UN: Let’s start off with the usual question. Seeing as though Project Failing Flesh might be a new name to most people, let’s run through a history of how the band came together. Were either of you involved in bands prior to this one?

Tim: Yeah, we've grown up playing in a lot of different bands. None that anyone would have heard of. We started P:FF a couple years ago with Kevin and I doing a bunch of heavy tunes in the studio. The plan was to get the songs done then find a local singer to do vocals. The locals weren't working out so we decided to see if a dude we already dug and thought would fit the music would be interested. We loved Eric's voice in Voivod so we got in touch with him and it came together cool!

UN: The music of Project Failing Flesh while always metallic in nature covers a lot of ground. When you formed the band were you guys thinking along the lines of anything goes? You can hear thrash, death metal, industrial, and pretty much everything in between.

Tim: We are huge fans of different kinds of metal and heavy music. I'd say we definitely have an anything goes theory. As long as a part makes us dig a song more what influenced doesn't really matter.

UN: I’m always interested to read other peoples opinions of bands, and I was somewhat surprised by some of the comparisons I was seeing. Machine Head and Fear Factory popped up a lot. Aside from the opening riff to the cd which does show a little Fear Factory influence, I don’t hear it much afterwards. Do you find that people sometimes compare you guys to bands that you wouldn’t expect?

Tim:Every once in awhile we'll hear or read a strange one but for the most part, even if I don't personally agree with it or hear it in there, I can see how some of the comparisons can be made. For example, the Fear Factory comparison is in there to some extent. I can definitely see stylistic parallels, am a fan, and think they've done some great stuff. Machine Head, I don't know about, have heard a song or two but don't like em. I think our riffs our mostly inspired by old thrash, some black and death, along with some more NO-wave/post punk feel. Maybe because the tunes are done in a modern way is why we get compared to newer bands. I don't know, whatever people want to compare it to is really fine, we just want to make songs we like and have fun doing it.

UN: How did you guys hook up with Eric Forrest? For the recording of the album did he fly up to the studio or did you guys mail him material for him to work on in a local studio?

Tim: We contacted him and asked if he'd be willing if we hooked it up for him and he liked the songs. We sent him the instrumental tracks and he came up with ideas at his home. Then we flew him to Virginia where the three of us finalized our ideas and he cranked out his vocals.

UN: Is Eric Forrest a permanent member of the band or was he just a session member for the one album? I think his voice fits the bands style perfectly so I’d love to see him continuing with the band.

Tim: Yeah, Eric is part of the band. Kev and I may have had the stuff going on before hooking up with him but the end result is definitely the sound of the three of us. We do plan on doing more. As long as everyone is into it I see us continuing for good while.

UN: I’m pretty sure that due to many factors, the band is mainly a studio project that doesn’t plan on touring. Do you think that this might have a negative effect on getting the bands name out there, or do you think in this day and age touring is not as important? It seems like metal bands don’t tour nearly as much as bands from other genres, who seem to be on tour for almost the entire year.

Tim: Right, it's mainly a studio thing at this point. Live is never ruled out but sort of unlikely. It may have some small negative effect on getting the name around but like you said, with the exception of a handful, many metal bands don't get the opportunity to tour a lot anyway and it seems like the ones who do usually have already built up an audience and demand to see them anyway. Metal is kind of cool because people will seek out more underground stuff.

UN: Does it take a lot of pressure off of the band to record in a studio that you guys own? You must not have to worry about time constraints of budgets and have no rush to get things done in a certain amount of time. Do you think this allows you more time to make sure that every song is as solid as it should be before getting it onto tape?

Tim: Totally, the biggest benefit is we can get stuff to sound just as we hear it in our heads without the difficulty of trying to communicate it to an outside producer or engineer. The only negative in our situation is that we only get to record on Kevin's studio downtime so recording is always done just a little at a time and broken up so sometimes it feels frustrating because we get no momentum built up or have songs, riffs, and ideas that are new and we are excited about have to be put on hold while we finish up and work on previously written stuff.

UN: “A Beautiful Sickness” has been out for awhile now and seems to be getting rave reviews from pretty much everyone who hears it. Are you guys pleased with the response the disc has garnered so far? Considering you guys are pretty much a new band, it’s great to see a response such as this so early on.

Tim: We are way happy with the responses so far! We were extremely pleased with how the disc turned out and it's always cool to hear other people feel the same way. Though I hope the great reviews don't create any over expectations for people yet to hear it or for what we do in the future. We're still just three schmucks trying to do some songs we like. But we'll take mostly positive reviews over mostly negative ones any day!

UN: How did the deal with Karmageddon come along? Did you guys send them a copy of the disc and they were into it? I could see many labels around the world being interested in signing the band. Were there a lot of labels interested in the band?

Tim: Karmageddon were interested and very positive way early on when we were sending out disc. We had much respect for their label so we felt they were a cool place to be. We got a small handful of interest but the others weren't really right for us. We definitely didn't have a label bidding war going on for us though haha.

UN: Will the album be re-released by Karmageddon Media now that you have signed with the label? Any bonus tracks or different packaging?

Tim: They are going to be putting out A Beautiful Sickness. Right now they are shooting for a May 31 release. The tracks will be the same but the packaging will be a little different with some more stuff and lyrics added to the booklet.

UN: What can we expect from the next album? Will it differ in anyway from A Beautiful Sickness? Do you guys have a title picked out or anything recorded yet for the album?

Tim: Hopefully cool tunes people will dig. The way it's shaping up now it will be somewhat along the same lines with a few weird twists thrown in. We enjoy trying different stuff. We have enough ideas floating around to easily complete a new one already. About eight songs are pretty much solidly tracked in different stages of completion(minus vox, of course). We have those songs with working titles but have no idea what the album title will be yet.

UN: I was curious to ask if the band name had anything to do with the sometimes electronic nature of the band? For some reason Failing Flesh makes me think of machines being superior to flesh in that flesh decays and technically a well built machine could last for eternity. Did you guys put a lot of thought into the name, or did it just sound cool?

Tim: Pretty much we picked the name because it was the coolest sounding we could come up with that felt like it fit the music. The origins of it are from words in Swans/Gira writings so you could say we stole it from there. A little thought about the meaning went into it but anything anyone wants it to be is cool. The machine over man thing is cool but wasn't really so much how we interpreted it... we've just kinda been saying it's the failing of a human or humanity.. physically, socially, mentally, etc.

Thanks Mike for the interview! Cool of you and Unbound to do it with us. If anyone is interested in us at all they can visit Project:Failing Flesh Website