of 2008 and we were finished with everything, with mastering in the first week of May. So it took like 9 months. We weren’t in a hurry, we took our time. We recorded most of the album in my recording studio which I own since 2006, so that’s why we were able to make it for a very cheap price and then hired Terry Date to do the mixing.

YOU GUYS ARE SO WELL KNOWN FOR ALL THE THINGS YOU DO, I MEAN MOSTLY YOU AND CHRISTIAN BUT ALSO IT SHOULD BE THE SAME FOR JON AND PAT - CAN WE SAY THAT ARKAEA IS JUST A TEMPORARY PROJECT OR IT IS A FULL-TIME BAND FOR YOU?
It’s definitely a full time band. We have been working together for a year and a half now, working on making Arkea a band. It’s been the main thing for us during this time. So we want to treat this as a real release, not just a project. We’re planning on doing a lot of touring so far. This is the main focus at least for some time now. Or at least will be.

DOES IT MEAN THAT WE SHOULD EXPECT A SECOND EFFORT FROM YOU GUYS?
Oh, yeah – most definitely. We will continue to make records with Arkea. This is the beginning of a new band. So, you know, we will try everything to make it successful.

I CAN’T AVOID ASKING YOU ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK, IT HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE WHOLE INTERNET – THIS PROBLEM BETWEEN YOU AND CHRISTIAN AND THE OTHER TWO GUYS WHO DECIDED TO GO AND USE THE FEAR FACTORY NAME. IT WAS ACTUALLY REPORTED THAT THE TOUR HAS BEEN CANCELLED. ANY NEWS ON THAT OR IS IT THE SAME SITUATION?
Unfortunately nothing has changed. I do not know how much your listeners know or may not know about what’s going on, but Dino and Burt became friends again and they decided to work together again, but the problem is that they decided to call their band Fear Factory. They never spoke with us, we never had a meeting, we never had a contract or an agreement and they just went out and did it. Me and Christian found out when everybody else found out – when they were doing press and some interviews. And we were like ‘wait a minute, that’s not how we do business’. And now it has become problematic, because they have to cancel a lot of stuff.

I’M ASKING YOU BECAUSE WHEN WE POSTED THE NEWS ABOUT THIS LAST WEEK, THE COMMENTS WERE LIKE ‘THERE IS NO FEAR FACTORY WITHOUT THE DRUMMING OR RAYMOND HERRERA. I’M NOT SAYING THIS JUST BECAUSE I’M TRYING TO BE POLITE, THIS IS THE TRUTH, IT’S WHAT WE GOT AS A REACTION FROM OUR LISTENERS. BUT THE THING IS THAT NOWADAYS WHEN WE SEE SO MANY BANDS REUNITING, THE LATEST THING IS FAITH NO MORE…
Yeah, that’s incredible!

…YOU ARE DOING THE OPPOSITE… DOES THAT MEAN THAT WE WILL NEVER SEE THE REAL FEAR FACTORY REUNITED AGAIN, OR NEVER SAY ‘NEVER’?
Well, it’s hard to say at this point. I would say never, but seeing that Dino and Burt are friends again… they were the reason the band had a break up at 2001. If everybody remembers, Burt was the one who left the band. I begged him to come back and when he did I had to get rid of Dino. I personally had to get rid of Dino and make the reorganization. But if they are friends then it may happen.

BESIDES ARKAEA AND HAVING YOUR OWN RECORDING STUDIO, WHATВ ELSE KEEPS YOU BUSYВ  THESE DAYS?
Ha-ha! I work with my production company – we make music for video games. I’m working on four video games at the moment. And then I own a beverage company that makes the ‘Cocaine’ energy drink.

IS IT SUCCESSFUL?
Yes. We sell a lot in the US. And the production company is great. We do a lot of work in my recording studio and we work on a lot of video games so it is a lot of fun.

WE CAN SEE HERE IN BULGARIA IN SOME STORES AN ENERGY DRINK CALLED ‘LEGAL COCAINE’. IS IT THE SAME THING?
No. If it’s in a black can it isn’t. There is a company in Poland that is doing a knock-off drink of ours. Our drink is in a red or blue can. That’s the real ‘Cocaine’ energy drink. The soda company is trying to make like a cheap version of our drink.

rights Tangra Mega Rock