Dino Cazares Interview: by Craig Sternberg
SD: How did you and Burton C Bell get back in contact with each other? What made you want to contact him?
Dino Cazares: Well, it wasn't that we contacted each other. I happened to be at the show seeing one of my favorite bands in Ministry, Meshuggah also. He happened to walk by me and just said, "Hi" and gave me a big hug. He said "I'm sorry for all the bull shit that went down." We just talked like old friends, nothing about Fear Factory what so ever. Nothing about reunions or anything like that.
SD: So are you guys civil now, are you guys friends? What's the deal?
Dino Cazares: Both! Were civil and were friends! Its cool man, its really cool. It's a big stress relief and a weight lifted off my shoulders you know what I mean?
SD: So here's your opportunity to dispel any myths of a possible Fear Factory reunion.
Dino Cazares: No. Not happening. That wasn't anything we talked about.
SD: It's good that you guys are friends though.I mean that's really cool.
Dino Cazares: You know some people say, "Well it's a start!" And yeah I guess it is kind of a start, we'll see what happens.
SD: What would have to happen in order for you guys to reunite?
Dino Cazares: Wow. I think the first thing is just everyone has got to be friends, that's the main thing. It'd have to be the same passion we had when we were doing Demanufacture. We were extremely passionate about music and we were all happy to be doing brutal, heavy, fast stuff. I have it in me, you hear it in Divine Heresy. I would expect it to hear it in them, it would have to be something that's ripping! Burt's going to have to sing brutal again, Raymond's got to bring the blast beats, It would just have to be a sick record.
SD: You always did mention that Demanufacture was the record you kind of wanted to go back to.
Dino Cazares: Exactly.
SD: So talk to me about the new Divine Heresy record, you guys have started writing it?
Dino Cazares: Yes we've been writing. We have four tracks written. They're brutal, fast, heavy, and actually less melodic so far. That isn't saying I won't put anything melodic on the record. So far its been written completely on the 8 string guitar.
SD: Do you think the whole record is going to be written on the 8-string guitar then?
Dino Cazares: I don't know. Whatever happens, whatever I feel inspired to do. Whatever guitar I feel inspired to pick up; not a 6 string though!
SD: So your aiming specifically for a heavier album then Bleed the Fifth?
Dino Cazares: That's just what's coming out. (Laughs) I mean come on! I got Joe Payne in the band, Tim Yeung.
SD: I know but you've always had a melodic edge to your playing.
Dino Cazares: Correct. I still think it's going to be in the music. Not really in the song's we've already written but it will still be there.
SD: Are there any themes as far as lyrics go for the new record?
Dino Cazares: There's no themes yet. I do want to get into the conceptual idea of what Divine Heresy is.
SD: So then what is Divine Heresy?
Dino Cazares: Well Divine is obviously something that is Godlike and Heresy is something that it's going against. So it'd be kind of a theme on the battle between good and evil.
SD: Did Bleed the Fifth live up to your expectations?
Dino Cazares: From a musical standpoint definitely. It's exactly the kind of record I wanted to make as a coming back record. Lyrically, there was a couple things I wasn't really into.
SD: Anything specific?
Dino Cazares: Well I thought the lyric "Face Smashed Fist" was kind of dumb. Couple other things here and there, besides that it's perfect.
SD: When can we expect a new Asesino record?
Dino Cazares: Both the new Divine Heresy and Asesino records will be out in 2009.
SD: How are you going to balance writing both those records?
Dino Cazares: I will be living in the studio. I started writing the new Asesino too, its brutal ripping death metal. The concept of that is going to be insane, as satanic as possible. The record is going to be called Santanteria. It's a play on words and it's obviously satanic. It's going to be an insane brutal record. Then Divine Heresy is going to be a brutal record as well, obviously a little more melodic though.
SD: One of the things I like about your playing is no matter the band you're in I know that it's you automatically. But at the same time in every band you've been in you've kind of had a different sound and style. So I wanted to talk about your guitar playing and the differences mainly between Fear Factory and Divine Heresy?
Dino Cazares: Well Fear Factory it was rhythmically we had a lot more patterns and every record was a little bit different then each other. It was a little more along the lines of trying to make things simpler, song oriented, something a little more accessible. Where as Divine Heresy I don't care about that. I just want to write some brutal shit.
SD: Since we are sickdrummer.com I wanted you to compare and contrast the styles between all the drummer's you've been involved with.
Dino Cazares: Raymond Herrera was really good at his feet and snare. When it came to rolls, he wasn't the best. He could do them, but he just wasn't the best at them. That's why in Fear Factory you wouldn't hear a lot of the rolls. Emilio Marquez just has this energy about him that reminds me of listening to old Pete Sandoval and old Terrorizer records. He's all over the place, he's crazy and you feel it when you place with him. He's got this vibe to him; I call him "Death Metal Backyard Fucking Blast Beats". Nick Barker can do amazing rolls man. It's kind of funny I wasn't really used to it, he would do these insane two bar rolls and hit it perfectly. It was so amazing. Barker had great feet; he was kind of a light hitter you know? Then all of a sudden I meet Tim Yeung. He's all hyper and just hitting shit all fast. I was like. "Damn man this guy is fucking crazy!" He's fast, he's technical, he knows all the different styles. Great fucking rolls, great feet, insanely fast, he's tight, good symbol work, all these little tricks he likes to do. He's definitely out of all the guys I've jammed with; Tim is the one who fits me best.
SD: On the Roadrunner United CD, did you want to work with some musicians you didn't get an opportunity to work with?
Dino Cazares: Yeah there was a couple of guys. I wanted to work with Max Cavalera but Robb Flynn beat me to him. Plus at the time I was working with Andreas Kisser and things didn't work out in that way. That was
really about it.
SD: You guys did a demo with James Murphy when you were still jamming with Nick Barker. Did any of those songs end up being Divine Heresy songs and was Nick's drumming similar to Tim's?
Dino Cazares: Rise of the Scorned was on that demo. I don't think Nick really drummed like Tim. He did more of the two foot blast. Tim can do it all of course, but they had a different vibe about it. It's a great track, we changed a lot of parts on it but the beginning blast is a Nick Barker kind of blast. The really fast double bass.
SD: Is anyone going to get to hear that demo or is that put away forever?
Dino Cazares: It's put away. There was 4 songs, one of the songs will most likely resurface on the next record.
SD: How different do you think the band would be if you kept Nick Barker and not Tim Yeung?
Dino Cazares: It would sound more European and have more of a Euro vibe. Overall, I think Tim is what's best for this band and I think a lot of people think that too.
SD: What happened with jamming with Nick Barker, why didn't it ever come to fruition?
Dino Cazares: Nick had some personal issues he needed to work out and had to go back to England.
SD: List your top 5 favorite drummers!
Dino Cazares: Tim Yeung is in my top 5. Joey Jordinson, we got to jam at the Roadrunner live show. You can name any song from regular rock to death metal and he can play it. He was a great guy to work with and a great guy in general. Some of the other guys I've played with Nick Barker, Raymond Herrera, and Gene Hoglan! I never got to jam with Gene Hoglan but I'm hoping and waiting. When we were doing Divine Heresy "Royal Blood Heresy" some blasts and some patterns on it, he was like "Fuck! I'm glad I'm not in your band and have to play that!" I said, "Why?" He was like, "Dude I'd be tired!"
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