The financial difficulties of touring has been a hot topic lately, and Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares has certainly been a part of the conversation. Cazares recently said the band will tour in a van in 2023 to keep costs down, and is now heavily elaborating on that tactic.
In an interview with Vulgar Display Of Podcast, Cazares detailed just how expensive touring has become and why anyone without any touring experience can appreciate the costs involved. He also notes that Fear Factory's 2023 tour with Static-X is going to be super tight financially, given their contracts and the shifting economic landscape between when they signed them and now.
"So much has changed in those couple of years, because look how much the economy has gotten really, really over the top, with gas and even availability on certain things, even drivers; just getting a driver, it's hard. People really don't understand the cost that goes into doing these tours. Everything affects you, whether it's venues taking a big cut of the merch sales to insane diesel and gas prices.
"A lot of people don't realize that these buses take diesel, and diesel is more expensive than gas. So that adds up, when you're spending eight hundred to a thousand dollars just to fill up a tank of a bus. People don't realize the cost of all that. So it's getting harder and harder.
"It's really kind of weird, because when we first booked the tour, the economy was much lower than now. And then we do these show contracts for 'X' amount of dollars, and all of a sudden we postpone the tour to a year or so later, and so much has changed. Now these contracts, it doesn't match to where the economy is at now. A lot of people don't realize that either, that a lot has changed so much. I wish we can go back and renegotiate our contracts, but it's too late — can't do it.
"It is what it is. We're just not gonna be making the money that we would normally make to do that tour, but we're still gonna do it; we're committed to it. We can't wait to get back on the road and just play in front of all those people."
Cazares later added that people tend to think touring musicians are doing well for themselves, which isn't the case.
"I'm not the only one that really talks about that. There have been other people — Devin Townsend's been talking a lot about it; Dark Funeral and a few other bands as well, talking about what it's like out there. Of course a lot of people who follow me who are fans of the band, they don't really understand what it is, how it is out there. But in a way, they should, because, obviously, gas prices affect everything. Food prices — food prices have gone insanely high.
"So people should be able to relate to it in that way. Speaking in the third person, if it's hard for that person to pay rent or to buy food, imagine what it's like for us to be out there touring. People have this misconception, just because you're on the road, you're making big bucks and you're a rich guy. We are affected by it just as much as they are — as a matter of fact worse, 'cause we have more overhead."
Catch Fear Factory on tour with Static-X and Dope at one of the dates below.
2/25 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore [Tickets]
2/27 – Portland, OR – Roseland [Tickets]
2/28 – Seattle, WA – Showbox [Tickets]
3/1 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theater [Tickets]
3/2 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory [Tickets]
3/3 – Boise, ID – Revolution Concert Hall [Tickets]
3/4 – Reno, NV – Virginia Street Brewhouse [Tickets]
3/5 – Sacramento, CA – Ace Of Spades [Tickets]
Fear Factory, Static-X, Dope & Mushroomhead
3/7 – Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren [Tickets]
3/8 – Albuquerque, NM – El Rey Theater [Tickets]
3/9 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom [Tickets]
3/10 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues [Tickets]
3/11 – San Antonio, TX – The Aztec Theater [Tickets]
3/12 – Houston, TX – House Of Blues [Tickets]
3/14 – Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theater [Tickets]
3/15 – Orlando, FL – Plaza Live [Tickets]
3/16 – Charlotte, NC – Underground [Tickets]
3/17 – Baltimore, MD – Soundstage [Tickets]
3/18 – Philadelphia, PA – T.L.A. [Tickets]
3/19 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza [Tickets]
3/21 – Boston, MA – Big Night Live [Tickets]
3/22 – New Haven, CT – Toad's [Tickets]
3/23 – Montreal, QC – Corona [Tickets]
3/24 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix [Tickets]
3/25 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall [Tickets]
Fear Factory, Static-X, Dope & Twizted
3/26 – Cleveland, OH – House Of Blues [Tickets]
3/28 – Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian [Tickets]
3/29 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogarts [Tickets]
3/30 – Columbus, OH – The King of Clubs [Tickets]
Fear Factory, Static-X, Dope & Mushroomhead
3/31 – Ft. Wayne, IN – The Clyde [Tickets]
4/1 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave [Tickets]
4/2 – Green Bay, WI – Epic Event Center [Tickets]
4/4 – Grand Rapids, MI – Intersection [Tickets]
Fear Factory, Static-X, Dope & Twizted
4/5 – St. Louis, MO – Del 3/Hall [Tickets]
4/6 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue [Tickets]
4/7 – Chicago, IL – House Of Blues [Tickets]
4/8 – Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore [Tickets]
4/9 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theater [Tickets]
4/11 – Denver, CO – The Summit [Tickets]
4/13 – Las Vegas, NH – House Of Blues [Tickets]
4/14 – San Diego, CA – House Of Blues [Tickets]
4/15 – Los Angeles, Ca – Belasco Theater [Tickets]
