I got to speak to the first band ever signed by Flawless Records. Sinisstar have been waiting patiently for their chance at the world. At the beginning of 2002, they got their chance. In January they completed tours with Adema and Onesidezero. This March, they hit the road on the upcoming Demon Speeding Tour with Rob Zombie and The Damned.

Edgy, the front man of Sinisstar, took me upstairs of the Troubadour where we chatted about the delay of their album, stealing vans, being broke and living each day to the fullest. Sinisstar is all about the music and their fans. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by their heaviness, melodic choruses, & overall positive message. Their debut album "Future Shock" hits stores in April.

Later that night they busted into "Freak of Nature," "First Day of Nowhere," "Do it," "White Noise," and "Psychosexy." The band's live performance was really amazing and the group played well together. You can really tell that they are ready to take on what you throw at them. Perhaps Ozzfest later this year? Who knows, but one thing for sure is that they will turn your head and you might catch yourself singing along to "White Noise," and "Psychosexy." I know I did.

Noize Pollution: Your clothes and style are very interesting, who came up with it?
Edgy: Nobody, we kind of just do it. Believe it or not, this is the way we are. Each of the guys over the years as I've met them�I was looking for guys to bring into the fold and I was merciless. I will not play music with someone on stage who's dressed up different from what they are in normal life. I will not do it, it took years to put the band together because I had to find dudes who were being themselves.

NP: Who does most of the music writing and programming in the band?
Edgy: Programming is mostly done by our drummer, Sid. He's amazingly talented. Songwriting is done by the entire band. All of the lyrics and melodies are written by me.
NP: That's great!
Edgy: We do collaborate with whatever producers we work with if they have a good idea. It's all about making good music and we have no problems collaborating.

NP: Can you give us some background of where the band originated?
Edgy: Yep, The band was a three piece in Seattle, WA. Actually in Ballard, WA which is an area of Seattle. I played guitar and sang. Shadow our current bass player played bass, and a fellow named Tweety played drums. We played a few shows like that and stole a van and moved down to Los Angeles.
NP: Really? Impressive.
Edgy: Yep, in a stolen van.
NP: And why the move to Los Angeles?
Edgy: Because I had an in with a Record Producer in Los Angeles named Bob Marlett who helped us with our record and demo. I was trying to get my band signed and I wanted him to work on the demo, which he did. Soon after, Tweety did his own thing and I realized that it's impossible for me to sing as well as I wanted to sing and play the guitar at the same time. I'm not a very good guitar player.

NP: When did Fred Durst come into the picture and express interest in you?
Edgy: Fred Durst came into the picture in 1999 when we were shopping our demo with a lot of Record Labels. We did a few showcases, about 20 of them and he was one of them.
NP: Did that surprise you to see Fred Durst at your showcase?
Edgy: No, because we share the same logic, it's how the business works.

NP: You were the first band signed to Flawless Records, did that put any pressure on you guys knowing that you were the first?
Edgy: From my perspective, no. For me, you know a record label is there to put out what we do and present it to the public in the way that we want to present it. As for the pressure being on Flawless, I don't think there is any, but then again, they've held our record back for two years.

NP: Right, Speaking of that, your fans have been waiting patiently for your album "Future Shock." Hopefully they can get their hands on it in April right?
Edgy: Right.
NP: What were some of the reasons that it kept getting pushed back, I thought it was due around Late 2000?
Edgy: I haven't thought about it. It's nothing to do with the band and everything to do with the impossible machine that is the music industry.
NP: What's been the hardest part about waiting?
Edgy: Well we've written a lot of new material. The hardest part about waiting is that you don't get paid, so obviously we're all homeless, living off friends and stuff like that or crashing in the practice place. The two years we spent waiting was really about a year. The year we spent waiting was the year we spent starving and dying and not paying our bills.
NP: How did you get by?
Edgy: I have no idea�..I really don't. I don't have a place to live, my bass player doesn't have a place to live, one of our guitar players don't have a place to live. We're just a band. Even though we are a signed band, we're not. It's weird.

NP: Does the title of the record "Future Shock" represent anything?
Edgy: "Future Shock" to me represents the truth. What I mean by "Future Shock", it means shocked by the reality that is our lives. It's not about "shock rock" and it's not about "future rock", the concept is not quite knowing what tomorrow may bring and being ready to embrace it and just tearing it up.
NP: Sounds like a really positive message.
Edgy: Oh it's all positive. The whole record is positive, there's not one negative thing on the whole record.

NP: So far the only songs I've heard are "White Noise" & "Pyshcosexy."
Edgy: Right.
NP: What are some of these songs about?
Edgy: Sure, "White Noise" is about self-reliance and self-realization. The majority of the songs are about that. Different facets of being yourself against the grain of mainstream. No matter what I write, I'm always telling people to just be themselves. The reality of it all, is that you have to treat your life and do something with your life. That's "Future Shock." Personal empowerment to better the world.

NP: Do you know what your first single is going to be off the album?
Edgy: "White Noise" I do believe. "Freak of Nature" or "White Noise" we don't know which but I'm thinking "White Noise."

NP: What do you consider to be your first break through? Getting on the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack or touring on the Anger Management Tour with Limp Bizkit, DMX, & Eminem?
Edgy: Heavy Metal 2000 Soundtrack. Before that, we were no one. No one knew who we were. After that we had record labels beating down our door.
NP: I see�so you got on the soundtrack before you were even signed.
Edgy: Didn't even have a lawyer or a manager.
NP: How did all that happen?
Edgy: The producer I was working with called me on the phone and told me the music director of the film had called him to ask him about music for the movie. He played our stuff and he liked "Psychosexy". And I love the first Heavy Metal movie. I grew up watching it so we were really excited about it.
NP: What was it like to see the movie and to hear your song? Was it in the movie itself or at the end with credits?
Edgy: It was in the movie itself.
NP: How did that feel?
Edgy: Exhilarating and disappointing. Because the sound quality was shit and they didn't know how to make sound right�so it sounded a little wimpier, sound quality wise than the rest of the music in the movie. That kind of disappointed me a little bit but it was cool to be accepted a little bit.

NP: After I found out that we were going to interview you, I e-mailed all our street teamers that had you in their top 10 and asked them to come up with some questions for you. So, here are a few!
Reade from Canada asks: How did you choose your names in the band? And How did you come up with the name of the band?
Edgy: Everyone in the band has their real name first of all. I've had my nickname since I was 12. Breck's name is Breck. Sid's name is Sid. Shadow has gone by that since when he was a skateboarder when he was a kid. And China has gone by China for 10 years. So it's all nicknames. As far as the name of the band goes, when I was eleven, I used to think of bands that I wanted to be in when I was older. My first rock show was a KISS concert in 1978 and they changed my life. I started thinking about being in a band. I came up with the name when I was 11. Since then, I've been in 10 bands and never used the name. Finally Shadow came to me and we used it.

Amy from Aloha, OR asks: Who are you planning on going on tour with after the Rob Zombie tour?
Edgy: Well I'd like to do Ozzfest and I'd like to do some of the summer tours but there are no plans right now.

Interview by: T-Bone