Four Stroke Baron defy convention and boldly go where few bands have gone before with the smirking and cinematic future shock brilliance of Data Diamond. The falsetto and manipulated vocals on “1000 Threads” paired with heavy sci-fi Nu groove makes you feel adrift in space. It is a swan dive into embracing the chaos, mutating and adapting while trying to find yourself. Certain moments feel like the dark guitars of Korn, Once Human, or Gojira suddenly morphed into Massive Attack.
There is so much here for repeated listens and it was cool to get to talk about the new album with the band. 
Morgan for GCM: I was not sure you could top Classics. “Khera” to me was like utterly brilliant. Like Hum meets Gojira with Tears For Fears in there. It just kicked my ass. I love that song. “Data Diamond” is on another trip of its own, I gather. Could the name imply the Philosopher’s Stone? Or is it a sly play on the idea of data mining (like diamonds) genres for the perfect combination, or inspirational “diamond”?
FSB: Thank you, we knew we could go harder than Classics. The name Data Diamond itself formed from combining the two separate EPs we were going to create, Data and Diamond. Once we realized we can just form it into its own beast we stuck with the name. The song “Data Diamond” is actually about data mining, and how years from now all that will be preserved of your life will be what is on the internet.
GCM: Yes and sometimes with the internet whole websites with years of your work can also vanish in a flash. It’s great! As you say, originally this was conceived as two separate EPs (one purely electronic – Data; one heavy – Diamond. I like how the lines meet. “People In My Image” reminds me of Dino Cazares in Fear Factory’s playing a little. Is something like “On Mute” about what others think? “Bottom of the Ocean” by Fever Ray from the recent amazing Radical Romantics album came to mind when I heard that, just cool out there textures. In my project Walking Bombs I view music like cooking and just combine players or try different genres. Your record reminded me of how my friend Alex from Nerve Debt and I were discussing how Deadsy put a Sebadoh and a Rush cover on a nu-metal synth album Commencement back in the day…such aesthetic/genre irony. Anything is possible! If you met Devin Townsend would it be like the Spider-Man pointing meme?
FSB: We started writing Data (the electronic EP) first. Once we had that mostly complete, we went onto to write an absurdly heavy EP called Diamond. When those songs started taking shape, we realized the material was too good to just drop as an EP. “On Mute” is about being stuck in bed and wanting to do things but for whatever reason you can’t, and so you expect everyone else to amplify your signal for you. We don’t genre mash on purpose, certain ideas just seem to pop up. And there are certain sounds and instruments we like, so for example we incorporated plenty of trumpet because it is a good instrument for creating some atmosphere and kind of a “story” between the songs. And we actually have met Devin Townsend, when he mixed our album Classics. We’re pretty sure he has a restraining order on us now, so we would probably go to prison if we met him again. Love you, Devin 🙂
GCM: Oh, didn’t know he mixed that one. That completely makes sense, haha. I hate to do another comparison but “Monday” reminds me of how Robert Smith befriended Korn, lol. but like, if they took Lexapro and watched Ready Player One on a couch? And like barking bulldogs ran in? Then there was a dance party with Terrence McKenna machine elves? I am “live tweeting” my reactions to this. Are you still down to talk, haha?
FSB: “Monday” actually started from a conversation we heard in a bar in New Jersey. A very drunk older man was ranting about how long he’s lived there, and something about “cheesecakes, cheesesteaks, and cheapskates.” When talking about how long he’s lived there, he said he “came with the building,” and then Matt said “and you’ll stay with the building.” Then the man came up with the perfect phrase when he said “if I die Monday, then Tuesday you’ll see me in a dumpster.”
GCM: The term Industrial now has such a contested and wide net. Were you ever Throbbing Gristle rubbing genitals on raw meat while balancing an egg in a plastic spoon “purists?” Or do you prefer Front 242, or popdustrial?
FSB: I have never heard of these things, but Industrial Music can be cool.
GCM: Let’s talk “Open The World”. I believe in free movement and think everyone should read Harsha Walia’s Border And Rule’ about imperialism. I think we also need super cooperation to live as a species and this other made up bs is gonna make most of us die. Greed/exploitation. I mean wealth hoarding is an insane problem. The exploitation of temporary status workers as well. “The precipice” we are on as a species is real. Is this title about anything similar or is it like about a mutant pool shark or something?
FSB: This song is about a guy who is stalking a girl on the internet, and the lines between reality and the internet for him are completely blurred. Then he meets her in person with this entire idea and fantasy built into his head. The rest of the song is up for the listener to interpret it, whatever they think it might mean.
GCM: It seems like the album builds to a sort of apotheosis/crescendo as it goes. How did Paul Masdival (Cynic) and Adam Jorvi (VOLA) become part of the final track?
FSB: We toured with VOLA and got along great with Adam and the rest of the guys, and we had the idea to have Adam feature a drum solo on a song. As we wrote “Data Diamond” and left room for a drum solo, we thought it would be cool to have him put his own spin on the entire song and record drums for the whole thing. And with Paul, I helped Cynic program their set for the “Re-Focus tour,” and also got along great with him. We decided to spend a weekend just hanging out and writing some music, I had only the piano part at the time. Paul wrote the chorus part, and between the piano and the chorus we were able to form the rest of the song. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out and the contributions Paul and Adam made.
GCM: Jackson “Rock” Pinckney (RIP), who played one of Fender’s pirates in the classic action movie Cyborg, lost an eye during filming when Jean-Claude van Damme accidentally struck his eye with a prop knife. I wrote Pickney a tribute song recently and can’t find where I put it. I heard they are re-making Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Running Man. It seems ironic to regurgitate movies about “the future”. Anyway, “Cyborg Pt. 3” your song seems to have messianic cyborg elements. Are you afraid of “the singularity” or would you rather slow dance with it?
FSB: We would rather be inside of it.
GCM: What was the coolest gear you use here on this record? The low-end and textural stuff is nuts. There is an almost gospel level of import to some of these songs, vibe-wise. Also “leader of a death cult located in a convenience store” sounds like something from Clerks or a great missed connection on Craigslist!
FSB: There was nothing particularly unusual used on the album, the coolest piece of gear we used was my Aristides guitar. And I guess the coolest way we used the gear was in Monday, where at times Matt and I are playing the guitar at the same time. I would strum and ring out some chords while Matt would pick behind the nut on the headstock, which gives it a dissonant chime sound between chords.
GCM: This album has so many twists and turns that now i broke out in a sweat and smell like fuckin onion rings, thanks dudes. Sure to rake in the ladies now. Great. Can you come play a San Diego show and have Downsider open? Great slow-core post-metal kinda band. I was telling Eli, their drummer, about you. But anyway, did you watch any of Elton John’s farewell performances?
FSB: We are always down to play San Diego. The only thing we watch is Kid Rock’s 1999 Woodstock performance.
Buy Data Diamond –
https://fourstrokebaron.bandcamp.com/album/data-diamond
Read our review of the album here:
MORGAN Y. EVANS
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