Clyde Webb is weird. Describing himself as a “freak,” chances are you’ve seen him at least once in a meme circulating around social media, or perhaps you’ve seen one of his Tweets as “kornfan420.” Perhaps the most surprising thing about Webb isn’t that he’s urinated in his own mouth before, but rather that he has a surprisingly catchy solo project under the moniker Hot Leather. The synth-punk act has Webb singing over fast-paced electronic drum patterns about themes that cross all of our minds — loneliness, love, and yes, even self-mutilation.
As both kornfan420 and Hot Leather, Webb is tapping into a nostalgic sub-section of society, one where Juggalos run free and Warped Tour is still alive and well. We recently had a conversation with Webb, wanting to understand the man who has gotten waterboarded with energy drinks and recently tattooed “PISS” on his own chest.
Underground Underdogs: To be completely honest when I was first introduced to you, I was confused. People would probably label you ‘weird,’ but the more I’ve gotten to know you, you just seem to be truly yourself. What’s your reaction to that?
Clyde Webb: I think I’m just being myself, but really, like myself is truly weird. Growing up on Jackass, The Bloodhound Gang and stuff like The Tom Green Show definitely impacted me growing up and made me into the freak that I am. It’s sick to meet other people who grow up loving freak shit because there’s always an instant connection. There’s a lot that I play up for the internet, like sometimes I’m pretty shy and reserved but I still really like to have fun, get silly and make jokes and stuff like that, so it’s not like 24/7 outrageous behavior.
I was going to say, you’re actually a pretty chill guy in person. I was expecting you to be super wild [laughs]. Do you feel like you get that reaction a lot too?
A lot of people expect me to be crazier than I am and are pretty taken aback when I’m just calm. People before have been like “I didn’t really expect you to be so quiet.” But it really depends on what kind of mood I’m in. Sometimes I’ll be walking into traffic or climbing a lamp post, and sometimes I’ll just be chilling out enjoying myself. I really like to make people laugh and have fun though.
So when do you get into music? Like were you more of an “internet personality” for lack of a better term, or were you always musical?
I’ve always been musical. My entire life I’ve always wanted to be a musician. I remember one time when I was a little kid I had this tape recorder and recorded myself singing “Dragula” by Rob Zombie. When I was a little older I would take apart CDs and make my own covers and stuff like that. My grandma bought me a guitar when I was 10 for Christmas or my birthday or something and I played it a little bit but didn’t really care that much. I was in choir when I was in 4th and 5th grade and then joined band in 6th grade playing trumpet (but I switched to trombone). I tried starting a band when I was in 8th grade where I was gonna sing and my friend was gonna play guitar because he said that he could play Children of Bodom songs. But it was in 9th grade when I started my first actual band where we recorded songs.
I didn’t really start playing shows until I had a solo project when I was in 10th grade. I went pretty hard with music until I was like 21 or so and started working the graveyard shift at a wood mill where I wouldn’t really get that much time off (my only day off was Sunday night) so I could only play shows one day a week and locally. This is around the time that I started taking internet stuff seriously and getting popular for that. I had always made meme-like things while I was doing music, but didn’t really take them serious until I wasn’t able to really make music and perform. If I don’t have an artistic outlet my soul will die.
So when did Hot Leather come into play, and what made you want to start that?
I’ve always wanted to do a synth-punk project, and I had a couple that were kind of like it, but I was never really able to afford the gear that I wanted until 2017. Hot Leather was originally a 3 piece with live keyboards and live drums but it slowly morphed into a solo project.
What was it like making the video for “Hearse”? Any particular graves you wanted to visit at Hollywood Forever?
It was fun. It was cool to go to Hollywood Forever. I’ve never been there before that.
There’s so many people there and I didn’t know who was buried there but it was cool to walk around. We also got kicked out for filming because we didn’t have permits or anything. I think cemeteries are cool but I don’t really care that much about visiting a grave.
It’s not a video shoot unless you get kicked out. Speaking of videos, I’ve heard you have some pretty… interesting ones circulating around.
I’m really into performance art. Especially Bob Flanagan, who would do a lot of sadomasochistic stuff. I’m not really into pain sexually, like it’s not a kink that I have but I think that BDSM is really interesting. Sometimes I’ll have an idea and want film it. I have a couple right now that I don’t want to disclose at this moment but I really like to explore the limits of the human body and the limits of what people think is acceptable to do to yourself.
That’s wild.
I’ve never really been good at drawing or painting so I like to explore other mediums.
Do you feel like that interest in BDSM has translated in your music at all?
I don’t really think that it has consciously. The music I make is really just another way to express myself.
Do you feel like you’re ever misinterpreted?
I think that the way I’m misinterpreted the most is that people think that I’m always funny and can’t feel any other emotions or they don’t see me as a person and just like a “figure”. Another thing is that people think that just because I find one thing funny I’ll find everything else funny so people will sometimes send me stuff that’s racist or sexist and I’m like, “why are you doing this? Why would you think I would enjoy this in the slightest?” and block them.
As for Hot Leather, on the surface it’s just vapid pop music but if you spend more time with it it gets more complex. I’m really into the idea of two things happening simultaneously. The album cover that I used for my full length follows the same idea, with a sign for a store called Total Health and then directly under it is a sign for a discount cigarette store selling kratom.
Are you currently working on any projects?
I’m not really working on any projects right now. I’m just releasing singles. The next full project that I do I want it to be really Reggie and the Full Effect-ish with guitars, bass, drums, synths and then also the sequencer that I use underneath it. I’m kind of hesitant to do it though just because I really want the live sound to be as close to the recorded sound as possible so I really want to wait until I’m able to have people play in a “Hot Leather” band before I release another album. If anyone ever wanted to release a 7” of my songs then I would definitely write stuff for that.
So what is next for both Hot Leather and kornfan420?
For Hot Leather I really want to release more music and start playing more shows around the country and also play shows outside the country. I’ve never left the country before so I really want to. Kornfan420 on Instagram is still going to be the same only I’m super tired of making memes so I haven’t really made that many lately. I mostly just post a picture of myself to stay active for people. On twitter I’ll just keep posting the same stuff that I always post. I really like making dumb jokes and making my friends laugh.
Watch Hot Leather’s recent music video for “Call U” down below