TONY CAMPOS Says STATIC-X Is 'On Hold' While WAYNE STATIC And Wife Work On 'Solo' Album

Rafi of VampireFreaks.com recently conducted an interview with Tony Campos (STATIC-X, MINISTRY, PRONG, ASESINO). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

VampireFreaks.com: You are currently on tour with PRONG. How has that been going?

Tony Campos: It is going great man, but it is also cold as fuck. (both of us laughing) It got cold quick, I didn't think it would till something like December and here we are at the beginning of October.

VampireFreaks.com: What has it been like to play with PRONG?

Tony Campos: It has been great I was a big PRONG fan growing up and are one of the most influential bands for STATIC-X. So just as a fan it is really an honor for me.

VampireFreaks.com: You and Tommy [Victor] are no strangers as you were both on the MINISTRY "C-U-Latour". How did you guys come to meet before that?

Tony Campos: I have known Tommy for years. Back when he was releasing "Rude Awakening", we had the same management so we were introduced in L.A. We ended up getting reintroduced when we did the MINISTRY tour together.

VampireFreaks.com: I remember you guys did a cover of "Burning Inside". How did you end up with the honor of working with Al Jourgensen down the line?

Tony Campos: We were doing an Ozzfest in 2007 and Al was working on the MINISTRY "Cover Up" record. He ended up calling up Wayne (Static),asking if we could fly down to El Paso and track some vocals. We ended up coming out there and Al caught me a bit off guard and said, "Hey, man, just want you to know you are playing bass on some of these songs." All I could say was, "OK." Funny thing is one of tracks that I played bass on ended up being nominated for a Grammy (laughing),so that was definitetly pretty cool. After wards we ended up going to the bars together, and hanging out a lot. Fast forward a few months, Paul Raven sadly passed away and they gave me a call asking if I wanted to do the last MINISTRY tour with them. Honestly, I was amazed that they asked me to do this, and, of course, I said I would; it ended up being an amazing experience.

VampireFreaks.com: One of the highlights for me with STATIC-X was "Cannibal" which marked the return of Koichi [guitar] into the studio again. The whole album seemed darker and heavier than previous STATIC-X material. How did Koichi's return help with that?

Tony Campos: Well, the whole dynamic for the band changed after we all got back together; it seemed to become a lot tighter of a band. I mean, Tripp was a decent enough guitar player, but when Koichi came back, it was like night and day; I forgot just how good he was. He definitely brought back that really tight precision that we had back in the day, plus his keen guitar playing skills brought so much back to the music.

VampireFreaks.com: It is so appropriate that your latest album was entitled "Cult of Static" since it would seem your fans have stuck with you from beginning to end almost like a cult, what is the best part of waking to the success you have had?

Tony Campos: The greatest feeling for me is looking back at all that we did to get this band started and knowing that here we are ten years down the line and are still doing it. It has been truly an honor.

VampireFreaks.com: So what is the current state of STATIC-X. Are you guys going to be putting some new material together soon?

Tony Campos: At this point, I am not sure. I know that Wayne and his wife are getting ready to put out a solo record. Wayne said STATIC-X is right now on hold so he can see how the solo project works. In the meantime, though, I will always find ways to keep busy. Right now I have PRONG and I am also working with Dino Cazares (FEAR FACTORY, DIVINE HERESY, BRUJERIA) on a project called ASESINO. We haven't done a record in about three years. We have been talking about it for about a year now and will probably be doing some shows for it. I always find something to delve into sooner or later.

Read the entire interview from VampireFreaks.com.