When it comes to heavy metal, horror films have a lot to answer for. Bands like Black Sabbath, Type O Negative, and White Zombie made a career out of capturing the macabre disturbances witnessed on screen through sound, and there’s no shortage of modern groups following suit, injecting that same sense of dread into their unholiest creations.
You could say Joseph Michael Poole, better known as Wednesday 13, has dedicated his life to this particular art form. His creative endeavors have drawn heavily from nightmarish scenarios tailor-made to spawn abject terror, and it’s a creative well that runs impressively deep.
His newest album, Mid Death Crisis, is full of tongue-in-cheek references, from opening track There’s No Such Thing As Monsters and the brilliantly titled Decease And Desist to punk n’ roll closer Sick And Violent.
“That influence has always been there,” he tells us, with an assortment of Kiss posters and action figures on display behind him.
“I remember where it came from. I would watch TV as a kid and they’d play Bugs Bunny, which would go straight into The Munsters and then The Addams Family. As a musician I’m writing about things I know about.
“My favorite lyrics on the new record are from Decapitation. It’s kinda stupid – I was playing guitar watching a YouTube compilation of film decapitations. It started off with The Omen, which is probably my favorite: a truck rolls down and a sheet of glass flies off, taking this guy’s head off in slow motion.
“I was playing guitar and working on the riff, and the word ‘decapitation’ just kept going through my head. That track almost has a Beach Boys chorus where I sing, ‘I hope it doesn’t sound obscene / I want to burn your remains in kerosene’ – the fact the music is so happy makes it sound unsettling.”
You played most of the guitars on this record, which is unusual for you. People sometimes forget you started out as a guitarist…
“I’ve been doing this for so long, you’re right: people kinda forget. I ended up becoming the front guy. So I decided to go back to what I did early on, and it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
“On the past few records I’d write, but let the studio work be handled by my guitar players. This time I did all the rhythms plus some of the leads.
“I did my best Ace Frehley impression on the song Blood Storm. I’m an 80s kid who grew up idolizing Stay Hungry by Twisted Sister. I love those kinds of solos. Making this record was rewarding. Some of the fun had gone away over the years.”
You used to play an Epiphone Sheraton back in the day.
“That was always my look; I just love the Chuck Berry vibe. I started playing those guitars in a band called Frankenstein Drag Queen. We had pink wigs and wore these crazy glitter outfits. But the guitar looked really classic because it had a brown finish. People would stare and think, ‘What is going there?!’
“One day I hope to get a signature out just so I can tell everyone that mine comes with an f-hole. It sounds dirty!”
You also played ESPs for a while.
“They were a really good take on a Gibson; I’ve always been a sucker for that. It probably came from watching Kiss playing Les Pauls. There are two things that will never go out of style in rock ’n’ roll – Gibson and Converse. They just work.
“I had a Les Paul and an SG back in the day, but I couldn’t get a Gibson endorsement. The ESPs looked close. From there I moved onto Schecter. Then I played Sully guitars, which are made in Texas. As you can see from the shelf behind me, I like toys, and guitars are a bit like toys.”
What are we hearing on this latest record?
“I played through [co-guitarist] Jack Tankersley’s rig. He runs an Axe-Fx so he has all the presets done. I used my Schecter hollowbody for the rough tracks, even though it was feeding back. I just love the way it plays.
“For the actual recordings we used GMP guitars. We also brought in some other things like a Gretsch, plus a Steve Vai model in what looked like intergalactic puke. That guitar sounded as insane as it looked!
“Our producer, Alex Kane, is also a great player, so he was bringing ideas to the table. I felt like an actual guitarist for a few minutes, just because I was surrounded by these guys. They gave me my confidence back.”
It’s always nice to be encouraged.
“I always thought of the fretting hand as the one that’s important. I never noticed how good my picking hand was, but everyone in the studio kept telling me ‘Dude, you’ve got a really strong right hand!’ To which I answered ‘You mean this old thing?!’
“Most of the record was done with a GMP. Our guitarist had been using them for a while. He handed me one when we started writing and I played it the entire time.
“I was never confident as a lead player. And I still wasn’t convinced enough to do all of them on this album. But I did a few and everyone said they sounded old school and melodic. I write leads the same way I sing. I’d literally hum them out and then play. Rhythm guitar is my thing; I’m a singer by accident!”
We both wanted to shred. Joey wanted to be as crazy on guitar as he was on drums. But he knew his strengths and he was into songs
Didn’t that happen with Murderdolls? You started out on bass.
“Yeah – it began with Joey saying, ‘I want to bring you into the band,’ but he already had a group. Then it fell apart and he said, ‘Okay, let’s move you up to where you should be!’ I was always going to make it somehow, whether I was a guitarist or bassist. Luckily I got the role I’m best at: being the front guy!”
From Slipknot and Murderdolls to Scar The Martyr and Sinsaenum, Joey was a very multifaceted musician. You must have learned a lot from him.
“He was so talented. That guy literally changed the game on drums – nobody sounded like that before him and now everybody sounds like that because of him. So when I met him, I was expecting this drummer guy. I didn’t expect to meet Joey the producer, Joey the guitar player. He wasn’t just about one instrument, he paid attention to everything.
“We were pretty equal on guitar. We’d show each other things and neither of us could outplay the other. The first time we spoke, he asked, ‘Can you shred?’ and when I said no, he said, ‘Me neither... damn!’
“We both wanted to shred. Joey wanted to be as crazy on guitar as he was on drums. But he knew his strengths and he was into songs. Sure, it’s nice to show off, but it’s more important to write something special.”
You were talking about a third Murderdolls record before he died.
“He messaged me a month before he passed. It was a funny text about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There’s a line in the film where someone says, ‘I have this knife,’ and he suggested writing a song about that. That was the last time we spoke. I’m convinced if he was still here, it would have come out.
“But here’s something people don’t know – at the beginning stages of the second album, Alexi Laiho from Children Of Bodom was going to be the new guitarist in the band. So it would have been Joey, me, and Alexi. And damn, that guy could shred.
“That was almost a thing. Can you imagine what that would have sounded like? Now Alexi is gone too. They both believed in me.”
You’ve hung out with a lot of heroes over the years. Which memories stand out most?
“Growing up listening to Mötley Crüe, I never understood how to play their songs. I didn’t know you could tune your guitar different, so their songs being half a step down confused me.
“Flash forward to 2010: we got Mick Mars in the studio with Murderdolls, recording with his main Crüe guitar. He came in wearing the exact same clothes as me – a top hat, sunglasses, leather pants, platform boots. That was a big moment in my life, and we became friends.
“A few years later I was lucky enough to have Alice Cooper do an intro for me, on the song Necrophaze. Meeting my heroes along the way has been great and it’s even more special when they like me too. I always figure they’ll think I’m ripping them off, but they’re cool about it – I’m just trying to carry the flag like they once did.”
- Mid Death Crisis is on sale now via Napalm Records.
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