Front Line Assembly
Date: May 3rd, 2007 · Venue: BB King's · City: New York City
Opening Band — Acumen Nation
Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly was playing in New York, promoting their latest album, Fallen. Last year, unfortunately, they had tour bus problems and were unable to complete the Artificial Soldier tour in New York, but as promised, they showed up the next year (2007). To view live concert footage and a mini-interview with the opening band, click here for Acumen Nation.
Interviewing Front Line Assembly
My interview with the band members of Front Line Assembly went a lot better than I initially anticipated. They were pretty laid back and receptive. I felt free and happy to do my usual nutty antics without any of them getting uptight.
Video Interview Downloads
I filmed 40 minutes of footage with the members of Front Line Assembly. I incorporated all of the footage into my sketch comedy show. The full episodes, as aired on public access TV, are available to download. The interview is a comical, fun conversation that shows a more personal and relaxed side of Front Line Assembly.
Episode 1 Summary
- FLA concert footage
- Ms. Poopee Doodee intros the show
- Sketch film preview — A Most Particularly Peculiar Bank Heist
- Chris Peterson and Adrian White interview
- Ms. Poopee Doodee concludes
- FLA live concert footage
Episode 2 Summary
- Ms. Poopee Doodee intros the show
- Interview with invisible Bill Leeb
- Ms. Poopee Doodee commentary
- FLA live concert footage
- Interview with Chris Peterson and Adrian White
- Ms. Poopee Doodee concludes
- FLA live concert footage
Episode 3 Summary
- Ms. Poopee Doodee intros the show
- Interview with Chris Peterson and Adrian White
- Final words
- Ms. Poopee Doodee concludes
- FLA live concert footage
MP4 (Mpeg 4) version available: Feel free to download the MP4 versions of the FLA interview here. These are for downloading only, about 130MB each — clearer, less grainy, with hardly any loss to the original quality, and can be watched at your leisure.
Ms. Divine's Tee Hee Heure
My show is a collection of short sketch comedy films, improvisations, and performances, as well as funny interviews with various musical artists. If you're interested in finding out more, feel free to watch the films on my site or request a DVD.
Front Line Assembly
It was fun meeting Front Line Assembly, but even more interesting to discover the assortment of bands they play in.
I was thinking about the term "side project" after meeting FLA and getting introduced to the various bands they're a part of. Many consider their other musical projects "side projects" — a term that most accurately describes projects worked on "the side," and sometimes leaves you with the impression that it's not top priority.
Unfortunately, when a band gets popular, people often feel that any less popular band the members are in is the "side project." The term is such a common one that it gets tossed around too easily, even by the artists themselves.
I am happy to give a brief summary of each of these diverse musical projects, so that many Front Line Assembly fans can discover and support their music.
Jared Slingerland
Jared Slingerland joined Front Line Assembly for the North American tour. He plays guitar and is also a member of the bands Stiff Valentine and Left Spine Down (with Jeremy Inkel). You can visit Stiff Valentine's MySpace at myspace.com/stiffvalentine (with Adrian White), and Left Spine Down at leftspinedown.ca. An official website is in progress.
Rhys Fulber is involved in Conjure One. Bill Leeb and Chris Peterson are involved in Noise Unit. Rhys Fulber and Bill Leeb are involved with Equinox, Fauxliage, and Delerium.
Rhys was pregnant and about to give birth, and didn't join the Front Line Assembly tour. He gave birth to a little girl — it's rumored that Bill Leeb is the father.
In the TV series The Young Ones, Vyvyan was also pregnant. The funniest thing was that the other guys didn't question how it was possible for him to be pregnant, but instead were quite supportive during his pregnancy and even laid out hot towels for him.
Adrian White
Adrian White started drumming at an early age and was a member of a string of various bands. Some of his earlier bands included Process, named after a religious-type cult from the 1960s called The Church of the Final Judgment (formed by Robert DeGrimston).
He was also a member of the band The Malignant Growth (which disbanded in 1994). Adrian was one of the co-founders of the band Strapping Young Lad, and you can hear his drumming on their debut album, Heavy as a Really Bad Thing. He even played guitar in Front Line Assembly for one of the tracks, and explains how this came about in Part 1 of the interview.
During Front Line Assembly's European tour, in Madrid, Adrian sang one of the songs, much to everyone's surprise. Who knows what Adrian will do next! Adrian White plays drums for the band Dismantled and will join them on their tour. He is also a member of the band Stiff Valentine.
Silent Alarm
Adrian White is currently involved with his solo project called Silent Alarm. He has a number of guest vocals on his songs, including that of Delerium's singer. His latest record, Codes, is out. For more information and to hear some samples, visit his MySpace at myspace.com/thesilentalarm.
Click on thumbnails to enlarge
Adrian White is very patient with his fans, and almost always very generous in signing drumsticks and even handing them out. So check out his band Silent Alarm and stick around after the show if you'd like something signed.
While we watched Acumen Nation, Adrian White remarked:
"Once I'm playing my drums, I'm happy. It doesn't matter what else happens."
Words spoken from a true drummer!
The Many Bands of Chris Peterson
Chris "Corndog" Peterson is responsible for keyboards and programming, and has contributed to a variety of FLA's albums since 1992.
He's actually one of the more underrated members of Front Line Assembly. Long before Front Line Assembly, Chris Peterson and Rhys Fulber were members of the band Will in 1987. Chris then joined FLA in 1990 on tour. Chris told me about his eggs, and the different baskets he puts them in — each basket a unique band Chris is a part of, and his little eggs hatch quite nicely in there.
The Mysterons
Chris is a member of the band The Mysterons. The musical style is reminiscent of the '60s — sort of like surf music. The music has no vocals, but does have a variety of sound effects, ranging from frog-croak noises to little screams to unusual noises that blend quite well with the tunes. Most of their MP3s are available for download from their main site, themysterons.net. My favorite song is "Sidewinder" from the album "Velvet Walls."
According to their MySpace, they'll have a new album coming out soon. The Mysterons is very different from Chris's other bands — you can see fun pictures of the whole band performing on their website, including some amusing photos of a rubber chicken on Chris's head. It sounds like a good band to go see, though pity they only play in Canada. But I'm sure those who do go, have a good time dancing and listening to their melodies.
Unit 187
Unit 187 is yet another band Chris is part of, with John Morgan and Tod Law. According to their official site, unit187.com, they'll soon be releasing a new album. If you're interested in hearing some of Chris's work in Unit 187, click here to listen to "Capital Punishment."
Decree
The band Decree was formed in 1996. Decree is quite different from any of his other bands, and is quite the contrast against The Mysterons — revealing a more personal, even darker side of Chris.
Decree is Chris's main focus, and after hearing some of their songs, you can't help but get the impression that this is something Chris is going to work on for years to come. Their first album was Wake of Devastation; their second, Moment of Silence.
Decree made a special guest appearance and contributed several songs to Showtime's Masters of Horror, in the episode "Dance of the Dead," directed by Tobe Hooper. I don't know which songs were used, but the song "Scorched Earth" would fit into a good sci-fi or horror movie.
Who knows what's in store for Decree — maybe one day Chris will even have the opportunity to compose music for movies! Visit their MySpace at myspace.com/decreemomentofsilence to hear samples of their music. On Decree's official site, decree.ca, there's talk of a new album and possibly an extensive tour.
Chris is quite the gentleman, and didn't mind me using my big muscles to push and move him around like furniture when I was arranging the setting for the interview. Another interesting thing about Chris is that he wears T-shirts with the sleeves cut off.
Cheers
Good luck, Chris and Adrian. May your artistic journey be a pleasant and self-fulfilling one.
— Ms. Divine
