Interview with Human Furnace, vocalist of Ringworm by Chris X

So, how did you end up on Victory finally after all these years?
Well, the whole Victory thing came as a surprise for us. Given our history of past members, we didn't think that Victory wanted anything to do with us. Plus Victory's experience with certain other bands from Clevo and their lack of enthusiasm may have made them wary of signing another "lazy and dysfunctional" band from Clevo, but over the past 2 years since we got back together,I think they saw that we are pretty committed to this. Plus I think that the new material is too hard to deny.
What are your expectations for the album?
Well, as far as expectations, of course we'd like it to do excellent,but the most important thing to me, is the fact that everyone in the band is happy with it. It's like this, we haven't put an album out in almost 9 years, so, needless to say, this record is a make or break situation for us. If the album flops and everybody hates it and it took us 9 years to put out a shitty album.....it would very bad for us. But we really put our heart and soul into this new one. We took our time, had a decent budget to do what we wanted to with this cd. Plus, for me especially, I've been waiting about 9 years to do another record, and the opportunity came at a time when I had a lot going on in my life, so I had plenty of inspiration. So it was great therapy for me. But besides all the personal stuff, I think that we sound better than we ever have. We're older, more experienced (in the studio and in life), we've "matured" as songwriters and musicians without losing sight of what we are and where we came from. In other words "no sellout". To put it in more simple terms, I think the record is amazing and the only thing stopping it from blowing up is distribution. That's were Victory comes in. All it will take is for people to hear it and it will spread like wildfire.
How do you think it compares to your older material?
I love the old material. Although, at times after playing the same songs for so long, you get tired of them and want to do new songs. The best thing about the old stuff is that it is still as fresh as the day we wrote it. It's timeless. When we play shows, not a lot of people realize that a lot of the songs were written almost 10 years ago! And they still blow away tons of stuff that bands are doin' today. Sometimes I feel old cause when we do the older stuff I always ask the crowd "what were you doing 10 years ago?.... cause we were doin' this." It's funny. I think the new stuff is phenomenal. We've changed slightly in 10 years, but in a good way. Still heavy as fuck, still raw, and still sick.
How does one get the name "Human Furnace?"
Oh that, I've been asked that many times over the years,and I never really give anybody a straight answer. It's not a "stage name" or anything. It's not meant to be "scary" either. Although I wont tell you how I got it, I'll tell a little something. Even before we started the band, it was and still is a "pen name", like "Pushead" or something. Of course, I'm not sure about Pushead, but mine has a lot of meaning behind it. So when we started with the band, when I wrote lyrics it seemed only natural to use the alias for that as well. Plus its my way of separating split personalities.
Whats up with your tattoo shops?(feel free to plug and give the addresses and everything)
I've been tattooing for about 9 years. It's what I do. It's my life. I opened up my first shop in '97. We expanded that shop in '99 when I took on a partner. I'm not just sayin it cuz I own the place, but we have the most amazing crew there. Everyday it blows my mind when i come into work and see what one of them is working on. It's great. We dominate the Cleveland tattoo scene, the world is next,period. Anyway, enough of that. We opened our second shop in August of this year. I'm really proud if it. The shop is simply beautiful, and we are fortunate to have ample talent to man 2 shops. Ok, now is when I plug the shops- SHOP#1 (original location) 252 TATTOO, COLUMBIA STATION OH, 44028 USA 1.440.235.6699 and SHOP#2 252 TATTOO-second level, 51B SOUTH MAIN ST., OBERLIN OH 1.440.776.0095 If ya don't believe me,check out the web site which will be up within the next month at http://www.252tattoo.com.If it ain't up when ya check, keep checkin back, It'll blow your mind.
Birth Is Pain" is pretty negative in itself, and the lyrics to some of the songs follow this theme. Exactly what kind of twisted upbringing and negative outlook contribute to this?
Well, as I said earlier, this record was definitely therapy for me. My upbringing was good, not rich, but not poor either. Everybody in my family has worked hard and earned everything they have. So, its not like I grew up in a ghetto, but I cant help to notice how shitty things really are. The world is a fucked up place. It's dirty and cheap. Filled with scum. It's undeniable. Watch TV or just go outside and look what's goin' on around you. Not all, but as a whole the human race is garbage. So, I use these things as a backdrop to the lyrics I write. Everything I sing about, I mean. It's not fake, its heartfelt and honest. I don't live a fairy-tale life, but I realize I'm fortunate for the things that I have. But face it, everybody has personal problems and that's what I write about. I write how I feel, because these are the things I know. Overall, it gives our music a dark overtone, but that's what it's about, dark overtones, depression, confusion, anger, strength to overcome. We, or me, I should say,often get accused of being Satanic or whatever. It could be our image or our reputation, I'm not sure, and although it's not totally true, it doesn't really bother me. I don't really write lyrics for the masses, I write them for myself, but I hope that everybody finds something in them. Their own meaning. Occasionally I'm pretty blunt with my words, so a meaning isn't hard to find, but, even though I'm just screaming my head off, I like to think that there's a certain poetry to them that make the listener find their own meaning. I like the fact that, when I meet people, or when we play, everybody has a different favorite song. I think it's because the songs mean certain things to certain people.
What are you gonna be for Halloween?
A demon. In other words, myself.
Yeah,me,I'm going as Osama bin Laden. Horrible taste,I know....
Watch it, you might get your ass kicked by somebody. Or, if your costume is too good, you might got shot
What are your tour plans now that your album is ready to come out?
Tours. We have stuff in the works right now, but until things are confirmed I don't want to talk about them. We are, though, going to be touring extensively for the album. We are a live band, that's when we are at our best. As far as Europe goes, uncertain. Face it, things have been crazy, so even though we definitely are planning a European tour, it wont be until things have chilled out a little more. We plan to destroy the USA first before embarking on a European inquisition.
Any final comments/plugs/shoutouts/shittalking...?
Thanks for the interview, hope all you sickos enjoy the cd, and come to see us live when its possible. Get tattooed at 252. Nuff said. Adios.
http://www.ringworm13.com
http://www.ringworm666.com/ - New Website
http://www.myspace.com/ringworm13