Rob Zombie

Times contributor Aaron Sarlo interviewed singer and horror film director Rob Zombie over the phone last week.

Hey, uh… Mr. Zombie?

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How you doing?

Hi, is Rob OK? Or Mr. Zombie?

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Whatever makes you comfortable.

Thanks. I want to say that I like the album a lot, “Mondo Sex Head.” I would love to find out how you chose who was going to remix your songs and how the whole project got started.

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I’ve done these records before. I’ve done two others, dating back, the first one I did in, like, early — I started doing [them] in the early ’90s. You know, I just kinda asked around. Who do you think are the good DJs, the good people doing this? And we had the names come back and we go to those people. We ask them what songs did they want to do. We let them pick whatever they want to do and just let them run wild with it. I don’t get involved in the production because that would sort of defeat the purpose of the whole thing. Anyway, I was making a new record of new material at that time, so I couldn’t even if I wanted to.

Do you have a new album coming out soon, of original material?

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Yes. Well, it won’t be out until after Christmas. So, pretty soon.

I’d love to find out what’s going on with your new film, “The Lords of Salem.” What drew you to making that film?

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Well, Salem is a very cool town. It’s a very cinematic town. I grew up in Massachusetts, so I was always well aware of Salem, the Salem witch trials and all of the history of it. So one day, I just came up with the idea. I don’t know where ideas come from. They just come sometimes. And that was about six or seven years ago. I just kinda wrote the idea down, wrote a little script, filed it away. It wasn’t until about two years ago that it came up. The movie’s finished. It premiered last week at the Toronto [International] Film Festival, and right now we’re in the process of putting together the plan for when and how it’s going to be released. It will be released theatrically sometime right after Christmas.

I’m a fan of your music, but I may be a bigger fan of your movies. I’m a mega “Halloween 2” fan. I’ve seen all your films, but something about the way you took those characters and made them so real. Your version of “Halloween 2” is excellent, my friend.

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Aww, thanks. Thanks, yeah, actually, I think that’s my favorite movie out of all my movies until “Lords of Salem.” I think “Lords of Salem” might be my favorite. But, yeah, thank you for saying that because I loved “Halloween 2,” and I felt that a lot of those ‘”Halloween'” fans just, frankly, just didn’t get it.

Yeah, well, it took the world 15 years to catch up to “Vertigo,” too. I saw that you are sort of branching out with a new film, “Broad Street Bullies.” Are you trying to branch out of horror? Would that be interesting to you to do other genres of movies?

I would love to branch out. I mean, I just love movies. I love all types of movies. I mean, I love doing dark, gritty material. But I don’t like the idea of being pigeonholed. So, “Broad Street Bullies,” you know, a movie set in 1973 about a super-violent hockey team — true story — it’s just perfectly made for me. I mean, I would also like to make a really gritty crime film. I like all kinds of stuff. I just want to take a break from doing horror movies for a while to try other things.

Finally, I’ve got to ask: What can you tell your legions of fans here in Arkansas to expect from your Twins of Evil tour?

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They can expect a … spectacular spectacle. We are bringing out the biggest show we’ve ever done. We’re going nuts with this one. I assume that [co-headliner Marilyn] Manson is doing the same thing. So, it’s just gonna be a huge, huge night. Especially for this time of year. It is the best Halloween event you could ever want to go to. It’s gonna be incredible. I mean, if I wasn’t going, I would still go. I would go enjoy the show for myself.

The Twins of Evil tour — featuring Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and DJ Starscream — makes a stop at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds Friday. Gates open at 5 p.m. and tickets are $38.

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