43
Zombie’s march
By John Benson
The schedule never stops for Rob Zombie.
After shooting his sixth feature film, “The Lords of Salem,” which he wrote, directed and plans on releasing later this year, Zombie the musician returns to action alongside co-headliner Megadeth for a spring tour, including a stop tonight at Pittsburgh’s Stage AE.
For nearly 20 years, Zombie has been a purveyor of horror, sin and sex through film and music, first with alternative band White Zombie and then finally venturing into solo waters.
In his career he’s sold more than 15 million albums and earned seven Grammy Award nominations.
Next up is a new album due out later this year followed by, you guessed it, probably a film and more.
The Vindicator talked to Zombie about teaming up with Dave Mustaine’s Megadeth, his decision to direct a commercial for Woolite called “The Torturer” and why his future may be Broadway bound.
Q. Your press materials say the last time you played with Megadeth was in the early ’90s. Do you have any memory of those dates?
A. We only played over a weekend like three shows. It was Megadeth, Pantera and White Zombie. I remember I had hurt my rib so playing the shows was painful. Also I remember that Pantera and Megadeth always seemed to be fighting with each other.
Q. Fast-forward to today. Why does a Rob Zombie-Megadeth tour make sense?
A. Stylistically, we don’t necessarily have anything in common, but heavy music always kind of fits together. Stylistically, we didn’t have anything in common with Slayer [last summer] either, but that tour worked great. I think as long as the bands are both heavy and aggressive, even though they approach it from different angles, it always seems to work.
Q. Rumor has it a new album is in the works. Any chance we will hear any unreleased material on tour?
A. Definitely not. Because who the hell wants to hear new material? I would never play new songs live because I think that’s horrible. People don’t come to the shows to hear new songs. Maybe they do with certain bands, like Pearl Jam has those fans who are so excited to hear something new, but I don’t think that would work for us.
Q. Looking ahead to that next CD, which is a follow-up to 2010’s “Hellbilly Deluxe 2,” where is your sound headed?
A. Stylistically, we kind of made a pact with each other that we want to make a record that’s heavy and weird. That’s our goal because those always seem to be the things that people love the most as time goes on. These days, I feel that it’s the way to go because everything happens live and those are the songs you play live. MTV doesn’t factor into the band’s life anymore and most radio doesn’t either, so trying for the pop hit single is just an outdated concept.
Q. Obviously you’re very successful in music and movies. Any other creative outlet you want to explore?
A. I’d like to branch out but they’re sort of logical extensions. I still have this idea that I think my first film “House of 1000 Corpses” would almost work better as like a Broadway musical than a movie, which sounds like I’m joking but I’m not. Because the way musicals are going, look at what’s on Broadway — Monty Python, Spider-Man, John Waters films — I think that’s a direction that’s going, so that’s sort of a down the road idea I have.
Q. Finally, what does the future of Rob Zombie hold?
A. Obviously tons of things will be coming but I don’t know what it’s going to be because every day something new pops up that’s unexpected. I know there are more records; I know there are more tours; I know there are more movies, but everyday the phone rings with some new weird thing that I don’t expect, like directing TV commercials. That was never a plan I had. One day I get an offer so I just do it. And then now I’m directing TV commercials too. So it’s really hard to plan things. I just never know where it’s going.