SOCIETY 1 Frontman Talks About Being Dropped By EARACHE RECORDS

Blasting-Zone.com recently conducted an in-depth interview with outspoken SOCIETY 1 frontman Matt Zane. Several excerpts follow:

Blasting-Zone.com: What led to you being dropped by Earache Records?

Matt: "We originally signed with Earache for a three record deal and they decided not to pick up the option on the last record. We're not one of those bands that's going to try to keep (our being dropped) a secret, because how are you supposed to get the word out that you're looking for representation? I know Earache shipped as many copies of the latest record as they did with the one previous. If you only ship 'x' amount of records, you're only going to have the ability to sell 'x' amount of records. It was really frustrating when 'The Sound That Ends Creation' came out because we were getting between fifty and one hundred e-mails a day with people saying that they couldn't find the record. The label's argument was that people could order it off the web. Our argument was that you won't find that many kids who are fourteen, fifteen or sixteen years old that have credit cards. It really sucks when you go on tour someplace for the first time and they don't have your record. And then you go back a second time and they still don't have your record and you go back a third time and they still don't have your record, but they have a ton of other Earache artists."

Blasting-Zone.com: Maybe they couldn't afford to send out more copies of your latest record because they spent all their money signing ADEMA…

Matt: "It's funny that you bring that up. I'm not one to really bash Earache. If I had to criticize them for anything, it would be that once they've decided you're not the most important thing anymore, you're pretty much fucked. When ADEMA got signed to Earache, Sin, our guitar player, and I got on the phone and told each other that we were fucked…this label is done with us. We knew it at that point… the moment they signed ADEMA. We discussed it with their people and they tried to assure us that this wasn't the case. But when the record came out and absolutely nothing was being done with it, we called up the publicist they had at the time and he was like, 'I have to be honest with you. This is the most unprepared we've ever been for a new release in the entire time I've been working here.' At that point, I knew we were screwed."

Blasting-Zone.com: What made you decide that being suspended by meat hooks in your back was going to be a good time?

Matt: "I've always been about creating something new. I've always been interested in combining things like porn and rock. I was the first guy to do that and create that whole thing. I was looking for that next step where I could really show people where a lot of my influences and love of music was coming from. I have a friend named Joey Strange who I've worked with on and off who is one of the premier body modification performance artists in the world. This guy brought me into this world, slowly but surely. He started bringin' me down to these suspension parties and I just slowly became acclimated to the surroundings and the lifestyle. Eventually I just decided to take the jump for the first video for 'Exit through Fear'."

Blasting-Zone.com: Do you feel the next album will be heavier?

Matt: "No. We're to the point where we don't know if people will be able to consider us a heavy metal or and industrial metal act after the next album. And that doesn't mean that any of our topic matter has changed or that the way we present it is any more commercial or emo. I'm not screaming anymore. I'm not saying that I'm singing like that guy from THE USED…all that nasally singing. One of the main problems I have with metal bands right now is, if you listen to the music, there are only two types of singers out here right now. There's the ones that just scream, which I can't get into because there's no melody there… there's nothing there. The there are the guys that scream and then sing, but when they sing, it sounds like a different singer. I don't get that either… I just don't get that. I think metal bands as a whole have missed the boat when it comes to vocals. We've just decided to go in a different area. Maybe it's more of a rock-oriented path. At the same time, it's heavy rock. It's not like RATT or POISON. It definitely has more melody introduced to it."

Read the entire interview at Blasting-Zone.com.