JFD: Question about Sacrificed... The new Album has a lot of different kinds of tracks on it, between funk and bass, and classic industrial, what inspired you to do the different tracks that you did?

Romell: Musically... I consume myself in all kinds of music, so when I'm writing it just happens. I'm not conscious of how it's going to sound. I have an idea in my head, but I don't really know how it’s gonna turn out. I never say, well this is going to be a techno-industrial song, or this is going to be an electro song. It just happens, that's where the inspiration came, if I think a drum and bass would be cool, then great.

JFD: What’s In your CD player right now?

Romell: Aphex Twin, Autechre, the new (Nim?) album, Bjork, Prince, last night I listened to Depeche Mode, Lords of Acid.

JFD: What’s your favorite Lords?

Romell: Voodoo-U.

JFD: Ours too, not just for the cover art.

Romell: But it helps.

JFD: How do you pick what you’re gonna put on RIB vs. Transmutator?

Romell: How do I distinguish between the two? Everyone asks that. Well, I’ve used to say Transmutator is without the guitars, the drum and bass feel, cause I like the electronica feel. It started when Hypnotica wanted me to do a track for Trackspotting, and it was going to be a RIB track, ‘cause Transmutator didn’t even exist then, but the track turned out to be too techno to fall under the RIB label, and that’s how it started. I always wanted to do another project.   I dunno, I think they're pretty easy to distinguish.

JFD: Do you have a hat or some other way you distinguish between the two when writing?

Romell: State of mind.

JFD: Yeah, but is there any outside thing you do to change you state of mind?  Mood Lighting?

Romell: When it comes to RIB it’s just more personal ‘cause I’ve been doing it longer, and those who know me recognize it as more personal. And if you notice, the new album has more drum and bass in it too. So I’m having a little bit harder time distinguishing them myself. But there’s a new Transmutator album coming out, hopefully in late April, “Colony of Sluts.” Released in Japan on Hypnotic. I threw some guitars in, and some distorted drums that almost make it industrial.

JFD: Do you find the category of industrial constraining?

Romell: Yeah, and it’s pretty old. Over discussed. People should know that when you say industrial you shouldn’t have to fight over it. There is a big distance between Ministry and FLA, but no reason to argue, just be specific.

JFD: Do you ever have the battle with labels, and tours?

Romell: No, mostly just questions. I stay out of it, I prefer to have people tell me what it is.

JFD: Well, it’s good.

Romell: (Laughter)

JFD: Question about the array of comps, Warlock (Hymns to the Warlock), Metallica (The Blackest Album), etc. Do you pick or get assigned tracks?

Romell: They let me pick, unless bigger bands want what I want. There were a couple of times I was approached for something specific. Remixes are just remixes, you never need to ask "can I". Did the Madonna Tribute, I did Erotica...I wanted to do Justify My Love.. but KMFDM got it, so hey. Erotica turned out pretty well, it’s really sinister. I sing, whispering of course, my girlfriend sings the course, and we both got into the mood of it while we did it.

JFD: On comps are you approached as a band (RIB or Transmutator) or an artist?

Romell: Kinda both, sometimes I’ll do two remixes, like on the Hellfire Club, Prince of Darkness thing. I gave ‘em two. Birmingham 6 does the same.

JFD: Are you close with Birmingham 6, ‘cause they appear on the new album? With the “whispered vocals.”

Romell: He was just here (Hawaii), I guess he’s totally a diver.

JFD: Speaking of side projects, how did you get hooked up with Corey Glover?

Romell: Well, that happened through the Japan record label, Blue Dolphin. I guess they were associated with him. Its a project called Diji Wini. Blue Dolphin released Vertex with Steven Pearcy of Ratt, cool stuff, borderline industrial, but more of a rock thing. They wanted to put together a remix album, so I started, and then Ratt got together again to do Ratt, so Steven Pearcy was gone, so they asked Corey to be in it. The project changed so much as to no longer be Vertex, so it ended up being new. Corey wrote new lyrics and I did it up. So It became a whole new thing. It’s electronic, but Al Patrolli, from Savotage did the guitars on top of Corey’s vocals. It’s hard to categorize because I did it with the Transmutator hat on, but Al put on a soul-funk guitar, and added a new element, it doesn’t make it industrial, but you add
Corey’s soul voice...it’s just really interesting.

JFD: As a solo artist, how do you pick a band, and change for live format?

Romell: Well, I’m regrouping for a tour. The music’s done, so I just need to find guys who can duplicate what I did, and maybe add in their own flavors.

JFD: Friends or industry?

Romell: No one’s really here in Hawaii, except maybe some ukulele players..

JFD: That would be cool.

Romell: I’ve had a hard time. A good friend of mine is in Stomp, and he’s a main guy, he’s taking a break. So I asked him to be drummer for the tour. He might jump around, put some trash cans on stage. Gotta guitar player, me on guitar and keyboards, and a keyboardist as well.

JFD: How much sampling happens off stage?

Romell: A lot of electronic has meat on it, that has to be recorded previously. I had a couple of shows where I brought my whole rig, laptop, everything to do it all on stage. It was nice, because everything was under my control, and I could add filters on the fly, do different bass lines.  I had a way to do it, but it was a pain in the ass. To do something that big set up takes longer than the show. Now I just put minimal things on tape, like a digital 8-track, and sometimes code it out to a sequencer so we can filter it, the rest is live.

JFD: Where’s the tour going?

Romell: It’s still in the works. We’re having a release party out here. It’ll be fun, we’re shooting a music video out here, in a place called the Dungeon, a whole S+M fetish thing going on for “Master.” We gotta whole bunch of dominatrix and strippers, and it’s cool, because when we got the word out, we had so many people we had to do a casting call. It’ll be fun

JFD: Weird question, last time we talked you said you were gonna go golfing, and I was wondering how the goth golfing experience went?

Romell: It was pretty fun. We turned a lot of heads. All of us, it was our first time. We went on the range, the balls went everywhere.  We were gonna get stupid and paint the balls black or something. They didn’t let us on the green, ‘cause we’d piss people off or something.

JFD: Theatrical outfits or anything?

Romell: No, we’re in Hawaii, remember. If there’s a pierced up guy going into a mall, he’ll get weird looks.

JFD: What is your opinion of the rock-n-roll lifestyle?

Romell: I don’t know if I’m living it. I don’t know if I’d like to live the cliché rock-n-roll lifestyle. But I have fun.

JFD: Do you work on music all the time? Or do you take big breaks?

Romell: Well, I’m consumed in music all the time,. But like any artist there are times when I’ll just sit in front of the computer for two hours and have only one note. But it’s hard, because there are so many deadlines, so I gotta force the juices to flow. The fastest I did a remix was one day. I won’t tell you which one, ‘cause you’ll be all judgmental. The most recent one I’m proud of is the Bow Wow Wow remix.

JFD: Any other side projects?

Romell: Nothing yet, but before RIB, in college, I had a synth-pop thing, and it was such a great time, and I want to start something like that up again. Do a bunch of euro-pop covers, nothing serious, just fun.  Because my sequencing abilities are so much better than they were in college. We could get some people moving.

JFD: Is it hard to get on a major (label)?

Romell: The closest is the Sonic Adventures for Sega, and I’m the only indy on there NIN SMG Dream Theatre, and RIB and Transmutator both have a track. So I was honored knowing the caliber of who else was on there.

JFD: Do you have a dream artist to work with?

Romell: Bjork, love her stuff. Is that strange? Everyone would expect other stuff, but it’s her. And
maybe Terry Knight of Berlin, which might not be so far fetched because she just signed to Cleopatra.

JFD: Traditional last question, if there was a band you could wipe off the face of the earth, who would it be?

Romell: Let me think....Puff Daddy. I admire him for his marketability. But he’s just not that great a rapper, I’m not a huge rap fan, so maybe I shouldn’t say that, but...I haven’t heard anything that was worth his stardom, ‘cause he takes tracks from others. Songs that are a guaranteed kill, because they were popular tracks so he takes, them puts a hip-hop beat behind it, raps real shitty about...something that people are interested in like money or sex. I have more respect for artists who think about what they’re doing instead of just playing the game. Sticking with a formula. Backstreet Boys get all popular and all of a sudden all these other little guys show up. Guys with money, say wow, we need to do this more.