Tony Campos says that the vocalist who is wearing a mask in the likeness of late frontman Wayne Static during STATIC-X's reunion tour does a "good" job of "capturing" Wayne's "vibe and spirit." STATIC-X's current trek celebrates the 20th anniversary of the band's platinum-certified "Wisconsin Death Trip" album and pays homage to Static, who died five years ago. While the identity of STATIC-X's touring singer has not been officially revealed, strong rumors suggest that DOPE frontman Edsel Dope is performing alongside bassist Campos, drummer Ken Jay and guitarist Koichi Fukuda. Asked by Michael Nagy in a new interview if it's been "a hard process" keeping the new vocalist's identity a secret, Campos said (see video below): "It's been fun, just hearing all the speculation. There's some people out there that are way serious about it, to the point where they're angry: 'Oh, it is that guy!' It's, like, 'Dude, that's not the point. Chill out.'" According to Campos, he and his bandmates wanted to pay tribute to their late bandmate in a respectful way without straying too far from Static's original sound and visual presentation. "We're not coming out and saying, 'Here's STATIC-X with our new singer.' That's not what we're doing," the bassist said. "I think [the fans] get what we're trying to do. It's a cool way to represent Wayne on stage while it's still organic; it's not like a hologram or something. It keeps that energy between the four dudes on stage that, I think, made the band what it was. You don't get that with a hologram." Tony was also full of praise for STATIC-X's mysterious new vocalist — known only as Xer0 — saying that "he does a good homage to Wayne. He's not exactly copying him move for move, but he's doing his interpretation and really just capturing his vibe and spirit." As previously reported, STATIC-X will release a new album titled "Project Regeneration", featuring the last recordings of Static, on May 29, 2020. The rest of the group's original lineup will also be featured on the album and in the music videos, including the promotional clip for the single "Hollow", which was released last month. The teaser, which was directed by Xer0 and co-directed by Matt Zane, also features a snippet of the band's hit song "Push It", re-recorded in 2019 with Xer0. Originally scheduled for release in spring of 2019, the new STATIC-X album was first intended to feature several guests vocalists, along with the original "Wisconsin Death Trip" band lineup of Campos, Jay and Fukuda. During the recording sessions for "Project Regeneration", one of STATIC-X's producers uncovered several additional unreleased and unfinished tracks, many of which contained isolated vocal performances by Static. Because of this incredible find, the new STATIC-X album will now feature lead vocals by Wayne on virtually every song. 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".
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