Rob Zombie says most musicians have a natural talent for wrecking their own careers – and when presented with a choice between two moves, they’ll make the wrong one.
And he believes his band have seen so many lineup changes because he’s easy to work with, not because he’s difficult.
Zombie tells KWSS: “I’m easy – that’s the problem. I know people in bands and they’re treated like shit, and they’ll stay in that band for 16 years like a beaten housewife. They get that syndrome, like Stockholm syndrome. I’m not trying to be funny; the abuse they take, they become accustomed to.”
He insists: “I try to keep everybody in the band. I don’t ever want anyone to quit. I go, ‘There’s 30,000 people out there, you’re making more money than you’ve ever made in your entire life, the band’s huge. What’s so bad?’
“They start their side project and play bars in front of three people for about a couple of weeks. Then you get the phone call: ‘Hey, man, can I come back?’ ‘No. I replaced you with someone who’s 10 times better than you.’”
Zombie believes long-time guitarist John 5 has the right attitude. “He’s been in a million bands, from Marilyn Manson to David Lee Roth. He’s been in this band for 10 years. He goes, ‘I know it’s not better anywhere else.’”
That’s at odds with what he thinks is an immature attitude from others he’s worked with. “Musicians are weird,” he reflects. “Musicians have this real talent for doing the absolute dumbest things to their careers that they could possibly do. You give them two choices and they’re always going to pick the wrong one. Always. It’s just human nature, I guess.”
Zombie – who recently praised 5 for being the only bandmate he could rely on – is nearing completion of his sixth album, expected early next year.
