ROB ZOMBIE: 'I'm Very Scatterbrained' And 'Can't Focus On One Thing At A Time'

Matt Parker of Music Radar recently conducted an interview with Rob Zombie. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Music Radar: Most people struggle to master even one creative avenue. What's been key for you in developing those different skill sets to a professional level?

Rob: I think that it was just the fact that I was so naive about what any of these fields required. I think sometimes people try to learn too much, or get too old before they start and can look at it, like, "This is a million to one — why even bother?" But when you're young, you don't think about it. You're too stupid to think about it! So I would always rather go do it myself and make a million mistakes then figure out some kind of system. And that's a horrible way to do it — I don't recommend it! But that's just the way I do it. I think that's why I do it, because it stays fun.

Music Radar: How do you juggle multiple projects?

Rob: I'm very scatterbrained, I can't focus on one thing at a time and I've never been able to do that, so luckily, having multiple projects works in my favor. I can work on this for a while until I get bored and then work on something else and slowly they all get done. I'm not the type of guy who goes, "I'm gonna sit down and write this script." I'll sit down, I'll fart around with it for an hour and then I'll move on to something else, but I'll do it every day and somehow, after a couple of months, it's done — and so are the songs, the lyrics — and that's how I approach everything.

Music Radar: Do you consider yourself a control freak? Do you delegate?

Rob: There's really no one I can delegate to, these are all artistic pursuits — either you'll do it, or you'll not do it. The type of thing I delegate is saying to [ROB ZOMBIE guitarist] John 5, because I trust John with everything, "Get the band together, you guys rehearse for a week before I get to town and then I'll come in and play with the band." That's about as much as you can do. Because even if the merchandise company comes up and goes, "We have 20 new T-shirt designs!" I'll look at them and go, "None of these seem like they came from me." So I'll do it myself. But that's not being a control freak. That's just maintaining a level that your fans expect of you. If [the T-shirt design] was awesome, I'd go, "Great! That saves me from having to do it!"

Read the entire interview at Music Radar.