Wayne Static

Wayne Richard Wells[2] (November 4, 1965 – November 1, 2014), known professionally as Wayne Static, was an American musician and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and primary lyricist for metal band Static-X. He released his only solo studio album, Pighammer, on October 4, 2011. Static was recognizable for his unusual hairstyle; his hair was held up in a vertical position, a process that took about 20 minutes to complete (45 minutes, according to his mother). He was also known for his signature "chintail" beard.

Wayne Static
Static performing in 2005
Born
Wayne Richard Wells

(1965-11-04)November 4, 1965
Muskegon, Michigan, U.S.
DiedNovember 1, 2014(2014-11-01) (aged 48)
Landers, California, U.S.
Cause of deathMultiple prescription drug toxicity
Other names
  • Wayne Static
  • The King of Evil Disco
  • Mr. Static
OccupationMusician, songwriter
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 2008; his death 2014)​
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Years active1977–2014
Labels
Associated acts
  • Static-X
  • Pighammer
  • Deep Blue Dream
  • Drill
  • Battery

Early life

Wells was born in Muskegon, Michigan, to Richard and Darlene Wells.[3][4][5][6][7] He grew up in Shelby, Michigan before moving to Chicago, Illinois and California. He was three years old when he received his first toy guitar. His parents decided at age seven to get him his first real guitar, an S12 beginner model. Wells was given lessons, which paid off a year later when he won a talent contest playing "Skip to My Lou".[8][9] He later played in his first band at the age of 12 and decided he wanted to be a musician. In high school, Wells played in a band for the dances with classmates.[10] He attended Shelby High School and had summer jobs which included working as an asparagus picker and in a cherry canning factory.[11]

Career

After moving to Chicago, Wells created the band Deep Blue Dream in 1987 with drummer Ken Jay, bass player Eric Harris and Billy Corgan; later of the Smashing Pumpkins.[12] The group was short lived as they relocated to California. In California, Wells and Jay formed Static-X along with Tony Campos on bass and Koichi Fukuda on guitar.[13] It was at this point Wells adopted the name Wayne Static.

Static announced in July 2007 that he would begin a side project, Pighammer,[14] but in a December 2007 interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com, Static stated: "The Pighammer thing will happen when I have time. At the moment though, Static-X will remain my main priority." Static appears on the cover of the 2009 Static-X release, Cult of Static.

His solo album Pighammer was released on October 4, 2011.[15] As part of his Pighammer solo-project,[16] Static formed a new line-up consisting of Brent Ashley on bass, Sean Davidson on drums, and Ashes on guitar. In 2012, this line-up went under the name Static-X for the Noise Revolution tour. However, in October 2012, the remainder of the tour was cancelled due to Static requiring medical treatment.

In an interview done on November 26, 2013, it was confirmed that Static-X disbanded on June 2013. According to Static, the disputes between himself and the band's former bassist Tony Campos over the rights to the band name had gone too far, forcing him to disband the four-piece.[17]

He had been set to play a co-headlining tour in the U.S. with Powerman 5000 in November 2014 with American Head Charge supporting them.[18]

Equipment

Guitars
Static performing at Gods of Metal 2009

Static installed a single Seymour Duncan SH-6B 'Distortion' humbucker in all his guitar's bridge positions; until switching to EMG 81's in 2012 after signing with Dean. His signature Epiphone, ESP LTD, and Dean guitars did not come with neck pickups as he did not use them.

Wayne used a Gibson Flying V from early in his career; seen in the videos up until 2003.

In 2004, Epiphone released a Wayne Static signature Flying V Guitar. "Special features on the Static model include a single volume control and one toggle switch for the two Epiphone USA pickups, no pickguard, Ebonal fingerboard with no inlays, black hardware, Plain Black satin finish and the Static-X logo on the headstock".[19]

In 2007, ESP produced the ESP Ltd Static-600 Wayne Static Signature Guitar. It featured an angular body Explorer shaped body, single Seymour Duncan Distortion humbucker and nickel diamond plate scratchplate covering the entire mahogany body, as seen in live photographs.[20]

In 2009, ESP produced the ESP LTD Static-600V GMB as Wayne’s new signature guitar. It featured a Flying-V shaped body with diamond plate metal screwed the front of the body, black hardware and Static X logo at the 12th fret.

In 2012, Static joined Dean guitars and started playing custom ML Modifier.[21] Until his death, Static played Dean guitars as an endorsee. While Dean did not release a Static signature model, Dean did produce a series of custom models for Static; fitted with his standard single bridge humbucker and single volume control.

Amps

For his live tone, Wayne used a simple Marshall MG100HDFX. The MG100HDFX was one of the cheapest solid state amps made by Marshall during Wayne’s touring time with Static X. On tour Wayne could easily and cheaply get a replacement if the amp broke. Amps breaking wasn’t a common problem as solid state amps like the MG100HDFX are less prone to breaking than tube amps, another reason for its selection.

Wayne's cabinet of choice was the Marshall 1960A.

Personal life
Static with his wife Tera Wray (center) in 2007

Static was an atheist and pescatarian.[22][23] After a brief courtship,[24][25] he married adult film actress Tera Wray in Las Vegas on January 10, 2008.[26][27] They lived in Joshua Tree, California. Static appeared as a mystery guest on an adult film Wray hosted called Radium Vol 2.[28]

On January 13, 2016, Wray died in her friend's Joshua Tree, California apartment from an apparent suicide. Her body was discovered January 14, 2016.[29]

Death

Static died on November 1, 2014 in Landers, California, three days before his 49th birthday.[30] He had consumed half of an oxycodone pill as well as alcohol that morning before going to bed with his wife. She woke up later that day to find that he had died in his sleep.[31] His family issued a statement stating that rumors of his death being drug-related were false, noting that he and Wray had stopped using illicit drugs in 2009. An autopsy later confirmed that Static had died of multiple prescription drug toxicity, consisting of the painkillers oxycodone, hydromorphone, and the anti-anxiety medication alprazolam combined with alcohol, though the report also noted that years of past "chronic prescription drug and alcohol abuse" was a contributing factor.[31] Former Static-X members Koichi Fukuda and Tony Campos paid tribute to Static.[32] Static was cremated in California. A memorial show followed in Los Angeles,[33] and a family service followed in Illinois.[34][35][36]

Solo band members

Discography

Solo
Studio albums
Year Album Chart peaks
US

[37]

 US Rock US Ind. US Hard Rock
2011 Pighammer
  • Released: October 4, 2011
  • Label: Dirthouse
  • Formats: CD, DI
 97 22 16 7
Singles
  • 2011 – "Assassins of Youth"

Static-X
Main article: Static-X discography

Collaborations

Appearances

References
  1. "Static-X frontman Wayne Static dies at 48". Telegraph. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  2. It has been suggested that Wayne's birthname was "Wayne Richard Myaard" but there is no evidence to support the claim. (e.g. zero hits on Google.)
  3. Wayne Static Bio, IMDb.com; retrieved January 1, 2008.
  4. Wayne Static Bio, FoxyTunes.com, retrieved January 1, 2008
  5. "Static-X to perform Wednesday", Deseret News (Salt Lake City), June 17, 2005, retrieved January 1, 2008.
  6. Note that there are other sources which quote other birth years (usually 1965 and 1975), but Mr Static himself has confirmed on his blog that he was born in 1965.
  7. from interview: "What's your favorite song from record Machine? Wayne: Probably the last song "December"... I actually wrote that in 1983. I was in college at Western Michigan University. It was a very cold day in December. I had a half an hour between classes of time to kill. I went to this little park I used to go to in order to studio, but it was freezing that day. I sat down and wrote the lyrics on this freezing park bench in December. I used to perform that song with an acoustic guitar, because I used to play acoustic music before I turned into the evil disco thing I am. I reinvented that song for Wisconsin Death Trip."
  8. "Wayne Static - obituary". The Telegraph. November 8, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  9. King, Valerie (May 1, 2014). "XSTATIC TO BE WAYNE STATIC'S MOM!". Rock Revolt Magazine. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  10. Jeff Kerby (January 22, 2004). "Kerby's Exclusive Interview with Static-X Vocalist Wayne Static". KNAC. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
  11. Spence D. (April 20, 2000). "Static X: An IGN Classic Interview". Livewire. Archived from the original on May 25, 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2007.
  12. Colin Joyce (November 2, 2014). "Wayne Static, Former Static-X Frontman, Has Died at 48". Spin.com.
  13. "Iconofan Biography". Iconofan. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  14. Travis Hay (July 20, 2007). "Static-X: The Ear Candy Interview". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
  15. "Static-X Frontman To Release Solo Debut In October". Blabbermouth.net. August 4, 2011. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  16. "Revolver Golden Gods Wayne Static Interview". Youtube.com. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  17. "Interview with Wayne Static". LA Music Blog. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  18. Bowar, Chad. "Wayne Static + Powerman 5000 team up for fall 2014 co-headlining tour". Loudwire.com. Loudwire. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  20. "File:Static X.JPG - Wikimedia Commons". Commons.wikimedia.org. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  22. "Creating some waves with Static-X". IGN. November 14, 2003. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
  23. "Famous Vegetarians". Happycow.com. November 10, 2007. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
  24. "Society 1 Interview with Matt Zane which mentions that Tera and Wayne are dating". The Gauntlet. October 22, 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  25. On his blog Archived February 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine on Nov 9, 2007, Mr Static states: "I met Tera Wray during Ozzfest and we have been together since then."
  26. David Sullivan (January 17, 2008). "Tera Wray Weds Static-X Frontman". AVN. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
  27. The article "Wayne Static Gets Hitched to Adult Starlet", January 14, 2008, states: "The pair tied the knot in Las Vegas before the AVN Awards which took place on Saturday, Jan 12, 2008"
  28. "Platinum Selling Mystery Artist Guests On Radium 2 and Theme Song". The Gauntlet. Retrieved April 8, 2008.
  29. "WAYNE STATIC's Widow TERA WRAY STATIC Found Dead". Blabbermouth. January 14, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  30. "STATIC-X Frontman WAYNE STATIC Dead At 48". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  31. "Wayne Static cause of death revealed". Alternative Press. March 13, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  32. "Static-X Tony Campos Koichi Fukuda pay tribute Wayne Static". Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  33. "Ill Nino's Cristian Machado, Dave Navarro + More Rock Wayne Static Memorial Show". loudwire.com. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  34. Crane, Matt (November 3, 2014). "More details emerge on the death of Wayne Static". Alternative Press.
  35. "Press Release: Wayne Static Died in His Sleep, Drugs Not Involved". Metal Sucks. November 2, 2014.
  36. "Obituary: Wayne Richard Wells". Muskegon Chronicle. November 22, 2014.
  37. "Wayne Static Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
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