Raymond Herrera

Raymond Herrera (born December 18, 1972) is best known as the former drummer and founding member of the heavy metal band Fear Factory. He was also the drummer for his former band Brujeria and currently the drummer for industrial metal band Arkaea.

Biography

Raymond Herrera is an award winning composer and producer of music for video games, television, feature films and transmedia. An RIAA certified Platinum-Selling recording artist, Herrera recorded his commercial album debut with his former band Fear Factory in 1992, Soon after the album's release, Herrera began a nearly two decade long recording and touring schedule that included over twelve commercial album releases and numerous world tours. Herrera's drumming is considered to be a key part of Fear Factory's signature sound and their appeal to fans. He's a pioneer of drum trigger technology and a master of double kick work. He is also known for his high speed playing, particularly his double bass technique, which involves the use of and other embellishments rather than the blast beats commonly found in extreme metal percussion. Herrera's bursts of double bass often share a dualism with the guitar notes, resulting in the machine gun-like sound found in many Fear Factory songs. Most first-time Fear Factory listeners believed the drumming is too fast for a human and believe a drum machine or computer is generating this sound. This is an understandable mistake as Herrera's drum set is rigged with triggers that adjust the sound of his drums, providing a cleaner sound which in turn make it sound more machine-like or computerized. Another reason for Herrera's machine-like drumming is that he uses a "stop go" technique for his double bass rather than the usual "flooring face" style of double bass playing. Examples of Herrera's style can be heard on Fear Factory songs such as "Leechmaster" and "Securitron (Police State 2000)".[1]

In 1996 Herrera started to secure music licensing of Fear Factory's music for dozens of video game titles, this allowed Herrera to branch out and create Herrera Productions (Became 3volution Productions in 2003 with videogame industry veteran Laddie Ervin) as cross-genre composer-producer working on numerous videogame projects. His experience writing and producing rock, metal, industrial and rap music combined with orchestral, techno and other genres lead him to work on projects for many top videogame publishers and developers in North America, Japan and Europe including Microsoft, SEGA, Sony, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, THQ, Midway, Capcom, Namco, Atari, Majesco and others. Some of Herrera's notable game projects include: Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (1 and 2), Rainbow Six: Lockdown, Scarface: The World is Yours, MX vs. ATV Reflex, NFL Gameday 2004, WWE Smakdown vs. Raw 2006, Alpha Protocol, Test Drive 4, Too Human and Iron Man 2. Projects he has worked on have sold more than 30 million units in combined sales and have been nominated for various awards including the BAFTA award for game of the year. Herrera has produced, composed or performed with notable recording artists including: Fear Factory, Arkaea, Cypress Hill, Shavo Odadjian (System of a Down), Billy Gould (Faith No More), Everlast, DJ Lethal, Frank Black (The Pixies), Stephen Carpenter (Deftones), Puddle of Mudd, Gary Numan, Wayne Static (Static-X), Pat Lachman (Damageplan), Doug Carrion (Circle Jerks), Megadeth, The Prague and Magik Magik Orchestras, Jeff Kendrick & Mike Spreitzer (Devildriver) and Junkie XL.

In 2006 Herrera created Temple Studios LLC, which is a recording studio located in Chatsworth, California. It is a partnership between 3volution LLC and B-Real's (Cypress Hill) Audio Hustlers Inc. Production Company. X-Zibit became a partner in the summer of 2011. Together they record, Produce, Mix and Master on their state of the art equipment and facility to produce top notch music, voice over and sound effects. for all entertainment mediums.

In 2006 Herrera co-created a Beverage company called Redux Beverages LLC, Which is a fully owned subsidiary of Redux Enterprises Inc. and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, Redux Beverages created the wildly popular, Cocaine Energy Drink. Within 90 days, Cocaine claimed the distinction of being the fastest globally branded Energy Drink product in history.

In 2008 Herrera played drums with Arkaea along with former Fear Factory band member Christian Olde-Wolbers along with Jon Howard and Pat Kavanagh from Threat Signal. The band release an album entitled Years In The Darkness.

In 2009 Herrera started Alt-Strum Productions. (ASP) is in the forefront of the new age of digital distribution and artist promotion for the music and gaming industries. Participating as part of the newly launched Rock Band Network initiative ASP authors and programs existing audio and custom audio content which is then sold as playable Rock Band tracks to a video game audience of millions.

In 2010 Herrera co-created Freedom To Rock and is on the board of directors. Freedom To Rock is a 501c3 non-profit organization (Loretta Palacios CEO) has become a strategic partner with The United States Entertainment Force Inc, a 501c3 non-profit, proud home of The Hopes and Dreams Project (Jerry Payne, CEO, and former USO producer). Freedom To Rock touches the lives of our military through Music, Art, Film and Services. This partnership will bring two entertainment organizations; with over 25 years of experience in serving our Armed Forces. Freedom To Rock will be a yearly event to the Military installations featuring Bands and Artists to entertain our troops.

In 2011-2012 Herrera worked with Power A to help develop the FUS1ON Gaming controller http://www.powera.com/FUS1ON The controller was developed for ultimate performance in tournament play, is in line with tournament regulations and touts a 1 to 1 accuracy of response. The controller also offers two interchangeable grips that ensure you get exactly what you're looking for in gaming comfort. Made with high-quality, durable materials. It features custom illumination in five different colors, has a 9.8' cord, finely tuned analog modules and a precision D-pad that offers extraordinary accuracy with an 8-way control.

In 2013 Raymond joined Capital Source Network (CSN), a company Raymond Herrera helped create. Capital Source Network is a beverage industry one-stop shop, specializing in brokering, test marketing, distribution and financial services. CSN represents a wide variety of brands, from vitamin enhanced waters to energy supplements. The company has offices in California, Indiana and Michigan.

Gameography

Discography

With Fear Factory

• Concrete (Recorded in 1991 and Released on July 30, 2002)
• Soul of a New Machine (1992)
• Demanufacture (1995)
• Obsolete (1998)
• Digimortal (2001)
• Archetype (2004)
• Transgression (2005)

With Brujeria

• Matando Güeros (1993)
• Raza Odiada (1995)
• Brujerizmo (2000)

With Asesino

• Corridos de Muerte (2002)

With Phobia

• Return to Desolation (1994)

With Arkaea

• Years in the Darkness (2009)

Equipment & Endorsements

• Pro-mark drum sticks
• Zildjian cymbals
• DW pedals (5000 series)
• Remo drum heads
• Tama Drums

Power Tower custom rack system, Tama hardware including Wide Rider drum throne, two DW5000 bass drum pedals, Attack drum heads, ddrum4 triggers, Korg D1200 studio and Pro-Mark 5A Oakwood nylon tip sticks. More details about his drum setup available.^[1]

References