Day of the Rocker
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 10:06AM Bring Back Glam! spoke with Twisted Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda a few hours before the legendary New York rockers hit the Rocklahoma stage. During the interview, Eddie spoke about Video Years, why Vampire's Rock and the importance of specialized rock radio.
Bring Back Glam!: Tell me about playing Rocklahoma.
Eddie Ojeda: Well, so far…it looks like it’s going to be great. Looks like a great crowd. It’s so nice there’s finally something like this in the States. There are so many European festivals that go on every year… We’ve (Twisted Sister) played all of them, headlined all of them, and it’s just great to be finally doing one here in the States that’s running so well, so smoothly. I’m glad to see everyone get together here.
BBG: Rocklahoma is your only U.S. date this year?
Eddie: Yep, just Rocklahoma.
BBG: What about the U.K.?
Eddie: We have one U.K. date. This year, like last year, we’ve done a lot of festivals, or a lot of one off shows. It was pretty brutal. We almost wanted to take this whole year off, just give it a break from ourselves, and then come back in 2008. We decided to do this show, and one other one in England. I myself am doing this thing called Vampire’s Rock, starting in September. I’ll be doing 39 shows with that.
BBG: Club dates?
Eddie: Nope, arenas. This is a big production. There’s a website, www.vampiresrock.com, and it’s a big theatrical production. Kind of like Rocky Horror, but not gay. Or less gay. No offense to anyone.
BBG: Not that there’s anything wrong with that!
Eddie: Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being gay.
BBG: Tell me about the new Twisted Sister DVD.
Eddie: Yes, the Video Years. It just came out. It’s basically a commentary of all our old videos, plus interviews and commentaries. It’s very cool. I watch the footage and I think “Man, I was cute!” It’s great to finally have that on an official DVD release. We plan to put out another DVD, a Christmas DVD, probably called A Twisted Christmas: Live. It’s all the best shows from last year.
BBG: Does the success of the Christmas album surprise you?
Eddie: Yes, I was pleasantly surprised. When we did it, it was for fun. We hoped people would “get it.” Some people would ask “Why are you doing a Christmas album?” It was fun. The attitude was that no one has ever really done a hard rock/heavy metal Christmas album. We did it with a lot of different songs in mind, and we rearranged everything. It was cool and very fun. We recorded it in August –
BBG: Which is very holiday like –
Eddie: Oh yes! A nice holiday feeling, August in New York.
BBG: Dee Snider really pushed Rocklahoma hard on his House of Hair radio show. Do you think Dee is instrumental in bringing back glam?
Eddie: I think so. I think there are a lot of people responsible, and not just Dee. There’s bands like Poison and Queensryche, guys that have faith, kept playing and kept us all alive. I think it’s cool, with a lot of the 80s music, a lot of kids that were too young…You know, they saw the videos or whatever, this festival is giving people a chance, that could never see the bands at one time. Or bands like us (Twisted Sister), the 80s were very entertaining. The whole thing about 80s bands – hair bands – they were all very entertaining. You’ve got to say that.
BBG: Do you like the term hair band?
Eddie: Uh, it’s kind of like…I don’t hate it. Well, I don’t really think about it that much. The term makes it seem like that’s all you have, you know? Some of the guys don’t have that much hair anymore! (Laughs)
BBG: Well, do you think Dee’s radio show and the Hairball John Radio Show are getting young people back into this music?
Eddie: Sure, I think it all helps. The more people are aware of a certain genre of music and the power behind it, the better. Great guys like Hairball John are promoting us, helping with the message.
BBG: Bring Back Glam!
Eddie: Absolutely, Bring Back Glam!
Reader Comments (4)
Yeah, going to shows in the US, it's pretty clear to me that a lot of younger folks are getting into this music. Obviously, most are not, but the number that are, is pretty big. Growing up in Australia in the early 80s (yeah, I am old), it was the same, I was into stuff like Sabbath and Purple, as well as the newer bands, and I didn't know anyone who was into the same stuff, unless I went to a metal shop or show. So, it hasn't changed that much. If it explodes again like it did in the late 80s, who knows ( I think that there's a constant cycle going on between punk and metal ), but it will never die.