Interview: Wednesday 13 in the Netherlands, May 23rd 2008

Wednesday 13 never does what people expect. We like that here at The Bullet. So we got ourselves an interview when mr. 13 was playing in the Netherlands. We asked him some questions about his two latest releases, and because he wouldn't be expecting them, we threw in some very random questions occasionally. Some caught him off guard, most made him smile. The questions were actually asked in the order they have been posted in below. Some of the questions were sent in by fans through our myspace and the Wednesday 13 forum at Planet 13.

Imre: You have a new album and an EP. Why not just one?
W13: Well, last year I didn’t get the chance to put a record out because I was signed to a label and contracts and all that bullshit that said that I couldn’t put a record out legally. Which really bummed me out because I tour so much and I play the same songs all the time, and I like to write music so it’s easy to make records, and I’d like to put a record out each year. I didn’t get a chance to put a record out last year, so when I was recording this, I recorded like eighteen or nineteen songs, which is too much for one record anyway.
Imre: We wouldn’t mind eighteen songs!
W13: Yeah, but still, I’ve always been a fan of shorter records. I have made longer records in the past and I wanted to do things a little different. Once I was piecing this record together and thought of the theme that Sekeletons was, I didn’t think those other songs fit in so well. That’s why I wanted to keep it separate. Plus, releasing two this year kinda makes up for me not putting a record out last year.

Imre: Why did you choose to release it yourself in the US and on a label here in Europe?
W13: It made a lot of sense for me to do it in America because I’ve been on several different labels before and it just made more sense to me because I knew that when I was gonna be offered to do a record and I started looking at it and I thought if I put it out myself I’m gonna make way more money and I can control the price of it. When I sign to a label the album would be in the store for about 18 dollars, which is ridiculous! That’s what record stores are. But I did a deal with Hottopic, and they sold it for 7 dollars in the first two weeks. And then after that it went up to 9 dollars. With a label I couldn’t control the price and I sold more records in one week than I did on a major label!
Imre: Because it’s cheaper more people who may have heard about you will buy it to check it out.
W13: Yeah and if it sold for that price and I was on a label, I wouldn’t have made any money. It’s not all about money, but I’ve just been screwed over so many times and I’m not gonna do it again this time. And I chose a label over here because there’s so many different countries that I tour and there’s no way I could do it on my own. I just licensed this record with Demolition Records, I’m still not signed to them. I can do whatever I want, they just have the Skeletons record and that’s it. Me and my manager both put our money into doing this record. We were broke, broke, broke. I just started to have money coming in from releasing it and I’m in control of the product, which to me is better than anything. When you sign to a label you’re just giving them a record and this way I can control it and have it forever.

Imre: There are a lot of people outside already. Most of them look like you.
W13: I see that, yeah, they always dress up.
Imre: They don’t have as many tattoos though.
W13: No, and they’re not as old as me. *laughs* I keep wearing more make-up the older I get. *sighs*
Imre: Which tattoo hurt the most?
W13: My chest. It hurt! At the time that I got it I had lost a lot of weight. I was all bones. It went over my chest like ‘rrrr, rrr’.
Imre: So I should get a tattoo now and then loose weight.
W13: Yes! *laughs*

Imre: Why isn’t the acoustic version of Curse of Me not on Bloodwork?
W13: I did a song of Skeletons – My Demise – on Bloodwork acoustic, and I didn’t want to have too many acoustic things on there. Hopefully I will do Curse of Me acoustic one day. It was one of those cool things to do live. I was really nervous about doing it, but it became the thing that most kids wanted to hear on tour. I’m not doing it now, but I’ll probably put it in the set next tour.

Imre: Why did you put I Love to Say Fuck on there again?
W13: Well, very simple; because people wanna hear it. First off it was on one of the Frankenstein Dragqueens records, which a lot of people never heard. Then it came out on a Murderdolls special edition. A lot of people can’t find it anywhere. It’s the most popular song I think I’ve ever written, and when I play a show as a support for Alice Cooper for example, people come up to me after the show and ask me what cd that song is on, but it’s not on one of the Wednesday 13 albums. So I put it on this one so people can find it.
Imre: And you can make some money.
W13: Yeah, I need money!

Imre: You’ve changed from playing guitar on stage to just singing, and I know why, but do you like it?
W13: No! *laughs* No, it was completely not on purpose. I broke my collarbone and couldn’t play guitar because the guitar strap was on that shoulder and it was just so painful! It was even painful without having a guitar! When I broke my collarbone I went straight on tour for two months… I was in a car accident, the car flipped and the seatbelt snapped it. So it was really painful and I mean, ehm, I really miss playing guitar because… I may go back to doing it, I want to. It’s sort of my little crutch, my little safety thing that I like and I get better at singing, I’m just not – I’ve never been comfortable without having a guitar. But what I like about not playing guitar is that I can do more stuff, run around a little bit.

Imre: Skeletons is a more personal album than the other ones, but there’re still some movie related songs on there.
W13: Yeah, I didn’t want to make an album that was… Where the whole theme was about… There was a couple songs that was… You know normally I never wrote personal things. I always try to keep that out of my music, because I like music that’s fun and you can laugh about it. I like shows that you can have fun at and forget about your life for a while, and the thing about the personal songs on this record; I didn’t try to write songs like that, they just came out. And that’s why I thought they were honest, which is why I wanted to put them on the album. Plus I think it’s also surprised the fans because they were all expecting the record to be all movies and zombies, and throwing one or two songs in there like that they’d go ‘whoah, there’s a different side to the guy!’. I like to surprise people every once in a while, it kind of throws people off that think they have me figured out.

Imre: Have you heard any reactions from the fans?
W13: Everyone loves it! I mean, I can read reviews from magazines, but those have never really effected me. The thing that matters is hearing it from the fans every night. Everyone loves it and most people say it’s their favourite record that I have done.
Imre: Is that because of the personal stuff, or because the music is slightly different than on the previous albums?
W13: I don’t know. I’ve never asked them why. I’d like to find out eventually.

Imre: Which one of your cats resembles you most?
W13: My what?
Imre: Cats. You’ve got a couple, right?
W13: Yes, too many! *thinks* That’s a good question! Probably my cat Lilly. It’s a black cat that lays around and does nothing, and when people go to sleep she tries to cause problems and irritate people, which I like to do as well. She’s a cool cat, definitely my favourite.

Imre: A lot of the songtitles are very funny, do you come up with the titles before writing the lyrics?
W13: Usually. Sometimes. I mean, I don’t really have a set way to write songs. I can come up with a title and piece a song around it, and sometimes I’ll write music first and write all the lyrics and then go; ‘oh god, I don’t have a chorus’. I try to keep the titles funny, so when you go to a record store and you look at the back of the records you’ll think; ‘oh that sounds like a cool song!’. I always try to keep a sense of humour in everything that I do. That is a big important part of what I do and I think it separates me from a lot of the people I get compared to. Obviously with the image I get compared to Marilyn Manson, but I think the music’s different and I also think that the sense of humour thing is different. I have always based my music and image around the bands I grew up listening to, like Alice Cooper and Kiss, and shows like the Munsters. They were a macabre, spooky kind of family, but they were funny.

Imre: Do you have plans to release a single from the album?
W13: We’re doing things a little different this time. I didn’t do a video, but we did take the song Skeletons to radio in America. I’ve always had singles that went to the radio, but that doesn’t mean they’re gonna get played. It’ll be picked up by small stations that no-one ever listens to.

Imre: Do you want your fanbase to grow, or is it ok this way?
W13: I always want it to grow! And I think it does. Every time I play in a place like this I will recognize people in the crowd, and some people are so young, there’s no way they were around four years ago. So I know that I’m making new fans. And it’s definitely growing in America. I’ve toured so much and I used to say my biggest crowds were overseas, but now I’m playing shows there that are similar to here, which is great. And getting my record sold through Hottopic has really helped a lot. It’s attracted a whole new audience.

Imre: You haven’t been accused of selling out because of the Hottopic deal?
W13: I don’t care. Half my fans… No, most of my American fans shop at that store! I want my music to go out to as many people as possible. If that’s selling out… Whatever. Nobody wants to be in a band that doesn’t wanna be heard. That the stupidest thing ever.

Imre: What was your wedding ceremony like? Were you wearing a dress?
W13: *laughs* I was not wearing a dress. It wasn’t anything big at all. It was just my family, it was real quiet. I had leather pants on and I was in all black, of course. And actually I’d cut my hair off. I had like spiky Sid Vicious hair! I hated it! My hair was long and black, and I used to dye it all these different colours. This girl dyed my hair and fried it and the top layer broke off, and I had the sides shave anyway, so it was just so horrible! So I cut it off and it felt like I let everything that I ever stood for down when I cut my hair off. I felt powerless. So I started growing it out again and dreading my hair. Right now I’m not doing anything with it anymore. It’s kind of a mess but it works for me. Some of the kids are doing their hair the way I used to do my hair, but my hair is such a mess now it’s almost impossible to imitate!

Imre: Isn’t it weird that people are trying to look like you?
W13: I think it’s awesome! It was really strange at first. We’ve all done it. When I was growing up I tried to dress and look the same as the guys I liked. It’s the same thing. But I don’t think that I was as hardcore as some of the fans that I have.

Imre: What’s the weirdest thing a fan has ever done?
W13: I was given a heart in a jar. That was funny. Me and the guitarist from the Murderdolls. It was huge, so it must have come from some big animal! It had our pictures floating around in it. And when the girl gave it to us she had our names carved in her arms. That’s a thing that I never understand. I see it a lot, this whole carving thing, I don’t know what that’s about. I don’t promote it, I don’t think it’s a good idea. If you’re gonna do anything, use a pen and write on yourself. Don’t do it with a razorblade.

Wednesday 13 tours and tours, releases an album and then tours some more. He goes around the world twice a year to expand his fanbase and bring his shockingly fun music to any town that will have him. If you have never seen him, just keep an eye on his myspace, he will come to a town near you soon!

Imre