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Dummy’s
Guide to Making Static Electricity |
EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview was conducted live and has been edited for content and length. With Bart Simpson emblazoned on everything from Butterfingers bars to back packs, who is more appropriate for making a comeback this summer than West Michigan’s own spikey-haired bad boy, Wayne Static? MWE: I do have to start out with something stupid—if you were actually born when all the sites say you were [November 4, 1965], you are exactly 12 years and one day older than I am. So, we are fellow Scorpios, Snakes in the Chinese Zodiac, and I am also a vegetarian Michigander… WS: All right! Cool! MWE: How does it feel, getting pretty close to your hometown, on as prestigious of a tour as Ozzfest? WS: Well,
you know, nowadays we’ve pretty much played everywhere so
much (that I hate to say this, but it’s kinda like, ya know,
another stop on the tour), but I very, very, vividly remember
the first Ozzfest we did, and coming back and playing to thousands
of people in my home state. I’m from the western part of
the state, though; I’m from, like, by the Muskegon area.
But, unfortunately, we never get to play around there—we’ve
played Grand Rapids—that’s probably the closest we’ve
played to my hometown. |
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| But, it’s obviously…I know a lot of people from Michigan are proud of what I’ve accomplished—you know, growing up in a little tiny farm town, an asparagus picker, to accomplish what I have, so…I hope I represent the state well. MWE: Do you expect to have family and friends coming for the show? SW: Well, my family always comes out, for sure. I don’t really have any…there’s only one person from High School that I keep in touch with. And he lives in Grand Rapids, so I don’t know if I’ll see him at the Detroit-area show or not. But it’s kinda funny, I used to keep in touch with a few people, but, you know, people treat you differently after you get famous, and, some people can’t treat you, like, that I’m the same old Wayne they went to school with. And, you know, they show up with a bunch of friends, lookin’ for autographs and stuff, so it’s kinda weird like that. MWE: Yah, that’s not cool. WS: Well, that’s just the way it is, I understand it, you know? MWE: Well, it seems like you guys have been having a pretty good time so far— WS: Yeah… MWE: Have you had any previous experience working with any of your tour mates? WS: It seems like I know a lot of the people…I’m trying to think…I don’t think we’ve actually toured with any of these bands, other than Ozzy and his band. And I know all those guys very, very well. Um, I’ve hung out with Zakk in the studio, and Blasko actually used to be my bartender back in 1995. When I first moved to LA, he was bartending at this little dive, and I used to sit at the bar all the time. And obviously, I know Jamey from Hatebreed very well. I’ve been on his show a lot. So, you know, I know a lot of people on the tour, but I don’t know if we’ve actually toured with any of the bands.
WS: I guess one of the funniest things is, you know, Zakk’s wearing a kilt onstage. And I guess I feel like I know him well enough that I can give him shit about it. ‘Tell him he looks good in a dress, and all that. Everyone else just kinda looks at him and lets him walk by. [Laughs] Nobody fucking gets away with wearing a dress on stage. MWE: What have you been playing for your fans so far? Has it been old stuff, new stuff, or a combo of it? WS: We always mix it up. We play something from every record. We’re playing a 45-minute set at Ozzfest, so it’s kinda like three songs from every record, played in full. MWE: Do you plan on varying your set list as the tour progresses, or is it staying pretty consistent? WS: Generally, we like to keep it pretty much the same, unless we feel there’s a problem that needs to be fixed. I like playing the same set for the whole tour, ‘cuz you really get into that groove, and the rhythm of the show. And that’s when the audience perceives it as magical, because the shit just happens. In the band, we don’t have to think about it, because we’re used to the whole rhythm of everything. And what really makes the concert magical for the audience, is when everything just happens, and it seems like magic. The only way that can happen for the band is if they’re very, very well rehearsed. So that’s kinda why we really like to try to keep it the same most of the time. MWE: Off the wall question—do you still use White Rain, or is that becoming increasingly hard to find? WS: I only
used White Rain for about a year. And I’ve actually been
using Sebastian’s Spritz Forte since 1984. I switched to
White Rain for about one year, and then I went back to Sebastian.
That’s all I ever use. MWE: Now I’m going to be a little blunt. I really got into Wisconsin Death Trip, I really liked “Cold”, you did a great homage to Ministry with your cover of “Burning Inside”, but something kinda happened with your last two albums. They didn’t seem to go over very well. What do you think happened there? WS: Well, I would beg to differ. I mean, well, you could say that Shadow Zone, maybe some of our fans did not like Shadow Zone, but an equal amount will say that that’s their favorite record of ours. I think that that record, because of many reasons: pressures from the label, pressures we put on ourselves, that record was, I think a little bit too different for a Static-X record, even though I think it’s an awesome one. Some of my favorite songs that I’ve ever written are on that record. But, I can understand…and then Start a War, I think was actually maybe what Shadow Zone should have been. It’s moody, it’s got some melody, but yet it’s still very Static-X. And then I think with the new record, I think it’s like Static-X to the core, and I don’t think anyone who likes Wisconsin Death Trip will dislike Cannibal. MWE: That’s actually what I was thinking, was what made you go back to that more Wisconsin Death Trip-like sound? Was it the reuniting of most of the original band members, or was it that you were just finding that the other styles didn’t go where you wanted them to, or was it just something that just kinda happened?
MWE: So, is Cannibal living up to your expectations so far, as far as the reception, the reviews and even the record sales go?
And we’re holding steady. We’ve been doin’ like 2,500 a week for the last couple of months, which is really awesome. All of our last records were already down to like a thousand a week by now. All of them. So, you know, that right there says a lot. MWE: What do you think it is about this album that’s making people respond so well? WS: Um…it’s just a great album [laughs]. Very simply, it’s a great album—top to bottom—there’s not a weak moment on it. There’s nothing I would change about it. Nothing at all. And I can’t say that about any of our other records. MWE: You list your influences as bands like Pantera, Prong, and Ministry, but on Cannibal, I’m hearing some almost System of a Down and Primus-type influences. Is that intentional? Have you guys gotten more varied in your stylistic incorporations? Or…is that just something I’m hearing? WS: Well Tony and Nick are huge Primus fans. So that’s where that kind of bleeds into the mix. As far as the System of a Down thing, I’ve always been a fan. I don’t know if, I can’t say I’ve really brought them into my music. ‘Cuz they’re very good friends of mine, you know, we grew up in the L.A. scene together. So, it’s kind of weird for me to look at sounds like that as an influence. That’s probably just, whatever, maybe coincidence or something, but the Primus thing, there’s somethin’ there, I’m sure. MWE: Some of your contemporaries like Coal Chamber have disbanded over the years. What is it that’s kept Static-X alive? WS: Hard work. And my unwillingness to ever give up or give in. And those are the two things right there. Some bands just don’t wanna work as hard as we do, and I haven’t had a vacation since I started this band. It’ really…I don’t take vacations, I just can’t. I’m…driven. And the more success you get, the harder you have to work to stay at that level, and you gotta work even harder if you wanna rise up. It’s fuckin’ crazy, it really is. There’s so many bands comin’ out all the time, and everyone is…the longer you’re around, the more people want to drag you down and say shit about you on the internet, do you know what I mean? And now, it’ like we’re not the cool fuckin’ [brother’s?] band anymore, like we were on the first album, so we do have that any more. And we don’t get any press hardly. So, now we have to work even harder and harder every year, that’s why we’re still around. MWE: Right on, you’re doing well.
MWE: Your songs have been featured on a plethora of soundtracks, most notably movies and video games. What do you think it is about your music that makes it so appealing for that genre? WS: You know, it just seems to fit. It’s high energy some of the electronic stuff…you know how certain moods, that go along with whatever the visuals are. It’s just [that] our music lends itself to that naturally. MWE: Do you want to plug the blog that you did for MTV’s headbangersblog.com? WS: Sure! (Laughs) Well, you know, that’s pretty much what it’s like on the road. Party all the time…you know? (Laughs) Put on a show and keep on partying and havin’ a good time. That’s what it’s all about. You gotta enjoy life. MWE: What are your plans after the tour? WS: We’ve got three weeks off, and then we’re doing another U.S. tour, which will be Static-X, Shadows Fall, 3 Inches of Blood, and Divine Heresy. That tour goes five weeks, then we go straight over to Australia with Megadeth and Devil Driver and Lacuna Coil. There’s six shows over there, and then we’re comin’ back home, and that will be mid-, late-November, somethin’ like that. And then that’s gonna be it for this record, I think we’re gonna go back at hit the studio and start workin’ on the next record, and try to get that out, like, the middle of next year. That’s my goal. MWE: Do you know where you’re headed yet, with your next album? WS: Ummm, we’re gonna pick up where Cannibal left off and go heavier. I’m feelin’ the heavy stuff right now, so I’m gonna stick with that for a little while. MWE: I think people are enjoying the heavy side. WS: Yah, definitely.
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MWE:
Right on. Do you have any good stories to share?
WS:
Um…I think it just kinda happened, you know? I always do
what feels right to me, and what is exciting for me and challenging
for me when writing songs and making a record. So, it just felt
like the right thing to do. Every record that we’ve ever
made, it felt like the right record to make at that time. And
that’s why it is what it is. You know, we have to have fun
while we’re making music, so that’s what we’ve
gotta do, is wherever that takes us. 
WS:
We are actually. We’re at the top of our game right now.
I mean, we’re sellin’ out clubs, a thousand or 1,500
people every single town that we’re headlining. Still sellin’
records. Actually, I think we’re at the top of our game
right now.