By Nicholas Jason Lopez
While some may have decided that nu-metal had peaked in 2001 and gone out of style by 2005, there are many others out there that simply disagree and that the genre has since been revived and is better than ever.
Exhibit A – Nashville-based outfit Static Headz, who strive to bring a fresh and innovative take on genre blend of rock, rap and metal, while fastening their footprint firmly upon the music scene.
Their 2021 debut self-titled album was widely acclaimed and set a lot of eyes on the band, their videos for “Kill Or Be Killed,” “Why Do I Do” and “Mask” attaining 65K YouTube views combined.
Static Headz are vocalists Kevin Greer and Zach Noonan, drummer Matt Cook, guitarist Cody Lafever and guitarist Jacob Kline.
The Music Bugle had the opportunity to speak with the group about their musical experiences and much more, which you can check out below.
Music Bugle – How did you all meet each other and how did the band come about?
Zach Noonan – Our two vocalists, Kevin and I, have known each other since 2011. We met at a show we played together, as separate hip-hop artists and became friends. Later on, we started co-writing some tracks and eventually landed together in the same band we helped co-found, which is our group, Static Headz. Our drummer, Matt and our guitarist, Cody, went to college together at Belmont University in 2010. They played music here and there in the dorm they shared, but then eventually helped co-found Static Headz alongside Kevin and I. Cody and Zach first met in 2014 and played music together before Static Headz was created. The band was created due to each member wanting to create a style of hip-hop-infused metal that we feel has never been done before. We have since added another guitarist, Jacob, after discovering him online and he has been a fantastic addition. We are all very excited to play together again.
Music Bugle – We have found that all artists and bands are different, what does the songwriting process look like for you?
Kevin Greer – Cody and I are the main songwriters. One of us will bring the basic structure of the song to the table and then, everyone else will throw their two cents in. My writing style is pretty traditional in the sense of having a verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus. Cody’s writing style tends to have tempo and meter changes and more of a chaotic sense about it. The two balance each other out well. We almost always write the music first from start to finish and then put lyrics over top of it. The arrangements of our material got changed up in the studio though, for the better, with the help of our producer, Colt Capperrune and Cody working on the record tirelessly and not settling for anything that was undesirable.
Music Bugle – How did you arrive at the Static Headz sound?
Matt Cook – We like to think it’s a great variety of influences from all genres of metal and rock, mixed in with a variety of influences of hip-hop and electronic music. Everyone in the band grew up on different styles of music and we try to blend everything together and make it work. With our music, we try to keep it aggressive and interesting, but also melodic and memorable. With our lyrics, we definitely like to think we are very conscious writers with something to say that’s worth listening to. We talk about issues that people can relate to on a deep level such as death, anxiety and depression.
Music Bugle – What do you want people to take away from your self-titled Debut Album?
Jacob Kline – That this is only the beginning of what we have to offer. Hopefully, people respond well to it and there’s an audience for us out there. We want to be recognized on the same playing field with the other current nu-metal bands that are putting music out. We hope that our listeners think our take on the genre is fresh and unique.
Music Bugle – Which artists would you say inspire you the most as a band?
Cody Lafever – There’s so many artists that inspire each one of us individually. Some common denominators are Linkin Park, Rage Against The Machine, Killswitch Engage, Issues and Bring Me The Horizon. This list could be endless, but we will cut it short there.
Music Bugle – If you had to pick any one artist dead or alive to join the band, who would it be and why?
Zach Noonan – If any of the guys from Linkin Park wanted to be a part of Static Headz, we all would die happy men. Linkin Park is without a doubt the biggest influence on our music and they are just such a huge inspiration to us.
