Rob Zombie listens to black metal and disco records before his live shows.

The ‘Dragula’ heavy metal musician styles himself as a zombie onstage, but doesn’t necessarily have to listen to dark music to get him in the mood for a show.

Speaking at the Kerrang! Awards 2011, he told BANG Showbiz: “We listen to a lot of different things. We were listening to some Norwegian black metal the other night, but then we’ll also listen to disco, whatever gets us jumping around. Darkthrone or the Bee Gees, it doesn’t matter.”

He also told how creating his zombie persona – putting on his make-up and dressing as a member of the undead – is an integral part of the preparation for his stage show.

He added: “I like doing the make-up because a lot of times it kinda kicks you in the ass. Because you’ll be backstage, you’ll be tired, you won’t feel like playing but as soon as you get ready it’s like you’ve transformed yourself you’re another person and you’re ready to play.”

Rob – whose career has seen him release four solo albums and four albums with the band White Zombie – said he doesn’t have a favourite out of the songs he’s recorded, instead focusing on the reaction his set gets from fans.

He said: ” It’s always the obvious songs that I like, because when you make a record you do a song that you think it’s the best one you’ve ever wrote then nobody likes it, so you never play it again.

“Then the one that took you about two seconds to write becomes the big hit, so it doesn’t matter to me. Whatever the crowd likes, that makes me happy.”