Fear Factory Have Launched a Crowdfunding Campaign After All
Update, 3:26pm EDT: Fear Factory frontman Burton Seabell says he is not involved in this crowdfunding campaign. Read more here.
Original post:
A week ago, we learned that Fear Factory are finally planning to release new music in 2021. Then, just two days ago, guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that the band “just need help financially to complete it.” When fans asked why FF weren’t raising those funds via a crowdfunding campaign, Cazares expressed hesitation resulting from the fact that so many people are financially hurting because of the coronavirus pandemic.
I guess enough fans announced that they’d give money regardless, though… because Fear Factory have now, indeed, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help complete their new album.
In an accompanying statement, the band makes it clear that they have finally settled a long-running lawsuit between frontman Burton Seabell and former members Raymond Herrera (drums) and Christian Olde-Wolbers (bass/guitar/Nazi spotting) over the rights to the group’s name. But that same lawsuit has also sucked them dry financially, they say.
Although Seabell previously asserted that a new album was complete and turned into the label, the GoFundMe statement says that “We are currently in the post production stage and have yet to complete drums, mixing, mastering and finalizing artwork for a 2021 release.” So I guess the singer got a little bit ahead of himself.
One more new tidbit of information from this fundraising effort: rather than replace bassist Tony Campos, who has returned to Static-X, Cazares will just handle bass duties for the album. Presumably they’ll hire a new bassist when they’re able to tour again. Who will that bassist be? Well, not Wolbers, that’s for sure! Maybe Matt DeVries wants to come back?
The band is hoping to raise $25,000; as of this writing, they’ve raised about a fifth of that.
You can read the band’s complete statement below, and contribute to the campaign here.
“Calling all Fear Factory fans!
“As the smoke clears on what has been a very long and arduous period for Fear Factory, we would firstly like to acknowledge our fans for supporting us and being very patient as we again find our footing after a long absence due to an intensive legal dispute.
“We are relieved to report that the legal matter surrounding the Fear Factory name has now come to an end and the band is now able to move forward.
“It has been a long road in getting to this point and it has certainly not been without it’s challenges both professionally and personally.
“As a result, it has caused a significant blow and thrown a wrench into the gears of the Fear Factory machine by creating a heavy financial burden of debt and crushing legal fees associated with the many disputes on the road to reaching a final outcome.
“As it stands, Fear Factory are back, but are now facing an uncertain future financially and we need your help to restart the machine to get FF back up and running and firing on all cylinders. The mounting legal hardship and ensuing legalities have caused both the delayed completion and release of our 10th studio album, so we’ve decided to take the unique step of reaching out to our fans to ask for help through a Gofundme page.
“If you are able to contribute your donation will go directly towards finishing the new album. We are currently in the post production stage and have yet to complete drums, mixing, mastering and finalizing artwork for a 2021 release.
“Any monies raised above our goal will also go towards producing new music videos for the upcoming album which we are excited to get underway as soon as possible.
“We understand that the current situation with the global pandemic may make it difficult for a lot of our fans to contribute at this time, as we are also feeling the financial hardship due to the corona virus and recognize the struggles we are all facing at the moment.
“We’d like to thank you all for the love and continued support over the last 30 years and hope that together, we can reach our goal.
“Please share and help spread the word and also keep a look out, as we will be posting regular updates on the new album as it progresses for everyone to get a peak inside the gears of the machine and a look at the recording and post production process.
“Stay safe, Stay positive and know that you have got the power to effect a change.
“The machine is still alive!
“Thank You
“Fear Factory”
