Interview with X Factor X

How would you classify your music. ?

We each are influenced by many styles of music but I think the best way to descibe our sound would be Dream Theater meets Skid Row.

Do you all have day jobs and if so what do you do ?

Tony and Andre both work day jobs at Sam Ash Music.
Chris is a Graphic Artist for a design company.
John has no other job, just X Factor X.

How did the band get together ?

After many attempts at putting together a working project. John and Chris jammed decided to try to put together a band. John met Andre at an open mic night at a local club and asked him to audition. Everything worked out and we started X Factor X. We started out just playing Metal cover songs at local bars. As a cover band we went through 2 different drummers. None of us in the band wanted to stay a cover band but we just could not click with any drummers. Things just were not right until we found Mr. Tony Mei. He is the glue that binds us. Upon the aquisition of Tony, everything finally came together.

What are your musical backgrounds ?

This is Andre's first experience in a band.
Tony has played in various bands.
John has played with only 3 other bands. One highlight of his past was opening for Steve Vai (one of his idols) at Toad's Place in New Haven CT.
Chris attended BIT in California were he studied with Jeff Berlin, Billy Sheehan, and John Aldrete. Chris was in a band called "Slam" with Jeff Scott Soto and has Jammed with Sebastian Bach and Graham Bonnet.

What kind of music do you like to listen to when your not playing ?

Andre- Journey, Helloween, Kiss, King Diamond, Styx, and a large variety of hard rock/metal.
Chris- Classical and Melodic Weird Stuff like Kate Bush.
Tony- Fates Warning, Genesis, Queensryche, and Dream Theater.
John- Prince, Queen, Queensryche, Dream Theater, James Brown, Kings X, Saigon Kick, The Police,Old Van Halen (Roth Years), David Lee Roth, Iron Maiden,Classical, New Age, and a Large variety of other stuff.

What do you do to relax?

Andre- I Masturbate and Sleep.
Tony- I yell at Andre!
Chris- I want to ride my bicycle.
John- I roller blade, play video games, watch movies (sci-fi and comedy), and collect Sci-fi and Horror Collectibles.

If you had the chance to jam with any band, who would that be ?
Besides X FACTOR X,

Andre- Probably Journey from the Escape and Frontiers Era.
Tony- The reason I started playing drums was Tommy Lee so I would have to say Motley Crue.
Chris- Hendrix on Guitar, Buddy Rich on Drums, and David Lee Roth (Vocals).
John- I would have to say Prince, he is a genius.

Whats the best thing that has ever happened to you ?

Andre- Meeting Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
Chris-Met my girlfriend Leah and when I saw Bass for the first time.
Tony- Meeting these guys and Jammin!!
John- I would have to say when I opened for Steve Vai.


Whats the worst thing that has ever happened to you ?

Chris- While in LA , I became homeless and I had my bass stolen.
Tony- 48 hours after buying my new truck I got into an accident.
Andre- The pictures of Me, Gene Simmons, and Paul Stanley never came out!
John- My parents got divorced when I was 10years old. Now I see my mom about once every 5 years.

Who writes the songs ?

We all put in our input on all of the songs. We always like to keep it a group effort.

Where do you get your Inspiration from ?

Andre- The vibe in the band practice room.
Chris-Honestly, Life Experience and Weather, Geography, art........
Tony-Everyday Occurance.
John- I get inspiration from many things. Everyday experiences, anything could be an inspiration.

Who thought of the bands name and how did you choose it ?

John- I thought of the name a long time ago when I was in grammer school. I had it on a list I made in the 8th grade. The weird thing about it is Chris thought up the same name when he was younger.
The variable X can be any number. X factored into X will always equal One! No matter what X is equal to.
A great band must always function as "One"!

Which are your personal favorite songs and why ?

Besides X Factor X songs (Since all of our songs are our favorites:)
Chris- I have thousands of favorite songs but right now I would have to say Love Rain Over Me by the Who-Killer Music, Lyrics, and performance.
Andre-Send Her My Love by Journey, Walk in the Shadows by Queensryche, The Prisoner by Iron Maiden, and too many others to mention.
Tony - I can only say Bamf and Shadow- X FACTOR X

Do you play many gigs and if so where ?

We play anywhere and everywhere. Lately we have been doing opening gigs for bands such as Warrant, Slaughter, Great White, Overkill, and this past month we opened for Lynch Mob.

What is your view of the music scene in Connecticut ?

We live in the state of Connecticut which is just outside of New York and the metal scene is finally coming back around here,The ground is rumbling, Its about damn time!

What bands would you say have had most influence on you ?

John- Queensryche, Queen, Prince, and Old Van Halen (Roth Years), Steve Vai, Iron Maiden.
Andre-Iron Maiden, Helloween, Kiss, Journey, Queen , Old Van Halen, Judas Priest
Tony-Tommy Lee- Motley Crue

What are your plans for the future ?

We want to be one of the leaders in the return of metal to the masses!
Total world domination!
We want to tour the world!
We dont ask for much:)

Any last words or remarks ?

We want to thank everyone out there for supporting us! If you don't have the CD , buy it we swear it is good! We cannot wait to play in the U.K.
Be sure to check us out in the next Hard RoxX magazine, we will have a song on the CD sampler.
Stormbringer Rocks!!!!!