“What happens when a guy can decide everything when he owns everything?”: Elon Musk inspired the bad guy on the new album by synthwave maestro Carpenter Brut

Elon Musk in 2025, and a cartoon of a villainous-looking man with black hair — (Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images | Førtifem)

Synthwave frontrunner Carpenter Brut’s new concept album has a villainous character inspired by Elon Musk.

Talking in the new issue of Metal Hammer, the French artist (real name Franck Hueso) says that he pulled influence from the richest man in the world when creating the bad guy ‘Iron Tusk’ for his upcoming record, Leather Temple.

Hueso admits that he used to admire the Tesla CEO, to the point that he bought one of his company’s cars, but that he was put off when Musk joined US president Donald Trump’s cabinet as the head of DOGE (Department Of Government Efficiency) in 2025.

“He was brilliant,” Hueso says of Musk. “I bought a Tesla because I liked his cars, but when he became political, I was like, ‘I don’t like that.’ He’s the richest man in the universe! What happens when a guy can decide everything when he owns everything?”

The musician then confirms that he got rid of his Tesla because of Musk’s alignment with Trump. “I bought another car instead,” he adds.

Leather Temple will be the final entry in Carpenter Brut’s Leather trilogy, following 2018’s Leather Teeth and 2022’s Leather Terror. The album, out on February 27, will continue the musician’s fascination with 80s imagery and soundscapes, and Hueso tells Hammer that he’s pulled influence from the films Blade Runner and Back To The Future, Part II this time around.

“It’s about a man a bit like Biff Tannen in Back To The Future [Part II], ruling over a city, and his name is Iron Tusk,” he explains. “In Blade Runner, one of the first shots of the movie is a big temple with lots of lights. I had this mix in my head of this big city and this temple.”

Hueso also reveals that the new music will lean more heavily on electronic music, where his previous albums had mixed the genre with old-school heavy metal. He says that this was partially in response to current metal stars such as Bring Me The Horizon and Architects, whom he believes rely heavily on vocal melodies, even comparing them to boy bands.

“When I listen to the metal scene – bands like BMTH and Architects – it’s very powerful, but everything is focused on the vocals,” Hueso says. “They have great singers, but no really melodic musical parts. It’s just vocals, like boy bands! I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to take my keyboard and write some musical melodies with no vocals.’ I wanted to go back to the golden era of The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy.”

You can read the full interview with Hueso in the new Metal Hammer, which offers a comprehensive preview of all the big heavy albums set to drop in 2026. It also contains an extensive discussion with Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine, as the band gear up to release the last album of their career. Order your copy now and get it delivered directly to your door.

Megadeth on the cover of Metal Hammer issue 409 — (Image credit: Future)

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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