By Christopher Mygrant

World of Fandom: Ray, what does Full Blown Chaos have to offer compared to the established metal bands and the up and coming metal bands?

Ray Mazzola: We offer a better brand of metal I like to say. Every band puts a certain amount of themselves into their music. We put everything into our music. We put everything that we live and breathe everyday. All of our songs are about what’s going on in our lives at that time. Things that have happen. We also blend our influences a helluva lot better than most bands – I feel.

WOF: Personal influences or people that you all have idolized?

Ray: Um, both. We have a lot of hardcore roots and we have a lot of metal roots. The hardcore roots we have are Agnostic Front, Sick of it All, Warzone, Biohazard, Judge. Then we go with our metal roots, which is Exodus, Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Metallica, Testament and all that. Obituary is another. We just blend all those together. We pull it in. I feel we are on top of our game 

WOF: It seems you are somewhat hoarse which now sparks a question. When you are not feeling well, the old saying, “The show must go on”, comes to mind. What drives and motivates you to go out on stage on the days you feel like crap? Money?

Ray: (chuckles) Well, it’s, I mean the drive to make as much money as possible is always there. That’s always in the back of my mind. I’m the one who handles all the bills. I’m the one with the most bills and a lot of the band’s bills I take on upon myself cause I know they won’t get paid. So there’s that drive and there is also a personal drive where I have to play. When we’re off, I loose my mind. It’s like I have this inner need to constantly perform and to entertain. I am a very social person and if I’m not socializing somehow, I feel very unaccomplished in what I am doing.

We do over 300 shows a year easy. Last year we did 318 dates and this past February was the first time we had two weeks off consecutively in 18 months. We don’t get at least another week off until the week before Christmas. So we never stop. It’s like this is what I was born to do.

WOF: Has the music lifestyle been worth living?

Ray: Oh yeah. The people I’ve met alone are priceless. The friends that I have made, the experiences, the sights…..we've seen everything. We’ve been through every natural disaster. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, everything. We’ve been through several tornadoes to the point where I’m jumping out of the van with my camera and I’m being yelled at to get back in the van.

WOF: So storm chasing is in your future.

Ray: Oh yeah, I love it. But to get back to your question, I guess it’s more of a personal drive. I mean, even when I’m sick, 100% has to be given regardless if you sound like crap or not.

WOF: The overall feel for this record (Within The Grasp of Titans) is___________?

Brandyn Mygrant and Ray Mazzola

Ray: We made it more personal. I like to call ourselves a people band. We write music for ourselves, but we also write music so everybody has something to relate to. When I was younger and I was looking for something to vent to, I went to Testament, I went to Metallica, I went to Megadeth and I went to Slayer and those are the bands that I got all my aggression out. Then there were bands like Sick of it All, WarZone and Agnostic Front and I was like, ‘Oh great.’ And hardcore then was a lot more positive as well. So it’s like I had all my anger and then all my uplifting aspects from both edges. Yeah, the record that we do…we try to pull all the aspects of life together.

WOF: There was a show on the Discovery Channel that focused on the Death Metal scene. It showed how certain kids and bands are into Satanism and how the music basically overwhelmed their thought process, which ultimately led to individuals killing others. Sacrificial in certain cases. What is your take on your own genre of music? Is it that bad of an influence? Do you find bands that intentionally promote the darker side?

Ray: There are bands like that, but they don’t care where they are in 10 years. They don’t look at the longevity of their careers. You know, they’re doing it because, “Hey it’s cool I’m in a band” and they just happen to get a little bit of popularity and then it’s all out negativity.

For a band like us, I’m looking at it as long term. I’m looking at what we’re doing years from now and I plan on being in the business for a long time. I’m 31 and I have been playing in a band since I was 15. I have college degrees, I went to school, I could be teaching right now but this is what keeps my attention. It’s a calling.

WOF: Although a musician may never want to admit that his or her music career could end at any moment or that they may just not want to be involved anymore, have you thought that far enough in advance to at least have a contingency plan?

Ray: I don’t think there will be an after music. It might be tour managing; managing bands, but it will be within the industry.

WOF: Do you presently assist bands?

Ray: Yes. There’s a ton of bands. I try to push as many local bands and a lot of up and coming bands that don’t have labels yet that are just getting their feet wet and I try to help them out as much as possible. Whether it’s like wearing their shirt and giving them that visual publicity, to pushing their music, anything I can do I try to keep on top of.

WOF: It is almost showtime, but before you hit the stage, World of Fandom wants to thank you for taking the time to speak with us.

Ray: Hey, no problem. Thank you for coming out.

World of Fandom also wants to thank Adrenaline PR and Brian Rocha for assisting in setting up the interview.