Kerrang! recently caught up with the reunited Static-X and their live fill-in for departed frontman/guitarist Wayne Static . They are now identifying that mystery musician—reportedly Edsel Dope of Dope —as ‘ Xer0 ‘. Bassist Tony Campos commented a bit of that:
“The first time being in the same room together, it all kind of clicked again. It felt really good, right from the get-go. The initial demos that we found, only one of them had Wayne ’s vocals. That’s why we brought on Xer0 , who’s going to be performing the vocals live on tour.”
It had previously been revealed that the band consulted the family of Wayne Static for approval before commissioning the Static -like mask that Xer0 has been seen wearing in promotional materials for the band’s return. Xer0 himself has now commented to Kerrang! on his new role:
“ Wayne was a very unique singer. I can’t just be myself with this. That wouldn’t be doing the material justice. Therefore, I really have to be prepared. I have to learn lots of parts…find the right places in my own voice to deliver my best version of these songs…I’m never gonna sound as good as Wayne did, doing Wayne ’s thing. That’s just common sense.
But I feel really good about it,. I believe that I will represent the vibe of the band very well and that we will give the fans a really fun ‘ Wisconsin Death Trip ‘ experience each night.”
Xer0 also commented of the divisive mask:
“I’ve spent the last 20 years building my own identity and touring the world with my own band. It didn’t feel right for my image or identity to be placed in the center of something that I wasn’t part of creating…It just felt like a perfect way to keep the focus on the four guys that made this great album and started this really cool band.
After a few days of living with it, I decided to spike my hair up, just to see what it would look like with the mask on, and I was like, Oh, FUCK. Let’s be honest: Wayne s hair kind of became the visual identity of Static-X .”
He later added:
“We didn’t set out to create a ‘character,’ it just evolved naturally. We went to our friend Laney , who also makes the masks for many of the Slipknot guys, as well as Manson ’s band, and Rob Zombie ’s band, et cetera. Wayne liked heavy metal, monster movies, and monster trucks. He would be honored by the celebration and he would dig the shit out of this!”
As for those who feel the necrotic appearance of the mask is in poor taste, drummer Ken Jay offered:
“Let’s put it out there again: we do understand people being somewhat resistant to it. But I can assure you, having known Wayne as long as I did, he had a sometimes wonderfully morbid sense of humor, sometimes horrifically morbid. I honestly believe—and what sold me on it, finally—is that the more I see it, the more I believe that Wayne would think this is really funny.”
For more from the group on the matter head over to Kerrang! . The band’s current plans include touring on the 20th anniversary of their platinum selling debut album “ Wisconsin Death Trip ” throughout the year. They have also been working on a new album titled “ Project Regeneration ” which they’ve been piercing together with previously unreleased recordings from Static due to appear.
According to the band, Static ‘s vocals will appear on six of the twelve planned tracks scheduled to surface on the record. The vocals on the other songs will be handled by some special guests, with the following musicians having been approached:
David Draiman ( Disturbed )
Ivan Moody ( Five Finger Death Punch )
Al Jourgensen ( Ministry )
Dez Fafara ( DevilDriver / Coal Chamber )
Edsel Dope ( Dope )
Burton C. Bell ( Fear Factory )
Static-X ‘s current touring plans run as follows:
With DevilDriver and Dope :
06/18 Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater
06/19 Albuquerque, NM – El Rey Theater
06/21 Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Live
06/22 Houston, TX – The Warehouse
06/23 San Antonio, TX – The Aztec Theater
06/25 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
06/26 Greenville, SC – The Firmament
06/28 Baltimore, MD – Soundstage
06/29 Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
06/30 Scranton, PA – Levels
07/02 Toronto, ON – Opera House
07/03 London, ON – London Music Hall
07/04 Ottawa, ON – Brass Monkey
07/05 Hampton Beach, NH – Wally’s
07/06 Worcester, MA – The Palladium
07/07 Reading, PA – Reverb
07/09 Pittsburgh, PA – Jergel’s
07/10 Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater
07/11 Indianapolis, IN – The Citadel
07/12 Ft. Wayne, IN – Clyde Theatre
07/13 Detroit, MI – Harpo’s
07/14 Lexington, KY – Manchester Music Hall
07/16 Grand Rapids, MI – Intersection
07/18 Cadott, WI – Cadott Rockfest
07/19 Sioux City, IA – Anthem – Hard Rock Casino
07/20 Joliet, IL – The Forge
07/21 Belvidere, IL – Apollo Theater
07/23 Denver, CO – Oriental Theater
07/25 Santa Ana, CA – Observatory
07/26 Los Angeles, CA – Catch One
07/27 Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
With Wednesday 13 & Dope :
08/22 Brisbane, AUS – Eaton Hill
08/23 Melbourne, AUS – Croxton
08/24 Sydney, AUS – Metro
08/26 Adelaide, AUS – The Gov
08/27 Perth, AUS – Rock Rover
Static-X :
09/20 St Petersburg, RUS – Cosmonavt Club
09/21 Moscow, RUS – Giavclub
With Soil , Wednesday 13 and Dope :
09/24 Bristol, UK – SWX
09/25 Cardiff, UK – Tramshed
09/26 London, UK – Electric Ballroom
09/27 Nottingham, UK – Rock City
09/28 Leeds, UK – Stylus
09/29 Southampton, UK – Engine Room
10/01 Newcastle, UK – Northumbria Institute
10/02 Glasgow, UK – The Garage
10/03 Manchester, UK – The Ritz
10/04 Birmingham, UK – 02 Institute
With Wednesday 13 , SOiL and Dope :
10/05 Paris, FRA – File 7
10/06 Antwerp, BEL – Trix Club
10/07 Hamburg, GER – Markthalle
10/09 Cologne, GER – Essigfabrik
10/10 Mannheim, GER – MS Connex
10/11 Zurich, SWI – Dynamo
10/12 Pinarella di Cervia, ITA – Rock Planet
10/13 Munich, GER – Backstage
10/14 Prague, CZE – Meet Factory
Static-X :
12/10 Salt Lake City, UT – The Royal Bar
12/11 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
12/12 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
12/13 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
12/14 Seattle, WA – El Corazon
12/15 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theater
Via ThePRP
