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FIGURE FOUR - par David - novembre 2001
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David: OK, not a real standard first question for an interview but certainly something that a lot of people here would like to know: when are you guys coming over to play in Europe ?

Bailey: Well, we have been talking about going to Europe for a while, we would like to get over the as soon as possible, so we are just waiting for the first available moment... and as soon as that comes, we're coming over...

David: I wanted to know that because your second album, When It's All Said And Done, got very good response over here and it's available everywhere - which is awesome of course. How do you guys look upon the album yourselves ?

Bailey: It's alright, we all feel that the songs are a lot better than the first album, but we were not satisfied with the production of the record.

David: I think the brutal heaviness is super ! In what way were you guys not satisfied ?

Bailey: Well first off, thanks for the compliment about the new record... We were not satisfied in the overall production of it mostly but there were little details as well, such as in some songs the kick pedal sounds very muffled, as well, we were going for a lot heavier of a sound, heavier guitars, a more thicker feel to it, we had brought in a bunch of cd's from our collection and said we want this part of our cd to sound like this, but in the final result it just wasn't there...

David: Did a great second album with good distribution deals already open some new doors ?

Bailey: Yes it definitely has.... but for opening doors I think that the amount of touring we've done has helped us out a bit more in that area...

David: With what bands did you tour the past year and how was the experience touring a lot of the USA ?

Bailey: This recent tour we just did was with an amazing old school hardcore band, Through It All, and it was 3 weeks all of excited the whole way, I had the best time of my life; I watched them every single night that we played with them, 23 times to be exact. We also played several dates with some friends of ours Point Of Recognition (from So Cal), with is always awesome, as well several dates with Evergreen Terrace (from Jacksonville FL.), and Seventh Star (from Ocala FL.), some awesome guys and a great band. Other than that we spent a lot of time on the road by ourselves. During the summer of 2000 Figure Four hit the road with xDisciplex A.D., as well as Overcome for a 2 weeks each...

David: Sounds like you really toured a lot the past year... How do you keep that up with your work or studies and so on ? What do you guys do in every day life by the way ?

Bailey: Well, none of us really work except Jeremy; he has a job, he assembles furniture.... Mel mostly plays with War Machine her guinea pig... Andrew sleeps in real late and lounges around the house most of the day... Mike watches Law & Order at 1 p.m. otherwise I dont see why he would get up... and Bailey keeps occupied with booking a couple tours for his friends' band and wasting his day away on the internet.

David: So you spend a lot of time on the internet... do you visit hardcore messageboards, and if so, what's your opinion on all the gossiping and backstabbing that is going on on those boards ?

Bailey: Well actually I never go on message boards ever, except if I am trying to find someone to book a show in another city; sometimes I read the Winnipeg boards, but I never post on them, I don't even have a name or password for it.... I don't really understand why all the gossip goes on with the boards really, just one of the things.

David: What are sites that you check a lot ?

Bailey: I spend a lot of time e-mailing kids I met on tour, and right now most of the day booking shows for both Figure Four and other bands, I used to be on that site www.makeoutclub.com a long time ago, and I check out my friends' site somewhat often... just surf the net...

David: The 3 extra tracks on the new cd which came from No Weapon Formed Against Us, were those considered as best "old" songs or were they just picked at random ?

Bailey: Well actually we didn't have anything to do with what songs were on the cd... Chris who was running Kingfisher at the time picked out those songs, so as far as it been random or not, I have no idea.

David: The song Who Belongs has some great lyrics. Does Figure Four meet a lot of opposition because of the beliefs of the bandmembers - cause that's what the song's about isn't it ?

Bailey: Well not too often...occasionally something will come up, but most of the time everyone is pretty cool; the song is mostly about unity and hardcore pride, just having a place in the scene...

David: Once in a while we read over here in the newspapers about the separation movement in Quebec. Do you have an opinion on that, and do you feel a certain rivalry in the Canadian hardcore scene between english- and french-speaking bands ?

Bailey: Honestly I don't pay attention to any of the affairs that go on around me; personally I dont think Quebec should separate from Canada, but if it did I don't think there would be any sort of rivalry, we actually played over there on this last tour and had a chance to meet a lot of awesome people. I think the worst that could happen would be a problem getting across the border to play a show... other then that I doubt anything would come up.

David: I've read on your homepage that the latest line-up change involved a new female guitar player. You don't see many girls in hardcore bands... the only bands I can think of that quickly are Indecision and Neshamah. How's it like, and where did you know Mel from ?

Bailey: Having her in the band is awesome, once we saw this old band in Winnipeg called the Fairlanes, and when we were looking for a new guitar player one of us mentioned the guitar player for them, so we called her up and asked her over for a practice, and everything went awesome... she rules... she's an awesome guitar player and definitely has filled the shoes of our previous guitar player.

David: Bands like Hatebreed and N.I.V., or Madball and other NYHC bands have probably influenced you guys a great deal... but is there other music that you really dig; stuff we wouldn't expect ?

Bailey: Mel's favorites : Jesse Cook, Morbid Angel, King Diamond, Vio-lence, Audio Adrenaline, Destruction. Mike's favorites: Smiths, Johnny Cash, Depeche Mode, Razor, Vanilla Muffins. Jeremy's: only Abba, no hardcore, just Abba. Andrew's favorites : Larry Norman, Petra, DC Talk, Jay-Z, Creed, Our Lady Peace, Tragically Hip, Sandi Patty, P.O.D., Michael W. Smith (Friends is his favorite song). Andrew doesn't really listen to much hardcore, just Bailey, Mike and Mel do. Bailey's favorites : Oxymoron, blackjacks, bruisers, bag pipes are pretty cool...

David: Where's that "Del Bomber" name from if I may ask ? Just curious ;-)

Bailey: It's from one of the greatest movies ever...called the Wanderers, and in the movie there is a bunch of different gangs in it like the Ducky boys, the Baldies, the Spades and so... if you ever get the chance to watch this movie you definitely should...

David: I'll give you 5 keywords and you give a reaction, OK ?
-the scene
-Bryan Adams
-September 11th
-ice cream

Bailey: The scene... has its ups and downs, I love travelling from scene to scene and have seen the similarities and differences, been able to say New York has things in common with Seattle. Seen different dress styles, watching the way kids dance in each city, listen to what bands are popular in each area. Bryan Adams... he rules, he is one of the best Canadian musicians ever and my mom listens to him, how cool is that. September 11th... usually an average day, except for the unfortunate tragedy that occured this recent year. Ice cream... I love it, sometimes I buy a whole 4 liter thing of ice cream and seat and eat it through out a whole movie, but sometimes it melts to fast, and doesn't taste as good, and even after you put it back in the freezer after it's melted it's still not as good. Straightedge... generally something pretty cool, just not something I call myself.

David: Thanx a lot for this interview Bailey ! Got any last words for the hxc kids in Europe ?

Bailey: Be prepared for the arrival of Figure Four, it's coming soon. We will destroy everything that comes across our paths. Hope to see all you kids soon, take care !



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