[White Zombie: (L-R) Jay Yuenger, Rob Zombie, Sean Yseult, Ivan de Prume (bottom)]
QUIT THE BAND!
Some of you might remember a "Funky Death Metal" band from the 90s called White Zombie. Although they formed in the 80s, it was the above pictured album released on Geffen records which brought them more than a few moments of fame, mostly via MTV's popular animated show "Beavis and Butthead." Of course the singer, Rob Zombie, went on to persue a successful solo career just before getting into film making.
I was a pretty big fan of "L.S.D. Music Vol 1" when it was released in 1992, and attended their show when they came to town. Although my memory is generally composed of a montage of bodies, mostrous riffs and dreadlocks flying everywhere, the drummer Ivan de Prume's distinct characteristics were noticably absent. This bothered me because the band's rhythmic groove was a big part of what stood out to me, and I was afraid they wouldn't deliver. But after a few songs, I was probably second guessing whether this was actually a new guy or just Ivan de Prume with a haircut. Turns out it was a new drummer by the name of Phil Buerstatte, and he was quite good.
[Phil "Philo" Buerstatte, pictured on the far right]
On March 17, 1992, White Zombie released “La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol.1"...The band supported "La Sexorcisto" with a two-and-a-half-year-long tour...During the tour, Ivan de Prume left the band to pursue a successful career as a producer/engineer as well as drummer/percussionist and opened his own studio, Burningsound. He was replaced by Phil Buerstatte - wiki
Drummer Ivan de Prume apparently quit the band just as WZ got signed to a major label, Geffen Records. This would seem a strange time to leave, after 6 or so years of "paying dues" in the underground. All that blood, sweat, and tears to finally arrive at the place so many young musicians dream to be, yet never find. There it was, and de Prume just walks away from it in the middle of a tour, as if he has better options? Clearly, he DID have options and attended the Musician's Institute, where he completed their Drums and Percussion program. He also built his first professional recording studio in Los Angeles, Burningsound and began recording, producing and engineering projects. But does this really explain specifically why he left the group?
[Ivan de Prume (top) J Yuenger (L) Sean Yseult (R)]
The above screenshot was taken from an interview conducted by Metal Injection in 2022 or so. As far as I know, it is the first time de Prume speaks about why he left White Zombie.
[De Prume] I feel like...I just...was so pissed off at him [Rob Zombie] that I just shut myself out. And that was on tour. So when I closed myself off from him, I closed myself off from the whole band...Looking back, I regret some of my behavior. But at the same time, we are human beings and the things that Rob did is just unexcusable...to me. Like...I don't wanna SAY IT.
[Yseult] I will second that!
[All laugh nervously]
[de Prume] You know I just felt like I was stabbed in the back...and we had a phone call and I just wanted to talk to him about the situation and he said, "look, if you don't like it, quit the band!" and I'm like, "oh? That what you want?" and he said "Fuck you, quit!" and he hung up. And I was like "holy shit" and I looked at Jay. And I said, "looks like it's done." [laughs] and that's it! After so many years!
[Yseult] So shocking. So shocking, I still don't understand what the fuck happened!
Although we clearly didn't get the whole story here, I found the tangeably nervous reaction from Yeunger and Yseult intriguing. While Yseult does not hesitate to agree with every [somewhat vague] word de Prume says about Rob Zombie, everyone seems almost...afraid to say what he did exactly. J Yeunger looks very concerned while de Prume is telling the story, and immediately starts trying to lessen the impact by saying things like, "well I see this kind of stuff happen to bands ALL the time!"
Apparently J Yeunger now lives in Spain and had a child not too long ago. He looks decidedly babyfaced and conservative in the interview, and has what looks like some sort of middle-eastern language written on his shirt.
One person commented on this video, "I knew Jay's father. He was a very accomplished journalist for the Chicago Tribune."
Another person commented, "I used to work for Testament. White Zombie was our support act...We had a few days off. When the tour resumed, Ivan was gone and Phil was in...it was a bit strange."
Although the above interview was celebrating "L.S.D. Music Vol 1," it is odd that absolutely no mention of de Prume's replacement, Phil Buerstatte, is given. He toured the album 2 years with the band!
While the long awaited "juicy gossip" behind de Prume's exit from WZ was clearly the most engrossing part of this video, the thought occured to me, especially given the somewhat contrived, heavily edited aspects of this "spontaneously unscripted interview," that some form of damage control may have been THE motivating factor here. Was this really about "throwing a bone" to inquiring minds, in lieu of getting into the potentially MORE CONTROVERSIAL exit of Buerstatte from the band? Was the latter the real "elephant in the room" this interviewer mentions, and not Mr Zombie himself? I'm just not sure I buy how "authentic" all of this was. It strikes me as a bit too calculated and timely after all of these years. The performances are convincing though, I will admit.
Rob Zombie's behavior so early in WZ's career seems to reveal the power and importance he felt he had, in comparison to other members of the band. And although many people disliked Rob's solo material [including myself], he is the one who kept putting out records on Geffen, and getting bigger and bigger in the industry - while the other members seemed to disappear from the spotlight. What deal did he make that the other band members did not?
THE NEW DRUMMER
["Last Crack," featuring Phil Buerstatt on the upper left - previous to joining White Zombie]
While the original core members of White Zombie appeared in hind-sight to have had bigger career objectives [and opportunities] than their "struggling street artist" image may have initially let on, Phil Buerstatt's background is not as clear. His fairly brief stint in WZ seemed to end as abruptly and with just as few questions asked as when it started.
[Mick Shrimpton: before and after..."Alas, Shrimpton also falls victim to the drummer curse. Shrimpton tragically exploded on stage while performing at Kobe Hall!" - greenandblackmusic.com]
...the reason he left the band was due to his severe drug problem...which I know only got worse once he left and then I heard he was in prison...Phil was a very troubled guy during his time with us and I never really knew what happened to him after he left the band. The few stories I heard were not good...He was a nice guy — I really liked him — but he had a lot of problems and did some really bad stuff to the band, so… [laughs] But it's unfortunate that he never got his life together." - Rob Zombie
Apparently Phillip wasn't the only one who did "really bad stuff to the band," Ivan de Prume has stated similar things about Rob Zombie's treatment of the band, and himself in particular, as mentioned earlier.
Reminds me of the film Spinal Tap, where drummers in the band end up dying in "bizarre gardening accidents" or they simply blow up spontaneously on stage. Does the film contain a sinister truth, veiled beneath the satire? Does this sort of thing happen "all the time," as J Yeunger confidentally pontificates in the above interview?
By the time White Zombie entered the studio in late 1994 to begin recording their fourth album, Zombie and Yseult had ended their relationship, and Buerstatte was dismissed from the band, due to artistic differences - wiki
"Artistic differences" is usually code for "I'd rather not get into it." The thought that Buerstatte and Yseult may have had an affair comes to mind, especially considering the synchronistic timing of Rob's relationship separation from Yseult and Buerstatte's dismissal. Perhaps it was drugs, perhaps it was an affair, perhaps we'll never really know.
Other than Buerstatte's work with the bands Last Crack and WZ, we don't really know much about him. Oddly, an IMDb entry lists him as an "actor, known for [the music video] White Zombie: Thunder Kiss '65 (1992)." Other than the band members themselves, that video doesn't have any men in it that are not masked. Could he be this guy?
[Still image from WZ's "Thunderkiss '65" video.]
I wondered if IMDb's entry for Buerstatte was innacurate, especially since it doesn't even mention him being in WZ - which he wasn't at the time the above mentioned video was shot. But then I came across an interview with Rob Zombie from MTV Headbanger's Ball, where he states that Buerstatte appeared in the video for "Black Sunshine" as an audience member. Could this be him?
After leaving WZ and a Last Crack reunion or 2, Buerstatte seems to vanish from the spotlight until 2012.
FEED THE GODS
White Zombie had recorded several songs for movie soundtracks and various artists compilation albums, including "Feed the Gods" for the soundtrack to Airheads, "I Am Hell" for the Beavis and Butt-Head Experience compilation album and a cover version of Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave", which appears on the tribute album Nativity in Black; each of these songs received airplay on active rock radio stations, while a music video "Feed the Gods" was released. - wiki
While Phillip Buerstatte was only in the band for a couple years, he seemed to jump on the WZ rocket just as it launched to MTV stardom. This was a "new gear" for the band, and by all accounts it was an unstoppable machine, which none of the members seemed interested in slowing down for ANYTHING. I think Yeunger even says in the earlier referenced video he woulda cut off his legs if they told him to!
Although the extended "L.S.D. Music Vol 1" tour seemed to delay any full length album goals the band may have initially entertained, they did manage to record at least 3 songs with Buerstatte, all seemingly produced for very specific mainstream productions: A Hollywood film, a Geffen sponsored Beavis and Butthead album, and a Black Sabbath compilation released just a few years before Ozzy's high profile return to the band.
When de Prume left WZ, the rhythm section went from an organic, funky thrash Metal thing to a dehumanized wall of industrial noise. This trend continued on through Rob Zombie's solo career, and I just never really cared for any of it. Therefore, I don't even recall ever listening to "I am Hell" or "Feed the Gods" until just recently.
To comment upon the lyrics for a moment, Rob's words tend to have a stream-of-consciousness flow to them - where rhythmic points are usually more important than cohesive storytelling points. They are more word collages than stories. That being said, I think "Feed the Gods" is about exactly that: Feeding the Gods. But the question is, what do "gods" eat? A human sacrifice, preferably...at least, if we're talking pagan gods here. Someone suggested the song was about the band itself, which makes sense. Does this mean the band must "feed the gods" at some point?
"I am Hell" is pretty tough to decifer, so I won't try. But I know what it isn't: it's not about Jesus!
"Children of the Grave" is a Black Sabbath cover, and the only thing WZ adds is a few extra YEAH!'s and a sample, which seems to be referencing the 1969 Manson murders. I don't know what the connection is supposed to be between the song's original lyrics and the Manson-murder-inspired samples, but obviously, again, it ain't about Jesus!
THE STRANGE CASE OF LOREN BRECKENRIDGE
[Loren Breckenridge III, impersonated Buerstatte in order to write bad checks to pay for rehab?]
Sausalito police have arrested a man claiming to be the former drummer for the disbanded heavy metal band White Zombie after he allegedly defrauded the Alta Mira Recovery Center for approximately $75,000. The same man also allegedly defrauded a similar rehabilitation center in Novato.
The man, identified as Loren Breckenridge, 46, claimed to be Phillip Buerstatte, the former drummer for White Zombie, and had arranged to stay at the Alta Mira drug and alcohol rehab center for a month, but left treatment two weeks into his stay, police said.
Police were still trying to determine whether "Phillip Buerstatte" could actually be a stage name used by Breckenridge, or if Breckenridge was impersonating the musician. - Marin Independent Journal 08.31.12
This strange story seemed to do little else but temporarily raise Phillip Buerstatte's name and connection to White Zombie out of obscurity and into the news headlines. The timing was interesting, as this story began circulating through the online Heavy music news bulletin Blabbermouth less than a year before Buerstatte's mysterious death on May 19th, 2013.
According to Blabbermouth, Buerstatte "suffered through years of drug addiction, treatment and prison time" before he "died in his sleep in his Madison, Wisconsin home." Notice that Blabbermouth suggests Buerstatte's unhealthy lifestyle lead to his death, without actually saying it. Rob Zombie sort of does the same thing in an earlier quote where he states "it's unfortunate that he never got his life together." It sounds as if Rob assumed Buerstatte's unhealthy lifestyle lead to his death, but how could he know that when the cause of death was never revealed to the public? If a piano falls on the head of an unsuspecting drug addict, was it his unhealthy lifestyle or the piano that killed him?
Given the extreme wierdness of the above story and it's close approximation in time to Buerstatte's death, I wondered if there was a connection. So after combing through all the news stories available online, I decided to attempt a Freedom of Information Act request in order to get more detail. We will take a look at that in part 2.
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