RECORD STORE DAY TALKS TO ROB ZOMBIE

 As usual, Rob Zombie has his claws in a million projects. The sequel to Hellbilly Deluxe, his 1998 solo crossover breakthrough is in stores now, and the acclaimed nü-horror director just finished a guest stint helming CSI: Miami. Unsurprisingly, Rob was cool enough to wax poetic about his collector’s sensibility, the differences between directing David Caruso and seven-foot serial killers and an important facet of Hellbilly 2’s lengthy subtitle, the “dehumanization of cool.”

 

Interview by J. Bennett

We were told you specifically wanted your new album, Hellbilly Deluxe 2, released on vinyl…

Yeah, I might have. I don’t even remember. [Laughs] I know it’s on vinyl, so I probably requested it. I think they actually came to me first about it. But I’m happy it’s on vinyl. I think it’s cool. I think every record I’ve done has been on vinyl… actually, maybe the last record didn’t make it to vinyl, but everything else.

 

Are you a vinyl collector?

Not anymore. I mean, I was when vinyl was the thing to collect, but then I sort of got off it when it became almost impossible to collect vinyl. But I have saved a bunch of vinyl from over the years, just because they’re special to me, or I like the package or they’re autographed. So I keep a certain amount.

 

What are some of your favorites?

Most of what I saved are the first records I ever bought—anything from Alice Cooper to KISS to Queen to Blue Öyster Cult—all the early records that I bought as a kid that had foldouts or posters and things like that. I still have all that stuff. It’s been kinda cool as I get to know all these people in those bands over the years, to have them sign the copy that I literally bought when I was in third grade. That’s pretty much the stuff I save.

 

Some of the White Zombie vinyl goes for quite a bit of money these days. There’s a copy of La Sexorcisto on the wall at Amoeba in L.A. right now. I forget what it’s priced at, but a copy sold on eBay for 130 bucks a couple of weeks ago.

I guess that’s pretty good. I know there’s not a lot of White Zombie vinyl out there, because they never made that much to begin with.

 

Do you have all your own records on vinyl?

No. I did, but then there was a flood and everything got destroyed. [Laughs] Of course.

 

Do you still go to record stores when you’re on tour?

I would if I could find any. [Laughs] Every once in a while we see one, though. We saw one in St. Louis recently, and it was like, “What is that? What are those strange 12-inch discs people are shopping for?”

 

That’s a shame. What about Amoeba here in L.A.?

I go to Amoeba sometimes, yeah. About six months ago, I was going in there pretty regularly because I was editing Halloween II about two blocks away, so we would go in there all the time.

 

 

Do you remember what you picked up?

I don’t really remember. But I think I bought Mott the Hoople’s live record, the one from the Hammersmith Odeon.

 

In other interviews, you’ve said that Hellbilly Deluxe 2 might be the last physical release you do, because you see the compact disc going the way of the dodo bird. Do you think you’ll stick with vinyl, though?

Well, I’d rather not stop doing anything. I was just sort of speculating because it seems that the demand for CDs is so low. I remember when they phased out cassettes, you know, and it’s like, at what point do they stop even bothering to manufacture them? I don’t even know where the hell you buy CDs most of the time, and when you do see ’em at Target or Walmart, it’s like one tiny shelf. But I would like to keep making ’em, because I’ve always been a fan of the physical stuff. It’s cool to hold it in your hand and look at it. But we’ll see. I guess supply and demand dictates that.

 

Are you much of a downloader, then?

Not much. Only if it’s something I can’t find any other way. If it’s something I really want, I’d prefer to own it, because it’s been my experience that without warning and without backup, my computer will fry itself and it’s like, “Aw, fuck.” Whereas that doesn’t really happen with a CD or a record. But I’ll download stuff I can’t find any other way—like Michael Nesmith’s solo records. I downloaded his Magnetic South album not too long ago, because I never saw it in any other format than downloading on iTunes.

 

You’ve been referring to Hellbilly Deluxe 2 as a “companion album”—rather than a continuation or sequel—to the original Hellbilly Deluxe album. How do you make the distinction?

Well, I guess a sequel kind of implies that it’s a storyline that’s continuing on, and that’s not the case, really. I don’t really know what you’d call it. It’s sort of like part two of the thought process, I guess.

 

Could the same set of songs exist under a different title, or is there something that necessarily ties them to the 1998 album?

Well, they could definitely exist under a different title, for sure, but I didn’t actually title it until it was done. I’ve always had the idea of doing a part two because Hellbilly Deluxe was my first solo record, one of my biggest moments, and you can obviously never have your first solo record again. And as I saw records and CDs disappearing, I thought if it was going to be the last thing I made, I liked that it was almost exactly 10 years from the first [note: Hellbilly Deluxe 2 was finished in 2008], so I thought it’d be cool to bookend that period of my life like that. That was sort of the thought process. But I didn’t wanna just call it that for the fuck of it, so I waited ’til it was done to see if it really captured the spirit of the first one. I thought it did, so that’s when it really solidified.

 

What’s the story behind the subtitle, Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization Of Cool?

I always like having long titles or subtitles that people can wonder about or not wonder about. I just hate short titles, I guess. [Laughs]

 

So, it doesn’t have any specific meaning for you?

No, it does—especially the last half, the “dehumanization of cool” part. That’s a topic that me and the rest of the guys in the band are always talking about—why nothing seems cool anymore in the world of rock. Everything seems corporate and contrived. We’ll sit there and watch old clips of Edgar Winter on YouTube and go, “This is so cool. What the fuck happened? When did rock music become whiny bullshit played by guys who all have the same haircut?” We’re always bitching and moaning about that.

 

You often use old B-horror movie titles for song titles—“Mars Needs Women,” “Virgin Witch,” and “The Man Who Laughs” being examples from Hellbilly Deluxe 2. Is that partly to encourage your fans to check those movies out, or do you just like the titles?

I don’t think I’ve ever done anything where I’m encouraging people to go check stuff out. I mean, I assume they probably do—actually, people tell me that all the time—but I never really have that in mind ever. I just try to think of what might make a good song. I’m not really trying to educate people. That never crosses my mind.

 

Do any of the dialogue samples on the new album correspond to the films you’re referencing?

I don’t think so. I don’t even really remember where any of those came from. The samples get so jumbled around as time goes on. They get chopped up and moved around so much that I can’t remember where they came from.

 

Do you keep an ongoing collection of dialogue samples to use in your music?

Unfortunately, I don’t keep an ongoing collection of anything. I don’t write lyrics in advance. We don’t write songs in advance. We basically walk into the studio with a clean slate most of the time. So, whatever we do is pretty much fresh for that moment. I don’t even really search out samples for things because I always figure something will pop up at some point. During the White Zombie days, I really used to go through stuff to try and find the right thing, but nowadays I just figure the appropriate thing will pop up at the right time and if it doesn’t, we won’t use a sample. Like the sample at the beginning of “What?” I can’t remember what it was from, but it was just so perfect. It fit the vibe of the song so well.

 

Do you prefer working spontaneously like that?

Yeah, that’s the way we like to do things. That’s why we never go into the studio and think, “We’re gonna make this type of record.” The record is gonna dictate its own course. We may start off thinking we’re gonna make a certain type of record, but it goes all over the place. You just gotta go with it. If you don’t, you’re gonna force the issue.

 

You literally go in with nothing—no riffs, no vague lyrical ideas?

Nothing.

 

So, how long did it take to write the new album?

From having nothing to being done? Maybe six weeks. But we’re fast. I mean, that’s why I love the guys that I have in the band now: They can think fast, and that’s how I like to work. A song like “What?” and many of the others, we’d start in the morning with nothing, come up with something, I’d start writing lyrics on the spot, and boom—five hours later it’s done and we go home. We don’t even work a full day.

 

Is that why you wanted to use your touring band on this album rather than a bunch of hired guns?

Well, I always wanted the touring band to be the studio band, but in the past it just hasn’t worked out that way. Sometimes you’re working with someone in the studio who can’t think on their feet. You’re trying to work with them on something, and they wanna go home and think about it. I can’t work that way. I need someone like [guitarist] John 5 who can come up with it on the spot. Or change it. It’s the same when I’m making movies. If I have an actor who can’t think fast or make changes on the spot, someone who goes into a panic and has to go home and study their lines in order to do the scene? It’s really a problem. I need someone I can throw a curveball at and it’s no problem. It’s just the way I like to work.

 

Speaking of directing, what can you tell us about your next film, Tyrannosaurus Rex?

Nothing, really. I’m not working on it at the moment. I don’t know what the next movie is, actually.

 

You did an episode of CSI: Miami recently. How does directing an established TV show compare to working on one of your own films?

I just finished shooting the episode yesterday, actually. It was very strange. TV is very different than the movies, especially when you’re coming into an existing show that’s been on for eight years. The way they do things is basically cast in stone. The actors are playing the same characters week after week after week, so there’s really not much to do there. So, in order to put my stamp on the show, I brought in my own guest stars and tried to make some of the situations very different. The look of my episode will vary some, and you don’t usually get a Malcolm McDowell or a Michael Madsen on a show like that together, so the quality of casting is much higher than what they will usually do. I got people who don’t usually do TV to try and take it to another place. William Forsythe is also in the episode, and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. So I tried to make it as different as I possibly could, but still make it CSI: Miami.

 

Your wife is in all your movies and often appears in the artwork for your albums. Do you consider her your muse?

Yeah, definitely. That’s the way it’s always sort of been. I like to involve her because I need there to be some sort of personal aspect to everything I do. And by that I mean I always like to have my wife or my friends [be] part of what I do. I always see bands make these videos and they just hire some girl to play the girl in the video and it’s like, “What does this actually mean to them?” It doesn’t seem like it has any actual meaning. Maybe it does. But I need everything to be meaningful to me in order to want to do it. I can never just go through the motions. That’s why CSI was difficult in a way, because some of it wasn’t meaningful to me. I’m dealing with characters and situations that aren’t mine, so I have to find a reason to care, and that’s difficult.

 

And you only have so much latitude there.

Right. Because you can’t go in and assume you’re gonna reinvent the wheel, and you really don’t have enough time to, either. These people have been working together for eight years, and you’re rolling in for eight days. There’s only so much you can expect to accomplish. And also, they’re not calling you in to fix something that’s broken. It’s a hugely successful show, and you have to be conscious of that, too.

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