Coal Chamber

The group lives by the credo “Don’t be afraid to be different,” so when it came time to put out the new album, Chamber Music (Roadrunner), Fafara knew the band was going to move away from the hostility that drives many of today’s most popular artists.

“I have a real life and that’s reflected in the new album. The new material is not all about anger, because that wouldn’t be authentic. If I did that and then you saw me getting a hot dog at Pink’s, you’d wonder why I wasn’t Angry Guy. I live a normal life and I want to portray it that way.”

Considering their penchant for vinyl bondage getups and makeup (the men wear more than Rayna), and the ferocity of their live performances, the members of Coal Chamber are surprisingly down-to-earth. Foss-Rose is taking time away from the band to care for her new baby; Fafara and Rascon dote on their kids, too; and Cox seems to have turned out OK despite spending the last of his teen years on the road opening for Pantera and Black Sabbath.

Fans gush about how polite and sweet the band is while critics expound upon the positive messages conveyed by its music. Just because the members dress funny and play loud doesn’t mean Coal Chamber is evil incarnate.

With post-Columbine America still disdainful of black-clad, disaffected youth, Fafara knows it’s easy to misjudge his band. The singer with the sometimes demonic voice is definitely in touch with his anger but he’d like parents and promoters to know that he has no desire to act on it or encourage his fans to do so.

“Everything negative that has happened in my life I’ve taken and turned it positive,” he said. “I learned to move through it and let go.”

That includes alcohol abuse. Fafara used to dull his reality with whiskey before going onstage, but on this tour, he’s performing clean and sober in the name of authenticity.

“It’s way more taxing to actually experience all that intensity but that hour of honesty is like exercising every demon I take on during the day. There are so many decisions and difficult things that go on, and you get a little freaked out sometimes. When it’s time to go onstage, it’s my chance to get rid of all that.”

Coal Chamber may have found the ultimate weapon in its war on music biz-related stress – manager Sharon Osbourne.

“Sharon is just the best,” Fafara said. “She’s like our second mom. It goes beyond management. She’s really guided me as a person and I trust her with my life. Being a band on an indie label, we really need people like her in our corner. It’s very easy to be overlooked if you don’t have a radio hit.”

The band got to know Osbourne during a stint on the 1998 OZZfest tour and has been part of the extended Ozzy family ever since. Even before that, Coal Chamber had another believer in Dave Kirby of The Agency Group.

“He’s been with us since we were a tiny baby band,” said the singer. “Dave’s been nothing but a really hard worker.”

The sometimes mind-bending tour schedule has allowed Coal Chamber to grow a loyal fanbase and support itself. The band learned its work ethic toiling on the L.A. club scene.

“We worked so hard and we were so poor for so long,” Fafara said. “We would walk around with backpacks full of tapes and hand demos out at clubs, then we’d wait until they closed and pick the tapes up off the floor and the bar, and hand them out again. We’d give away 200 T-shirts that we paid for out of our own pockets. Fortunately, we had a lot of people behind us. Meegs’ dad helped us out a lot. We’re very grateful for all the support we’ve received and that keeps us humble.”

Humility is a reoccurring theme with the charismatic frontman. Coal Chamber comes with a lot of eyeliner and nail polish, not attitude.

“Ego, baby, ego,” he said. “I’ve seen what it does and I stay away from it. We work hard to remain credible – it’s important for a rock band that wears makeup.”

The courage-to-be-different edict is for real and the band makes its choices knowing that touring for months on end is much tougher on a group than letting radio do the work for you. If Coal Chamber’s next single goes through the roof, that would be great, but the road show will go on.

“A lot of my friends have had that one hit single and they’re still playing 800-capacity clubs because they don’t have the fanbase,” Fafara said. “People like that song, but they don’t know if they like the band enough to pay for a ticket. In that same city, we might be drawing 2,200.

“I just started looking at our numbers and I think we’re doing fine. I think we have realistic expectations. I think reality works well for us, so that’s the plan – keeping it real.”