It was just a few months ago that I talked to Wayne Static about his debut solo album Pighammer, his first musical release since his influential cyber metal band Static-X went on hiatus in 2009. And what a difference a few months can make. This time around, Wayne is using the Static-X name once again and focusing on the metal he forged with that band on his Noise Revolution Tour, which includes newer industrial metal acts Davey Suicide (read my interview here) and 9 Electric. Apparently the name change has provided the band with a jolt of recognition as the tour (already a few weeks underway) has added a second leg beginning Aug. 1 (with genre pioneer Prong playing several dates) and a third leg beginning Sept. 7 (with the addition of Winds of Plague and The Browning), including a performance alongside pro wrestling, freak shows, carnival rides and more at the Gathering of the Juggalos on Aug. 8. Before he whoops it up with the Juggalos, Static once again talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about using the Static-X name and more.

When I talked to you last December, you were just about to hit the road to promote Pighammer. Now you’re on tour as Static-X, but isn’t it the same band you had for your solo tour?

Yep, I’ve got the same players. I wanted to use Static-X again and everybody else doesn’t really want to do it anymore. I figured I’d just keep the same guys I had and it’s a great band, so here we are.

You played a good bit of Static-X stuff on the last tour, but focused on the Pighammer material. How are the shows and set lists on this tour different from the last tour?

I’m just playing one song from Pighammer to plug the record. Then I’m focusing the set on the old-school Static-X stuff. We’re opening up with the song “Wisconsin Death Trip” and closing with “Get to the Gone” and playing a lot of older stuff.

Now that you’re operating as Static-X again, has the role of any of your band members changed? Will it become a more collaborative thing moving forward or will you still be the main creative force in the band?

It’s always been me form day one. Whether it was Static-X or my solo stuff, I wrote everything and produced everything. To give an analogy, Static-X was always like Ministry, which was always Al Jourgensen and a bunch of other guys, or like Nine Inch Nails, which was always Trent Reznor with a bunch of other guys. As long as my players are great players, everything’s going to be awesome.

Do you think you’ll stick with this lineup or do you foresee any changes as things progress? 

Right now everything’s pretty tight, so I’d like to keep the same lineup. It wasn’t my fault the lineup kept changing in Static-X. I worked really hard to keep the same lineup, it’s just not always possible. I like the lineup I have right now, so we’ll keep running with this as long as we can. If it has to change at some point, it will.

You’ve assembled a great mix of bands on this tour with Davey Suicide, 9 Electric, Prong and other bands joining you later in the tour. How has this package tour compared to your other recent tours, where you mostly had local openers in each city?

It’s really cool. I’m friends with the opening bands and they’re both newer bands from L.A. It’s fun to go out and everybody knows each other, so it’s awesome.

Do you have any plans to follow up this tour with any additional touring or recording?

Yeah, this tour ends in September. We’re going to take four days off, then we’re going to start up on the West Coast and do the whole U.S. again with a different package. That’s going to run through the end of October, then we’ll probably do some international stuff and we’ve got another tour planned for early next year in the U.S.. We’ll probably just keep running as long as we can and maybe do another record late next year.

Was part of your motivation for going back to the Static-X name to benefit from the potentially more recognizable name and reputation the band established?

Yeah, it helps having name recognition. When I was touring as Wayne Static, we had a pretty good showing at every venue. But maybe some of the casual fans that don’t know my name didn’t show up, but so far it’s been a great turn out and it’s been awesome.

Do you anticipate that name recognition possibly creating other opportunities aside from getting more fans to the shows, such as soundtrack contributions and other things you were known for in Static-X’s previous incarnation?

Yeah, we’re always working on that stuff. Those things pop up from time to time, but it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with touring.

How does the stage production on this tour compare to what we saw on the Wayne Static tour?

It’s pretty much the same straight-up show. We’ve got a few more lights with us, but other than that it’s just a good time. We play a bunch of old songs and have a good time.

For more information, go to www.static-x.com.

By Jonathan Williams

With his cyber metal band Static-X, Wayne Static pioneered an “evil disco” sound that became a staple of the annual Ozzfest tours, numerous horror and action movie soundtracks and a couple of the WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw video games. After a decade-plus span that included six albums and several tours, the band went on hiatus in 2009 leaving front man Static to focus on Pighammer, his solo debut released in October. Following a string of fall tour dates, Static and his new band embark on a mini-tour Dec. 14-18 to preview a national tour beginning late next month. Before his pre-holiday tour, Static talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about Pighammer, Static-X and the process of getting his life together for the better.

While you were the main creative force in Static-X, Pighammer is the first album released simply as Wayne Static. Was making this album a significantly different process from what you did with Static-X?

The writing process was very similar since I wrote all the Static-X stuff on my own anyway. The main difference was that I didn’t have to get together with a band after I wrote the songs and make compromises and changes to make everybody happy. I just got to create everything myself and do it on my own and do exactly what I wanted to do. So that’s the main difference, but the writing process was pretty much how I always write.

As far as recording goes, did you do most of that yourself or did you have other musicians helping you out in the studio?

Yeah, I did everything myself and really took my time and actually did a lot of the writing while I was recording. So most of the vocal performances are, like, first or second takes, which adds a lot of excitement to it. When I recorded the vocals, it’s not like I had been rehearsing it for months and was bored with the song already, which is what usually happens. Also, I recorded 24 tracks, didn’t do Pro Tools this time, so there’s no editing or anything like that. I think that also really gives it a really great, exciting kind of vibe without having anything cut and pasted anywhere. It’s all real performances.

The artwork and imagery features you and your wife [adult film actress Tera Wray] with pig noses, metal stitches and things like that. If there’s an overall concept to Pighammer and its imagery, what would you say it is?

The original concept was transformation and my transformation leaving Static-X behind and making the record on my own. My wife and I left L.A. and moved out to the desert and spent some time getting clean, getting off drugs. So the record is generally about that. I wanted to figure out a way to display transformation in sort of a dark comical way, which I like to do. And the Pighammer name was something I had wanted to use for a long time, so my wife and I came up with this whole storyline were the Pighammer would be this surgical tool made out of a pig’s foot. She came up with this great idea where I’d be this mad plastic surgeon transforming her into a pig. There’s nothing literal about it. I just think it’s cool imagery and it does represent transformation.

That being said, the song “Get It Together” has a lot of references to partying and drug use and whatnot. Where would you say that song fits in with the overall theme of the album?

You know, that was one of the first songs I started working on. That song and a lot of the songs on the record deal with doing drugs and reminiscing about it, getting off drugs and that whole process. So that song literally is about getting it together. It’s a big decision to make when you want to get clean and it’s not easy to do. I didn’t go to rehab or anything like that, and I did it while I was making the record actually.

You did some shows earlier in the fall. How were those shows with the new band?

The shows were awesome. It was really refreshing to be on stage with a new group of guys who really want to be there and are really excited. I’ve got Sean Davidson on drums, Brent Ashley on bass and Ashes on guitar. Ashes really put my band together for me. He’s been a longtime friend and used to watch my house when I was on tour with Static-X. So that worked out really cool. I didn’t have to hold auditions or any of that crap. All these guys have played with other bands that have had some success, like Sean played with the Genitorturers.

Would you say Static-X is over or just on hiatus?

My opinion is we’re just on indefinite hiatus. We’ll see what happens. Towards the end of the last Static-X tour, it was very clear that no one really wanted to be there anymore and everybody really wanted to do their own thing. So I just kind of let everyone do what they wanted to do and started working on my stuff by myself. We’re kind of a strange band. We weren’t friends outside of the band, we never really hung out or anything like that. So I haven’t talked to the guys and I don’t even really know what they’re up to right now at this point. It’s been a couple of years.

You’re doing a string of shows this month to preview a national tour next year. Do you have opening acts touring with you for this mini-tour?

We’re just doing local openers. I really like doing that for a lot of reasons. It really helps promote the show, number one. But I think it’s really cool for the local bands as well to kind of help get their name out and get a foothold in their territory. We’re going to be doing a full tour next year hitting everywhere in the U.S. and we’ll be bringing some bands with us on that, but we’ll probably still have at least one local opener.

Will these December shows be indicative of what people can expect from your bigger tour next year or will next year’s shows be a bit bigger?

We’re just doing a building thing and seeing where it takes us. We’re just playing clubs right now and keeping it on a grassroots level – a little bit smaller venues than Static-X was playing. But it’s kind of appropriate since I’m kind of starting over in a way. We’re kind of growing it and taking it step by step. But we’ll be seeing you in January and February.

For more information, go to www.waynestatic.com.