ROB ZOMBIE: 'To Me, Nothing Matters But The Show'

Brandon Marshall of Denver Westword recently conducted an interview with rocker-turned-filmmaker Rob Zombie. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Denver Westword: What's your favorite classic movie monster?

Rob: I think my favorite is Frankenstein's monster, probably because it's so iconic. I think when I was a little kid, I would have said King Kong. But I think Frankenstein, just because I loved everything about it. The design is the most classic design. It just seems like Hollywood to me. If you think Hollywood, you think, you know, Groucho Marx, Marilyn Monroe and Frankenstein. Also, I like the character. Even in my movies I always want to make the monsters... That was my whole pitch for my remake of "Halloween" my take on it. I always saw him as Frankenstein.

Denver Westword: Your shows are obviously a big, multimedia affair. How hands-on are you with that side of your performances?

Rob: Well, I'm hands-on with everything. Even right now the only reason I'm doing this interview while I'm driving is that I'm driving out to where the new stage props are being built so I can okay them before they start getting really finished. But yeah, I'm involved with everything. Every little tiny thing has exactly got to be the way I want. Not that I don't have really talented people working with me to make it all happen. I don't want to take away from [their contribution]. But it's 100 percent my vision of what it's supposed to be. There's nobody else I can turn to. They all look at me.

Denver Westword: Clearly, performing live is vastly different from making a film, but how would you compare the logistics and process of putting together a live show versus a film?

Rob: The similarities with making a movie is that you're the boss and you have a huge crew of people — and it's a job. It's a great job, but it's a job. I would say with anything, the fish stinks from the head down. So they're only going to work as hard and be as organized as you are. And I have to run everything super-organized and make it work. To me, nothing matters but the show. I'm not on tour to party and to fuck around because I don't want to hurt the show. The show has to be excellent all the time. Nobody wants to go see your show and you suck and hear about how much fun you had backstage. Nobody pays fifty bucks so you can have fun backstage. They want the show to be amazing. That's all I care about. That's all anybody cares about. And if the people that work with me don't care about it, I replace them with someone that does. That's the way it should be, right?

Read the entire interview from Denver Westword.