ben falgoust soilent green

Interview by: Aline Miladinovich

Date: October 2010

Photos by: Aline Miladinovich / Metal Blade

Ben Falgoust is a very busy man. Fronting two bands, (Soilent Green and Goatwhore) in addition to working full time when he’s not on the road (which is almost never) this versatile and tireless vocalist from New Orleans, Louisiana, is a living embodiment of the old adage “no rest for the wicked.” Currently on tour in the US with Goatwhore, supporting The Black Dahlia Murder, Falgoust is preparing to hit the road again with Soilent Green in the spring to perform at Roadburn Festival in Holland, and Inferno Festival in Norway. He was kind enough to take some time out of his non-stop schedule to answer a few questions about Soilent Green’s history, creative vision, and songwriting process.

Thanks for granting us this interview, Ben.

No problem. Thanks for the time.

You’ve got a lot on your plate, undoubtedly. As mentioned in the intro, you front two bands, work full time, often serve as the driver, tour manager, and merchandise person for both of your bands when on the road, in addition to being the singer and lyric writer for both. How is it that you manage to keep it together, get it all done, and not “muddy the waters” creatively speaking when it comes to dealing with two very different bands?

I think the variation in both bands keeps it fresh. When it seems I am getting close to a possible burnout, I switch over to a different band and it seems quite refreshing. Sometimes I have to do duty longer than expected sometimes, if one of the bands has a lot going on. I just roll with it until it sorts itself out.

I don’t mean to beat a dead horse here, but it’s no secret that Soilent Green has been plagued by an uncanny number of tragedies and set backs since you joined the band in 1993. Two prior band members died, former bassist Scott Williams in 2004, and former singer Glenn Rambo in 2005. Prior to that, you were severely injured in an auto accident which left you with two broken legs, hospitalised, and in a wheelchair for over a year, in addition to personal tribulations of each of the band’s individual members. Were there ever times where you wondered if the band was going to survive all this? What eventually enabled you all to pull through, and keep the train rolling?

There were some times when the roads were rough, but the thing about Soilent Green is that Brian (guitarist) and Tommy (drummer) have been playing together for quite a long time and they have this sort of “brother relationship” where they get along really good at times, and hate each other at times. They are so close knit though, that even the toughest times make them closer. When I was in the wheelchair, I just sort of focused on myself and my physical being and they worked on the music. Sometimes you have to go back to the basics of being in a jam room, like when you first made the band. It is an escape to go into that room three to five times a week and just rock. It puts all your trials and tribulations off in a corner for a while - a type of venting per se.

I really wanted to do this. I just couldn’t give up at that point. I had to get back in the seat again. Not only the seat of playing music but the seat of a vehicle on tour as well. Confront any fears that may have kept me held back. Even if the band doesn’t evolve into a bigger band, at least I know I made the attempt and confronted it.

How are you all doing now?

Everyone is doing well. Everyone in Soilent Green has been quite busy with all of their other projects. It will be quite interesting to get back in the jam room and start running through old songs again, and starting some new ventures as well.

There hasn’t been any tour activity with Soilent Green over the past year or so. In fact, the band has been relatively quiet during that time. How did it come about that you ended up signing on for Roadburn and Inferno in April?

Well, we were supposed to do Roadburn last year, but we had to pull out due to a full Euro tour our drummer had with Crowbar. We were basically given a second chance to come back for 2011 Roadburn and at the same time got an offer to do Inferno Fest. I think we are also going to do some dates around the fests to fill in the gaps, as well.

There are bound to be a number of people at these festivals who are unfamiliar with Soilent Green. You are going to have the opportunity to bring something new and fresh to some pretty substantial crowds. What would you want European audiences who may be seeing you guys for the very first time to know about the band?

Well, for starters, with the ease and availability of the internet, I would have them check around either on our web based pages or other sites that might have our music on them and get a little acquainted with the music. Just get a rough idea, and then come to see it visually, and then make a complete decision about us after that.

Does the band have any plans in the making for any other tours in the near future?

Right now we will just be doing the European dates around those festivals and then we will move from that point. I am sure 2011 will have a busy schedule in store for us. New material, a new record, and time on the road. I am looking forward to all that is in store.

It’s been two years since the release of Soilent Green’s most recent album Inevitable Collapse in the Presence of Conviction. Are you currently writing any new material for an upcoming album? Any ballpark estimate on when we might see the next one?

New material has been thrown around and more solid attempts will be made once we are all in the room together. The creative angle is very much in existence, it is just the battle of time and schedules. I would say we will be hitting the studio in mid to late 2011. Writing for Soilent Green is a bit complex and we don’t just throw things together, so in saying that, don’t be surprised if that time period changes.

What is the songwriting process like for Soilent? Who writes the music? At what stage in the construction of a song do you introduce the lyrics?

It all starts with Brian, Tommy, and Scott. They get together and hash out ideas and start laying out the puzzle. They come in with pieces or segments and then try to put them all together. The thing with Soilent Green is that it never really visits the same part twice so it is like one big rollercoaster ride for every song. For example, these guys might come into the room and already have the beginning and the end of a song. Then they just keep adding elements to the center to make the beginning and end connect, or they have a middle and they build on from the end first, then to the beginning. Some of it is perplexing at first, but falls into place nicely. After all of that is done, I step in and start laying out ideas and phrasing, and determine where all the vocals / lyrics should sit. It is kind of like a twisted science project.

Is it difficult to pair your lyrics with the instrumentation? Your writing style is anything but simple. It’s quite complex, in fact. Lyrically, there is a lot going on there, both in sheer number of words used, and the powerful ideas presented. Is it difficult for your band mates to “match wits” with you, so to speak, when it comes to creating the rest of the song?

In all regards, it is I who has to match wits. The music is laid out first and then I have to counter-attack with putting lyrics over it all. Sometimes it is not an easy task, and a very challenging one to confront. When things seem to come to a dead end, I just step away from it for a bit, and then come at it with a clean head and approach it differently.

What performers/bands are especially influential to Soilent Green as an entity?

It is quite a variation, especially having so many different influences internally for each member. It ranges from blues / jazz, to metal, to experimental noise, to classic rock. The list goes on and on. Some of the influences on the tip of my tongue would be Napalm Death, Naked City, Van-Halen, Voivod, Frank Zappa, Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Billie Holiday, and this list would go on as well.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed that there has been a definite maturation in the lyrics you’ve produced over the years. Earlier albums were quite tense and sadistic, and while you’ve never lost that edge, there is a catharsis of sorts that starts to become evident in your writing style, starting with Confrontation and becoming profoundly noticeable with Inevitable Collapse. Simply put, you seem more in control, more self-actualised. It’s just been very interesting to watch your progress and growth as a songwriter. Your thoughts?

I do feel a bit more comfortable in recent years how my writings have come out. No disrespect towards my earlier stuff, but it is the start or the beginning of a growing structure. All things have a beginning and then an evolution… at least I would hope they do. I aspire that my writing and ideas continue to expand and grow. I am always digging up new ideas to explore and bring up.

Earlier material, as mentioned in the prior question, contains some pretty dark themes, more so than the most recent albums. Four overwhelmingly obvious elements are deviance, rage, self-loathing, and cynicism. How much of that is sheer venting for the sake of creative imagery, and how much of it was a real expression of your state of mind at the time? How did you work through such profound discontent to get where you are now? Is it still with you?

It was all sort of mixed. Some of it touches on personal elements and some of it is venting. I tend to involve things I’ve read, and combine them with personal experiences at instances. Some of it is my own dealing with life situations and some of it was from perceiving and observing friends and other people around me. I had some rage issues when I was younger because I had many questions about life that I couldn’t get answers to and I would basically have to go through trials to see the point of things. Making mistakes in life is a big thing for me. A mistake is a life learner. Even though I hate making mistakes, I feel I can learn from mistakes greatly, and they assist in my concepts and questions about life. At a young age I grew this fond hatred of the human race and its faults. Then I would do a bunch of introspection and it would basically fall back in my lap. It is like the idea of changing places with another person to see a different perspective. This kind of thing went on in my late teenage years to around my early 20s. I was also really into reading books about deviances. Writings by the Marquis De Sade and George Bataille and other things I could get my hands on. Kind of like a kid getting into his dad’s porn collection for the first time, but it was reading, and a mental perspective.

Not truly sure how I worked through it, I have kept quite busy since those days. I was never a big drinker or a drug abuser, so maybe that helped out. I might have also went completely past crazy and returned to what I am now!

I think a bit of it is still with me, but most of it has faded away. Maybe I got tired of it and learned to control it more, or brush things off easier and see things in a different perspective now. I’m still learning new things as I go along, even about myself.

Have you always been inclined to write? Before you had this outlet for your thoughts, urges and aggressions, in other words - before you began to perform with a band, did you write lyrics / journals, anything?

Not really. I still feel my level of writing has great room to improve. My earlier stages of writing were quite primitive and the use of words / ideas were greatly juvenile. I noticed it in the beginning, and started sourcing my ideas more. Investigating the words and phrases that better explained my points and ideas.

You’ve got an amazing ability to express yourself, and a tremendous grasp of the English language - you don’t just get a point across, you kind of jab the listener right in the throat with it. Your words pack a lot of punch. Are there any singers / songwriters or authors whose communication style speaks to you in particular, or is especially powerful in your opinion?

I have always enjoyed Freddie Mercury and Rob Halford. Even though I will never be able to sing like the both of them, they are amazing at what they do. They were very impactive vocalists in live and recorded environments. I was always a big fan of Lee Dorian of Napalm Death / Cathedral as well. He had a very noticeable voice in what he did with both bands.

In closing, how do you feel overall about the duality required to front two very different bands, and since this interview is geared toward focusing on Soilent Green, what type of escape / release / outlet do you get from this band in particular?

I enjoy both bands a bunch. They are both very different, and both come from two different perspectives musically and lyrically for me. It is a challenge jumping from one to the other, and as stated before, it keeps the rotation fresh. In Soilent Green, I feel I can let loose on more personal ideas, have more of a range for everyday dealings within life. In life, one’s ideas and perceptions change often as you gain knowledge and see life in different perspectives. That is where the challenge is, the idea that you might have thought things one way one to two to ten years ago, and now it has all shifted in personal to mental experiences.

Thank you so much for your time, Ben, and best of luck to you in ALL your musical and creative endeavors!

Thanks! I appreciate the interest in, and support for the bands.