FULL BLOWN CHAOS INTERVIEW
August 6, 2006
Ed Martin for Prophecy21.com: How's the tour been going so far?
Ray Mazzola Vocals for Full Blown Chaos: The tour has been great, we had a
lot of bad luck, but we're touring with bands that have been friends of
ours forever. So we're having a good time.
P21: How have the crowd reactions been to the new material so far?
RM: Massive, getting a lot of great feedback on it. Having a great time
playing it. If I could play the whole new record from beginning to end, I
would.
P21: What's your favorite song on the new album?
RM: Oooooh, that's where it gets hard. There's a few, because there are
all like different emotions and different things. "Solemn Promise" is one
of my all time top songs. "Vendetta" is another really top one. "The
Voorhees Complex" is another really cool one for me.
P21: Are there any bands in particular that you were excited to hear
you'd be going out with on this tour?
RM: The Red Chord, because they're such great friends. We love hanging
out with those dudes. We've toured with them before, we shared a bus with
them over in Europe, and there was a lot of ridiculousness going on. Cool
being able to see Dragonforce. We've toured with Hatebreed ten times.
Walls of Jericho five times. We know all the bands, we know like
everybody already just from excessive touring. So basically it's
everybody.
P21: What are your feelings about Ozzy playing the second stage at some
shows?
RM: It's good because he's showing kids that he's approachable, even
though he's not. They throw us out of the whole second stage area. They
block everybody off. They bring him in, in a van. They bring him out in
a van. They don't let anybody near it. Armed Guards. The whole deal. We
still haven't talked to him or even said, "Hi." It's kind of like great
paid seventy-five grand to be ignored. Oh well.
P21: What are your favorite and least favorite parts of playing a big
festival like this?
RM: My favorite is being able to reach out to so many different people.
I walk around the crowd anyway I try to talk to everybody. Try to have a
good time, mingle and hang out with our friends. The bad thing is you're
stuck out in the heat all day; it gets a little trying at times.
Everybody gets angry. Everybody gets cranky. You can't escape it.
P21: Do you like how having the second stage line up rotate is working out?
RM: Yeah I mean it works fine. There might be one or two bands that are
having issues when they have the first slot, the opening slot, "Metal
Breakfast" as we call it. But that's only because they're not bringing
it. In my opinion its your performance that makes them produce and if
you're not giving 110 then you're not gonna get 110 back. It's a
catharsis, you're giving it, you're taking it back.
P21: How do you feel about the price matching policies for merch on tours
like this?
RM: Hate it. Hate it because it's definitely the bigger bands market.
You get people who are coming and they want a shirt and they know they can
just get it at a local show for ten bucks they're not gonna pay thirty or
thirty five bucks so it just sucks. Especially with the percentage cut.
P21: How do you guys decide on the set list when you're playing such a
condensed slot?
RM: We go for the hard attack. Brutal right in the beginning, then a
little bit of a drop where they can just groove out in the middle and then
boom last three songs we hit 'em as hard as we can. Just like how you get
your first chance to fuck a cheerleader and she wakes up on the floor
across the room wondering what the hell hit her. That's basically what
it's like. It's like wow I get to fuck a Playboy Playmate tonight,
alright! You know, your pullin out all the stops. So yeah that's how you
leave 'em feelin.
P21: For those who haven't heard it, how does the new album differ from
Wake The Demons?
RM: There's a lot more personal content. There's definitely something
that everybody can relate to. I wrote all the lyrics and a lot of it is
personal content, like things that I went through. Like relationships,
family, friends, people that passed away, people fighting battles with
drugs that were able to persevere through it and I was able to help them,
and some that were just beyond reach. We have a song 'Suffer in Silence'
that's about them just giving up totally. They just gave up on
themselves. 'Hollowed' is another one where they just gave up. They got
their first taste and a month later they were dead. It's really sad.
There a couple songs also like 'Anchored Heart' and 'Trials of Triumph'
about overcoming all of the bullshit in life. Basically if someone tells
you that you can't do it, break their face and walk away, because you can
definitely achieve anything you want.
P21: What's behind the title of the new album?
RM: Well Within the Grasp of Titans, we needed a colossal title something
that was just as gigantic as the record itself and the music we wrote.
You know, it's very aggressive and imagine just being in a giant's hand.
That's a lot of discipline, a lot of power, a lot of strength. All is
takes is whoop and your done so Within the Grasp of Titans is kind of like
a personification of the album, metaphoric of the actual strength behind
the record.
P21: What do you guys have planned for videos for this album?
RM: We're gonna be doing a video for 'Solemn Promise.' Let me give you a
little background. 'Solemn Promise' is a song I wrote for my mom, because
she's the strongest person I know. She's been fighting cancer for many
years now and she's still fighting it. It's my dedication to her and to
her strength and that she hasn't given up. She's fighting, she's a caner
killer. There's a lot of lyrical content in 'Solemn Promise' that's like
saying I'm not gonna give up on her if she doesn't give up on her self and
there's times where she might not be strong enough, but you know what
sometimes you have to be strong enough for another person. You have to
take on their burden and that's what that song's about. So that'll be the
first video.
P21: Are you looking forward to the tour with Soulfly?
RM: Yeah you know it'll complete a cycle for us, because we did a
Sepultura tour a few years back and I mean I've been a big fan of Max from
the earlier Sepultura years and it'll be really nice to get to know him,
hopefully. I've heard some horror stories from bands where he's like
unapproachable, but hopefully he's not that way. I looked up to him when
I was a kid so we'll see what happens.
P21: Thanks, is there anything that you want to add?
RM: Yeah, Within the Grasp of Titans, it came out a few weeks ago if you
don't have it pick it up. And to anybody aspiring to be a musician, you
have to remember that longevity is the key to this game. You have to put
yourself out there to actually succeed.