STATIC-X will release a new album titled "Project Regeneration" , featuring the last recordings of the band's late frontman Wayne Static , later this year. The rest of the group's original lineup — bassist Tony Campos , drummer Ken Jay and guitarist Koichi Fukuda — will also be featured on the album and in the music videos.
Speaking to Australia's Sticks For Stones , Campos stated about how the "Project Regeneration" record came about (hear audio below): "It started with five demos that Wayne had done shortly before his passing that he had given to a producer friend of ours, who then gave them to me after Wayne had died. Only one of the songs had Wayne 's vocals on them, and the rest were just rough demos. We started out with that, and then original and longtime producer, Ulrich Wild , turned me on to three songs that didn't make the 'Start A War' [2005] album. So we kept Wayne 's vocal performances, reworked the music, and so we had four songs with Wayne 's vocals on them. And while looking for all our live backing tracks, we discovered an additional seven [or] eight songs that Wayne had demoed. And a lot of that stuff were just vocal performances; the tapes where he had recorded the music were never found. So we wrote new music for all that stuff. So now the majority of the songs on this record will feature Wayne 's vocals."
Asked about all the previously announced guest singers who were supposed to appear on "Project Regeneration" , including David Draiman (DISTURBED), Ivan Moody (FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH), Al Jourgensen (MINISTRY), Dez Fafara (COAL CHAMBER, DEVILDRIVER) and Burton C. Bell (FEAR FACTORY), Tony said: "That was the initial idea. But since finding all this stuff with Wayne 's vocals, the need to have guest vocalists come in really diminished. So as of right now, we only have one guest vocal performance on the record, that being Al Jourgensen ."
Campos also talked about the decision to enlist a vocalist who will wear a mask in Wayne 's likeness during STATIC-X 's upcoming reunion tour. The North American trek, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of STATIC-X 's platinum-certified "Wisconsin Death Trip" album, pays homage to Static , features co-headliner DEVILDRIVER and support from DOPE .
While the identity of STATIC-X 's touring singer has not been officially revealed, strong rumors suggest that DOPE frontman Edsel Dope will pull double duty during the trek and perform with Jay , Fukuda and Campos .
"For us, it's more like a Michael Myers kind of look," Tony said about the new vocalist's mask. "And that really came about… We were thinking of ways to represent Wayne on stage, and we thought about all those t-shirt designs that we had of skulls with Wayne 's hair and his beard, so we thought that that would be a really cool way to represent Wayne on stage. And I know Wayne would think it was really cool."
STATIC-X 's latest addition, who calls himself " Xer0 ", recently told Kerrang! magazine that he wanted to "represent the vibe of the band very well" and "give the fans a really fun 'Wisconsin Death Trip' experience each night." Xer0 also confirmed that he was the one who came up with the idea of playing masked.
STATIC-X plans to perform the majority of its debut album at each show.
Last fall, STATIC-X released a teaser featuring clips from a brand-new music video, as well as five new STATIC-X tracks — "Road To Hell" , "Something Of My Own" , "Terminator Oscillator" , "Hollow" and "Disco Otsego" — along with a personal message from Campos about the inspiration behind "Project Regeneration" .
Wayne Static died after mixing Xanax and other powerful prescription drugs with alcohol, according to the coroner's report. The 48-year-old Static , whose real name was Wayne Richard Wells , was found dead in his Landers, California home on November 1, 2014.
Static founded STATIC-X in 1994 and achieved commercial success with "Wisconsin Death Trip" , which included the rock radio hit "Push It" .
