PipemanRadio Interviews Edsel of Dope at Aftershock 2024

0:04 Hey, you have then too censure. I'm see wow crazy young way. Kin of America. It's time for the adventures, so white Man, I'll W four C why dot com West pomp Beats is number one internet radio station. Here's your host, the white Man. Yes, somebody's asking I call oh why Yeah, somebody's backing that doll two says someone's love me lisay by Stidy.

0:49 Maybe I'll wait you back one day. Sorry, I don't worry about this about right, don't worry about me. I'll there yo, guys the other nest side. Maybe he'll not fight. Maybe this is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c y Radio. And I'm here with Ed Soul from the band Dope. Nice here at after Shock after Shock. It is northern California. It's a beautiful day and lots of weirdros. That's the way you want festival, right, it's. Probably what two hundred thousand freaks here today? Probably about that all my closer friends. Yeah, my guessterday was my birthday. I said. I had a birthday party with two hundred thousand my closest friends. Pretty good birthday, no doubt. Did you get cake?

1:30 No? No, cake, I got weed. Okay, good for you. So one of the interviews I did, Moonshine band that's say came over and they brought weed and bourbon. Nice pretty interview. That's a good day. So that's a good interview. Yea, it's a good one. Thank I was the last one. You probably forgot the whole thing already, oh of one hundred. But it was funny, Okay, listen. To it tomorrow. You hope it was funny. Yeah, it sounded funny the first time. But then listen to it Toronto. Oh shit, fuck. It happens. Oh man, So how did it feel? Well? What an honor to come into this festival, because Cold Chamber is not here, first of all. More so I'm in awe of you that you not many artists would be able at the last minute just jump in and do a festival.

2:16 More professionals, dude, see nothing to it. No, it was cool, man, Like Dope is a very interesting band where you know, the last several years, I just I haven't overplayed this band, like. I have a lot of other ventures and other things that I do to keep me busy and to make money. And I don't feel like I've been one of those bands that just you know, doesn't go away. So because of that, we may not find ourselves in these situations as frequently as we could, especially if we were like aggressively seeking them out. But when the phone rings and you're offered the slot of your friends, Cold Chamber a very respected legacy act that is not able to be here today for health reasons. It lets you know how certain people in the industry view you. Yeah, so to be looked at in a similar level and being offered that same spot on the stage with judas priest and staying and clutch, how do you say no to that?

3:14 Exactly? So I felt a lot of love and respect and from the after Shock festival to even be asked to come and. Do that for them. Have has Dope ever played after Shock before this? Wow? We've played most of the festivals. We did the Sick New World last year and yeah, but no, we've never done after Shock And for that matter, I believe Static X was the first time at after Shock for them too on Thursday. Really yeah, wow, that's good. But they've been gone a long time too, you know. Yeah, And I think it's so cool that, you know, considering the whole situation with stack X that you decided to help the band to kind of help the fans, because the fans miss this gap, and so you helped make that happen.

3:56 I was always a big static X fan, and the two bands have so much synergy. We both came out in nineteen ninety nine. If you look back at the touring that the two bands did as we were cutting our teeth aside from Ozfest, practically every tour that both bands did we did together. It was like Static X, Dope Powerman five thousand, Static X, Dope Fear Factory, static X and Dope in seven to us and static X and Dope by ourselves, Like we did two hundred and fifty shows together in the span of our first album. That's a lot of like connectivity to those same fans. Oh yeah, So I felt like I had a real clear vision as a fan and as a friend, and as a band that unlikes static X, who always had a major label, always had a big management firm, without all of that, and especially without their main guy Wayne there, they for a lack of better words, were in very unfamiliar territory. Whereas for me, you know, I had built an independent infrastructure over the last several years, and as a fan of Static X, I looked at it sitting down with Tony and going, I think I can help you guys with the twenty years of building my own independent infrastructure, you could sort of just put this through that same prism. Yeah, and you guys are very close to this, so I'm sure you've had ideas of how to bring this back. But as a fan of the band, I know what I would like to see, you know, I think that's the best perspective.

5:20 Yeah, you know, because that's where the gap is. The fans are missing this, Yes, what is it they're missing and what do they want? And how do you do it in a way that's gonna like, of course, everything's going to be received with skepticism and like I don't know about this, you know, And there was a lot of that no waying Static no Static X in the beginning. But again, if you're doing it for the right reasons and you have a vision for something that really can help the music live and can really like help people have those experiences like I know how much I missed the band, and I know that I'm one of millions of fans out there that wanted to get fucking hammered and listen to I'm With Stupid Loud and live in a room and going like, you know, we're never gonna.

6:00 Have those experiences again. Yeah, well, how can we change that and do it in the right way to where people can not feel guilty when they're smiling at a static X show. Yeah, because in the beginning, you know, it's morning, it's it's sad. But that was a big part of it, was to keep throwing as much positive energy and for the lack of better words, fun at it. Because static X was always such a fun band with fun songs. That's kay. There's a lot of metal bands that are serious that was a static X. Static X was always this fun, almost like smile on your face metal band. So it was important for us to figure out how to reconnect fans to that and allow them to participate in a static X experience without feeling guilty about it.

6:47 It's funny you talk about the serious like Slayer played here the other night, serious band, and but what was funny? And I saw them at riot Fest too, Tom having that five years off that to be bored was having the best time of its life, smiling laughing, talk about death and destruction like he's having the best time. Kerry was kerrying, like very serious of course, you know, so you had both in the band, and I think that was kind of cool for sure. Well, you know, as we all get older, I think perspectives changed a little bit, you know. And so, yeah, I love what the way you put it, because there's you know, there's a lot of times the same situation as a stack X, Like they try to make it like a replacement and you can never.

7:37 Or they try to move on, they try to rebrand it as something new. Yeah, And it was like Static X a legacy band, bro, no doubt. You try to take the legacy out of What the fuck are you doing? Try to take the Wayne Static out of static X? What are you doing? Why would you do that? Exactly? So, I don't know. To me, it wasn't hard. It was just again trying to make sure that you really make it fun and let it be about the music. And then with today's technology, we were able to like look at evil disco as something more than a sound and go, well, how do we represent the visual of evil disco? Because you know, Static X really checked out in like two thousand and nine. Yea, so ten twelve fifteen years of technology development for LED screens and just big production props. It didn't really exist back then that you can put through the evil disco filter. Yeah, And it was a lot of really cool, fun shit to come out of that too. So I couldn't be more proud and more happy for my friends who are able to go out there and continue on with something that they all worked very hard on. You know, static X was of course Wayne was the head chef. He was the Gordon Ramsey of it. But if you take any one of those guys away from that first album when the band was really defining their sound, it's not the same band. Like imagine Wisconsin Detrip without Tony Campos his voice and without his low and thunder, like it was a huge part of the sound and the you know, Kenny was the guy that got in his car and

9:07 moved from the Midwest out to la with Wayne to start the band. Like that's your partner in crime, dude, Like it doesn't happen without that. And then Kuwichi came in at the end and was like, oh, I put a guitar, but I do lots of programming and he was a big part of that electronic, techno rave sound that made Wisconsin Death Trip not just an industrial album but almost like a techno rave evil disco album. So all three of all four of those guys together are responsible for that sound. And to think that those guys wouldn't be able to go out and celebrate the anniversaries of that album that went platinum and it just it wouldn't have been fair. So I'm really happy for them because it was such an achievement for all of them, and also for Wayne's family who's been part of this with us the whole time and gets to watch their son's band go to another level, which, and I say this with respect. You know, at the end, Wayne wasn't doing well and the community wasn't really supporting his choices anymore either, yea, and rightfully, so, you know, so he's caught up in all of this refound success, and in many ways it allows us to sort of overlook those darker years at the end where he was kind of phoned it in and didn't really care anymore because he was just caught in another trip. So it's really nice for the legacy of the whole thing that the band has been so successful in bringing it back and bringing it to a new generation of fans that can appreciate it, and I have. I can say this with the most

10:40 purity in the world that there's no doubt in my mind Wayne Static is more on the minds and in the hearts of the fans than he's ever been and what more can you ask for than that? And then keeping the original legacy alive, of course the end, but the original, So that's way cool. I agree. So I heard you say something interview that I want to address about songs. There's one song that everybody wants to hear that you made comments on. But I want to know what your favorite song to performance. From dopepe Yes. I like, you know, it's funny. We've been playing kind of a can set that we've been playing and supporting Static X and whatnot. I look forward to the next tour when I can revamp the set because it's it's getting a little stale. I love the song violence. I think it's like the coolest song that Dope ever wrote. I think we've put out six albums and there's a lot of cool material in those six albums, and it's funny because you don't get to pick what what you become popular for.

11:41 Right, It's weird. It is weird. I don't even know what the thing you think is gonna be popular isn't. Yeah, and the thing. And it's funny because like, the two most popular dope songs you know in our history are songs that a I never would have guessed would have become the most popular and are truthfully like two of the most monkey minded songs that we've ever participated in. It's Die, Motherfucker Die, which is a massive song. It's a couple hundred million plays on Spotify. Right, I will always be the Die, motherfucker Die guy, but not the most you know, well thought out piece of work. And then the ridiculous cover of You Spin Me Around that we did for the American Psycho movie twenty five years ago.

12:23 But again, what am I gonna argue. I've been successful and I have fans who love to hear these songs, and I'm super grateful. But I would say our deeper catalog is a bit more impressive than some of the stuff that we're most known for. Well, I love all your music. I'm so psyched you're here at Aftershock, and I look forward to that. Thanks for being here and on short notice, and thanks for kicking ass and being on the Adventures of Pipe Man. I appreciate the kind words, sir, and I hope we don't suck this afternoon. You definitely won't suck, but you'll probably think so because you're your worst. No, I'll be good. I don't give a fuck man like, as long as everything work will be good. Like I said, we have a relationship with these fans, so like we're just gonna go up there and get fucking stupid together.

13:06 I don't take it that seriously. It's all good, yo. What's up? This is Edzel from Dope and how fitting that you're listening to the Pipe Man on W four c Y. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipemin on W for c u I Radio