Static-X are at work on the follow-up to 2001's Machine. The album will feature the first writing collaborations between frontman Wayne Static and guitarist Tripp Eisen, who replaced Koichi Fukuda after the last record's songs were written.

"It's refreshing for me," Static says about his new writing partner. "Before, I had to do all the music and all the vocals. Now, here's somebody coming in with all these great musical ideas, and all I have to do is try to make vocal parts for it. Tripp's got a real punk rock attitude toward all the songs he writes, and a lot of that will reflect in the new record."

Working out of Static's home in Burbank, California, the two have already amassed twenty tracks for the fall release, including "Shadow Zone," "The Only," "New Pain," "Deliver Me" and "Breathe." And the new material sees Static softening his vocals a bit and focusing more on melody.

"Vocally, I'm trying to take a whole different approach," Static says. "I hate it when bands make the same album over and over. It's still very pissed-off sounding, but it's a little less Cookie Monster and a little more melodic. I've done the full-on-balls-out-screaming thing for three or four years now. Where you gonna go from that? Back in the Eighties, I used to write ballads on my acoustic guitar, so it seems very natural to me to go back to a little singing."

And Static is not shy about his lofty sales expectations. "We have the potential to be a multi-platinum selling band," he says. "When we're on tour, we blow most bands away, but our record sales have never really reflected that. It's very difficult, without sounding like Creed."

JOLIE LASH
(March 19, 2003)