Dope, etc. frontman Edsel Dope was recently once again asked about his current roles in the reunited ‘evil disco’ band Static-X. Edsel, has freely admitted to serving as a producer and manager for the ongoing resurrection of that outfit.
However, while he has yet to publicly announce it, he also serves as ‘Xer0‘—the current frontman for the platinum-certified industrial group. That living tribute of sorts sports a death mask caricature of late Static-X frontman/guitarist Wayne Static.
In a recently conducted interview with Audio Ink Radio, Edsel once again elaborated on the decision to keep his identity in the band ‘private’:
“Really and truthfully, it’s not so much about it being private as it is about respecting the brand of Static-X and retaining the respect when writing or discussing it. And a good example I can use for that is Ghost. Everybody knows that there’s a dude called Tobias that’s behind the paint, but when people write about Ghost, they don’t call him Tobias; they respect the entity and they call him Papa whatever the fuck he is. And that’s because they respect the creative, they respect the artistic integrity of it enough to honor that.
With Static-X, we knew very early on that we were not going to have the overwhelming support of the media and the community. And in the world that we live in, most people’s goal is not to be supportive; it’s to try and tear things down. It’s to try and be the one to uncover and let you know that there is no Santa Claus or whatever it is.
So, for me, it was more about making sure that Static-X was properly represented, because I would never be interested in looking at a photo of Static-X or reading a liner note that mentions me as being the singer of Static-X. Edsel Dope has no interest in being the singer of Static-X. There’s one living, breathing singer of Static-X, and that’s Wayne Static.
And then there’s a character, an entity, for lack of better words, that was created in order to allow Static-X to have a future and to continue and be the legacy act that they are and tour and perform, and we gave that character a name that is respective to Static-X and fits the branding of what Static-X is, and that’s what the importance is. It’s the importance of recognizing the character as opposed to recognizing the person behind the character.”
He continued:
“You have to understand that if we didn’t make that an absolute mission of ours that people would shit all over it and they would have done everything they could to discredit it. And if it were Edsel Dope singing for Static-X, it would be, ‘Oh, it’s Static Dope.’ Or if it was Burton [C. Bell] from Fear Factory, it would be, like, ‘Oh, Static Factory.’ It’s, like, ‘Go fuck yourself.’
You can’t give people the ability to control your narratives or else they’re gonna control it in the worst fucking way possible, because, for whatever reason, that’s the culture that we currently exist in. If it was 25 years ago, we wouldn’t have any of this mess because we’d call the editor of fucking Rolling Stone magazine and go, ‘Hey, dude, we’re gonna let you in on what’s happening,’ and they would go, ‘Oh, this is great,’ and they would get behind it and they would properly help you tell your story to the world.
But in the world that we currently live in, that’s not the goal. The goal is, as I said, to be the naysayer and to be the one who lets you in on the fact that there is no Santa Claus and ruins the parade for everybody because they’re just dicks.
Speaking on social media and the negativity it can bring, Dope offered:
“…It’s not just the people on the message boards. It’s the people that deliver the news too. And it’s really sad because heavy metal, whatever you wanna call it, we’re absolutely the minority when it comes to the overarching pie of music listeners. There’s no doubt that heavy metal music is a much smaller demographic than pop music or rap music or any of those things.
So you would think that the news outlets that are popular for being the news-gathering outlets for this type of music, you would think that they would go more out of their way to paint artists in this genre in a more favorable light. But if you notice, half their goal is to rip everybody down, half their goal is to create drama for clicks or to put the worst picture that they can of Sebastian Bach up when they talk bad about him, or whatever it is; they just have these motives.
Why would you do nothing but tear down the artists in the genre that’s already struggling so hard to stay alive? Why wouldn’t you paint those artists in a better light? Why wouldn’t you be more supportive? Everything’s a joke; everything’s a dig. It doesn’t mean that I have thin skin — I have thicker skin than fucking anybody — it just means that I don’t understand the motive behind it except for that you’re just a money-grubbing scumbag who wants clicks.
Meanwhile you’ll rip on everybody else’s integrity, but what are you doing? You’re not doing anything for the betterment of the cause. All you’re doing is pitting people against each other and tearing a community down to a lower spot. It makes no sense to me.”
Static-X will be releasing the second half of their double album constructed around the final recordings of their late frontman/guitarist Wayne Static later this year. Dubbed ‘Project Regeneration: Vol. 2‘, that set will be out on November 03rd. Ahead of that, Static-X will be out celebrating their gold-certified 2001 sophomore album “Machine” on the below imminent tour alongside Fear Factory, Dope & Society 1:
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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