Static-X is alive again after the death of Wayne Static, will play sold-out Spokane show March 2
Tony Campos isn’t surprised Static-X’s gig March 2 at the Knitting Factory is sold out.
“That’s to be expected since Static-X goes way back with Spokane,” Campos said from his Los Angeles home. “We have a special connection with Spokane.”
The Static-X bassist isn’t exaggerating. The electro-metal band recorded a DVD, “Cannibal Killers Live,” at the Big Easy in 2007. “I think that’s proof how much we love Spokane since we could have recorded anywhere, but the fans have always loved us there,” Campos said.
Much has changed for Static-X since that concert at the Big Easy, which is now the Knitting Factory. Static-X singer-songwriter Wayne Static died of a drug overdose in 2014.
“I got a call at 8 a.m. and was just shocked when I was told the news,” Campos recalled. “I thought I was being messed with. But considering all the drugs Wayne was doing, it made sense.
“It sucked.”
The band, which broke courtesy of the raucous 1999 album, “Wisconsin Death Drip” appeared to die with Static.
However, the group surprisingly re-emerged in 2018 when Campos and fellow original members guitarist Koichi Fukuda and drummer Ken Jay announced a reunion in Static’s honor.
The reformation was prompted by the discovery of recordings of Static’s vocals on buried tracks. The surviving members of Static-X and producers Ulrich Wild and Edsel Dope cobbled together an album, “Project Regeneration, Vol. 1,” which dropped in 2020, that harks back to the early days of the band, which featured danceable metal.
“Finding Wayne’s old tapes was like a gift from the gods,” Campos said. “The tapes were found in a storage space. Putting it all together was an arduous process, but it was well worth it.”
Some of the songs feature vocals by Dope, aka Xero, who fronts Static-X. “All in all we’re thrilled with the whole project,” Campos said. “It worked out better than any of us could have imagined. Recording technology is incredible.”
“Project Regeneration, Vol. 2” will be released at some point in 2023. The next album will feature the last of Static’s vocals. “But Wayne would love this,” Campos said. “The fact that he can be on another new album after he’s gone. It’s crazy.”
Fans can expect a healthy dose of “Wisconsin Death Trip” and the follow-up album, 2001’s “Machine.” “We’re really into playing the early stuff now,” Campos said. “It reminds us of the early days, which were magical. I remember when we got our own tour bus which was repossessed by the end of the tour. I can’t help but smile when looking back at the time when we were on Ozzfest. We got to hang out with Ozzy Osbourne. He would tell us stories about shooting heroin in his neck.”
Osbourne survived, but Campos’ bandmate didn’t. “It’s a huge gamble when you do drugs,” Campos said.”It ended tragically for Wayne. But when I look back at that time, you’re on these tours and people are tempting you and it’s a risk. Thankfully all I did was drink a lot and avoid that dangerous stuff. But that was then, and we’re all older and wiser now.”
Campos believes that Static-X will record new material with Dope but nothing is certain. “We’re just living in the moment,” Campos said. “We have a lot of songs we can play but yeah, someday it will be great to do something new. Right now we’re just focusing on the shows we have and we’re out there playing to the best of our ability.”