Wayne Static

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Wayne Static
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Wayne Static in 2005
Background information
Birth name Wayne Richard Wells
Also known as Wayne Static, The King of Evil Disco
Born (1965-11-04)November 4, 1965
Muskegon, Michigan, United States
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Landers, California, United States
Genres Industrial metal, nu metal,[1] alternative metal, groove metal
Instruments Vocals, guitar, keyboards, programmer
Years active 1977–2014
Labels Warner Bros, Reprise, Dirthouse Records
Associated acts Static-X, Pighammer, Deep Blue Dream
Notable instruments
ESP Signature model
Epiphone Static Flying V
Dean Guitars

Wayne Richard Wells[2] (November 4, 1965 in Muskegon, Michigan – November 1, 2014 in Landers, California), known professionally as Wayne Static, was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and music sequencer for the industrial metal band Static-X. He released his only solo studio album, Pighammer, on October 4, 2011.

Early life

Wayne was born in Muskegon, Michigan, to Richard and Darlene Wells.[3][4][5][6][7] He grew up in Shelby, Michigan before moving to Chicago, Illinois and California. He was three years old when he received his first toy guitar. His parents decided at age seven to get him his first real guitar, an S12 beginner model. He was given lessons, which paid off a year later when he won a talent contest playing "Skip to My Lou".[citation needed] He later played in his first band at the age of 12 and decided he wanted to be a musician. In high school, he played in a band for the dances with classmates.[8] He attended Shelby High School and had summer jobs which included working as an asparagus picker and in a cherry canning factory.[9]

Career

After moving to Chicago, Wells created the band Deep Blue Dream in 1987 with Ken Jay, bass player Eric Harris, and Billy Corgan.[10] The group was short lived as they relocated to California and Static-X was formed along with Tony Campos and Koichi Fukuda.[11]

Static was recognizable for his unusual hairstyle; his hair was held up in a vertical position, a process that took about 20 minutes to complete.[12] He was known for his signature "chintail" beard.

Static announced in July 2007 that he would begin a side project, Pighammer,[13] but in a December 2007 interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com, Static stated: "The Pighammer thing will happen when I have time. At the moment though, Static-X will remain my main priority." Static appears on the cover of the 2009 Static-X release, Cult of Static.

Static's solo album Pighammer was released on October 4, 2011.[14] As part of his Pighammer solo-project,[15] Static formed a new line-up consisting of Brent Ashley on bass, Sean Davidson on drums, and Ashes on guitar. In 2012, this line-up went under the name Static-X for the Noise Revolution tour. However, in October 2012, the remainder of the tour was cancelled due to Static requiring medical treatment.

In an interview done on November 26 of 2013, it was confirmed that Static-X disbanded on June 2013. According to Static, the disputes between himself and the band's former bassist Tony Campos over the rights to the band name had gone too far, forcing him to disband the four-piece.[16]

He was set to play a co-headlining tour in the US with Powerman 5000 in November 2014 with American Head Charge supporting them.[17]

Personal life

Static was an atheist and pescatarian.[18][19] After a brief courtship,[20][21] he married adult film actress Tera Wray in Las Vegas on January 10, 2008.[22][23] They lived in Joshua Tree, California. Static appeared as a mystery guest on an adult film Wray hosted called Radium Vol 2.[24]

Death

Static died on November 1, 2014, three days before his 49th birthday.[25] He had consumed half of an oxycodone pill as well as alcohol that morning before going to bed with his wife Tera Wray. She woke up later that day to find that he had died in his sleep.[26] Static's family later issued a statement stating that rumors of his death being drug-related were false, noting that he and Wray had stopped using illicit drugs in 2009. An autopsy later confirmed that Static had died of multiple drug toxicity, consisting of oxycodone, hydromorphone, alprazolam and alcohol, though the report also noted that years of past "chronic prescription drug and alcohol abuse" was a contributing factor.[26]

Former Static-X Members Fukuda and Campos paid tribute to Static [27] Static was cremated in California. A memorial rock show followed in Los Angeles,[28] and a family service followed in Kentucky.[29][30][31]

Discography

Solo

Studio albums
Year Album Chart peaks
US

[32]

 US Rock US Ind. US Hard Rock
2011 Pighammer
  • Released: October 4, 2011
  • Label: Dirthouse
  • Formats: CD, DI
 97 22 16 7
Singles
  • 2011 – "Assassins of Youth"

Collaborations

Appearances

Equipment

  • Dean "Modifier" ML, a satin black Dean ML with a contoured top, chrome hardware and chrome covered EMG Pickups (Static's first use of active pickups publicly) and block inlays. This was Static's first endorsed Dean after leaving ESP in 2010 – 2011.[33]
  • ESP Wayne Static Signature ESP STATIC-600 EX and V with Gun Metal Blue w/ diamond plate finish (equipped with a single Seymour Duncan Distortion at the bridge).[34]
  • Static used Epiphone Wayne Static Signature Flying Vs (with neck pickups and toggle switches removed and using Seymor Duncan Distortion pickups) before being endorsed by ESP in early 2007.[35]
  • Before getting his Epiphone signature, Static used different Gibson models. During the early eras of Static-X, his main guitar was a 1982 Flying V in tobacco sunburst. Sometime after the release of Wisconsin Death Trip, Static began endorsing the Gothic Series V and Explorer, which would be his main guitars until the release of his Epiphone signature model in 2003.
  • Static's main amplifiers, until his death, were the Marshall MG series, which he began using in 2002 - 2003. They can be heard on every Static-X release since Shadow Zone, and on Static's solo album Pighammer. Before he used the MG series, Static used the Marshall Valvestate 8100, which can be heard on Wisconsin Death Trip and Machine.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/11204709/wayne-static-death-static-x.html
  2. ↑ It has been suggested that Wayne's birthname was "Wayne Richard Myaard" but there is no evidence to support the claim. (e.g. zero hits on Google.)
  3. ↑ Wayne Static Bio, IMDb, retrieved January 1, 2008
  4. ↑ Wayne Static Bio, FoxyTunes.com, retrieved January 1, 2008
  5. ↑ Static-X to perform Wednesday, Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 17, 2005, retrieved January 1, 2008
  6. ↑ Note that there are other sources which quote other birth years (usually 1970 and 1975), but Mr Static himself has confirmed on his blog that he was born in 1965.
  7. ↑ from interview: "What's your favorite song from record Machine? Wayne: Probably the last song "December"... I actually wrote that in 1983. I was in college at Western Michigan University. It was a very cold day in December. I had a half an hour between classes of time to kill. I went to this little park I used to go to in order to studio, but it was freezing that day. I sat down and wrote the lyrics on this freezing park bench in December. I used to perform that song with an acoustic guitar, because I used to play acoustic music before I turned into the evil disco thing I am. I reinvented that song for Wisconsin Death Trip."
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Wayne Static, "Start a War" digipak DVD, Warner Bros. Records, released June 14, 2005.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ On his blog on Nov 9, 2007, Mr Static states: "I met Tera Wray during Ozzfest and we have been together since then."
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ The article "Wayne Static Gets Hitched to Adult Starlet", 2008-01-14, states: "The pair tied the knot in Las Vegas before the AVN Awards which took place on Saturday, Jan 12, 2008"
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ [1][dead link]
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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