From September 99' issue of Alternative Press
Check out their webpage: http://www.altpress.com


FILTER Excerpt from Family Values Tour Preview


What was it about Family Values that made you sign on for the tour?
I was on the first Lollapalooza with Nine Inch Nails, and what sucked about that tour was that every band had to play in daylight, except for the last two bands. It's impossible to create a mood - you can't create an atmosphere when you're playing in someone's backyard. And when we opened for White Zombie and Smashing Pumpkins, there was no room to walk on the stage. Family Values is cool because it gives every band the opportunity to do what they want to do.

Maybe you just can't deal with being an opening act
The tour we went on opening for Ozzy Osbourne was the worst. The money was fine, and Ozzy loved us, but it wasn't enough. His audience is getting wasted in the parking lot, and we played to a smaller crowd than we should have. I hated heavy metal when I was a kid, and I hate it now.

It's been over two years since you've been on tour. Is Family Values a good way to get reacquainted with the fans?
The reason why [Bizkit's managers] were so aggressive in wanting us [for the tour] was that they saw a lot of Filter t-shirts in the crowds last year. I think our following is very loyal and enthusiastic. We're smaller than a lot of the bands on this tour, but I think the fans dig us because we're not on MTV every five seconds.

A lot of these multi-band tours have a gladiator spirit to them where some bands adopt this we're blowing-the-entire-bill-off-the-stage attitude. Do Filter have an agenda?
All I want to do is play my music and have a good time. If it's not fun for me, the crowd's gonna know it. Life's too short to worry about not having enough stage to run around on or to bitch about your monitor mix.

.................................................. - AP Staff Writer JP