Ulrich Wild is a GRAMMY-nominated, multi-platinum producer and mixer, most known for his work with top metal artists including Dethklok, Pantera, Static-X, White Zombie, Deftones, and Breaking Benjamin. Ulrich was born and raised in Switzerland and is currently based in Los Angeles. In 2015, he founded a label called WURMgroup to create a home and build careers for up-and-coming artists.
As a producer, Ulrich specializes in pushing artists to the peak of their abilities and bringing out their truest voice. He enjoys establishing a musical identity for artists, helping many define their sound and launch a career. His GRAMMY nominations include Best Engineered Album for White Zombie’s Astro Creep 2000: Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of The Electric Head.
We had a chance to sit down with Ulrich Wild and break down the mix on “Push It” by Static-X!
“Push It” is the first single from Static-X’s debut album, Wisconsin Death Trip.
Released in June 1999, the song was a seminal one in the band’s career. It helped established Static-X’s unique take on industrial metal and incorporates elements of what the band itself has coined “evil disco.” To this day it remains one of Static-X’s most popular songs.
It reached #20 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and #36 on Alternative chart. It performed well overall, hitting #57 on the US Sales chart. Around the time it was released, it was featured in video games such as Duke Nukem and Street Sk8er 2.
Ulrich Wild produced Wisconsin Death Trip in just 8 weeks.
The title of the record was taken from Michael Lesy’s 1973 book of the same name. This book is a collection of photographs of deceased persons who had priorly lived in the Black River Falls of Wisconsin region in the late 19th century. The book intrigued the band and inspired the name of the album.
In an interview regarding the record, frontman Wayne Static explained, “[It’s] actually a book title that we stole. It’s been out of print for about 20 years. It’s a historical book about life in this small town in Wisconsin from 1890 to 1900. And it’s about everything that happened, but it focuses on people dying and how they died. And there are pictures of dead people as well as stuff about natural disasters and fires and stuff like that.”
Wisconsin Death Trip was recorded at Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood.
The record peaked at number 107 on the US Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top Heatseekers chart. Within two years it had gone platinum. Other singles from the album include “I’m with Stupid” and “Bled for Days.”
