I chatted with Wayne Static and Tony Campos of Static-X at Ozzfest. The band has a new record out, “Cannibal,” and discussed the current band dynamic, Wayne’s extreme side project Pighammer, the band’s upcoming live CD/DVD filmed in Spokane, Wayne’s spiky hair and other topics.
GC: Tell me about evil disco. Is that the right phrase?
WS: That’s what we like to call it.
GC: How do you describe it and what sort of music do you listen to that influences this type of music?
WS: Most of the inspiration for almost all of the songs we write comes from old industrial stuff. Like early Ministry stuff, you know, the synth-pop stuff. Skinny Puppy, Killing Joke. That’s where I get a lot of inspiration to write songs. I think that’s what sets us apart from bands that try to mix metal and industrial.
GC: You’ve been able to do that pretty successfully. All of your records have had top 50 chart appearances.
WS: We always debut in the top 20. I think all of our records have charted that high.
GC: What gives you that staying power as a band? It’s rare to see a metal band perform so well on a consistent basis when it comes to chart appearances.
WS: That’s because we’re more than a regular metal band. We’re not a metal band really. We have some metal elements, but we’re an evil disco band.
TC: We’re the only ones.
WS: We’re the kings, (chuckling), the kings of evil disco.
TC: Yeah, look at him. He’s already got the crown on (pointing at Wayne’s hair).
GC: Yeah, I wasn’t going to ask, but since it was brought up, how do you do that with your hair?
WS: Just hairspray, really.
GC: Like Aquanet?
WS: That will work.
GC: Take me through a little bit of the progression of the band from the mid-90s to now. How has the recording and songwriting process changed? Static-X has gone through a few lineup changes, but now you’re got some original band members back. How do you feel about the state of Static-X?
WS: Right now we’re stronger than ever. I think we’ve proven ourselves.
TC: We’ve got the best lineup. No drama. Everyone’s happy.
WS: Yeah, absolutely. I see us now as almost like an institution like Slayer is. They keep f**** going and going. They can go on forever or however long as they want to and I think we’re getting into that territory.
In the early days, ’94 when we first started this band, we didn’t really know what we wanted to do. We spent a year or two just trying to figure things out.
TC: We went through all these different phases trying all these different things. We were doing old school punk rock covers for a while, slower grungy s***. We were doing Crowbar for a while. All kinds of different s***.
WS: I think “Lovedump” was the first song that had that kind of dance feel to it and we just went from there.
GC: When you listen to a song like “Lovedump” and you listen to “Cannibal,” your current record, to me it feels like there’s a feeling of a shift to more raw, visceral sounds. Was that intentional or was that just the natural progression of the way things went in the studio?
WS: It was some of both. I knew I wanted to get heavier and put guitar solos in. On the last couple of records we’ve had a drummer who can actually play as opposed to the previous records where there was a lot of programming. So it was just utilizing Nick on the drums and Koichi on guitar. I think that kind of pushes us to where we are now.
GC: This is your third go-round on Ozzfest and I wanted to ask about the decision to play for free. You played an off-day show in Oregon yesterday and you were in Canada earlier, so it’s not like you’re not making money, but what goes into the decision to play these bigger shows for free. What do you think of the idea of playing for free so far?
WS: Well, we really didn’t get into this business to get rich or anything like that. It’s nice to make a living and to be able to pay my mortgage, but just to have the opportunity to play in front of 20,000 people every day like this it’s a no brainer. To me I could care less if we make money on this tour. I could really give a f***. We didn’t make any money the first two years we toured as a band.
TC: That’s just the way it goes, you make money one night and you don’t the next night. You just sort of roll with it.
WS: For me it’s just about going out there and playing and having a great f****** time every day and kicking a** in front of 20,000 people. You can’t beat that.
GC: So it sounds like it’s sort of a throwback to playing smaller clubs when you first started except now you’re playing massive amphitheatres.
WS: Yeah, it sort of is. Our first Ozzfest we didn’t make any money. It was just about being there and playing. We played for free on our first Ozzfest just like this. So, whatever man, it’s Ozzfest.
TC: Same attitude but different sized venues.
GC: How many off-date shows are you guys playing?
WS: Well, sometimes it’s tough because although the tour is organized so bands can go play and make money on their off days, sometimes the cities are really far apart and it takes too much travel time. In all, I’d say we’re playing about 14 between show dates.
GC: What was the experience like on Thursday when you played the first day of Ozzfest? Was it exciting for you guys or was it just another day at the office?
TC: I guess you could compare it something like the opening day of baseball season.
WS: Yeah, in a way, but for us we have already been on tour for four months solid. So for us it’s also like just another day on the tour that we’ve been on for four months. But it is definitely exciting to get on stage in front of that many people.
GC: I haven’t seen Static-X live and I’m really looking forward to it tonight. I’ve been told there’s just an instant energy when you guys take the stage. What can people who haven’t seen Static-X live expect?
WS: High energy. We go out there to own the stage. We aren’t one of those bands that goes out there drunk or high and just stands there plating the songs. We go out there and give it f****** give it everything we’ve got. We headbang and run around the stage and do whatever we can to entertain the crowd. We want everyone to have a good time when we perform.
GC: Wayne, I read that you have a side project in the works. Could you tell me a little bit about it?
WS: It’s all in my head right now. It’s going to be called Pighammer. It’s definitely going to be a side project so no one has to worry. I’m not going to break up the band or anything. It’s really kind of just in my head right now. I’m trying to figure out who I want to play on it and what I want it to sound like.
All I know right now is that I want it to be extreme.
TC: Not the old metal band Extreme, right?
WS: No, not Extreme, Extreme. More extreme than Static-X is. We’re pretty heavy in the scope of things, but with Pighammer I want it to be heavy and something different.
GC: Did you feel like you couldn’t do that with Static-X without alienating fans?
WS: Yeah. We’re kind of at a point with Static-X where we can push the boundaries a bit but I do feel like we need to stay in a certain realm of what Static-X is and needs to be. I want Static-X to sound like Static-X and not Slayer.
GC: Having listened to the lyrics of a couple of songs on the new album, it seems like you are writing about general concepts and not detailed ideas. “Cannibal” is a song about, well, cannibalism. Does that reflect your view as a vegetarian?
WS: It was just kind of a joke really. I’m not trying to preach or anything. I view people that are gnawing on a slab of ribs or something as being one step away from cannibalism. I mean s*** like that (points to a cooked hamburger patty on a plate at a table), it just doesn’t look good to me.
TC: (Chuckles while picking up the patty and waving it in Wayne’s face)
WS: Just imagine like gnawing on some meat on a bone or something. You could probably slip in a leg from a human or something and everyone would be ‘Mmmm .. this is some good ham.’ Nobody would notice the difference.
GC: The video for your single “Destroyer” features a roller derby. That’s definitely something you don’t see everyday. Tell me about the treatment for the video and how that came together.
WS: We knew we wanted to do something different. Something other than just the band playing in a tank of water or some s***. So we took submission and the Butcher Brothers who directed it, it was all their idea really. We had a real fun time doing it.
TC: It’s actually real roller derby teams from the L.A. area who donated their time. We didn’t have to do much really other than just sit there and play and watch girls beat each other up. It was a hard day’s work.
GC: Lastly, any word on a new record any time soon? Is Static-X a band that writes on the road? What’s next?
WS: I stopped doing that a long time ago. (Laughs) Now I just go out ad get drunk every day on the road and have a good time.
TC: You worry about writing when you get home.
WS: We’re doing a live DVD that we recorded while on the road. We recorded the last show we played in Spokane at Speak Easy. We’re in the process of putting that together. We’re going to put that out early next year while we’re in the studio recording our next record which will be out tentatively late next year. It’s going to have a live CD with a DVD and we’re looking forward to getting it out.
