Biohazard Official Website

Metal Israel
Interview with Evan, 2001

Trends happen in music. There's no doubt about that. Sure there are those share of bands that are caught up in the trend, but everyone knows what happens to them. Then there are those bands that stick to their roots and still remain successful. Biohazard is one of these bands. Through several label changes, their style has never catered to the "trend". And the news is, it NEVER will. Biohazard fans know this for sure and their new album, "Uncivilization" just exemplifies this idea. Recently signed to Sanctuary Records, Biohazard has found a "sanctuary" if you will, for their music. Biohazard's singer/bassist Evan Seinfeld certainly feels comfortable with Sanctuary Records as he reveals here in this In Depth interview as well as his feelings for MTV, religion, and Biohazard's forthcoming album, "Uncivilization".

Anthony: Well here we are at Sanctuary Records. What was it about Sanctuary that made it the best place for Biohazard to call home?

Evan: The number one requirement to be the label for Biohazard is that you have distribution. We need to have major distribution. We're not going to deal with those labels that can't get our records into all the right stores. Sanctuary is distributed by BMG so that's as big as it gets! We also wanted that indie label attitude in how they work with the band. Very hands on! Everyone that works here knows us and we know them. I can call anyone here and discuss things with them. There's no one above these guys. There are no share holders above the people here that they have to answer to. Like at Warner Brothers things were great at first. Then they had that merger. Everyone in the metal department was let go and they gave "Mata Leao" to the "alternative" department to handle who at the time was handling someone like Dinosaur Jr.!

A: Nooooo!

E: Their attitude was "yeah, Biohazard, same thing, they have guitars!". That whole album, we didn't speak to anyone like you guys on the fans level. To them, if they couldn't get us on Alternative Rock radio then they'll stop marketing us. We got stallwarted there. We moved to Mercury because the president over there was the president of Def Jam and our manager for many years. The West Coast general manager's neighbor was this woman named Alison who worked at William Morris who used to book the band. AND the president of Mercury is Danny Goldberg who was the president of Warner Brothers who was supposed to work with us on a positive level.

We figured we'd go there because we knew a lot of the people already. But then they had THEIR merger and we really got screwed. We feel like these guys here at Sanctuary are career minded. They've managed Iron Maiden for 20 something years! Biohazard have a lot in common. Not musically but we're into our music and into our fans. We don't need a smash hit single to make a successful album. America is like "Video Killed The Radio Star". Radio killed Album Rock. Radio killed everything. I love videos. We're gonna do a video for "Last Man Standing" (from the forthcoming "Uncivilization" album). BUT! I don't know if it'll get played.

A: Maybe on a smaller, more local level....

E: M2 might pick it up. But then again I think if you don't have a satellite then you don't have M2. I know people who have cable that don't have it. I know people who don't even have cable!! I wonder what the stat is on those people who are avid music listeners also have MTV. It's probably like 95%. They (MTV) don't even play videos anymore! It's like Carson's back yard!...

A: Or it's another "reality" show...

E: Why would you watch someone elses' reality on MTV?? I got my own real world goin on! My real world is more interesting!

A: How would you compare the recording experience on "Uncivilization" as compared to past Biohazard albums?

E: Very different because we produced and recorded our own album ourselves, in our own studios. Rat Piss studios. Right there you remove the entire element of having other people involved. We brought in a guy to engineer it so we would have a safe set of ears. An un-biased set of ears. We mixed in a studio in Long Island called Pie Studios, that has a great board. We found that's the way to work with each other. A new found friendship and amount of respect for one another. Not that we didn't before but things go in cycles. Like with the record deal with Sanctuary. They handle it here in the States and SPV handles it over in Europe. They (SPV) have the same attitude as Sanctuary. Major distribution with the independent minded people. There's no glory about being on a small label. People have asked us "Why don't you sign to Victory?".

Well because they're cheap! They'd probably be a lot bigger if they weren't so cheap! An independent label is a small label trying to be a big one. With the recording process we had to trust our instincts. Producing it ourselves, we knew that the burden of it was on our heads. In other words if this album bombs, we're done. That tells everyone that we're completely incapable of doing it on their own. Fortunately, the Euro reviews are coming back in and they're good! Out of something like 200 or so reviews only 1 came back bad! That ONE was from a friend who didn't really like the production sound. He likes the more raw demo Biohazard stuff. But I mean, 99% of them are coming back saying the same thing. It's our best, hardest and most cutting edge thing we've done yet AND that NOW is Biohazard's time. I get the question all the time of "How do you feel with all the nu-metal stuff that's out there that have rap styles with heavy metal riffs", and the thing is that I feel great about it. I feel positive about it. None of these bands (Linkin Park, Papa Roach etc) sound like us. We have our own unique sound. Most of these bands have respect for the sound and even tell us that we're an influence of theirs! We're not jealous and bitter about it at all. I don't think anyone has stolen from Biohazard. The thing is the bands that are making it are either more commercialized at it, in the right place at the right time or are getting marketed very well. Maybe they have better songs, catchier songs.

I think we're a lot heavier than those bands too and it's hard to compare. My parents and family say to us "I see these guys on TV and you should be like that" and all that stuff but they don't understand that it's a different thing that we're doing. We're singing songs about brutal, harsh realities and it's a very heavy message. It's not for everybody and it's not going to be as popular as someone like Limp Bizkit. I'd love to have that kind of cash but I don't think I want to be a cartoon character of myself! The backlash is too big! I hear kids walking around saying "I used to like Limp Bizkit but that guy (Fred) is an asshole" and I'll say "but you don't even know the guy" and they'll say "yeah but you can just tell." When you are so overexposed like that.....Yeah, that'll be MY biggest problem (laughter). I'd love to have Biohazard be that noticed, but not because of any fanfare or hype. I'd like it to be because of our music and our message. The first song on the new album, "Sellout" (available for download on Biohazard.com) is about our commitment to our music, ourselves and to our fans on how we'll NEVER sell our souls to try to make a $. Money isn't that important.

It's only as important as what you can do with it. I don't need to buy a Lamborghini today. I have everything I need. I can pay the rent next month, that's all I'm worried about. I'd like to put some money away for my kid someday but right now I'm following my dream which is music. If all you care about is money then you don't really accomplish anything in life. You might amass some money but what else? If you honestly love music, then that's what you do. If you thought your life was all about money we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

A: In Depth is non-profit. We don't make anything from the site at all.

E: Even better. I know you're here because you want to be here and I'm here because I want to promote the band. A lot of bands won't talk to everyone at every level. It doesn't matter what kind of period we're in. Upswing, downswing we always give the people the same amount of respect and time they deserve. When you're dead and buried, you can't take the money with you. It's a lasting impression to leave on people is when you touch someone's soul, or heart, to effect their lives or make a song that touches their lives. I feel good about it. We're going to Japan in a couple of weeks, if the plane were to crash and burn and I die, I'd feel like "wow, our body of work is timeless". I think lyrically the message is really powerful and sincere. I know because I was one of the writers with a bunch of other guys who were really honest about everything with each other, and sometimes that's a very difficult thing to do.

A: Being that you recorded in your own studio at home, do you feel that that was an advantage or a disadvantage?

E: I think a lot of bands run to other studios because someone once made a great album there. I think everyone runs to Vancouver because Bob Rock has a studio there and he did the Metallica album that really broke through for them. I've been there. When Skid Row was recording there, we were touring through Vancouver with House Of Pain and Korn, it was Korn's first tour back in '94. At the same time and Baz, Snake and Rachel showed up at the show and we went back to the studio to check it out. I think bands go for vibes when they go to certain studios. We did that when we worked with Dave Jurden. We went to El Dorado studios and paid out the ass for it. Being here for me, it makes me comfortable. Biohazard is angry music. It's raging, it's screaming, we're screaming for change. We are "Raging Against The Machine" if you will. When I'm in California, I'm happy, I like to hang out there but I could never write a Biohazard album there....

A: It's a different vibe.

E: Exactly. I'd go there to mix a record or something. If I tired to write out there it would probably sound like Blink182! (laughter) It's natural, no wonder why they have a happy vibe to it. It's a happy place for me. It was important for us to be here. Riding my motorcycle in traffic on the BQE, cursing people out on the way, parking my bike RIGHT IN THE STUDIO, or taking the Subway to the studio, kept us in an "urban" kind of focus. I don't think Biohazard could go to Ohio, or Florida, or Vancouver and make a record. It's too different. For some bands, it's probably the best thing. The downside of making a record at home is having your friends drop in, having girlfriends drop in blah blah blah! People don't respect the fact that when you are in working mode that you can't be fucking with other people. I'll go out to a show after 10 hours at the studio and try to blow off steam and enjoy the vibe of the show and what ends up happening is people will be like "you lets hang tomorrow" and we can't because we're busy working on the new album and they'll be all like "oh, too busy for us". Sometimes they just don't understand that. Being home was good for me because I'd see my kid on the weekends and have time to unwind. We're our own bosses. I'd never want to work for the man. I won't work for anybody. Biohazard is my thing and that's it. Love it or hate it, it's all ours!

A: You have a lot of friends on the album....

E: Phil from Pantera, Mick, Joey and Sid from Slipknot, DJ Rizz, Sen Dog from Cypress Hill, Roger from Agnostic Front, all the guys from Hatebreed and Sepultura, Lord Ezak and Puertorican Mike from Skarhead, Pete from Type O. It's something I've been talking about for 10 years. Now that we were doing our own record the first guy I brought in was Sen Dog. We had this song that I wrote lyrics for years ago and I had been working on it over and over and I heard Cypress Hill was coming to town and I go "I'm calling Sen Dog". We worked with him before on "How It Is" and he came in and just KILLED IT! It was SO good! Billy had recorded they Slipknot guys on tour for "Domination" and then we decided we should get Phil involved too because of all the people we've toured with in the past, he's been one of our best friends and coolest guys. Pantera was on tour so Billy and I got our Pro Tools together and went down to Florida. Set it up after their show, showed him the song and told him the name of the song is "Hate, Fight, Fuck, Kill" and he goes "ehhh yup! Well the title of the song speaks for itself! I'm your man!".

We have the song "Unified" and who better to sing about being unified than Roger of Agnostic Front?! AF who created all the unity that is in the hardcore scene, while the some of the other bands that had some success at the time were breeders of dissension between the bands. AF and us, were the ones to say, lets pull together and rise above all this. We weren't a pure hardcore band more on the metal side with a hip-hop thing and we had our own kind of scene. "Trapped" is about the industry itself and we all know Sepultura has gone through their share of stuff. "Domination" is about political conspiracy and government upheaval, secret societies and all that so Hatebreed was the perfect band to help us with that song! It's a great feeling to have our friends involved. I'd like to see Biohazard produce an album that we're not even on. It's never ending too. Now Chad and Ryan from Mudvayne wants to do a song with us. Coby from Papa Roach wants to do a song with us. He was supposed to do a b-side song with us for the Euro release but they just got into town and couldn't make it in time but we'll try to work something out. If not this album then the next album, or put it on the website for the fans.

(editors note: after taking a phone call from a friend that was attending a show that Evan was to attend later on with some other bands, brought about this next question)

A: That's something I've noticed where you are always out in support of the bands that come through the area and then in return when you are out playing, they come out and support Biohazard. It seems like a large metal family...

E: We come from Brooklyn where it's like that. Everyone was down for each other and we were. Either you were friends or you were enemies. If you're friends you try to keep them close. I recently made friends with the Papa Roach guys and the Linkin Park guys. I met the guys from Disturbed...the Slipknot guys are old friends of ours, we toured with them twice. When I'm in New York, I can't sit home and watch TV. It's not my lifestyle. I love rock and metal and I like to be out among the people. It's a good feeling to be out there and say "hi" to people and make friends. Things that feed your soul are good. I think the more time you spend watching programing with commercials and all that, it just sucks away from your soul. We all have this life force, this chi energy, and you can build on it and help it grow or you can kill it. I feel like when I'm closer to the ocean it's more powerful, like when I'm around people it's a good thing. Positive energy.

A: How about the tour plans? What do they look like?

E: We didn't get the whole Tattoo The Planet tour, maybe 2/3rds of it but we have all the best cities. Germany, England, Paris, Holland etc. We're doing a headlining tour with Canderia and Ill Nino that revolves around the Tattoo The Planet dates on our off days. We should be in Europe for 6 or 7 weeks. Then we'll be back here to do a U.S. tour that will go through the end of the year. We're talking to a lot of different bands trying to package it all together. Bands that have a hard and heavy sound. We have a new record and no one wants to tour with a band who hasn't sold any records yet so we're talking to Megadeth who are old friends and label mates about doing something like the us Megadeth and maybe two other bands. Maybe Canderia. I think they're the next big thing. 4 of 5 bands and come up with a good name for the tour. That's what we like to do, go out and play. Right after the new year we'll be heading to Australia and New Zeeland. We're actually going to Japan for a couple of weeks to do some pre-album stuff and the Beast Feast as well which is basically the Tattoo The Planet tour and a few more bands as well. We'll be doing the record release party at L'Amours on September 7th and 8th....

A: I was just gonna ask, when's the homecoming gig at L'Amours?

E: We're also going to be in Manhattan too but we want to wait until the album has been out for a little, maybe October or November. Right now a place like Irving Plaza is scared to book us! They're afraid of fights breaking out. It's really weird. New York has become really shitty if you want to go see a good show with some hard bands. Now they're all going to Jersey to Krome or Birch Hill. There's no place in the city anymore. Roseland is totally fucked. The place is all politics. Hammerstein is the best place in New York City! Best sound, best stage, everything. The people who run it are cool. If there's a good show there you can bet I'm there watching or I'm out of town. That's how good it is. But to get booked there, you have to sell that place out. We're not going to do that high priced ticket thing. Eventually, I'd like to play there on our own with a $10 or $12 ticket. Something like that. It would be killer! I wouldn't care if we didn't get paid, it's for the fans!

A: Being around the industry for some 13 years now, how have you seen it change?

E: Before the band started, it seemed that TV and Radio didn't have such a big part in music. It seemed like there was still "album rock" and the radio played whatever they wanted to play that got you into the album and then you bought the album. It wasn't like it is now, all "singles" oriented. Everything seems "manufactured" now. It's like everyone is out there looking for the recipe for success and album sales, ie boybands! Of all the evils on earth, I can't think of anything worse than a boy band! I want to come up with a joke boy band, call them the "Bad Boys". It'll be a bunch of thugs from hardcore bands. They'll sing a little, rap a little. People will buy it because it's six guys up there shaking their butts. It's just silly! A lot of people buy into Biohazard so maybe we're part of a radical elite?! I've seen the scenes come and go. Over the 90's and especially now, everyone has to be able to put a name or a title or a handle on things and once you do that, you've killed it. If you went around and told everyone "Biohazard. The leaders of the nu-metal movement", it would only be two or three years before the powers that be at the labels and at MTV and on radio would start to move to the next thing and tell you that everything you listened to for the last two or three years isn't cool anymore.

It makes money for them! It's like fashion. Somethings are timeless. Dickies. They've been work clothes for a hundred plus years and probably will be for many more. Ya can't go wrong with a classic wife beater, or classic black t-shirt. It's been in style for a hundred years and it will continue to be. Fancy shit will always come and go. I think the worst thing about the music scene in the 90's was that MTV and the record industry decided that metal wasn't cool anymore. We lost Headbangers Ball in the 90's! Kids never stopped liking it though. If anything it made the musicians angier and if anything, revived us. When you tell people they can't have something, they want it more. People fiend for drugs. People don't fiend for boy bands because they're EVERYWHERE! To me they created this thing "alternative", what was it really main stream rock? They didn't want to be called metal, so they would pretend to be weird and stare at their feet. And then the guy from Nirvana kills himself. Horrible thing. Yeah, let's glorify it and make him an icon! Get the fuck outta here! He left a baby girl alone in the world now. If you ask me the guy is a coward. I don't care what you're going through, if you have a kid you take care of your responsibilities to that child! After he died I met his little daughter backstage at the Lollapalooza tour when Hole was on it, I was playing bass with Cypress Hill. I met her and I was so heartbroken for her. I felt really bad for her. That whole glorification thing they did was bullshit. MTV names Beck the man of the year last year? Is he a really a man? More like a wisshy washy chick! Yeah, the music is pretty cool but what is he doing to be "man of the year"? Is he a responsible guy out in the community? Is he doing public service with the kids? Is he working with handicapped children? I've never heard anything about that. With what little time I have left after dealing with "Oz" and Biohazard and my family, I volunteer what's left of that time to the community. I've coached soccer down at the Piers and I'm coaching some High School Football this year too.

Because I grew up in that neighborhood. Ya gottta give something back. I'm not looking to be man of the year or ANYTHING like that. The point is MTV is out there saying these things and people are taking it as "well they said it, it must be so". Religion is the same way! MTV is like religion. It's fanatical insanity. Somebody says it so it's so? No. I believe in faith and the god of my understanding. I believe a higher power to exist and mine I choose to call "God". I don't disargee with people's religions. That's the way they find faith. It's like if you are muslim and I'm jewish and we go to war over who's god is real? No, I don't think ANY god wants their people to be in a war. I think if the force that is God could get everyone together and go "hey, you're all fighting about the same thing and I'm the ONE god". That might help things out. The Catholic church is a big business. I grew up around that. I was raised Jewish and that was the biggest hypocritical thing I've ever seen. They were sort of elitist about it. Their attitude was our religion is we're the first people, the chosen people and all the rest are bullshit. How could you say that? That's a big part of their faith and that's what religion's about. How you find your faith. It seems that people pray to the MTV god now. More kids listen to Carson than they do a priest....and who's writing those cue cards? (laughter) it's probably a priest! (more laughter).

A: Thanks for your time.

E: Thanks you for coming down today.