Having had the opportunity to chat with Wednesday 13 previously on the first date if his recent UK tour when the chance came around to do a follow up after the tour was completed it was just too good to miss and of course find out how the live shows had gone. 

Wednesday 13:  It went really really good.  It seemed like it took forever, which is really ironic because this is like what I consider a short run and I think it is probably because we did some dates in America before we came over here and I usually never do that.  So that’s what I guess made it feel a little bit longer.  

Everything was good, the UK shows were all great, Germany was really cool, I really forgot how intense the German crowds are.  The first show we did was in Cologne and they were just rabid, it was a lot of fun.  So it turned out really good, another success. 

How were the new songs received, they seemed to go down well and people seemed to know them? 

W13:  Yeah and it only got better as well.  I was kind of nervous about it at first as the record had just come out and I was thinking ‘nobody is going to know these songs’ unless they went on MySpace and heard them a couple of weeks before, but it seemed every night more people knew them and by the end of the tour you could stop and the crowd could sing along with it, it was really cool.  That made me feel really good, like I was saying before, to get out and play a few new songs when I have been playing the same shit for years, it was such a relief to do that.   

How was Skeletons in particular, it was that bit heavier live?  

W13:  Yeah, that was the one part of the set where I would go ‘ok if I can just get through this song, everything else is downhill’ because it is just so quiet at points that there’s plenty of room for error there on my part.  And plus not having any days off I would lose my voice more ‘ok don’t squeak, don’t squeak’ that was just really nerve-racking for me.  But it went over great and it became also like the most nerve-racking part of the set also like became the part of the set where I would go ‘ok I did it really good last night, so I’m gonna make it even better than last night’ so it went really well. 

On the EP you have both that song and My Demise acoustically, would you be tempted to ever whip out the acoustic guitar for them live? 

W13:  I did that on one tour, the tour before this one, I used to do a song from my other record Curse Of Me, I would do it acoustic and I was really nervous about doing that but it was one of the things people remembered the most about that tour.  So probably what’s going to end up happening is on the next tour I’ll be doing one of those songs acoustic as well, just completely acoustic.  It’s a cool part for me to do, it’s a cool thing for the fans to see because not a lot of people do that and also I’m always thrown into that little ball of people of Manson, Cooper and Rob Zombie and you know that is why I like the fact that those guys don’t play instruments and that I can play guitar and do something like that.  I think that has always been a good thing that can separate me from those artists, so that’s something I like to do. 

The tour was much more Wednesday 13 material with only a few non solo songs getting played? 

W13:  For this tour I did mainly all my songs and I think we did like two Murderdolls songs and Rambo that was the only thing out of the past.  It was cool to do a tour that was really based on my three records that I released. 

No fans have come back saying that you didn’t do certain songs?

W13:  Yeah well they’re gonna do that anyway.  I’ve got so many songs I don’t know where to go sometimes.  The tour I did in November which I called the Fan Bang tour where I did a longer set and I did songs from every record and that was almost kind of like my kiss goodbye to some of those because you’re not going to hear a lot of those again. 

How was it being back on stage with Acey Slade, he seemed to be quite energetic? 

W13:  Yeah, it was cool.  I mean I did six weeks in America with him already so that wasn’t the first tour.  Just for me it was one of those things when I did make the band a five piece, it hadn’t been that way before, because I quit playing guitar because I broke my collarbone, all it made me want to do is play guitar more because I really miss having that in front of me because that was sort of my little crutch I always had.  But yeah, everything went well with that. 

When we previously spoke you were going to do some haunted visits, you’ve done them now? 

W13:  Yes. 

Where were they?

 W13:  I did two.  I did Sheffield and I did the Oxford Castle two days ago.  The Sheffield one, maybe I wasn’t in the right mindset just because basically I got rushed right off stage, put in a car for an hour, so I don’t think I was in the right mindset for it.  But the second one in Oxford was really cool because it was after the tour was over with and I had time to chill out and I really went in with an open mind.  That was really a cool place, the whole time I was looking at it thinking it would be a great place to do a video, it would be cool for photos here and I got to do some photos in the place and it was cool man you know, you basically go into this really dark room and they tell you the history of what went on in this room and they turn out the lights and this guy is trying to call up spirits and stuff.  It was really cool, I really got into it.  One of the guys from Kerrang was there and he was doing like a podcast from it, he really got freaked out which was great.   

So are you more of a believer now or still the sceptic? 

W13:  I’m still a sceptic because there was definitely a weird vibe in one of the rooms, I don’t know what it was, you can go into any room, like if this was completely black we could sit here and go ‘oh man I see something, you hear that noise’.  So until I’m given some kind of explanation or something to really go wow that’s so unexplainable, like if they turn on the light and there is a knife in my arm or something, I’d be like ‘alright’, that would be like the thing that I might not be as much of a sceptic anymore. 

Once you are back in America you are back on tour again, this time you are doing some dates with Type O Negative. 

W13:  Yeah we are just doing a couple of shows with them.  Basically we got offered that, our tour was starting the first week of July anyway and they were like ‘do you want to come on and do these four shows’, and I’ve known those guys for years, I’m friends with them, but I’ve never got to tour with them. 

There’s quite a big difference in your sounds. 

Wed13:  Yeah it is, but I think the one thing that Type O, at least what I get out of them, is they’ve always had that sense of humour, that morbid sense of humour in their songs.  Then they have their serious stuff, but they’ve always, just knowing the guys, they’re fun guys, they’ve always had that underlying sense of humour and I think I have that as well. 

I’m really curious to see how the audience reacts because I’m always doing my own shows and it’s easy to come out on stage, people just scream for you immediately.  But I love the challenge of going out and playing in front of an audience that’s not ours and winning them over.  To me that makes me work harder and play harder and so I’m really looking forward to it; I have no expectations of what that is going to be like.   

You are going to be back in the UK for your London show that was postponed, that’s to be on Halloween, alongside Hanoi Rocks.

W13:  Yeah you know we were just trying to think of someone to get on the bill that was going to make it even cooler, and the name Hanoi came up, and I have always been a fan of them.  I got to play a show with them in Japan before and I’ve met the guys, haven’t seen them in years, and then I got to play with Andy McCoy, the guitarist, he came out when we played in Finland with Murderdolls and did a song with us and that was really cool.  When I heard their name being mentioned I was like they’re not going to want to play with us, and then it came back that they wanted to do it, so I was totally shocked about it and excited all at the same time. 

Plus this will be my first show outside of America on Halloween, I’ve never played it outside of America, ever.  I got offered a couple of years ago to play with HIM on Halloween and I didn’t do it, and I regretted it after that, I should have took that gig.  But this is offered to be the Astoria with Hanoi Rocks, I really haven’t got the focus on what we’re gonna do for that show yet but I’ll make it good. 

So there is a plan to do something more with it whether it be theatrical or more bands? 

W13:  With the audience I draw in London and Hanoi we would have to play a bigger place if they put another band on because I think the Astoria holds like 2,000 people and I’m good for 1,000 people in London on my own if it’s promoted well.  But with it being Halloween on a Friday night and Hanoi does the same thing I think it’s guaranteed to be sold out.  So adding someone on I think would just be no point to it, but I’m sure they are going to get someone because no one is going to want to play first.  So I’m sure they will add a band onto it. 

As far as the theatrics, I’ve definitely got to do something and step it up a bit just for it being Halloween, but I have no idea what that is going to be yet. 

No plans to make it into more of a tour?

W13:  It’s just the one off date, I guess we’ll see how that goes.  If it works well and we have a good time with it, they have a good time with it then I would definitely be up for doing something like that. 

You say that you are a Hanoi fan, and it is good to play a show with them, are there any bands that you would still like to tour with, I know you have done something with Alice Cooper in the past?

W13:  Yeah and I plan to do some more stuff with him later this year.  I guess just the bands that I grew up on, the bands that are still credible, like Hanoi, they’re still a great live band, Alice Cooper the same way, from what I’ve heard of the new Motley Crue record it’s great and they’re still a good live band, KISS as well.  It’s cool I’ve got to meet a lot of these people, I’ve been fortunate enough to play with Alice Cooper, but I’m yet to play with Motley or KISS so I keep my fingers crossed.  Anything’s possible.

Is it weird when you share a stage with them?

W13:  It’s weird to share a stage with them in one sense but I think it is more weird when I’m actually sitting down, like you and I are talking right now, and having dinner with someone, and I’m trying to keep cool about it but also the whole time my brain is going ‘wow this is so bizarre’ you know.  It’s the same thing with like Nikki Sixx and stuff, I’ve met him and had conversations with him and he is so nice and cool we’re just chit chatting about touring and stuff and the whole time I’m going ‘this is bizarre’, so it’s a really really cool thing.  Everybody’s just down to earth normal people who just want to talk and hang out.  But I guess in the long scheme of things it’s just playing with these guys and knowing you share a stage with them and that you made it to a level in your career where you’re able to do that, that’s really rewarding and satisfying ‘wow I did that’.

Last time we spoke you mentioned that there are many small bands that people would not have heard of that you think are good, are there any in particular you would like to recommend? 

W13:  I don’t know, I mean there are a lot of bands that I grew up on that people have no idea that they even existed.  There’s not anything new that I really heard lately that I listen to but there were tons of bands that got signed in the heyday of the hair metal stuff that really weren’t like hair metal bands, they were more like the sleaze stuff.  There were bands like the SeaHags, that were a great band, I don’t know how many records they sold, probably not many at all, but they were cool.  There was a band called The Zeros from California, they all had like purple hair and they wore like the Converse sneakers that came up to here (points to above the knee) and they were just like a band that were like just like they came off the shelf at a toy store.  There’s a lot of bands that I think, other people are quick to compare me to what they know of, and there’s a lot of bands that I listen to that people haven’t even heard of, and go ‘hell that song’s definitely like that’.  As far as anything new I can’t really think of anything, but the list goes on and on, unsigned bands that I would just see in the back of a magazine somewhere and go ‘they look pretty cool, I’ll check that out’, and I would write them and order their demos or their records or whatever.  I still have all that stuff.  Now I meet these people and because I mentioned them in a magazine they’re like ‘wow, you mentioned me and someone got in touch with me and I sold 50 copies of our record again this week’, so that’s really cool too. 

On a personal note did you get to see any of Willie Nelson (he was playing the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on the same day Wednesday 13 was playing the adjoining Wulfrun Hall)? 

W13:  No, no it really sucks, I was just hoping to meet him.  But no, the only person in my whole band and crew that saw him was the girl that does our merch for us, she was walking out and he was walking by and was like ‘hi’.  I would have just loved to have just said hello to the guy and get a picture, because he is one of the last Outlaw guys.

And finally to wrap things up, anything else you'd like to mention we haven't covered?

W13:  I just always thank the fans for making this possible for me, because without them I can’t do it.  Being that I’ve been the guy that, I’ve never really relied on record sales and radio play and TV and stuff, to be able to come back and tour over and over again through all these years, a couple of times a year, and still have a loyal following that’s awesome, and that’s just because the fans are so dedicated to it, so thank you.

Darren Brushneen