Fred Durst Talks About “The Integrity” of Limp Bizkit lol

So I’m reading this Billboard interview with Fred Durst [via The PRP] in which he talks about staying out of the scene and making Limp Bizkit live performances a rarity, and how that builds value and intrigue, and I’m thinking, “You know? He’s actually making quite a bit of sense here.” Then I got to the part about “the integrity” of the music and I nearly spit out my coffee.

Let’s start with the first part of that. When asked about the band’s recent resurgence in popularity, Durst gave this long-winded diatribe (a simple “because nostalgia” would’ve sufficed):

“It’s not a linear journey, it’s interesting. There are peaks and valleys and hopefully you just keep evolving and your long lens of light keeps finding that perfect depth of field and that place where things will become a little more crisp, a little more clear, you understand things. And I think with Limp Bizkit, it’s consistency of the passion for what happens with us when we get together.

“We can’t manufacture it in a false sense, can’t fake it. So we’re actually having a lot of fun because we’re appreciating it now more than ever. And this boomerang effect of times and trends and vibes and now the Internet has created a platform for Limp Bizkit to be discovered without it being slammed down people’s throats.

“They’re actually searching out things that are different than what they’re being fed and Limp Bizkit gets to fall into that part where we’re not being fed to them, they are discovering it. It’s like a boomerang effect where you can only pray for it to come back right, or you threw it out there right. You don’t really know what’s gonna happen in life.

“I wake up every day grateful, and this Limp Bizkit resurgence feeling is so amazing ’cause each night I look out at these bigger and bigger audiences than ever before. I say, ‘How many people, it’s your first time?’ And it’s everyone raises their hands. And it’s really interesting.”

All well and good there. What was cool 20 years ago always comes back into vogue. This we know.

And then he loses me. When asked if his non-music ventures (film, etc.) allow him to be more creative with Limp Bizkit, he said this:

“Actually, believe it or not I still need to be as creative with Limp Bizkit as possible. I suffer a lot from not milking it. I mean financially there’s nothing coming in when you’re not out doing it. But I had to make that decision it’s about the integrity of it. It’s about what I believe Limp Bizkit is and what it is to me. So I suffer financially because I don’t do it. We get offered lots and lots of money and lots of things to do and I just became very good at saying no.”

The integrity of Limp Bizkit. Let that sink in.

But hey, once again, nostalgia. Kids who were 15 in 1999 are now 35 and have disposable income to spend on pricey reunion show tickets to relive their glory days. And you better believe that whenever Limp Bizkit do finally release new music it’ll be a very big deal.

That’ll be fun to cover… sigh.