Dope frontman Edsel Dope still refuses to admit it openly but is also referred to by Xer0 when acting as the current vocalist for Static-X. In a recent interview with Audio Ink Radio, Edsel Dope slammed the metal media naysayers over the backlash on the Static-X reunion. He elaborated on the decision to keep his identity private.
“Really and truthfully, it’s not so much about it being private as it is about respecting the brand of Static-X and retaining the respect when writing or discussing it. And a good example I can use for that is Ghost. Everybody knows that there’s a dude called Tobias that’s behind the paint, but when people write about Ghost, they don’t call him Tobias; they respect the entity, and they call him Papa, whatever the fuck he is. And that’s because they respect the creative. They respect the artistic integrity of it enough to honor that.”
He continued:
“You have to understand that if we didn’t make that an absolute mission of ours that people would shit all over it and they would have done everything they could to discredit it. And if it were Edsel Dope singing for Static-X, it would be, ‘Oh, it’s Static Dope.’ Or if it was Burton [C. Bell] from Fear Factory, it would be, like, ‘Oh, Static Factory.’ It’s, like, ‘Go fuck yourself.’
Speaking on social media and the negativity it can bring, Dope offered:
“… It’s not just the people on the message boards. It’s the people that deliver the news too. And it’s really sad because heavy metal, whatever you wanna call it, we’re absolutely the minority when it comes to the overarching pie of music listeners. There’s no doubt that heavy metal music is a much smaller demographic than pop music or rap music or any of those things.”
He added:
“Why would you do nothing but tear down the artists in the genre that’s already struggling so hard to stay alive? Why wouldn’t you paint those artists in a better light? Why wouldn’t you be more supportive? Everything’s a joke; everything’s a dig. It doesn’t mean that I have thin skin — I have thicker skin than fucking anybody — it just means that I don’t understand the motive behind it except for that you’re just a money-grubbing scumbag who wants clicks. Meanwhile, you’ll rip on everybody else’s integrity, but what are you doing? You’re not doing anything for the betterment of the cause. All you’re doing is pitting people against each other and tearing a community down to a lower spot. It makes no sense to me.”
Overall, Edsel has respectfully expressed the band’s decision to leave the identity of the new Static-X singer anonymous. Holding it as an honorable tribute to the legacy of the late Wayne Static, who tragically passed away in 2014.
