‘This Is How I Am Rewarded in the Industry.’ – Wednesday 13: Involving Musical Heroes in His World

Wednesday 13 is back with his new album Mid-Death Crisis, which has allowed him the opportunity to collaborate with another music great who occupies a particular place in his musical heritage.

Taime Downe of Faster Pussycat fame appears on the new album, and Wednesday 13 raved to Full Metal Jackie about the opportunity to work with Downe and some of his other faves throughout the years.

“This is how I am compensated in this industry. For me, it’s just small things. It’s not about accolades or money. It’s simply having my idols involved in my world. So I consider myself extremely blessed to be able to do what I do and have these experiences,” says the singer.

Wednesday 13, Full Metal Jackie also discusses his childhood Satanic Panic and how it relates to the new song “When the Devil Commands,” how his other band Murderdolls influenced his latest solo effort, and how he feels like he’s only just getting to know what he’s doing, which has fueled his musical passion more than ever.

Wednesday also recounts a terrifying experience from filming a music video earlier this year in which he and his band rushed to extinguish a fire.

It’s Full Metal. Jackie. We’re very excited to have Wednesday 13 with us this week. Wednesday has a new album, Mid-Death Crisis, which he is touring in support of while also reliving his Murderdolls history. Transylvania 90210 is celebrating its 20th anniversary. You mentioned it briefly on Wednesday, but this is a time when old and new come together. How did reflecting on Murderdolls influence your new album?

We’ve been doing Murderdolls 20 for the past year and a half, and now it’s the 23rd anniversary. So about a year and a half ago, I started doing a tour where I just played Murderdolls songs, and we took it all over the world. By the time I finished, it was still fresh in my mind. So, when I started writing this development, I was immediately drawn into that world.

This was a good thing. And I was able to tour and play this all around the world, and people told me how much it meant to them. This music reminded them of their teenage years. So I could see it in a different light this time.

So it’s all good with this music, topic matter, and lyrics. It’s nice to see folks sing these tunes every night. It showed me that this music is timeless.

Wednesday 13: “When the Devil Commands”

Wednesday, I’m really enjoying the song we just played. You mentioned remembering your childhood demonic panic and attempting to make a song to scare your mother. This video for “When the Devil Commands” is as enjoyable for pushing the buttons. I am busting up at the 666 stage prop behind the drummer. How much fun it was to see how far you could go with both the song and the video in tribute to those classic songs that got people so excited.

That was the entire goal. When I found the spot, we discovered a church in Los Angeles that would let us do so. I was surprised that we discovered it in the first place. So when I discovered that there was a church, I was like, “Well, I just made a list of things you shouldn’t see in a church.” The top choice was a stripper pole. So, we did it.

The 666 concept was inspired by the KISS lettering. So I wanted something behind us that resembled the KISS lettering. And I wondered, what if we had a massive 666 behind us? So I went to Amazon.com, and you can find everything there.

Lyrically, this song was a dedication to my mother. My mother absolutely adored her. Back in the 1980s, Mom went through all of my tapes, attempting to figure out whether I was possessed by rock and roll, demons, or whatever.

When I composed the lyrics to the song, it was as if I could go back in time and put this album in my cassettes so my mother could find it. She would read the lyrics and become appalled. So I simply wrote them out for her. And that’s exactly what this song is about.

On Wednesday 13th, we discussed “When the Devil Commands.” It was influenced by the Satanic hysteria of 1980s hard music and metal. Who were you listening to as a teen, and what drove you to this darker form of music?

I was sitting in front of the television in the 1980s. I lived in a little single-wide trailer until I was around twelve years old. So I didn’t actually have a bedroom. My bedroom was the living room. I slept on the sofa. I watched television, and I remember my parents watching People’s Court every day at 5 p.m. I was watching cartoons. My parents arrived home, and we watched adult shows like People’s Court and the news. There was also a People’s Court commercial in between the commercials. There was an Alice Cooper commercial airing in Charlotte, North Carolina, where I lived.

It was like, “On Friday night, the horror returns. “Alice Cooper.” And I had no idea what an Alice Cooper was. And I turned to my mother and asked, “Who is she?” And my mother, the God-fearing Bible Belt mom, said, “Oh, that’s the man who bites the heads off of chickens and snakes, and he’s the devil.” I was continuously saying, “That’s what I’d heard about Ozzy.” So when I heard that, I thought, “Okay, this sounds fascinating. It scares my mother. I’d like to know about it. So that was the first type of stuff.

Then my brother had KISS posters on his walls. So I saw that imagery, and I had no idea what it was, so I was always pulled to it. The music I was listening to, my mother was looking for these demonic things, but I had all of the glam rock bands. I had Poison and Motley Crue. I did not have Slayer or anything like that. So she was looking for the demonic bands, but I only had the glam rock bands. But she continued to believe it was wicked since that was what the TV shows and everything else said at the time. So it was a one-of-a-kind experience.

But I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was a chaotic time, but there came a point when rock and roll was as terrifying as a horror film.

Wednesday has moments that you undoubtedly enjoy checking off in music. As someone who grew up in the era you did, how exciting was it to have Taime Downe on this record? And what have been some of your favorite moments since coming into the industry, interacting with people you grew up listening to?

I’ve been extremely fortunate to meet and become friends with several of my rock and roll heroes, as well as to have them participate in my musical projects. A few years back, I was fortunate to get Alice Cooper to give the introduction for my CD, which was incredible. It’s still hard to think I was able to accomplish that. He did this because he is a buddy of mine.

When I began working on this new record, I was fortunate to get my friend Taime Downe involved. Many people are unaware that Faster Pussycat had a significant impact on me when I was younger. When I started. I started out as a guitarist before becoming a vocalist. So, while I was playing guitar, I learnt to play along with the first Faster Pussycat record. I have a small tablature book. Someone taught me how to read it, and I was able to memorize the entire album note by note. And that album is where I learned the majority of my guitar skills and abilities.

So I’m 11 or 12 years old, learning how to play that album. And now, Taime Downe is singing on my record. And I’m in the studio, showing him how to sing this song. So it’s a really wonderful thing. It’s equally vital as having Alice Cooper on my record. Taime influenced my voice and appearance, and I colored my hair black after seeing him do the same.

my is how I am compensated in my industry. For me, it’s just small things. It’s not about accolades or money. It’s simply having my idols involved in my world. So I feel extremely blessed to be able to do what I do and have these things happen.

Earlier this year, while filming a video for “In Misery,” you and your bandmates noticed a fire developing amidst the California wildfires. Can you describe your experience and what your thoughts were when you saw this possible threat right in front of you?

Crazy. We were just discussing it again yesterday. I sort of stopped thinking about it for a little while. But basically, the wildfires in California were out of control for what seemed like a week and a half. And we were all in California, hoping for rain to come in and wash these things away.

I had already planned to record two videos: “When the Devil Commands” in the church, and “In Misery.” We recorded it outside at this spot in Sylmar, California. We basically created a graveyard for our video. So we had to film it outside. We visited this spot in Sylmar. Everything was fine. We erected this graveyard, had everything set up, and it was located right next to the 210 highway. And in the middle of filming, we genuinely witnessed this flame leap up from the side of the roadway out of nowhere.

Having seen all of these flames on TV for the past week and a half, and living in California, I kept a suitcase beside my bed every night, ready to go in case something happened. So seeing a fire right in front of us frightened everyone, and everyone started running to their cars to get in and leave, since we were afraid the entire town would be engulfed because the fires were spreading so quickly.

And I raced immediately to the fire, realized what was going on, and decided to try to put it out. Much of it was spur of the moment. I’m not sure what happened. I jumped over and began attempting to put it out. There was a bucket near this location because we were filming in a tree sanctuary. There were trees and buckets all around. So I started using these buckets of dirt to extinguish the fire after seeing on TV that the fire brigade was using bulldozers to push dirt on it.

Believe it or not, it worked. And we were able to extinguish the fire primarily using buckets of earth. And we did it all in our stage costumes and full makeup. We were able to finish it in around 45 minutes. The fire brigade arrived and completely contained the situation, after which we returned to film our video.

It’s hard to believe we accomplished that, but I know if we hadn’t stopped and tried to extinguish it, the whole thing would have burned down. We would have lost everything, including our gear and cameras. So it was such an intense occasion that we went right in and put it out.

The album’s title, Mid-Death Crisis, is plainly a play on the phrase “midlife crisis.” If a midlife crisis is making you question your purpose and accomplishments in middle adulthood, what questions do you want addressed when you’re in your 70s or 80s? For example, what will satisfy you in terms of accomplishing your life goals?

Oh, it is a deep question. I’m not sure how to respond to that question. If I make it to 70, I suppose that will be my accomplishment. When I first started out in rock & roll, I believed it was all about living fast and dying young.

I never expected to reach my forties. And next year, when I turn 50, which inspired the title Mid-Death Crisis, I plan to laugh all the way to the grave. I don’t take life too seriously. I’m simply trying to have fun with this. So, I suppose my objective is just to get to 70. That would simply be the goal of making it that far.

Some of us learned about Wednesday 13 through Murderdolls. Mid-Death Crisis is now your tenth solo album. This is not a career for the weak. Looking back, what does it mean to you to have completed ten solo studio albums? Were there any times of doubt? Also, how proud are you to have reached a level of longevity that few acts achieve?

It’s difficult to believe. I truly didn’t want to be a solo artist. I just said, “Okay, so if I just called it Wednesday 13 because I wasn’t sure if I could keep a band together, I’ll always be here and it’ll be a thing.

So 20 years later, the tenth album. There were always doubts and things along the line, which is why I created side projects and whatnot, so that if I ever got tired of doing something with this, I had other options. But to look back and say, “I’m here 20 years later with ten albums, I’ve outlasted bands, and it just proves that I can do this.” I’m still as enthusiastic about it as I was at the start. This is all I know, and I love it. I’m becoming more into it as I get older. Some people lose sight of it, and I feel like I’m only now beginning to grasp and improve at what I do. So I still have a lot of petrol in the tank, and I hope to have many more years ahead of me.

Thank you to Wednesday 13 for the interview. The Mid-Death Crisis album is available now. You can stay up to date on anything Wednesday 13 by following his website, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Find out where to hear Full Metal. Find Jackie’s weekend radio show here.

2025 Rock & Metal Tour Guide
The bands performing in 2025, who will open, and how to purchase tickets.