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I thought that I had lost this interview. I conducted it with Jeff Facci at Metal Fest (April 29, 2006), but lost my voice recorder soon after. A friend accidentally put it in her bag, gave it back to me, but I didn't see it after that. It turns out that it ended up stuck in my bed somehow.
Anyway, this was Jeff's first interview, and he had a lot of cool things to say on the subject of Ozzfest, band reunions and fighting at shows.
PL: State something interesting about yourself.
FBC: Interesting about myself; huh. I like to eat a lot. I'm not really sure if thats interesting. I like to eat and sleep.
PL: Has hardcore's rise in popularity in recent years surprised you?
FBC: No. The way I look at it is that its always been an up and down thing with metal and hardcore. Hip Hop and Country have always been the biggest music genres out there, and metal always goes up and then goes back down with nobody caring about it, and then it goes right back up. Its gotten a little bit bigger than it normally has, especially with the smaller bands like us. Its nice to see. Its not really surprising to see, but its nice to see again, especially when you have a lot of friends.
PL: How do you think Ozzfest will compare to Sounds of the Underground?
FBC: Ozzfest is obviously gonna be bigger, because you've got the name "Ozzfest," and its in maybe its tenth year, and they always have the big national bands. Whatever it may be, they've got the really big bands, but Sounds of the Underground gets a lot of the bigger up and coming acts, like As I Lay Dying and In Flames. I think Ozzfest will be bigger, but Sounds of the Underground will be a more fresh show for people to see. We did two Sounds of the Underground shows last year, and they were out of control; some of the greatest shows we've ever played and in front of thousands of people, but I've heard from my friends who have played Ozzfest that they're playing in front of 5,000 or 6,000 at 12 in the afternoon, and there's 10,000 people there by the end of the day.
PL: Whats your take on all these band reunions happening?
FBC: Thats a tricky question for me, because some of the bands I love and am excited that they're getting back together and jamming again, but some of them you can tell are just getting back because hardcore and metal is on the rise again and they think they can make a quick dollar off of it. I don't know most of them personally, so I don't know what they're really after, but in my eyes, it looks like everybody's trying to do a reunion because they see everything getting bigger again and just want to jump on the boat while everything's cool. Some of the bands, I'll be excited to see. Its weird, but you'll still be happy to go see the bands, because its something that you've never been able to see when you were younger. I'm only 23, so I never got the chance to see a lot of the bands that are coming back together, so now I get my chance to see them, but its not gonna be the way it was originally.
PL: Do you think kids feel safe at hardcore shows?
FBC: No. Not most. I have a big disrepency about fighting at shows. I think its ridiculous, first of all. I understand that you get hit, and it hurts. You get hit, and you usually want to hit back; thats how it goes. But, when you're at a show, you should know that you're probably gonna get hit at some point, and that you should be able to just shrug it off and walk away or shake the guy's hand like it used to be. There's a big boundry that goes from getting hit while moshing to the fight. There's such a big space in there where there could be so much shit reconciled before it leads to a fight. So I think kids come to shows, or don't come to shows because they know that they could end up getting into a fight or getting beat up by somebody.
PL: Do you think there's anything that could be done to make kids feel safe at shows?
FBC: At this point, its mostly a security thing. If clubs or venues higher more security, or better/nicer security for that matter, not security thats gonna take the kids that are fighting and beat the shit out of them too, because thats not giving them an example. If he breaks up the fight and seperates them for awhile and gives them a warning, this way kids will feel a little bit safer when they know that security guards are there to help them, because most of the kids that are scared to come are little guys and younger kids that don't want to get beat up by older kids.
PL: Whats one movie everyone should see?
FBC: I've noticed that a lot of people haven't seen the original "The Poseidon Adventure."
PL: I haven't.
FBC: See. Go see "The Poseidon Adventure." Its a great flick, and they're doing a remake of it-of course; everybody's doing a fucking remake these days. If not, then any of the Jason movies. More recently, go see "King Kong," because that shit was fucking great.
PL: Whats a little known fact about New York?
FBC: A lot of people know that we have the best pizza and bagels, but nobody will admit. A little known fact about New York is that not all people from Queens hate Long Island people, and not all Long Islanders hate Queens people. Long Island is beautiful. I don't care what anybody from New York City tells you, Long Island is nice.
PL: Name one album, besides your own, that you think all kids should have in their collection.
FBC: Thats kind of a tough question. Can I name two?
PL: Sure.
FBC: The new In Flames record, Come Clarity; everybody should own that. I don't care if you don't like the newer In Flames stuff; its more like their old shit anyway. I don't care what anyone says, just get it; its awesome. And Dragonforce, any Dragonforce record. I'm more of a metal dude than I am a hardcore kid.
PL: I'm into everything.
FBC: I'm into everything, too. You know what I'm saying.
