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How is the tour going so far?
"Very good, it's almost over. We have two shows left, this one tonight and one in France. We've done Germany for a long time, we were there for ten days. And we did the U.K. which is always good for us.
We wanted to do a tour with someone with a different style of music. And Type O were going on tour and they asked us."
Was this double-tour only for overseas gigs?
"Yeah it was, but now we're gonna do it in the States, starting in January the 21st. Because we had so much fun and we want to mix the two styles of kids together. So we're co-headlining because we are both at the same level over there."
Is playing live the best thing of being in a band?
"Yeah, I think it is. We're a live band. We're not a MTV or a radioband. If you want to know Coal Chamber I think you'll have to see a live show.
Most of the time I still enjoy playing live very much. When you're far away from home it can feel like a job sometimes, but it's been fun on this tour. Some tours suck, it's boring to do the same thing every day but this tour has been fun."
Can you tell us something about the influences Coal Chamber had for making this album 'Chamber Music'?
"With the last album we wanted to step away from all the new music coming out, you know, like Limp Bizkit, Korn or Static X. Every new band is getting clumped on this new metal thing. We wanted to get away from it. So we made a new album and we wanted to write more than just about anger and to be not so aggressive all the time.
So we put keyboards and string sections on it and Dez is singing more melodic.
We look at this one as our first album."
But you're still proud of the first one (Coal Chamber), right?
"Yeah sure. The new one is the first one but it has more texture to it. We're very proud of the first one, we gained a lot of fans with it in the States and over here.
We just wanted to step up and push ourselves to see if we could be mature musicians.
We wanted more melody and a more universal sound to reach more people. As far as underground audience goes, I think we're probably as big as you can get, before you touch the mainstream. And we aren't afraid to say we want to touch the mainstream. Every band wants to be huge, but we're doing it the slow way. We're not going to write a one-hit, like an overnight type of thing."
What's your favorite song on 'Chamber Music'?
"I like 'Untrue' the best. Because it's pretty personal and it's the first song where Dez actually sang a chorus. It was crazy when we recorded it.
And I like 'My Mercy' because it's so different. With the string section in it, it makes the song so different from what we usually write. And that song was supposed to be on the first album. But it was so different, we thought people are gonna say: 'What the hell is this?'. But with this album we weren't afraid to do anything.
I think this album has more emotions, it has anger on it, it has love and hate, it has everything. It's more universal. Even 'Tyler's Song' is pretty positive, and some people didn't expect that. They were thinking that we were supposed to be angry and we're all devil worshippers and stuff like that."
How important is image to Coal Chamber as a band?
"The image didn't come with the band, I mean, like I was kicked out of school for the way I dressed, even before I was in the band. It's definitely something we're not trying to sell records with. Our image changes just like our music changes.
But sure it is important, I kind of look at it as 50 percent of everything. It's not just music, this is an entertainment business. People want to be entertained. You can see a normal looking band standing on stage anywhere."
Do you notice that a lot of fans want to look like you?
"Yeah, that's the part of it. These kids can come to the show and kind of live through us for that one day. They can dress like us and wear make-up for that night but they can't do that normally. It's like Halloween for one night."
What kind of music do you listen to?
"I like The Cure. I like dark stuff. I listen to Enigma and mellow stuff. I never listen to anything heavy."
And what do you guys play in the tourbus?
"We all play different things and I wear headphones and go off on my own. They play anything, like rap and Dez plays death metal crap that I can't stand. I play darker stuff.
I like being depressed. I don't know why, but I'm really happy or really depressed, there's no in between."
So how are you feeling now?
"I'm happy right now. If I was depressed I wouldn't say one word."
Mikey laughs and I'm glad he's not depressed.
"I get like that before I play. You can't talk to me."
Are you still nervous before a show?
"Yes, but it's not as bad as it was. When I first got in the band I was 19, and when we got onstage I was so nervous my arms just wouldn't move! Now it's more like anxious, I get butterflies and stuff. When we did the Ozzfest in London two years ago, there were like 67.000 people, and I looked out and thought 'Oh my god!'. That was the last time I was really nervous.
I get more nervous when no one is at the show. We used to play shows where were like ten people, that sucked! When there are a lot of people you can't individually pick out a face."
Are those the gigs you will always remember?
"Yes, that Ozzfest one. And the ones I remember the most are the bad ones. We were opening up for Ozzy in Germany, and they were throwing money at us, telling us to stop and holding up their tickets. I will never forget that one. But we just played there and it was good. I remember the bad ones, I'm negative like that."
Do you like the Internet?
"I don't go on it. I never have time. We just got our website put up and I'm gonna start doing a diary every other day. But the website we had before was made by a fan of ours who became a friend. And we got bigger in America and he just took the name and wouldn't give it to us. We had to buy our own name back from one of our fans, it was like $7000. So he's obviously not our friend anymore. So now we've got this new one put up, but I haven't even seen it yet. So with that diary I want to get involved more."
Mike finished the given sentence: My prediction for the next ten years in rock is... "hopefully I'll be the richest, famous person in the world, hahaha! No ehmm, I think it's getting better, like in the States MTV is starting to play heavy music and they're starting to play us, Korn and Limp Bizkit, which is good. I think music is growing and I think techno is gonna be the hugest thing in the world pretty soon. Hopefully music will grow."
What question would you ask yourself, what would fans like to know about you or the band?
"They know it all. Especially through the internet, they know too much! We don't hide anything. So there's nothing to reveal, really."
Then Dez walks in and gives Mike a hint by picking up a banana. "We have nothing to reveal, except that Meegs has a very big..."
http://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/coal-chamber/coal-chamber/364/
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