Factory 81 were an American nu metal band from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, United States. Formed in 1997, the band was active until 2003.

Biography

The band had not initially decided on a name until Nathan Wallace wore a shirt bearing a patch which read "Factory 81", and the rest of the band thought that "it sounded good", deciding that this would be the name of their band. Factory 81 released their only album, ''Mankind'' in 1999 on Medea Records; while it did not chart, it was reissued by The Orchard in 2000 and

Universal Motown Republic Group Universal Motown Republic Group (UMRG) was an umbrella label founded in 1999 by Universal Music Group to oversee the labels assigned to its unit. UMRG was formed in 1999 by pooling together Universal Records, Motown Records, and Republic Records, ...

on October 3, 2000. In 2001, the album was reissued by the independent record label

Mojo Records Mojo Records was a California-based record label founded in 1995 by producer Jay Rifkin. It became a joint venture with Universal Records in 1996 and then sold to the Zomba Group in 2001, who placed it under their subsidiary Jive Records.

. Factory 81 also appeared on the compilation '' Take a Bite Outta Rhyme: A Rock Tribute to Rap'', contributing a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of Cypress Hill's "

Insane in the Brain "Insane in the Brain" is a 1993 song by American hip hop group Cypress Hill, released as the first single from their second album, '' Black Sunday'' (1993). In addition to hitting number one on the US rap chart, the song also was a mainstream hi ...

". The compilation peaked at No. 195 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In November 2000, Factory 81 toured alongside

Mudvayne Mudvayne is an American heavy metal band formed in Peoria, Illinois in 1996. Known for their sonic experimentation, face and body paint, masks and uniforms, the band has sold over six million records worldwide, including nearly three millio ...

, Kittie and

Apartment 26 Apartment 26 was a nu metal/industrial metal band from Leamington Spa, England, formed in 1998. They released two albums on the major labels Hollywood Records and Atlantic Records, ''Hallucinating'' and ''Music for the Massive'' respectively. Af ...

. The band signed to Jive Records, but left the label in 2002. In 2003, bassist Kevin Lewis and drummer Andy Cyrulnik left the group, prompting Factory 81 to disband. In 2017, Bill Schultz and Kevin Lewis started a new band, Minus Knives, along with singer Brandon Espinoza, and drummer Greg Wroblewski.

Musical style and influences

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

described Factory 81's music style as a fusion of "stomp-paced metal" and "'new school' hardcore", and as mosh metal. Influences cited by the band include genres such as

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

, and world music, and the band

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

. Factory 81's sound has been compared to bands such as

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first f ...

while vocalist Nathan Wallace's rapping has been compared to that of

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...

Zack de la Rocha Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Agains ...

Band members

* Andy Cyrulnik — drums * Kevin Lewis — bass * Bill Schultz —

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Nathan Wallace — vocals

Discography

Studio albums *''

Mankind Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

'' (1999) *'' Factory 81'' (2019) Demos *''Crawl Space'' (1997) *''Midwest'' (2006) Singles *''Nanu'' (2000)

References

{{Authority control American nu metal musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from Michigan Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Musical groups from Detroit 1997 establishments in Michigan