Rob Zombie is a gold-star member of the subcultural underground with dual trailblazing careers in spooky filmmaking and heavy-rock music, and a recent interview with Consequence of Sound saw the multi-hyphenate open up on how the mainstream views both horror and metal as lesser forms of art.
"In the film world, horror movies were always treated like the dirty little secret," he explained before discussing how the formation of film studios was based solely on the monster movies they were putting out. Turning to music, he cited the Grammy awards and how rock is rarely done justice in that arena. "Both [metal and horror] are treated like they're just one step above pornography," he concluded. "And for that reason they'll always be there, because the fans don't think of it that way. The fans are there forever."
He backed this up by pointing to metal legends Iron Maiden, a band with a massive fan base and little coverage outside of the heavy-metal world: "If you ask the average person on the street, 'Who's Iron Maiden?' They'd go, 'I don't fucking know.' But they're monstrously huge — and they always will be, just like horror movies will always be."
In the end, Zombie doesn't care what the mainstream thinks, though. "I really don't give a shit, because it doesn't matter," he said. "All my favorite stuff isn't mainstream anyway. I don't need a heavy-metal band to be as popular as Beyoncé to restore my faith in heavy metal. What's cool about it is it's not mainstream. That's what appealed to me about it always.
"Listening to Slayer wasn't like listening to Garth Brooks, and watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre wasn't like watching The Sound of Music," he added. "It was the complete alternative to the mainstream, and that's why it was always badass."
Zombie's latest movie, 3 From Hell, just finished a limited run in theaters, presented by Fathom Events, and will be shown once more nationwide on October 14th, the same day it receives a wide release on DVD and Blu-ray. His next album is expected early 2020.
