Static-X was formed in 1994 and got pretty popular with their 1999 debut album Wisconsin Death Trip. Unfortunately this was also around the rise of nü-metal, which means that Static-X got lumped into that crowd. Founding bassist Tony Campos is still rightfully confused by this.
In an interview with Sense Music Media, Campos jokes that Static-X was always trying to rip off Ministry and Prong instead of leaning into the most hip-hop-influenced sound that nü-metal had. Though if someone only ever heard a song like the very Korn-esque "The Only" or straightforward-and-moody radio banger "Cold", I can see how there might be a little confusion.
"Yeah, we did emerge in that [nü-metal] scene. But to me, that 'nü-metal' label, for better or for worse, for me, it was always associated with that rap-rock kind of thing, with the hip-hop influence. And none of us were big hip-hop fans, and that didn't really make it into the Static-X sound. So for us, it was kind of, like, we got lumped into that category but I don't know that we were necessarily in that category. We were trying to rip off Ministry and Prong [laughs]; we just wanted to be more industrial era.
"The other thing that really influenced us was that whole electronica movement that was happening at that time — Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, those kind of acts were big influences on us too, particularly the Spawn soundtrack that had those collaborations with electronica artists and metal acts and rock acts. That was a big influence on us too."
Static-X originally ended in 2014 with the death of frontman Wayne Static. The band has since reformed with a new vocalist named Xer0 and has put out two records – Project: Regeneration Vol. 1 in 2020 and Project: Regeneration Vol. 2 in 2023 – largely featuring unused vocals from Static himself.
