Interview Chris Spicuzza & Rob Arnold Chimaira

Lineup: Mark Hunter - Vocals Rob Arnold - Guitars Chris Spicuzza - Electronics Matt Devries - Guitar Jim LaMarca - Bass Kevin Talley - Drums

ROADRAGE TOUR 2004 Machine Head Chimaira Trivium HOB Chicago 8/23/04 Interview: Karma E. Omowale Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

"Trying to make a career out of music is a gigantic risk therefore, I would say, no, you don’t have control over your own fate."

Goes to show it’s not impossible for a band to change their tune. Chimaira tuned to “C” for their latest release Impossibility of Reason making them darker and deeper… I caught up with Chimaira during their 2004 RoadRage Tour in Chicago at the HOB on 8/23 and had the chance to chat with the band’s guitarist, Rob Arnold, & electronics master, Chris Spicuzza. Typically, a chimaera is a three-headed mythological creature that is comprised of “disparate parts”…an atypical name for an atypical band that shines in today’s overrun genre of generic bands in the metal scene. Comfortably accepting the scepter for being the kings of NWOAHM (New Wave of American Heavy Metal), their ever-evolving sound is solid as they forge ahead to engrave their names on the walls of metal history.

Karma: Okay, sound off and tell our viewers your name and what you do for the band.

Rob: I’m Rob and I play lead guitar for Chimaira.

Chris: Hello, I’m Chris and I do all the sampling and keyboards for Chimaira.

Karma: I know people ask you all the time about the band’s meaning…what I’d like to know is why did you spell the name of the band the way you did?

Chris: I think that was completely random.  I don’t know why we chose to make it so difficult [smiles] ‘cos no one can ever spell it.

Karma: [laughs] 

Chris: But I really don’t know, we just picked one [a name], I’m sure.

Rob:  Probably one of those things where we just wanted to make life difficult for everybody.  [Every one laughs]  We don’t have a great answer for this one I’m afraid!  [Laughter continues]

Chris: This was before my time, so I’m trying to make something up on the fly. [Laughter]

Karma: Well thanks Chris!  [Laughing]

Chris: [Laughing] Yeah, we just wanted to make life difficult so…

Rob: …to see if people could pronounce it.

Karma: You really succeeded!  [All laughs]  But at least it stands out, if nothing else [and that’s the name of the game]

Rob: As the years go one, people pronounce it more correctly….

Chris: Sepultura wasn’t pronounced correctly until they got big so let’s hope that happens with us.

Karma: This is more of a Mark question, perhaps you can answer it, but what was the basis of his vocals changing along with the lyrics being darker?

Rob: That is a Mark question, he handles that department completely but I think he just sings from the mood of his life at the time, you know.  I guess just perhaps that’s how he was feeling at the time and that’s what he chose to write about.

Karma: How was it for being apart of the Freddy vs. Jason Soundtrack?

Rob: It was cool!  A lot of the guys in the band are horror fans.  I personally really don’t know too much about horror films; I don’t really look at them that much…

Chris: [Beaming] It was just cool to be in the credits of a movie!

Rob: Yeah!  [Smiling]

Chris: And to be a part of a Soundtrack with a great huge list of bands, I mean that’s what I was stoked about. 

Karma: How do feel being labeled/categorization as being a part of the NWOAHM genre?  Are you getting tired of it or is it something that you’ve embraced?

Rob: Embraced it, it’s something that we hear a lot especially from the press angle; but we are bound to be a part of something like that because metal is coming back and it’s definitely stronger.  Maiden, Venom and stuff being the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) 20-25 years ago, whatever…so to be a part of something like that’s coming back in a genre in which we love so much, being metal.  It’s definitely a cool feeling to be one of the pioneers of this [NWOAHM movement]

Karma: How has the Roadrage Tour been treating you so far?

Rob: Awesome!  Every night’s been cool!

Chris: This is my favorite one [kind of tour] out of all of them.  All the bands hang out; everyday we’re BBQ’ing outside having a great time…I couldn’t be happier.  The biggest thing about this tour is that is supposed to be a family diet because it’s all Roadrunner bands.  In the past we had it, but not to this extent, it’s been great.  All of the shows have been packed, awesome crowds…  I couldn’t be happier with this tour, that’s for sure!

Rob: It’s totally egoless which really helps out on a tour.

Karma: I’m sure it does.

Rob: Everyone’s just way cool with everybody and that’s it; it’s kind of a give or take relationship because we’re sharing everything.  We are co-headlining with Machine Head, which is an honor for us, but just all around it has been completely awesome for us.

Karma: How have things being working out with Kevin? [Who recently joined the band on 08/02/04]

Rob: Great!  He’s what Chimaira needed and that’s more of an inside thing and I guess we really couldn’t explain that; he brings a new element to the band: personality wise, attitude wise, ambition wise…despite all of that, he’s an awesome drummer.  We’re really happy to have him.

Karma: How did he happen to join the band?

Rob: He was a recommendation from Kerry King from Slayer.  He had tried out for Slayer, this was a couple of years ago; because [Dave] Lombardo came back, he didn’t get the gig.  We needed a drummer so we called up Kerry and asked him for a recommendation, so that’s how we got him.

Karma: How do you guys unwind when you’re on the road?

Chris: Video games, movies…  Ever band is the same I think.

Karma: What kind of video games?

Rob: We play a lot of Halo.

Karma: X-Box?

Rob: Yeah

Chris: I like the sports games but the other guys like to play Halo.  They have them linked to 2 TV’s on the bus and they just go nuts. [Smiles]

Rob: Not many hours of sleep!  [Laughs]  But we just like to kick back, do a lot of eating!  [Smiles]

Karma: [Laughs]

Chris: Yeah, we do a lot of eating, that’s for sure!

Karma: What is your favorite song to perform?

Rob: Go ahead and take that one…I’m thinking…

Chris: It used to be “Dehuman[izing Process]” but we don’t do the Wall of Death thing anymore so I’d say “Power Trip”.  Especially on this tour because I know it’s near the end of the set! [Everyone laughs]

Rob: Mine’s probably The Impossibility of Reason, the title track of the CD.  I just like the vibe of it all around; it’s kinda like a break in the set, we go from the older songs from Pass Out Of Existence into that song, again, and to introduce The Impossibility songs again.  It’s just a fun song to play.

Karma: Do you have a pre-show ritual?

Rob: A lot of shots, cocktails…  [All laughs]  And scratching.

Chris: Usually if we have Stoli Vanil, it’s a great day or Grey Goose Vanilla, my bad!  Or Jäger, that’s our ritual!

Karma: Barring “Fascination Street” [song the band already covered by The Cure] what other song would you cover from the 80’s? [Complete silence]  Did I stump you? [Everyone smiles; Rob & Chris are in deep thought]

Rob: [Mumbles to Chris] “Welcome To The Jungle” maybe?  [Hunches shoulders]  “Kick Start My Heart” [Mötley Crüe]

Chris: “Hungry Like The Wolf” Duran Duran [laughs]

Group: Ahh!!  Wow

Karma: That’s sweet!

Rob: Great answer!!  [Complimenting Chris]

Karma: That IS a good answer!  Especially as far as we [FourteenG staff] is concerned!  What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you when you were on the road?

Chris: When ever something crazy happens I want to take a mental note for these questions alone but I forget EVERYTHING!  [Laughter erupts]

Rob: Our bus accident was pretty crazy; no one was hurt. 

Karma: That’s good to hear

Rob: It wasn’t really crazy but it was certainly, you know…it was hard to sleep a year after that and being on the bus would make us nervous.  Sometimes when we break hard or anything like that I wake up immediately and fold up my legs [while demonstrating the action].  ‘Cos that’s the thing when you’re in your bunk and if you crash you don’t want you legs under you because they would break.

Chris: I always put my legs against [the wall] [demonstrating his “leg breaking” preventative measure as well] hoping that…if you figure we’d hit it would you’d only break your ankles.

Rob: But do you think you have the power though with the momentum over the power of the bus in a crash to hold your body?

Chris: [laughs while mulling over what Rob said to him]

Rob: I think your legs would smash up in your body [The visuals of all of this are alarming; frightening as this may be, it is a reality, and safety is something every musician should consider along with an escape plan]

Chris: [nervously laughs]

Rob: I think it would break your spine or something.  So I always just think I’m going to roll out of my bunk if that’s gonna happen that way if I’m on the floor, it’s less damage.

Chris: [laughs again] Man!

Karma: I know, right! [everyone laughs]

Rob: [Laughing] These are the things you think of while you are in your bed at night!  Because you don’t want to die while you’re on tour!

Karma: So do you believe you hold the keys to your own fate?

Rob: Hmmm, not necessarily…we can only work as hard as we can, you know, we put everything we have into the music, the band and everything that’s involved in it.  But it’s up to the records you write, it’s up to the fan reception and how hard your team of management and label and everything works and supports you to help you achieve your goals but just on your own, I mean there’s so many good bands out there, that work hard and have great musicians that’ll never make it or achieve their goals because they don’t have the right element of people pushing it or it’s just not the right time or whatever.  Trying to make a career out of music is a gigantic risk therefore, I would say, No!  You don’t have control over your own fate.

Chris: I noticed that there have been a lot of bands breaking, it’s always the luck of the draw or they’re there at the right time and that’s how they broke or at least that’s how I perceive it.  Unless you’re a groundbreaking band like System of a Down was one of those bands that no one expected to come out and they did something completely different from everything out there.  But as for like your average band that’s out there, I think it’s just the luck of the draw.

Karma: Do you have a mantra?

Rob: A what?

Karma: A mantra, a rule of thumb that you live by.

Rob: Uh, yeah…I’m not going to do anything I don’t want to do and if I want something, I’ll get it somehow.

Chris: I just try my hardest to stay relaxed and not [get] stressed out other wise I’m absolutely miserable then I’m just not much fun to be around. [laughs] That’s all I want to do is stay relaxed.

Karma: What's your thoughts on downloading?

Rob: It's inevitable.  There's nothing you can do about it, of course it affects our record sales with albums sold and everything but then again when we were starting out, we may not be where we're at right now had [downloading] not existed.  For me I download music and stuff, most of my CD collection is burned.  If I hear one song from a band or whatever like that, I'm not just going to go out and buy the record, but that's just me.  I'd rather check it out more before I normally purchase it. And then if I really, really love it and stuff and want the artwork, then I'll get it. 

You know early on with MP3.com and the internet and everything helped spread the word of the band with the same aspect, so…  But now, there's just nothing you can do about it.  So it's just inevitable.

Karma: [Looks at Chris] Your thoughts?

Chris: I do it as well but if I do really like a band or their record, I'll go buy it.  Everybody says that, but I really do it; I have over 800 CD's in my collection.

Karma: Wow!

Chris: I know it hinders record sales but I just wish there was a way to know how many times a record was downloaded.  So you'd know how many people owned the record.  But it's just stuff you can't figure out.  Back in the day the counted cassettes, they counted each one so they could tell how many people owned a record but now you can't and it sucks…  So there's my thoughts.

Karma: Okay guys, here’s a quickie Speed Round of Questions

Rob & Chris: Okay!

Rob: I like these!!

Karma: [laughs] Spiritual or religious?

Rob: Religious.

Chris: Neither.

Karma: Top 5 favorite bands or musicians.

Rob: Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura, Megadeth.

Karma: Chris?  [Chuckles]

Chris: Those are hard!  [Smiles]  I wish I had my iPod to do this.  Pantera, Megadeth, Deftones…I’ll throw a loop in there, Ludacris, ummm… Billy Joel.

Karma: What’s your favorite drink? Grey Goose vodka?

Rob: Actually water; it’s the most important substance in your life…  

Chris: …but if I was to say cocktails, Grey Goose Vanilla and Diet Coke and for regular drinks, I’d say water as well.

Karma: What’s your favorite color?

Chris:  Midnight Blue.

Rob: Blue.

Karma: Any particular shade of blue for you or just blue?

Rob: Umm, I’m just gonna go with blue.

Karma: What’s your favorite pastime?

[Dead silence]

Chris: You like to fish, that might help.

Rob: That’s more like a hobby as opposed to a pastime.

Chris: I like to bowl…go bowling.  It’s kind of a hillbilly sport! [Laughs] Yeah!

Karma: Are you good?

Chris: Yeah, I’m all right!

Karma: What’s your average?

Chris: I don’t, know.  I’ve haven’t bowled on a league or like do an average in so long but my highest game was 269.

Rob: So you can say your [average] is 50% percent of that! [We all laugh]

Karma: Who's your favorite visual artist?

Rob: I don't know, I'm not really into art.  Bob Ross…

Chris: [Laughs hysterically] They're so many out there I really can't think of their names but I'm really into digital photography and art.  I don't know if he's a painter or not or how he does his stuff but I don't how to pronounce his name but I'm really into Geiger.  He's really cool!

Karma: His tarot cards are really cool too.

Chris: Yeah! And Dave McKean, I like his tarot cards!

Karma: Do you believe in astrology?

Chris: No, I just like looking at pretty stuff [laughs]

Karma: [Laughing] Okay!!  Violin or Cello?

Chris: Cello.

Rob: Violin, the other I saw this thing online with a Chinese kid playing "Eruption" by Van Halen.  It was awesome.

Karma: Now that would be interesting!  Megadeth or Metallica?

Rob: Metallica.

Chris: Megadeth.

Group: THANK YOU!!

Chris: [Laughs]

Karma: If not a musician then what?

Rob: Then I'd be working for a band! [Laughs]

Chris: Some sort of computer geek job because that's what I did before this.

Karma: Do you think that you're a role model?

Rob: Ummm, yeah, I guess so.  Every night there's a ton of kids who tell me I'm their idol and that they look up to me with my playing and stuff because of my music and career so yeah I guess I am.

Chris: I wouldn't say that I am, maybe some people are into what I do but I don't think that you could know enough about me and how I am in my personal life to want to follow it, or I'd hope not!

Rob: I don't even see how you sit there and be that hard on yourself!  [Now looking at me]  Just the other day in Detroit, these guys were handing me a demo and stuff.  We got a sampler because of him.  I just wanted to point that out…

Chris: Yeah, I think they're into what I do but I don't think they're like, you know what I mean, a role model I think is more of a sports star or whatever.  People don't even know anything about this guy except how hard he worked to audition to get to where he was.   I don't know…

Karma: Do you have one?

Rob: Ummm, yeah, probably James Hetfield.  I mean, Kirk Hammet is my favorite guitarist; everything that they've done, Metallica's so influential to me and to what I do. I know he's like the backbone of every band.  So he is definitely a role model to me.

Chris: I don't have a musical role model, I'll say my parents because of the way they raised me. They did a good job, I'm not in jail!

Karma: [Smiles] That's so sweet!

Chris: [Chuckles] Yeah!  [Smiles]

Karma: What color are your kitchen plates?

Rob: White with a Southwestern border.

Chris: Mine are white with some flower trim around them or vines or something around the edges...either that or flowers that got print on them.

Karma: If you could be any cartoon character, who would you chose to be?

Rob: [Looks puzzled] Well I don't know! [Starts to laugh]

Chris: [laughing] That's going to be me!  Jim would be Cartman, our bass player.  I don't know if this counts but I always wanted to be a Ghostbuster when I was a kid and they were a cartoon for a second, so I'd say one of those guys.  I want to be Peter Venkman [Bill Murray's character]; he's the witty Ghostbuster.

Rob: Or maybe a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, those boys can kick ass and eat pizza.

Karma: Introvert or extrovert?

Rob: I don't know what that is! [Laughs]

Chris: Neither do I! [Laughs]

Karma: Let me explain it this wan an introvert is the kind of person who keep things to themselves, more of a shy person.  An extrovert will think aloud, blurt things out, being outward [using hands displaying the motion]

Chris: Oh, introverts keep everything to themselves?

Karma: Right.

Chris: Oh, I'm an introvert for sure!

Rob: Is there a "both"?

Karma: Yeah, just can't remember the name of it [They're called ambiverts]

Rob: Then that's me.

Karma: Rebel or defender of the rules?

Chris: I'm a defender of the rules.

Rob: Again, I would say both.  I mean because I'm definitely into rules and discipline and stuff like that...but then it's a balancing act for the life that I've chosen.

Karma: Are you close to your family?

Rob: Definitely!

Karma: [Looking at Chris] Well, I'd imagine you would be

Chris: Well yeah, same here.

Karma: What would say is your best feature?

[silence]

Rob: I don't know!

Chris: Should we answer each other's?

Karma: Sure!  [What a novel concept, thanks Chris!!]

Chris: He's charming.

Karma: AHHH!!!

Rob: That sounds gay!  [Thinking]  Perhaps his integrity!

Chris: [Smiles]

Karma: Least favorite household chore?

Rob: Dusting, I never dust.  My mom's always like, 'You need to clean this…'

Chris: I guess it's taking out the trash.  I one of those guys who'll get absolutely upset when the trash is filled and dudes keep slamming stuff and pushing it down further.  I mean I hate it, who wants to keep touching trash?  It's got to be done.

Karma: Who would ask these Speed Round Questions of? 

Rob: If I were to read it, who would I like to see answer these questions?

Karma: Yes.

Rob: Jesus.

Chris: Jim LaMarca, our bass player, just because it's funny to see him get through an interview so I'd be entertained!  [Laughs mischievously]  You'd have to video tape it, just to get the 'Ummmmm' in between. [All laughing]

Karma: Well thanks guys! 

Rob & Chris: Thank you!


I'd like to thank Dan Forman at Roadrunner Records for making this interview a possibility!

Click here for live photos of the band