Dope, etc. frontman Edsel Dope has widely been documented to be the current frontman of the reunited ‘evil disco’ outfit Static-X. But several years into that platinum-selling outfit’s victory lap, neither he nor the band have publicly confirmed that it is Edsel behind the ghoulish Wayne Static-tribute mask worn by the individual referred to as ‘Xer0‘. Wayne himself passed away back in November of 2014 due to a fatal case of combined drug intoxication.
While Dope remain frequent touring partners of Static-X and Edsel has confirmed his role as an executive producer of sorts for Static-X‘s current era, he prefers that at least some mystery shrouds the rest of his alleged involvement in the group.
A recent interview conducted by Blabbermouth.net found Edsel once again explaining why he refuses to confirm his involvement:
“The motive behind it is that I, Edsel Dope, have zero interest in being the frontman, face or [being] known as the singer of Static-X. I feel like as long as we never put another face to Static-X, Wayne will always be the face of Static-X. It’s appropriate. That was the number one most important thing. I’ll help my friends.
This all started in 2014. In 2014, I moved to L.A. I was working on the Drama Club project and I really, really wanted to produce another band and make a great record without me being in the band. I just wanted to move the controls, do what I do and help another band sound great. I had done it with a couple of other bands that I produced, but I wanted to do it with a band of note.
When I got to L.A., the first thing I did was a short West Coast tour with Dope and Wayne Static. I purposely did this because I wanted to reconnect with Wayne and start the conversation with him about — I’m a businessman and energy guy. It made no sense to me that Wayne Static was on tour celebrating the anniversary of ‘Wisconsin Death Trip‘, playing the album in its entirety as Wayne Static to small crowds.
Sadly, even though it’s Wayne Static playing Static-X songs, it’s not the same as Static-X. The amount of people showing up to see Wayne Static was infantile to what would have been if it was Static-X. I started having those conversations with Wayne on that tour. They went really well. I didn’t understand at the time the depth of addiction that Wayne was under.
I thought there was a ‘Yoko Ono’ that was what I was going to have to worry about. I can handle ‘Yoko Ono’, but the drug addiction and the fog were what I realized when I was out there with him was this was going to be the biggest challenge. ‘I’m not sure without rehab it will be possible.’ I really felt like it was because I’m a big believer that if somebody wants it, they can do it. Long story short, obviously, we know what happened. Six or eight weeks after that, Wayne passed away. That idea disappeared.”
Explaining how the band later resurrected themselves for a 20th anniversary tour of Static-X‘s debut album “Wisconsin Death Trip” back in 2019, Edsel offered:
“When it came time to put it on stage and take it on tour, it was, ‘There should never be another singer of Static-X that’s a person.’ The entity idea became where it was, ‘Let’s put a mask out there.’ A lot of it was predicated on the 20th anniversary of ‘Wisconsin Death Trip‘. We want people to come and have a ‘Wisconsin Death Trip‘ experience.
How can you do that without the dude in the middle’s hair standing up? I couldn’t imagine people in the crowd hearing those songs and not getting that. What are you going to do? If it were me or if it were some guy named ‘Steve,’ are you going to walk on stage with your hair standing straight up? It’s stupid. The mask allowed it to have anonymity.
It’s also funny because that guy standing in the middle of the stage, playing guitar, singing all those parts and in many ways, the entire thing is reliant on that dude doing a great job, but at the same time, it’s like, ‘Pay no attention to the guy in the middle holding it together. But if that guy sucks or fucks it up, this whole thing is going to sink.'”
Static-X have since reworked unfinished material left behind by Wayne to create the 2020 album “Project Regeneration, Vol. 2“. A second volume of that album is in the pipeline as well.
Static-X will next be out in early 2023 on a headlining run for 20th anniversary of their gold-certified 2001 sophomore album, “Machine“. Fear Factory, Dope and Society 1 will also be taking part in that trek, which has been dubbed the ‘Rise Of The Machine Tour‘.
02/25 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
02/27 Portland, OR – Roseland
02/28 Seattle, WA – Showbox
03/01 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theater
03/02 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
03/03 Boise, ID – Revolution Concert Hall
03/04 Reno, NV – Virginia Street Brewhouse
03/05 Sacramento, CA – Ace Of Spades
03/07 Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/08 Albuquerque, NM – El Rey Theater (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/09 Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/10 Dallas, TX – House of Blues (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/11 San Antonio, TX – The Aztec Theater (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/12 Houston, TX – House Of Blues (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/14 Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theater (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/15 Orlando, FL – Plaza Live (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/16 Charlotte, NC – Underground (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/17 Baltimore, MD – Soundstage (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/18 Philadelphia, PA – T.L.A. (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/19 New York, NY – Irving Plaza (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/21 Boston, MA – Big Night Live (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/22 New Haven, CT – Toad’s (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/23 Montreal, QC – Corona (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/24 Toronto, ON – Phoenix (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/25 Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall (feat. Mushroomhead)
03/26 Cleveland, OH – House Of Blues (feat. Twiztid)
03/28 Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian (feat. Twiztid)
03/29 Cincinnati, OH – Bogarts (feat. Twiztid)
03/30 Columbus, OH – The King of Clubs (feat. Twiztid)
03/31 Ft. Wayne, IN – The Clyde (feat. Mushroomhead)
04/01 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave (feat. Mushroomhead)
04/02 Green Bay, WI – Epic Event Center (feat. Mushroomhead)
04/04 Grand Rapids, MI – Intersection (feat. Mushroomhead)
04/05 St. Louis, MO – Del Mar Hall (feat. Twiztid)
04/06 Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue (feat. Twiztid)
04/07 Chicago, IL – House Of Blues (feat. Twiztid)
04/08 Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore (feat. Twiztid)
04/09 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theater (feat. Twiztid)
04/11 Denver, CO – The Summit (feat. Twiztid)
04/13 Las Vegas, NH – House Of Blues (feat. Twiztid)
04/14 San Diego, CA – House Of Blues (feat. Twiztid)
04/15 Los Angeles, CA – Belasco Theater (feat. Twiztid)
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