#1353 - Rob Zombie

Joe Rogan (0:03)

Here we go, Rob Zombie, ladies and gentlemen, how are you, sir?

Rob Zombie (0:05)

Good, good.

Joe Rogan (0:06)

Thanks for being here, man.

Rob Zombie (0:08)

Yeah, it's awesome.

Joe Rogan (0:09)

3 From Hell comes out tonight.

Rob Zombie (0:10)

Yes, finally.

Joe Rogan (0:12)

It's such a crazy leap that you've made. I mean, people know you as much now for your films as they do for your music.

Rob Zombie (0:21)

Yeah, pretty much. Especially, I've really noticed that when I'd be like in an elevator, like the music fans, I can pretty much spot them. But when some guy comes up to me in an elevator and looks like he's a lawyer or something, which I have to get to grips with that because I'm not, you know, I'm old, every time a cop comes up to me, like, what does this guy want to do? Oh, he's like a fan because he's 30 years younger than me.

But like, yeah, when normal people are like, oh man, I'm so into this or that, because I figure like, you know, heavy metal music is very specific, but everybody likes movies. Right, you can see a metal fan. Yeah, I can pretty much spot them.

Joe Rogan (0:57)

What do you look for?

Metal fan? Like, when you see it, like, what's coming your way?

Rob Zombie (1:02)

Well, it's changed, but now it's always a guy with a shaved head and a long goatee.

Joe Rogan (1:06)

That's very similar to MMA fans.

Rob Zombie (1:08)

Nobody has hair anymore. It's like, I swear sometimes, they're about to stage the fans, like, what's with the long hair?

Joe Rogan (1:13)

That's funny. Yeah, right? That was rock and roll. It was synonymous.

Rob Zombie (1:16)

Yeah, it's like not anymore.

Joe Rogan (1:18)

What made you make that leap in the horror films?

Rob Zombie (1:22)

Well, I always wanted to make movies. That was always my main goal in life.

Joe Rogan (1:26)

Really? Before music?

Rob Zombie (1:27)

Well, it was, well, let me back it up. I loved everything equally, but as a kid, it all seemed unattainable. So it was all a fantasy, like, oh, yeah, I'm going to go to Hollywood and make movies. Oh, yeah, I'm going to have a band. Like, no, you're not. You're just living in some crap town. You're going to do nothing, is what it felt like.

Joe Rogan (1:42)

You grew up in Haverhill?

Rob Zombie (1:43)

Yeah.

Joe Rogan (1:43)

Yeah, I grew up in Newton. Newton never falls.

Rob Zombie (1:48)

I think when I was a kid and played ice hockey, we would play against Newton.

Joe Rogan (1:50)

I'm sure. I think we wrestled, you guys.

Rob Zombie (1:54)

Oh, god, wrestling, man. I hated having to wrestle. It's fucking horrible. It's so exhausting.

Joe Rogan (1:58)

It's the most exhausting.

Rob Zombie (1:59)

It's like 30 seconds. Like, that was the worst 30 seconds of my life.

What was I saying? Oh, yeah. Growing up, I mean, it's like you can have a crappy band in the garage with your friends, but it's not going to do a thing. And then we had a Super 8 camera, so we'd make crappy Super 8 movies.

But none of it seemed realistic. I thought my life was going to be, you know, world's worst bike messenger in New York City. That seemed to be what I was destined for. But then as the band started taking off, which seemed odd on its own, and there was a chance to make music videos. Like, fuck it, I'm directing these music videos. This will be film school for me. And that's what it sort of became.

Joe Rogan (2:33)

Did you have this thing that a lot of people have when things start going well for them? You have sort of like imposter syndrome.

Like you kind of, you're like, is this what the fuck are they going to find out?

Rob Zombie (2:44)

Oh, yeah, my whole life is like, fool them again. I think everybody feels like that.

Joe Rogan (2:50)

I think so too.

Rob Zombie (2:51)

I mean, because I was always so, I was so shy and I was so shy, I wouldn't even like want to talk to people on the phone when I was a kid, because that was too much.

Joe Rogan (2:59)

Yeah.

Rob Zombie (3:00)

That one day I realized, I just, this is how I realized it one day. Like in high school, I didn't associate with anyone, like no one remembers me because I was just invisible. But me and my friends were sort of like into punk rock, like in a place where like no one knew what that was.