WAYNE STATIC Says The Internet 'Ruined The World'

Away Team recently conducted an interview with STATIC-X frontman Wayne Static. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Away Team: When did you decide that you wanted to do a solo album? What was kinda the driving force behind that?

Wayne Static: Well, I actually first wanted to do it back in 2001. It was when I was finishing up writing the "Machine" record, and realizing that it was just kind of me, writing everything by myself, while the other guys partied and did whatever they wanted, did their own side projects. Then they'd come back, and I'd have to compromise and argue with them about this and that. By the time we recorded the record, I was already sick of all the songs, and felt that some of the original energy and excitement was lost from the songs. So, it's been in my head for over ten years, but I kinda had to wait for the right time because for me to do a solo record it meant I had to put STATIC-X on the shelf for a while. I knew that we still had a lot of stuff to do, so after the 2009 tour was done I felt like it was the right time to do it. Everyone was kinda ready to take a break from the band and do their own thing, and I was definitely ready to take a break and do my own thing, so here we are.

Away Team: What are the future plans for STATIC-X?

Wayne Static: I don't have any plans right now. I haven't even talked to the other guys in the last couple years. Everyone's doing their thing; I'm having a great time. I've got my band together, we're finally on the road, my album's finally out. So for me it's just kind of the start of this whole new journey, and that's all I see in the near future. I'm not opposed to putting STATIC-X back together at some point, but right now I'm gonna see this project through.

Away Team: You've been in the music industry long enough to see the evolution from cassettes to CDs to MP3s. Now the latest wave of the future is streaming. There seems to be mixed reviews on that some think it helps sell records, others think it takes away from sales. What are your thoughts on streaming and its impact on the artist or label?

Wayne Static: Well, in general, I hate the Internet. I wish it would die, I wish it would go away. I think it ruined a lot of things. It ruined music, it ruined people's social skills, it ruined print, it ruined the world, in my opinion. (laughs) It's fucking Skynet from "The Terminator" it's gonna be the demise of civilization as we know it. But having said that, it is here to stay, and I use it to promote myself, because that's just the way it is now. As far as streaming, I think it's cool. I had my album streaming for an entire week before it came out, because if it's good, people are gonna talk about it. The people who really go and buy CDs are gonna buy it, and the people who don't buy CDs are not gonna buy it either way. So I'm all in support of it. Obviously the streaming thing is a lower-quality audio, and you can't download it and all that crap I mean, I'm sure you can, I'm sure they make programs for that but it still sounds like shit. So the people that are gonna buy the CD are gonna do it, and I think letting people hear it, they're just gonna talk positive things and more people will end up buying the CD in the end.

Read the entire interview from Away Team.