The vocalist who will wear a mask in the likeness of late frontman Wayne Static during STATIC-X's upcoming reunion tour says that he "will represent the vibe of the band very well." The North American trek, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of STATIC-X's platinum-certified "Wisconsin Death Trip" album and pays homage to Static, features co-headliner DEVILDRIVER and support from DOPE. While the identity of STATIC-X's touring singer has not been officially revealed, strong rumors suggest that DOPE frontman Edsel Dope will pull double duty during the trek and perform with drummer Ken Jay, guitarist Koichi Fukuda and bassist Tony Campos. STATIC-X's latest addition, who apparently calls himself "Xer0", told Kerrang! magazine via e-mail: "Wayne was a very unique singer. I can't just be myself with this. That wouldn't be doing the material justice. Therefore, I really have to be prepared. I have to learn lots of parts…find the right places in my own voice to deliver my best version of these songs…I'm never gonna sound as good as Wayne did, doing Wayne's thing. That's just common sense. “But I feel really good about it," he continued. "I believe that I will represent the vibe of the band very well and that we will give the fans a really fun 'Wisconsin Death Trip' experience each night." Xer0 confirmed that he was the one who came up with the idea of playing masked. "I've spent the last 20 years building my own identity and touring the world with my own band," he said. "It didn't feel right for my image or identity to be placed in the center of something that I wasn't part of creating… It just felt like a perfect way to keep the focus on the four guys that made this great album and started this really cool band. After a few days of living with it, I decided to spike my hair up, just to see what it would look like with the mask on, and I was like, Oh, FUCK. Let's be honest: Wayne's hair kind of became the visual identity of STATIC-X." He added: "We didn't set out to create a 'character,' it just evolved naturally. We went to our friend Laney, who also makes the masks for many of the SLIPKNOT guys, as well as Manson's band, and Rob Zombie's band, et cetera. Wayne liked heavy metal, monster movies, and monster trucks. He would be honored by the celebration and he would dig the shit out of this." STATIC-X plans to perform the majority of its debut album at each show. "Project Regeneration", featuring the last recordings of Static, will be released later this year. The rest of the group's original lineup will also be featured on the album and in the music videos. STATIC-X is currently focused on finishing 12 tracks for "Project Regeneration", with more than half of them set to feature Wayne's lead vocals. STATIC-X is in the process of finalizing a label partner in order to ensure that "Project Regeneration" will be promoted and distributed worldwide, just like all of the band's previous albums. Last fall, STATIC-X released a teaser featuring clips from a brand-new music video, as well as five new STATIC-X tracks — "Road To Hell", "Something Of My Own", "Terminator Oscillator", "Hollow" and "Disco Otsego" — along with a personal message from Campos about the inspiration behind "Project Regeneration". Wayne Static died in November 2014 after mixing Xanax and other powerful prescription drugs with alcohol, according to the coroner's report. The 48-year-old, whose real name was Wayne Richard Wells, was found dead in his Landers, California home. Static founded STATIC-X in 1994 and achieved commercial success with "Wisconsin Death Trip", which included the rock radio hit "Push It". The group issued five more studio albums before disbanding permanently in June 2013. Static had been pursuing a solo career at the time of his death.
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