EDDIE ON “STUMP THE TRUNK”: “WE HAVE FUN WITH IT”

Jonathan Williams of Wrestling with Pop Culture spoke with Eddie about That Metal Show and Stump The Trunk. Portions of the interview appear below.

WWPC: Now that That Metal Show has made it to its 12th season and 100th episode, what have been some of the more memorable moments or guests for you?

ET: Since the show started in 2008, we’ve had a lot of great guests. For me, it’s always really special when you get some of those iconic guys from the ’70s that played such a huge role in the history and evolution of this music. Tony Iommi, who I think is basically the founding father of metal, comes to mind. Having him on was amazing. Brian Johnson from AC/DC is just one of the best guests you can have. Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony are always a blast to have on – great people. Same with Rob Halford, we’ve had him on a couple of times. That’s certainly not to diminish any of the ’80s guys or more recent guys, but my mind always goes back to the people I grew up with in this genre of music. And to have them sitting next to me swapping stories and stuff on the show is really, really special. As far as performances, bands can’t play songs on the show because we can’t afford the publishing. So they’re just playing riffs and shredding a little bit. But we’ve had tremendous players up there doing that, and also some great drummers including in this season we have Carmine Appice and Vinny Appice doing their thing. And we have Jake E. Lee, who I tracked down out of obscurity, not only as a guest but also playing in two shows. And we have guitarist Richie Kotzen, who is one of my favorite musicians on the planet, playing a couple of shows. In the past we’ve had amazing guys. Everybody knows I’m a big UFO fan, so we have Michael Schenker play in a couple of shows and that was really special. But just about everybody we’ve had has really brought it when they’ve been part of the show.

WWPC: You talked earlier about some of the people you’ve had the honor of having on the show. Who are some of the people that have not been on the show that you’d like to talk to?

ET: The guys we probably get asked the most about would be David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen, Nikki Sixx, James Hetfield, Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. We ask them every single season and whether they are on or not is completely up to them. For some of them it’s just scheduling, some of them have issues, some of them don’t want to do the show or whatever the case may be. Those are probably the top five people I’m asked about all the time, and they’re all welcome to come on. It’s just a question of if they want to do it and if we’re working when they decide they want to. So hopefully one of these days we’ll get them.

WWPC: In addition to being the host of the show, you also have a segment called Stump the Trunk. What are some the hardest or most memorable questions you’ve been asked?

ET: Oh, there are absurd questions. There have been tons of ridiculous questions that have been asked that nobody in their right mind could ever get right. That’s done because they want to see me go crazy, which I often deliver for them. What people have to understand with Stump the Trunk is it’s a fun thing, people really love it and it’s a part of the show that will never go away, it seems. But it’s a bit. We have fun with it and I certainly don’t think for a minute that I know it all. I probably know a little bit more than the average person just because I’ve lived this music my whole life. But they’re always coming at me with crazy, over-the-top stuff, then they’ll often tell me that I’m wrong when I’m right just to try to get me really agitated. And it works about 90 percent of the time. At this point I’m prepared for anything that comes out of anybody’s mouth during that thing.

Read more at Wrestling with Pop Culture.