ROB ZOMBIE: 'Musicians Have A Talent For Doing Dumbest Things To Their Career That They Could Possibly Do'

Rob Zombie was interviewed on the September 28 edition of "The Louvau Show" on the 93.9 KWSS radio station in Scottsdale, Arizona. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On why there have been so many lineup changes in his band:

Rob: "It's always different reasons. Every reason has always been different.

"You really have to find people that have the maturity level to realize that it's not always better somewhere else. Like, say, [guitarist] John 5… He's been in a million bands — everything from MARILYN MANSON to DAVID LEE ROTH — and he's, like, 'I'm in this band. I'm staying in.' He's been in the band now for 10 years. He goes, 'I know it's not better anywhere else. I'm staying in this band.' And the same with the other guys. Where sometimes you get people and they're just… I don't know… They're just immature. They don't understand. They think, 'Oh, okay, I'm here. I'm gonna go start my own band now.' But they never do. And then they always call me later and go, like, 'Hey, man, can I come back?' And I'm, like, 'No, we replaced you. You quit. What do you want from me?'

"Musicians are weird. Musicians have this real talent for doing the absolute dumbest things to their career that they could possibly do. You give them two choices, and they're always gonna pick the wrong one — always. It's just human nature, I guess. I don't know."

On whether he is difficult to work with:

Rob: "No, I'm easy to work with. That's the problem.

"I know people that are in bands and they are treated like shit and they'll stay in that band for 16 years like a beat housewife. They get that same sort of syndrome; it's like Stockholm Syndrome or something. I'm not trying to be funny about that. It's, like, the abuse they take they become almost accustomed to.

"It's really finding people, like I said, that are mature and know their role in the band. And people sometimes just don't.

"If you write good songs, great. But if your songs are shit, we're not gonna use them, and you should know that. You should just not be so full of yourself to force that.

"I try to keep everybody in the band all along; I don't ever want anyone to quit.

"I've stood there with band members, and we're about to go on [stage and perform]. I go, 'Look, there's 30,000 people out there. You're making more money than you've ever made in your entire life, the band's huge. What is so bad?' And they start their side project, they play bars in front of three people for about a couple of weeks. And then you get the phone call that I always get. 'Hey, man, can I come back?' 'No. I replaced you with someone who's ten times better than you.'

"But, of course, the funny thing is, it's, like, whoever is the most stable member is always somehow perceived as the bad guy — be it Kerry King or Lars Ulrich or whoever — when they're not. SLAYER would have disappeared 20 years ago if it wasn't for Kerry King; the guy lives and breathes SLAYER, like Lars lives and breathes METALLICA. But sometimes it gets that warped perspective, like they are the bad guy. They are not the bad guy. They are the guy that's holding it all together.

"It's weird. Success always backfires."