EDDIE TRUNK SPEAKS WITH LEGENDARY ROCK INTERVIEWS, SAYS “I LIKE HEAVY MUSIC, BUT I NEED SOME LEVEL OF SINGING AND MELODY”
Aimee List of Legendary Rock Interviews spoke with our very own Mr. Trunk. Excerpts from the interview appears below.
LRI: Since there are crazy college courses like the study of Keanu Reeves movies, have you ever considered teaching a class about your incomparable wealth of knowledge in music?
Eddie: No, you know, I haven’t. If somebody approached me about it though, I would actually consider it because one of the things that happens for me when I am out and about in public meeting and people want to know about my history and my career, my experiences and what have you. If there was somewhere out there that felt that was a viable thing I would be open to it. I do a lot of speaking stuff live, I go out in clubs and do my own appearances. I do some of that in that context, in a rock bar setting. But I would be more than happy to do that if somebody came up to me and wanted to approach that. I am happy doing what I am doing, plugging away at my various projects. Anything is possible.
LRI: Do you think [That Metal Show] has exceeded it’s potential, or are you still thinking bigger?
Eddie: I personally don’t think we have even scratched the surface. I think there are a lot of limitations being on VH1 Classic. A lot of people make the error when they talk about my show and they say, “Oh yeah, yeah, VH1.” I’m not on VH1. I’m on VH1 Classic, there’s this huge distinction there. Because VH1 Classic is a much smaller channel with much smaller budgets. As a result, we have a lot of limitations on what we can and can’t do, how often we can and can’t tape, when we can’t have music on the show because of publishing and the fees that go along with that. There’s a lot of ‘workarounds’ that make this work within the budget. Out of anything, I just feel we are slowly beginning, there are a million more things that I would love to do to grow and expand to take it to the next level. But the thing about that is, I don’t own the network (laughs). It’s not my decision, it’s not my call. When and if they want to go to the next level with it, I am there ready to go. It’s not the question of a meeting, it is more of a network decision. The network has been so supportive of the show, it has been the anchor for the channel. It’s been great for us, but it’s more of a question of where they want to take the channel as a whole. VH1 Classic has existed now for probably 15 years as a channel. I think it’s a broader question than just my show, it’s about whether they’re going to go as a channel. If they are really going to the next step and develop it further, or how they want to do things. We will see what they do as we go and I can only worry about things I can control. I’ll roll with the punches.
LRI: Do you have a flat-out idol? Even as a kid, who did you want to be?
Eddie: I certainly did love KISS for decades, and I continue to as far as the good stuff that I loved. The guys and I grew up having these real rock heroes, when it came to KISS it was definitely Paul Stanley. I was always a huge fan of Paul’s. Which is ironic because he is the guy in the band who dislikes me the most. So be it. But again keeping with honesty, I was always a fan of his back in the day and the performances, the singing and the songs. I was always a huge Aerosmith fan, and continue to be a huge Aerosmith fan. I have a big poster of Joe Perry on my wall. All the stuff that anybody who, well I’m almost 50, so anybody who grew up in the 70s and into exploring rock music would be in to: Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Van Halen. I was a huge Billy Squier fan, which I don’t talk about all that much because it never seems to come up, because his band Piper was the first band I ever saw live. And I still love Billy Squier’s music. And of course UFO, and so many other things as I began to discover stuff. All the 70s-based stuff is what really got me going.
LRI: Was it about the hook, song or band itself?
Eddie: It was always about the song, without a doubt. The vocal and the melody. I like heavy music, but I absolutely need some level of singing and melody. One of the big things I have a hard time with is some of the metal is that all these guys are screaming instead of singing. Once I hear screaming or growling, in large doses I am kind of out, you know? I need to have some melody, people singing on any music I really like.
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Right with you Ed. Even Pantera who I respect, the vocals are not my cup of Jack Daniels. My favorite Anselmo song is Stone the Crow from the 1st Down album. Great song, good vocal. Also agree on Paul Stanley. Was a good singer and a excellent rhythm guitarist. Not a fan of cookie monster vocals. Did you see Gene Simmons comment about how Humble Pie should be in the R & R Hallo f fame? Couldn’t agree more. Steve Marriott to me is up there with Early Robert Plant, Rodger Daltrey & Paul Rodgers as one of the greatest singers ever.
Eddie, since you’ve been present pretty much at the creation, you really need to present on one of your forums how the Cookie Monster growl became the norm for metal vocals. Not being in the industry, I just recall waking up one morning in the late 80s and suddenly every new band was sounding like Kreator, just like Invasion of the Body [Vocal?] Snatchers. Was the growl what the rougher looking guys used to be relevant, as hairspray was to the glam guys?
Totally agree with everything you said Eddie, especially about Billy Squier. “Don’t Say No” from ’81, IMO is a masterpiece, one of the greatest albums of all time!
I can deal with some of the aggressive styles of singing, but not all of it. The old school thrash guys, like Bobby Blitz, are great. They don’t have to be crooners, but it’s gotta at least fit the song and have some sense of melody. What’s considered metal today, the really extreme stuff, has vocalists that sound like they just cut the tip of one of their fingers off. But the worse is the way a lot of the newer death metal vocalists have gone beyond the cookie monster growl and don’t even speak words any more. I’ve heard some bands that has these guys doing this low pitched gurgling. It sounds like they have indigestion.
Eddie,
I couldn’t agree more about the need for melody in great music. I think this is something that was kinda lost in the 1990s. Bands were concentrating on being heavy, but lost the melody. I remember back in 2006, VH1 did a short history of metal (not nearly as good as the one Sam Dunn did in 2011). But Chris Jericho was talking about the rise of nu metal and said “detuned guitars replaced solos, tattoos and shaved heads replaced long hair, and cookie monster vocals replaced harmony and melody.”
I think, to a certain extent, heavy music never really got back to that. In the early 2000s, there was a brief movement called The New Wave of American Heavy Metal. To me, it was a bunch of bands trying to copy Pantera.
It does seem like, in the last few years, the genre of heavy rock has showed more promise than it has since probably the late 1980s. For example, Ghost is set to have a new album out soon. Can’t wait.
Thanks for flying the flag for a true heavy rock, which really gets lost in the shuffle today with all the pop tarts of the world.