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Last Updated: November 21, 2009 6:52 PM




ROB ZOMBIE: WHITE ZOMBIE 'Was A Painful Situation Most Of The Time' - Dec. 13, 2008
BigMusicGeek.com recently conducted an interview with Rob Zombie. Several excerpts from the chat follow below.

BigMusicGeek.com: Overall, how would you describe your time as a member of WHITE ZOMBIE? Do you look back on it all with a certain fondness?

Rob: "It was a weird situation because when the band started, everybody was so young. I don't remember how old I was when it ended, but when you're basically right out of high school, you are not really in mind frame to sometimes handle what it takes it to put that together. And then you do mature, and then being in a band becomes a weird situation because it's almost like the situation hasn't matured with you. That band had a lot of growing pains, a lot of baggage all the way through and a lot of rotating people. I think we did a lot of good stuff, and I think we were kind of ahead of the curve in the beginning and did some groundbreaking stuff. But it was a painful situation most of the time, actually."

BigMusicGeek.com: In hindsight, even when the group was at its peak commercially, did it feel as if you were mainstream outcasts or perhaps even on the outside looking in?

Rob: "Well, we were kind of outcasts. We were definitely in our own world. I didn't even know what was going on in the world. Everything the band appeared to be was exactly what it was. Nothing was fake. We were all living in a lower east side, everybody was flat broke… no one had any money. Sometimes we would eat the free Hare Krishna food in the parks that they would feed to homeless people to survive. I mean, it was like we were a band of bums. I didn't even have a television, so I didn't know what was going on in the world. You could mention like the number one record to me and I would have no idea who it was. We were so far off the map. It was like our whole existence was the Lower East Side, (legendary New York City-based club) CBGBs… that world. That's what came out of it. Totally just not comprehending what was going on, which was a good thing. It was sort of what let the band become the band that it was going to be. We put no restrictions on it because we weren't even aware that there were restrictions. We didn't know how things are supposed to be done and we didn't give a shit, basically."

BigMusicGeek.com: At what point did you realize that WHITE ZOMBIE was coming to an end? I would imagine there was a time when the group's demise was both imminent and obvious to all parties involved…

Rob: "Well, you could feel it coming for a long time. Anyone on the inside knew it was more of a miracle that it was still holding together rather than it falling apart because people weren't getting along and people weren't speaking. I don't think the entire band was ever actually in the same room together when we made 'Astro-Creep'. We were riding on separate buses. I wouldn't even see those guys until showtime. I would walk on stage play, walk off stage. So it was more of a miracle that it lasted that long. I just remember it was the tour with PANTERA. I remember walking off stage and handing this guy who we called Wookie because he looks like Chewbacca the microphone, and just saying, 'Well, that's the end of that.' I walked off stage and walked to the car, went to the airport, went home and that was the end of that. There was no discussion at all. It was just sort of self-evident."

BigMusicGeek.com: What ultimately led to the group's demise? Was there a particular incident or was an accumulative effect of everything the group had endured during their career(s)?

Rob: "The main reason WHITE ZOMBIE ended was because the people that were in WHITE ZOMBIE couldn't get along anymore. That was the main reason. It wasn't because I had some artistic urge that I must be by myself. It was just a necessity. I mean the band could not be, so it was just a nightmare. It just ended over a bad feeling. It's kind of hard for me to actually judge it truthfully."

BigMusicGeek.com: What were the main motivation(s) behind releasing "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" so long after the group's demise? In retrospect, I'm surprised it wasn't released sooner…

Rob: "The reasoning was because if I waited any longer, you wouldn't want to release it because it would be useless. I probably already waited longer than I should have. I mean I know…CDs are a thing of the past. They won't be around much longer much like vinyl and everything else. Maybe there will be some, but as a whole they'll be gone. But there is still something nice about putting together the set that you can hold in your hands. No one is going to go on iTunes and download seventy-nine songs from the box set. They'd probably pick and choose them. But there is something nice about presenting things in the format that you want them to be heard, which is something that's going away. It's nice to be able to put things out as you see that they should be presented. After that, people can do whatever they want with them, but I mean, at least at some point in time, they come out the way you want it. I've been trying to put it together for a long time. But I would let everything to take precedence over it… a movie, a new record because I am not big on revisiting the past. I like to move forward all the time…so whenever anything else would come up, it would go on the backburner. I had a little bit of window, and just knocked it out. I also figured that, if not now, when? So this seems like a good time."

Read the entire interview at BigMusicGeek.com.
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COMMENT |
posted by : hevymentl13
12/13/2008 4:31:10 PM

I still use CDs, even when I'm storing MP3s.

I think they will be around longer than people think.

COMMENT | the album is obsolete
posted by : The Taint
12/13/2008 4:48:07 PM

which really sucks. people rather download a single. I was exposed to the coolest shit by listening to entire albums and not just singles.

the shallowification of music

COMMENT |
posted by : Long-Live-The-Skullet
12/13/2008 5:09:52 PM

Vinyl and CDs will remain so long as there are collectors.

As above comments stated, vinyl is still around.. and yes, CDs will be the new vinyl.


The album may be obsolete, to the mainstream, but there are still more than enough true fans who will purchase the entire thing for what its worth. Let the stupid fuckers get one song, and forsake the other tracks if they want. We can get the entire thing, and enjoy the entire thing.

Shallowfication of music.. and the close-mindedness of people.



As for the band, White Zombie will forever have a place in my heart. Great, permanant memories of a good time.

COMMENT | Vinyl and CD's
posted by : RiotAct666
12/13/2008 5:16:45 PM

Will be around forever. People still like to collect/listen to them. Plus what album is Obsolete - OOP? all white zombie albums are not.

COMMENT | I agree...
posted by : priestfan88
12/13/2008 5:27:58 PM

with most people here. I actually want to be able to hold the album in my hands, to read the liner notes, lyrics, look at the artwork, and appreciate an album as a collective piece of music. Even though I would consider myself of the generation who embraces (stupidly) mp3's and illegal downloads, I have always found digital downloads and mp3's for the most part, to be utter shit. I'm fine with an iPod, fine, I'll use it in my car or when I'm walking around somewhere on vacation, but when I'm at home, nothing sounds better than physical medium in a high quality stereo. If some of these kids would actually spend some money on a nice stereo and buy some albums they would be surprised.

COMMENT |
posted by : chillpenguin666
12/13/2008 5:32:55 PM

I grew up on cassetes, but unfortunatly, there's no nostalgic appaeal for them.

Cds aren't that special. They'll be gone in a few years. I can see vynll becoming bigger than cds eventually.

COMMENT | it was a painful situation most of the time
posted by : samurai22
12/13/2008 6:28:17 PM

If it was anywhere near as painful as that Halloween remake Rob, then I truly sympathise. Noone should have to go through that. Ever.

COMMENT | amen
posted by : big popi 69
12/13/2008 6:38:03 PM

i still purchase cds and i always will, but sometimes i get very pissed when out of 12 songs on it i like 3 of them ,and 1 just happens to be the single so i can see why people do what they do.

COMMENT | In this day and age...
posted by : Weirdly Sawbones
12/13/2008 6:46:51 PM

...If I'am buying music - it's on vinyl.

On the subject of cd's and such, I'm still bumming that Dvd-Audio discs didn't take off ("thanks alot - I-Pod generation"), because the 24/96 multichannel mixes on some of the discs are absolutely killer.

COMMENT | It's a SHAME....
posted by : GG2007
12/13/2008 7:03:18 PM

what has happened to the "album" as we once knew it. First, the true cover "artwork" disappeared, then the "cd album" with some form of foldable cover artwork is rapidly disappearing. Now, it looks like digital downloads are the thing, the "hit" single. The artform of music is gone. The money hungry record industry "lived by the hit and now dies by the hit"! But along with that goes many bands....

COMMENT | No disrepect to Rob......
posted by : Angus Von Danzig
12/13/2008 7:05:34 PM

but back in the day Sean Yseult was a big draw for White Zombie as she was the most beautiful woman to ever play bass in a metal band. I saw them on the tour with Pantera and during their set I was either in the pit or staring at Sean's Vahjeen which my friends and I agreed had to be shaved.

COMMENT | Not to be..
posted by : Angus Von Danzig
12/13/2008 7:20:24 PM

sexist or anything.

COMMENT | Sad
posted by : Neil Young's Cocaine Booger
12/13/2008 8:21:56 PM

White Zombie were one and still are one of my favorite bands of all-time, but if things were as bad as he says they were then I guess it was for the best.

LOVE the boxset(especially the 'God Of Thunder' track) and still cherish seeing White Zombie as many times as I did.

COMMENT |
posted by : EL PENDEJO
12/13/2008 8:41:21 PM

COMMENT |
posted by : Domcoccaro
12/13/2008 8:12:56 PM


Am I the only one who loves cassette tapes? I love the raw sound. It suits countless metal bands. There is something special about them. Lately, I've been listening to Reverend, Metal Church, Morbid Angel, Holy Terror, Toxik, Forced Entry, and Pestilence (amongst a few others) all on tape. It's AWESOME.

Oh, and I don't like Rob Zombie. White Zombie was badass, though.

---

Tapes are cool. White Zombie is cool, Rob Zombie solo not cool.


COMMENT | THE CLANSMAN
posted by : Inmate_999
12/13/2008 8:51:39 PM

http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/The-Clansman/51377018101?ref=ts

COMMENT | .
posted by : Blackenistheyend
12/13/2008 9:20:43 PM

CDs will go away soon. There just isn't much point to them anymore. It's like having a tinier, shittier version of the vinyl artwork and a disc that sounds exactly the same as mp3s do (assuming the mp3s have a decent bitrate). People rip them to mp3s anyway, for their ipod or whatever, and then they sit around collecting dust.

Vinyl and mp3s will remain. Hopefully, most artists will include links for mp3 downloads when you buy the vinyl, like some do now. That way everybody wins: you get nice portable music files, plus the gorgeous full-size artwork and "warm" sound if you're at home and have time to listen to the actual record.

COMMENT | yes
posted by : dxf
12/13/2008 11:36:21 PM

1) cassettes are cool. they don't always age so well, but they're just cool. they're so nice and tactile, the way they rattle around. I can't give 'em up.

2) I really preferred Zombie's work when he had all that tension to give him some edge.




COMMENT | CDS will be around forever!
posted by : Polimar
12/14/2008 12:47:23 AM

They're my favourite format by far.
White Zombie were great, Rob Zombie is pretty good.

COMMENT |
posted by : TheEagle
12/14/2008 10:13:19 AM

All formats will remain available, it's just their availability which will drop massively. Bands will no longer sell a million CD, they might be able to sell 3 millions 'versions' of their recordings, though. It's becoming a different way to evaluate success.

If people talk about your band and listen to your music, this will be an indicator of success, not the number of units you shifted in a month anymore.

White Zombie brought something different to the table back then and shall be remembered as such.

COMMENT |
posted by : Dani
12/14/2008 5:17:32 PM

People only tend to download what is good and don't bother with the rest. Now if Rob or any other musician out there wants us, the fans, to download every single one of the songs on the album, then that just means that each and every one of the songs should be good if not great. Too many artists have sold their albums on the first one or two songs being good, only for the fan to find out upon getting home that the rest of the album is shit. Now that music lovers are able to pick and choose which songs to download, this will perhaps spur musicians to pour thier all into every last one of the songs on thier albums. Just my two cents.

COMMENT |
posted by : Dani
12/14/2008 5:21:44 PM

Oh and by the way, if CD's were to become obsolete, I wouldn't be sad to see them go. I remember having to pack all the cd's I might be in the mood for into those cd booklets, then having to lug that with all the other shit I might happen to have in my bag. At least with my ipod, I can carry tens of thousands of songs in that one little device without stopping to change cds like I once had to. The only thing I will miss about cd's is the cover art, printout of lyrics and linear notes. That's about it.

COMMENT | i find that...
posted by : black thirteen
12/14/2008 10:24:39 PM

...pretty much every album i have bought in my life is good from start to finish. i never just listen to a few songs on an album. i always listen to them all the way through. so, i either own the greatest cd collection of all time, or i just appreciate what people put into things more than most people.

and if i download something that's really good, chances are I will by it eventually to have the physical copy of it. i view downloading more like a free preview to see if i like a band or not.

COMMENT | Weird
posted by : kazrog
12/15/2008 11:48:08 AM

They were such a groundbreaking band. It's too bad they couldn't get along. Rob's solo efforts have been decent but very boring by comparison.

COMMENT | Singles were what the music used to be about and now it is again
posted by : thesloth
12/16/2008 2:32:16 AM

The fact is singles is the way artists made a living back when rock and the music industry was first born. It has now come full circle.

Part of the reason is the majority of people will like 1-3 songs by most bands but cut the number to less then 50% who actually will like the entire album.



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