Tim Louie of the Aquarian Weekly spoke with Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson about That Metal Show. Portions of the interview appear below.
Aquarian: Did you ever imagine that this show would last 12 seasons?
Eddie Trunk: I’ve been asked that question a lot and I was just happy to get it on the air five years ago. It was quite the fight to get it just on the air and then once I did, I was just happy to see it get on the air and get rolling. And then to have seen how it’s sunk in and connected with people, artists and fans alike, and also outside of America now and a lot of International territories, is really pretty remarkable. So I’m just happy we’re still doing it. We’re going to hit 100 episodes this new season and it’s been a phenomenal ride that I hope continues.
Don Jamieson: You know, after every season, I usually think to myself, “All right, well, that’s probably it.” So here we are, 12 seasons later. Of course, I’m thrilled! I want to do this until I’m 80, dude! We’ll call it That Metal Hip! If we’re lucky enough, we’ll keep doing it, but if it ended tomorrow, what a great accomplishment. I got to hang out with my two best friends on tv, talk about metal and get paid. God bless America!
Jim Florentine: I think since it’s on VH1 Classic, a network that doesn’t have much original programming and is kind of a hidden channel, it gave the show some time to breathe. If we were on NBC and didn’t get ratings within the first two or three weeks, we would’ve got canceled. So I think it’s on the perfect network for it to last this long and plus, metalheads are loyal. They’ll stick with us. They might not like a certain guest or two here and there, but other than that, they’re like, “What else am I gonna watch?” A 40-year-old guy in a rock shirt doesn’t have many options on a Saturday night at 11 o’clock.
Aquarian: Has there been any thought in bringing at least one season back to New York since this is where you guys are all from?
ET: We actually had planned this special from Times Square, but the day that we were scheduled to shoot it was the day Hurricane Sandy hit. So we were scheduled to do a special that day and obviously, needless to say, it got canceled, but that was going to be kind of a New York homecoming sort of special that fell apart.
Once that got canceled, we ended up shooting a variation of that show in Vegas with Vince Neil. That special we did with Vince Neil was not supposed to happen. That was supposed to be the New York Times Square special.
So the idea of doing a special or doing something back in New York—which, of course, we’re all from New Jersey, we’re all based here, the network is still headquartered here—it’s come up, but doing a season from here is just really difficult. You said it yourself, the whole reason we do the show in L.A. is that 90 percent of the artist community that we’re trying to reach lives there, which makes booking the show so much easier. And at the end of the day, the only people that care whether we do the show in New York or L.A. is people who live in New York or L.A.
Read more at the Aquarian Weekly.