Wayne Static (1965-2014)

Wayne Static (1965-2014)

Wayne Richard Wells was born November 4th, 1965 in Muskegon, Michigan to Richard and Darlene Wells. When he was 3 years old he was introduced to his first guitar; a toy one, but by age 7 his parents decided to him an 512 Beginner Model guitar. His parents paid for him to take guitar lessons which resulted in him winning a contest. At the age of 12 he was in his first band and made the decision that he wanted to be a musician when he grew up. He attended Shelby High School and played in a band for the high school dances. In 1987, after moving to Chicago he created the band Deep Blue Dream, the band ultimately wouldn’t last long and eventually lead to the creation of Static-X. On October 4th, 2011 he released a solo album called Pighammer. Static-X disbanded in June of 2013 due to disputes over rights to the band’s name.

Achievements: 

Static-X signed with Warner Bros. Records in early 1998, and released their debut album, Wisconsin Death Trip, on March 23, 1999. Soon after, they released their first single "Push It", followed by "I'm with Stupid" and "Bled for Days" in 2000. Static-X toured strictly in support of the album and twice performed on Ozzfest, supporting Fear Factory. In the following year a promotional EP, The Death Trip Continues, was also released.

In 2002, Static would be contacted by Jonathan Davis of the nu metal band Korn. Davis had recently signed on to provide the soundtrack for the Queen of the Damned film soundtrack, but due to contract limitations with Sony, was legally unable to actually perform the music he had written for the soundtrack. As a remedy of this, Davis contacted a number of metal vocalists, Static included, to sing on the songs he had written. Static provided vocals for one track, "Not Meant for Me", with the Queen of the Damned soundtrack releasing in February 2002.

The contribution would be a turning point for the band; the track, which was much more melodic than much of the band's music up until that point, would attract the attention of Warner Brother's executive Tom Whalley, who pressured the band as a whole to pursue a melodic sound. Personnel and line-up changes would further alter the band's sound. The label would not allow the band to work again with record producer Ulrich Wild as they had for their prior two albums, instead arranging for them to work with Josh Abraham, a producer known for working with more commercially melodically mainstream bands such as Staind, Filter, and Velvet Revolver. The album would be the first to feature Eisen's songwriting contributions and performances, and the only to feature sessions drummer Josh Freese, of A Perfect Circle, due to Jay leaving the band two days before beginning the formal recording process.

The band's third album, Shadow Zone, was released on October 7, 2003, and debuted at no. 20 on the Billboard 200 charts, but failed to achieve the platinum or gold selling status of their prior two albums. Two singles were released to promote the album, "The Only" and "So". The band proceeded to hire on Nick Oshiro, formerly of Seether, was selected as Jay's replacement and the band's permanent drummer, to tour in support of the album.

July 20, 2004 saw the release of Beneath... Between... Beyond..., a collection of rarities and demos. Shortly after the release of Beneath... Between... Beyond..., the band toured again with Fear Factory, and commenced work on their fourth studio album, Start a War. In February 2005, Tripp Eisen was arrested in a sex scandal involving minors, and was subsequently fired from the band. Former guitarist Koichi Fukuda, who had been providing samples and keyboards for the new album, rejoined Static-X to fill the gap left by Eisen. Start a War was finally released on June 14, 2005. "I'm the One" and "Dirthouse" were released as singles from the album.

Their fifth album, Cannibal, released on April 3, 2007, marked the studio return of their original guitarist, Koichi Fukuda. One of the new tracks called "No Submission" was released on the Saw III soundtrack prior to the album's release. "Cannibal" was released as a digital download single at iTunes. "Destroyer" was released as a lead off radio single, before the album was released.

On March 20, the album was preceded with an exclusive Destroyer EP, with a video being produced for the title track. The album itself debuted at No. 36 in the U.S. with sales of over 30,000.

On May 10, 2007 it was announced that the band would be playing on the main stage at Ozzfest 2007. Additionally, at the time, Static first announced his intention to release solo material, referring to it as "Pighammer". In the meantime, in November 2007, Campos temporarily joined Ministry as a touring bassist for Ministry's C U LaTour in the wake of Paul Raven's death.

The band began working on their sixth studio album, Cult of Static, in January 2008 after returning from the Operation Annihilation tour in Australia. Static stated they intended to mix the longer buildups and break downs from Wisconsin Death Trip with the heaviness that was present on Cannibal. On October 14, 2008 Static-X released their live CD/DVD, Cannibal Killers Live. On December 11, 2008 Static revealed the album's release date and name saying "I had hoped to announce it here first, but my publicist beat me to the punch! The new record is indeed entitled Cult of Static and will be released March 17. The "cult" part of the title is not to be taken in any religious manner, I am referring to and giving respect to the loyalty of all you good people that have supported us through the years. This record is definitely darker than Cannibal and has more synths and loops as well. And this is also the most crushing guitar tone I have ever had. There are 11 songs instead of our usual 12, and they are mostly longer and more epic than ever before." The album debut at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 chart, the highest since their second studio album, Machine. A new Static-X song called "Lunatic" appeared on soundtrack to the movie Marvel's Punisher: War Zone. The band toured in support of the album for the rest of the year, playing major concerts such as the Download Festival and Rock on the Range.

Charity: 

https://loudwire.com/static-x-original-lineup-reunion-wayne-static-tribute-album-project-regeneration/