Coal Chamber's singer Dez dangles from the ceiling of a crowded club and bellows a throaty chorus, "The Roof, The Roof, The Roof is on Fire," guitarist "Meegs" unconsciously shreds out a blister of riffs while drummer Mike pounds relentlessly over his drum kit. A petite figure emerges - dressed in a plaid mini skirt and halter-top - and leans aggressively over the swaying bodies in the front row. Meet bassist Rayna Foss as she jumps high on the stage never missing a note. She could easily be mistaken for a Rockette, but this isn't Radio City and she's not your average bassist.
The Santa Barbara native refers to Coal Chamber's dark-edged tunes and theatrical stage vibe as "Spookcore." An appropriate description for a group that play the same down-tuned brand of music as Korn and the Deftones. Coal Chamber emerged on the scene in 1994 as part of the emerging metal hippsters. After selling out clubs in L.A. and catching the "ear" of metal producer Ross Robinson, they inked a deal with Roadrunner (home of Type O Negative and Machine Head).
It all came together for her at age 18 when she was given a bass at a party. Always eager to try "something new" she began teaching herself how to play (by ear) when a friend (singer Dez) encouraged her to join his band. "He said he was looking for a new bass player," she recalls. "I told him that I hadn't been playing that long. He called me four or five times and finally I said, O.K.! I go down there and he didn't even show up. I thought I was going to make a fool out of myself. I almost walked out of there. But Miguel (Meegs) showed me these riffs and I played them at a show eight days later."
Rayna adds a melodic groove to the Coal Chamber mix, which encompasses punk, rock and metal. On songs "Bradley" and "Unspoiled" she draws on her inbred sense for keeping time. "I used to teach tap dance," she explains. "It's the same counting, 'And a one, and a two, and a three, and a four.' It's like the drums and the bass - it goes along with that." A performer by nature, her Mom enrolled her in dance classes when she was only three years old. Her motto today is: "play with confidence" as she taps into her signature time changes.
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