TONY CAMPOS Doesn't Know If STATIC-X Will Continue After 'Wisconsin Death Trip' 20th-Anniversary Tour

Dave The Interview Guy recently conducted an interview with STATIC-X bassist Tony Campos. You can listen to the entire chat via the Spreaker widget below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On getting the blessing from late frontman Wayne Static's family to proceed with the "Wisconsin Death Trip" 20th-anniversary tour:

Tony: "Yeah, absolutely. Every step of this process, before we went live, before we public with everything with just the project to begin with and when we revealed 'the mask' and all that stuff, I went to them first. It was paramount importance for me to make sure that his family was okay with all this that we're doing. We say that Wayne was family and our brother, but for them, he's blood. I know how my family would feel, so it was really important for me to make sure that I reached out to them and made sure that they were cool with everything that we're doing and being fortunate enough that they've given us their blessing for everything we're doing. It feels really good to have the support of Wayne's family behind us."

On new singer "Xer0" trying to recreate the experience of Wayne Static as frontman:

Tony: "Going in, we didn't want it to seem like 'Here's STATIC-X with a new singer.' That's not what we're trying to do. It's about remembering the original lineup, the original record, remembering Wayne for the guy he was and just remembering all the good times we had back when we first all started this 20 years ago. For the fans, to come to a show and to think about when they first saw the band and how that felt, then to come in and the lights go down, you see the lights and the shapes and the imagery onstage, I think the way we're presenting it, I think it's going to bring back some of those feelings and emotions that people had when they first saw the band."

On whether STATIC-X will carry on after this tour:

Tony: "We haven't really thought that far ahead, to be honest with you. We're just enjoying the moment, taking it all in. The three of us, me, Ken [Jay, drums] and Koichi [Fukuda, guitar] haven't jammed together, me and Koichi in over 10 years. I haven't jammed with Kenny in 16, 17 years. Just to be in the same room with those three guys again, it's pretty fucking cool. We're just enjoying the moment right now. We're just going to concentrate on doing this as best as we can and when it's all said and done, we'll see. If it's something the fans want, I'm certainly not opposed to it. I still want to go do other things. I'd love to go play with MINISTRY again; the Cavalera brothers again [in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY]. I have another ASESINO record to do. By the time I get home from all this at the end of the year, Dino [Cazares, guitar] and Emilio [Marquez, drums] will have written some cool tunes and I scream some nonsense in Spanish and we have a finished ASESINO record. We'll see. Right now, we're just in the moment and enjoying the moment."

On STATIC-X's connection to tour openers DEVILDRIVER and DOPE:

Tony: "We go back with both of those bands, many, many years. Dez [Fafara], who's actually managing the band right now, him and Meegs [Miguel Rascón], from COAL CHAMBER, actually got the ball rolling for us in the L.A. scene. We were playing this crappy little dive bar in Hollywood. There was maybe 20, 25 people watching us and those two just happened to be in the audience. They really liked what we did and they gave us the contact info to all the promoters on the Sunset Strip. Within a few months, we were opening for them, opening for SYSTEM OF A DOWN, SNOT, all the big bands that were all on the cusp of getting record deals. That really got the ball rolling for us. Every time I see those guys, I always tell them, 'I owe you my career, man!' To get to tour with Dez and have them be an integral part of what we're doing is really cool. As far as the DOPE guys, the first two years that we toured, they were on a lot of the tours we did. [Laughs] They go way back with us. To have them on the tour as well is just another element that helps us bring back those good memories and good vibes that we had back when we all started this."

On what fans can expect from a STATIC-X show:

Tony: "The main thing is to leave a feeling like 'I got to experience this one more time.' For some people that didn't even get to experience it, since it expanded worldwide, we're going to places that STATIC-X never went to. Just in my travels with other bands, I've come across fans that tell me that they never got to see the band. Just to have them experience it once is pretty special on its own. For the fans who were with us since day one, for them to get to experience it again, that's the main thing. Do it one more time and have a good time and remember the good times."

STATIC-X plans to perform the majority of its debut album at each show on the tour, which kicks off on June 18 in Tempe, Arizona.

"Project Regeneration", featuring the last recordings of Static, will be released later this year. The rest of the group's original lineup will also be featured on the album and in the music videos.

STATIC-X is currently focused on finishing 12 tracks for "Project Regeneration", with almost all of them set to feature Wayne's lead vocals.

STATIC-X is in the process of finalizing a label partner in order to ensure that "Project Regeneration" will be promoted and distributed worldwide, just like all of the band's previous albums.