Interview- 16volt

Grave Concerns:  Hey Eric, How have you been? It seems like forever
since we have heard new music from 16Volt, well, about 9 years since
“SuperCoolNothing”. What have you been doing away from 16 Volt?

Eric: I have been mostly well, trying to kind of sort out everything. What my
life was without music, figuring out my place in the world, you know,
the normal drama. getting my act together musically, repairing my
musical spirit. blah blah.



Grave Concerns: What was it like working with all those guest
musicians on the new album? What were you hoping they would all bring
to the new CD? What was the balance like for the album?


Eric: It was nice to have those guys play the stuff. Iwrote all the parts but
to have them play it in their own way really added to the dynamic of it
performance wise. i don't like things being too one-dimensional and as
far as playing instruments goes, these guys smoke me, so it was great to
have them up the ante so to speak on the performance of the parts. just
to have them involved in any way is an honor, these guys are not only my
friends but people i respect wholly on a musical level.



Grave Concerns: What were some of your biggest struggles you faced
through the years with 16 Volt, and how is it played out on the new
album?


Well since 1998 it's pretty much all been a struggle. so much so that I
got to a point where I was done with it. i had to go to that point to
figure out why i was doing it in the first place again. i am the first
to say I lost my way with it. i had so many outside influences guiding
me that I lost my path. i forgot where I was. I felt inept on many
levels and i felt like I had nothing more to give to it. i think th enew
album speaks for itself on where i have come back to. i am in a new
place altogether, honestly, I feel more accomplished as a writer and
producer of this band than i ever have. stepping out of the limelight
with it was the best thing I could have done for myself and for 16volt.
it's totally cheesy and cliché to use this saying but but, " I set it
free and it came back to me".



Grave Concerns: What was it like to finally have a home at Metropolis
Records? Where you getting discouraged with looking for labels? What
did it take to finally get past artistic differences?


Eric: Well ,I was honestly over it completely. The thought of trying to get on
another label was a total turnoff. Not that I went through anything
special, there are hundreds of bands that went through what we did but I
didn't want to get back into that at all. shopping it, managers, a&r
guys, no thanks. I had talked to dave from metropolis about signing
16volt awhile back but I wanted to finish the album first. Before I even
thought about it. that was a big difference too, in the past we were
always under the gun, time-wise, schedule-wise and more recently
art-wise. so I didn't want any of that around. I wanted to just write.
just me and pro tools working. this record is a story about all that,
you can read the lyrics and apply the songs to your own life but if you
read into them and apply it to 16volt you can really see where I was and
where I am now. Once i had it done and had rough mixes complete, that's
when I went back to dave and joseph and said here, let's do this. I am
ready.

Grave Concerns: Back in 1995-1997, 16 Volt was everything I wanted
Industrial music to be.  I listened to “Wisdom’ and “LetDownCrush”
over and over. Since your last album, how have you seen the music
scene change, and did you have to think differently going about this
new album? Is it hard to find for you to find good Industrial rock
anymore?



Eric: I  am not looking. I am completely insular with the writing of this
record. its been awhile since I toured so i really don't know what it's
like out there. I can speak about portland and l.a. and those cities
seem to be doing fine. I takes a lot to get people out in l.a. but in
portland, the scene is pretty small but pretty strong. I get a bunch of
mail from all over the world and although the scene has become smaller
again, it's just as strong, we just need more good music and tours and
people will get into it.



Grave Concerns:  Since 16 Volt was away for so long. Do you feel fans
missed hearing from 16 Volt? Did you miss the fans listening to 16
Volt?  So, How did the build up for the new release go? What were some
of your new ideas, for promo and anything else that comes to mind?


Hell yeah, I missed them and they missed the band. But I think alot of
taking for granted was going on in both directions. our time apart has
made us stronger... I think once work started getting out it spread
pretty quick to the hardcore fans... the rest will just have to figure
it out and get on board.



Grave Concerns: Compared to your other releases, where does
FullBlackHabit stand?

Eric:I  think it's a good mix of everything but i also think its the best
release i have ever done. i think the new record will stand up over time
and be another classic like wisdom was.



Grave Concerns: FullBlackHabit has been in the Metropolis- Top- Ten,
are you pleased with the results so-far? What else would you like to
see happen in the next few months due to this release?



Eric: It's been really cool to see that kind of stuff, it's really a nice
affirmation, right now I just want to get a tour figured out and get out
there and play.


Grave Concerns: What has always set 16 Volt aside from other
Industrial rock artists? If you could choose one, would it be? Music,
Lyrics, or Vocals ?



i am breaking your rules but I would have to say all three. To me the
vocals are like another instrument but I always bring melody, harmony
and song to industrial, something a lot of other artist don't focus on.
My priorities are different. to me the song is the most important thing,
followed by the production and vocals/lyrics. You can take a lot of
16volt songs onto an acoustic guitar and just vocal and they still stand
up as good songs, and that it my ultimate goal, to make great songs and
then produce them in a sonically interesting way.



Grave Concerns: Can you tell us more about your tour experience and
with KMFDM?




Eric: Well I have known sascha for over a decade and i have been a fan for
longer. we got to tour together on the sturm & drang tour, it was 34
shows in 36 days and it was the best time i have ever had on the road. I
love those guys and their crew. Just an all around great experience.


 Grave Concerns: Like me, listening to 16 Volt in the 90’s was the
coolest thing ever, but now I am in my 30’s, do you feel your fans are
still sticking by you now in 2007?



Eric: Yes. indeed. I think we have more fans across the globe now too, where
we might not have as many in one place, we have more spread out. I think
this record may help that.


 Grave Concerns:  Two of my favorite new tracks are “Suffering You”  &
“Therapy”, can you tell me more about how these songs were molded into
the final result?



Eric: Well suffering you was a track that we wrote many years ago during the
time before the sony playstation game, primal came out. It was always in
demo form and I wanted to redo it and have it properly mixed and
mastered. With therapy, that was a collaboration between me and scott
robison that just came together really nicely and I felt like it made so
much sense in the story of 16volt and of me for that matter. At some
points in life we have to just stop everything and breathe.


Grave Concerns: Of all the 16 Volt songs, which do you think is most
popular, especially when you play live and why?



IEric:'d have to go with motorskill, suffering you, cut collector. I love
playing cut collector cause I haven't had to sing the chorus pretty much
ever. at any 16volt show, and on our live cd you can hear why.


Grave Concerns: Anything else going on besides touring, etc in your
life? What do you do outside of music?


Eric: Well I have a family so that takes up a good amount of my time, raising
my son and daughter. I love to jsut be involved in creative things, I do
a lot of interactive design and art direction, some of my recent
projects have included work for molson, coors, levis, microsoft, and I
always keep busy doing music stuff for many different things, boost
mobile, microsoft surface, and I am working on the soundtrack to a new
movie by the guy who did saw 2, 3 and 4. check our site on updates for
that, it's gonna be massive and really really cool.

Grave Concerns: Do you have any good musician tips for others?



Eric: We'd have to write a novel. Just stay true to yourself I guess, find the
love for it and stay by that.




 Grave Concerns: Thanks for talking with us. Any final thoughts?


Eric: Well no. thank you. It's really cool to get such great support from
everybody so honestly, thank you guys for giving me the space and thanks
to you, the readers for taking the time out of your life to check it
out. see you out there, come say hi. -eric