Midwestern Roots invading So-Cal

If you were introduced to a future band mate by someone as impressive as the Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan, would you think it was destiny, fate, or just a chance meeting? For Chicago's Static-X, it was one of the first two choices. In Chicago, after trying and failing at many different band attempts, vocalist / guitarist Wayne Static was introduced to drummer Ken Jay. After deciding that each man's idea of a band would finally work, the two up and left the Midwest for sunny Southern California. After a lineup change (one guy couldn't take the incessant touring), Static-X finally found some stability, musical freedom and a major label contract. After placing an ad in a paper, they found former Dope guitarist, Tripp Eisen, and forged ahead, pacing back and forth across the state and then the country — getting their mixture of metal, techno, goth and industrial music out into the open for fans to enjoy — and then they recorded. They signed with Warner Brothers in '98 and released Wisconsin Death Trip, which soon went gold, and they again hopped back on the road, touring this country as well as the continent that loves hard rock the best, Europe.
Drummer Ken Jay took a minute to chill out and chat with the Synthesis and explain the beauty of being a rock star if you do it for the right reasons, why you have to be tough to make it on the road and how you have to love the stage you are on.

Where are you right now?
New York City. We have a day off today and tomorrow is in Maryland. It's going great. The intensity of the shows has picked up from the first time we were out.

Is this your second big tour?
For the first album we did 22 months of tour, so no, we're pretty used to the road — we're road dogs.

I read in your bio that one of the guys who was originally in the band quit because you guys were on the road so much.
It wasn't just that, but then he was kind of a lazy guy, there's a lot more to this than people think — it's not building bridges or anything, but still it takes a lot of effort.

What drew you guys to this type of music? Was there any other choice?
That was it. We're all different with our backgrounds. Wayne and Tripp and I all grew up on KISS. Tony was into Southern California hardcore and thrash.

You can definitely hear that in your music, too.
For me, I was a huge Metallica, Exodus and Anthrax fan, but really what shaped it was the bands that we all loved and uniformly agree on, which are Ministry and Prong and Pantera. I think those three bands rear their heads in our music.

How did you guys come to be?
Wayne and I met in Chicago in the early '90s. It was a completely different band at the time. It would have reminded you of early Cult. It was kind of a goth flavor, and then we progressed and became a metal band and a speed core band. We moved to Los Angeles and found Tony, and that's how it happened. We had to move to Los Angeles to realize our Chicago roots, I guess. In the industrial sense — and Trip was in Dope who have industrial influences — it was a very natural fit for the band.

How do you feel you guys and your music fit into the scene in Los Angeles?
When we came up and got signed, it's really weird, there were about 10 bands who all got signed out of the same scene, where we all love each other and love touring together. I can't name any of the bands that sound the same. I think the scene works so well because of that. When you talk about the Seattle scene, you talk about bands that had a lot of the same influences, with us it was just about being different and heavy.

Do you think your type of music is really well accepted across the country?
Yeah, we're a very blue collar band and we work really hard on stage. Our favorite place is the place we're playing that night. That's how you've gotta treat it, because you know, this could all go away so fast. If you do that, then you can look back on your career and not regret any of it. There's some places that are more reserved than others, but they're still pretty out there. Europe is probably a little crazier than the states, but that's because of the oppression. We've played there three times. We're going again for a month. It's because the kids are so oppressed. They have so much media coverage, magazines and everything that talk about metal bands, but the scene and radio is very limited as far as that goes, [and] that makes everything a little more intense. But, the kids in the states are pretty crazy too.

Who are you touring with right now?
We're headlining right now and we're touring with Godhead and Indo. We knew the guys from Indo for a while, from when we were out with Powerman. It's great to have these bands out there with us. Very talented, very professional bands.

What is your songwriting process?
Usually Wayne will come out with a loop and then find a drumbeat. Just layering and trying to find interesting things. It's not so much coming up with a guitar riff, but an interesting sound. Then keyboards over the top of that and usually vocals and lyrics are the last part. When I write lyrics, I have a tendency to really think out lyric parts or a poetry thing, but since Wayne sings, I can't limit him. When he does things he tends to think more rhythmically, but that's it. It's a really basic process, it's not so much the writing process, but we'll rehearse songs to death before we record to find out if we like them, if you get bored with them there's no point in recording them. Most of the stuff we like sticks.

Have you guys gotten bored with anything yet?
No. The one thing you can count on is you get to play every night. That makes everything worth it. Days off can be boring, it's a constant battle. But it's not a bad gig.

How long have you been playing music for?
I started when I was two.

Did you ever want to do anything else?
Yes, for a while, but this has always been there. It's not just something I do, it's a part of my personality. It was always fulfilling. When I was in high school, I realized maybe I had a talent and that's where I thought, 'Maybe I should look into this.' When you first start, you do it for the wrong reasons, you don't do it for the music, you think 'chicks and money.' And then hopefully, you get to the point where you have to do it. I think if bands are getting in it for the money, you might as well quit. They're going to hate it. It's not like we see a lot of money right now either. It's not the driving force. I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

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