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Static-X during a concert.
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genre(s)	Industrial Metal
Years active	1994–present
Label(s)	Warner Bros. Records Reprise Records
Associated acts	Asesino Dope Godhead Ministry Murderdolls Seether Pighammer
Website	www.static-x.com
Members
Wayne Static Tony Campos Koichi Fukuda Nick Oshiro
Former members
Ken Jay Tripp Eisen

Static-X is an industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California, USA. Formed in 1994, they are signed to Warner Bros. Records and have released five albums, their most recent being Cannibal, which was released on April 3, 2007.

The band rose to fame with their debut album Wisconsin Death Trip, which went platinum in 2001.^[1] However, this is the only album they have released to date that has reached such sales level. Their sound incorporates elements of industrial music and heavy metal in a sub-genre called industrial metal.

Static-X has released five studio albums, one compilation album, one EP, twelve singles and twelve videos. They recorded a DVD entitled Where the Hell Are We and What Day Is It... This Is Static-X, but it was never released due to a threatened lawsuit by Sharon Osbourne over tracks recorded at Ozzfest.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 The beginning and debut - Wisconsin Death Trip (1994-2000) 1.2 Machine - Shadow Zone (2001-2003) 1.3 Beneath, Between, Beyond - Start A War (2004-2006) 1.4 Cannibal and beyond (2007-present) 2 Related artists and influences 3 The Otsego songs 4 Members 4.1 Current members 4.2 Former members 4.3 Session members 5 Discography 5.1 Studio albums 6 Cameos/appearances 7 References 8 External links

Static-X was formed in 1994 from the ashes of Wayne Static and Ken Jay's former band, Deep Blue Dream. Wayne and Ken originally met at the Chicago record store where Jay worked and were introduced to one another by Smashing Pumpkins vocalist Billy Corgan (the band also shared a rehearsal space with Smashing Pumpkins for a time). Once Deep Blue Dream folded, Static and Jay moved to Los Angeles to search for new band members. There, they met bassist Tony Campos and guitarist Koichi Fukuda, completing the band's original lineup.

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. In the following year a promotional EP, The Death Trip Continues, was released, however this album was not available in stores. . In 2001, Wisconsin Death Trip went platinum and is, to date, Static-X's only album to reach this success.^[1]

The band has contributed numerous tracks from this album to video game soundtracks and for other promotional applications. The song "Otsegolation" was used in the PlayStation video game, Omega Boost, where it is featured in the main menu and the final boss sequence. The song "Push It" was included in the games Street Skater 2 and Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes, both also for the PlayStation gaming console. An instrumental of "Love Dump" was used as the entrance music for the professional wrestler Kronik in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. This version was later used by Steven Richards.

After recording their follow-up album Machine, Koichi Fukuda left the band to spend time with his family and pursue other musical opportunities. As Fukuda's replacement, former Dope member Tripp Eisen stepped in. Machine was released May 22, 2001 to major success, and shortly after, Static-X began work on their third album, Shadow Zone, this time with Eisen performing and writing on the album. However, before they could start recording, Ken Jay left the band due to musical and political differences. To drum on the album, Josh Freese of A Perfect Circle and The Vandals was brought in. Later, Nick Oshiro, formerly of Seether, was selected as Jay's replacement and the band's permanent drummer.

During production of the album, Jonathan Davis of Korn contacted Wayne Static to record the vocals for a song he wrote for the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, entitled "Not Meant for Me". Shadow Zone was later released on October 7, 2003. Static-X continued their affiliation with video game soundtracks: "This Is Not" from Machine, was included in the video game Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder; "The Only" from Shadow Zone was featured on the soundtrack of Need for Speed: Underground, while "Start a War" was included in the video game WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006.

July 20, 2004 saw the release of Beneath... Between... Beyond..., a collection of rarities and demos. Due to the release, rumors popped up saying Static-X would be breaking up due to declining record sales. However, shortly after the release of Beneath... Between... Beyond..., the band commenced work on their fourth studio album, Start a War. On February, 2005, Tripp Eisen was arrested in a sex scandal involving minors, and was therefore fired from Static-X.^[2] 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.^[3] Start a War was finally released on June 14, 2005. "I'm the One" and "Dirthouse" were released as singles from the album. The song "Skinnyman" is included in the soundtrack of the famous 2005 street racing game Need For Speed: Most Wanted.

Cannibal, released on April 3, 2007, marked the studio return of their original guitarist, Koichi Fukuda. One of the new tracks called "No Submission" is available on the Saw III soundtrack. The full track has also been released on Static-X's MySpace page. "Cannibal" was released as a digital download single at iTunes. "Destroyer" was released as a lead off radio single, before the album's was released. Videos for the singles were supposed to be taken at the same time.

On March 20 the upcoming album was preceded with an exclusive Destroyer EP. The video for "Destroyer" has also been produced and is available now at headbangersball.com. The album itself debuted at #36 in the U.S. with sales of over 30,000.^[4]

On May 10, 2007 it was announced that the band will be playing on the main stage at Ozzfest 2007. Additionally, in a recent interview, Wayne Static announced his side-project called "Pighammer".^[5]

The band will begin their sixth studio album in December after returning from the Operation Annihilation tour in Australia.

In November 2007, Tony Campos joined legendary industrial act Ministry.

Static-X cite Ministry, Prong, Pantera and Type O Negative as major musical influences.^{[citation needed]} They are frequently linked to these bands by fans and critics, along with others such as White Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, Fear Factory, Danzig, and Coal Chamber. Though they have described their music as "evil disco", "death disco" and "rhythmic trancecore", Static-X's sound shares much in common with their industrial metal influences, using heavy overdrive distortion, electronic keyboard, pounding bass riffs, and fast-paced, angry vocals. Songs generally apply heavy use of synthesizers and insertion of samples, such as snippets of movie dialogue. For example, A Dios Alma Perdida samples spaceship drone sound effects and alien chatter from the film Laserblast. A present element in their Cannibal album is the presence of guitar solos, that weren't present in the previous albums.

There is a version of the title "Otsego" on the first four albums: "Otsegolation", "Otsego Undead", "Otsegolectric" and "Otsego Amigo". The track "Otsego Undead" is misspelled on the Dracula 2000 soundtrack, and was printed as "Ostego Undead". An explanation for the "Otsego" tracks was given in a 2003 interview with Metal Edge Magazine, where Wayne Static said:

“

Otsego is a town near where I went to college at Michigan (Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo), and it was kind of a depressing, small town. There was a guy named Dean there, and I had his fake ID.

”

^{[citation needed]}

• Wayne Static - Vocals, Guitars, Programming, Keyboards (1994-present)
• Tony Campos - Bass, Backing Vocals (1994-present)
• Koichi Fukuda - Lead Guitar, Programming (1994-2000; 2005-present)
• Nick Oshiro - Drums (2003-present)

• Ken Jay - Drums (1994-2002) (left due to "musical differences")
• Tripp Eisen - Lead guitar (2000-2005) (fired due to two sex scandals involving underage girls)

• Marty O'Brien - Bass (2001) (live fill in)
• Josh Freese - Drums (2003) (during Shadow Zone sessions)
• Will Hunt - Drums (2007) (live fill in)
• Bevan Davies - Drums (2007) (live fill in)

Main article: Static-X discography

Year	Title	Label	US chart peak	US sales	Certification
1999	Wisconsin Death Trip	Warner Bros. Records	#107	1,000,000+	Platinum
2001	Machine	Warner Bros. Records	#11	600,000+	Gold
2003	Shadow Zone	Warner Bros. Records	#20	300,000+	N/A
2005	Start a War	Warner Bros. Records	#29	213,000+	N/A
2007	Cannibal	Reprise Records	#36	120,000+[6]	N/A

• In the early episode's of the TV series My Parents Are Aliens, there is a poster of Wayne above Mel's bed.
• In an episode of the TV series The Worst Witch, you can see a poster of the Machine album in a bedroom.
• In the movie House of the Dead 2, a Static-X poster can be seen on the wall behind the door in the dorm room where the two female AMS officers confront Griffin.
• Wayne can be seen performing in the The X-Ecutioners video It's Goin Down.
• Static-X appeared and performed The Only off of Shadow Zone on an episode of Monster Garage.
• Static-X performed their single "The Only" on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
• Static-X performed their song "Cold" on an episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
• Wayne can be seen in the begining of the music video for "Rebirth of the Temple" by Silent Civilian.

• Official website
• Polish/English website
• German website
• Static-X at MySpace
• Static-X at Last.fm
• Static-X at AOL Music

v • d • e Static-X
Wayne Static · Tony Campos · Koichi Fukuda · Nick Oshiro Ken Jay · Tripp Eisen
Studio albums	Wisconsin Death Trip · Machine · Shadow Zone · Start a War · Cannibal
Extended plays	The Death Trip Continues
Compilations	Beneath... Between... Beyond...
Videos	Where the Hell Are We and What Day Is It... This Is Static-X · Black and White · X-Posed · X-Rated
Singles	"Push It" · "I'm with Stupid" · "Bled for Days" · "Black and White" · "This Is Not" · "Cold" · "The Only" · "So" · "I'm the One" · "Dirthouse" · "Cannibal" · "Destroyer" · "Behemoth"
Related articles	Discography