WRIF Virtual Rock Room with Static-X's Tripp Eisen
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00:00Thank you so much for watching Riff TV.
00:02Now, this interview is obviously with video, but I don't interview everybody on Zoom.
00:07That's why I put it on my Talkin' Rock with Meltdown podcast.
00:10We talk to rock artists from all over the genre.
00:13So check out Talkin' Rock with Meltdown wherever you get your podcasts.
00:16And now, to today's video interview.
00:20Hey, Tripp, good to see you.
00:22I think that here in the radio station, we got one of those Static X gold records hanging up on the wall somewhere.
00:29Yeah.
00:30Cool.
00:30I don't know.
00:32Yeah, it looks familiar.
00:33What city are you at?
00:35We're in Detroit.
00:36You've probably played Harpo's how many times?
00:40Oh, yeah.
00:40Harpo's, yeah.
00:41Yeah, Harpo's.
00:43We played, what's the big, the famous place downtown?
00:51We played.
00:52Like Joe Luz Arena?
00:54No, the place where Kiss played.
00:56Oh, Cobo Hall.
00:57Yeah, Cobo Hall.
00:58That was amazing.
01:00Yeah.
01:00Yeah, weren't you guys, I'm just reminiscent, I can't really recall.
01:03Were you guys in an OzFest tour one year?
01:07That OzFest happened before I was in the band.
01:09Okay.
01:10All right.
01:10I thought that there was some sort of Static X OzFest thing, so.
01:13Yeah.
01:14They played the final OzFest, too, in 2007.
01:17So they played one in 99, and then in 07, they played the final one.
01:22Yeah, gotcha.
01:22Yeah, were you, did you play any OzFest dates?
01:25Nope.
01:26No?
01:27No.
01:28Just missed that.
01:29We did, when we did Cobo Hall, I think it was, I think it was the Family Values tour.
01:35Oh, with Limp Bizkit?
01:37Lincoln Park, Stained, Stone Temple Pilots.
01:42Wow.
01:43Yep.
01:43In 2001.
01:45Yeah, that's going back.
01:46Yeah, I remember seeing Ozzy and Rob Zombie that year.
01:48I probably saw that tour, as a matter of fact, if I recall.
01:52But anyways, so what's going on with you?
01:54I mean, you know, you have been in about 18 different bands.
01:57Right now you've got Face Without Fear.
01:59You've got a lot of things happening.
02:00What's going on in your world?
02:01Yeah, I'm promoting a bunch of things.
02:05I'm in three projects right now, so it keeps me pretty busy.
02:10But each project is its own thing.
02:13And the guys, I'm friends with all the guys in the different projects and stuff.
02:18And, you know, it's just a lot of good vibes.
02:20So I'm out there promoting all these different things and trying to juggle, you know, doing some shows.
02:26We're actually doing a show tomorrow, Face Without Fear, in Jackson, New Jersey.
02:32Oh, okay.
02:33Yeah, it's pretty.
02:34Jackson is where a great adventure.
02:36Six Flags, down that way.
02:39But, yeah, it keeps me busy doing some shows with my old band, Ruff House.
02:44And I got a new project.
02:45So, yeah, I've been doing, little by little, doing some interviews, getting out there.
02:49Yeah, getting back in the swing.
02:50Yeah, so speaking of live music, I was watching the live stream you guys did a couple years ago.
02:55And it just brought back terrible memories when all the guys were wearing the masks and everything.
02:59And the guys doing the live streams with no crowds and stuff.
03:02Yeah, there you go.
03:05It's just like, I just want to like, I just can't stand it.
03:09You know, it's like watching that now, looking back on it.
03:11It just brings terrible memories back, I think.
03:14But what was it like doing that live stream with no audience or nothing there?
03:20Well, yeah, it was like shooting a video.
03:21But the mask thing is kind of interesting because I remember it was a couple years, like a year or two before COVID hit, right?
03:30And I went to see ministry play because Tony Campos was in ministry.
03:34Yeah.
03:34And we went to see ministry play.
03:35And they all started the show like this.
03:38But that was to look like Antifa, right?
03:40Right.
03:41Because Al was like, oh, Antifa.
03:43They have a song about Antifa.
03:45So they came out trying to look gangsta and like rebels.
03:49And they came out like that.
03:50You know, like push forward a year and a half later.
03:52They're like, people are all doing that.
03:54Going to the, you're walking into the bank like this.
03:56Like, hey, put the money out.
03:59And someone puts glasses on.
04:00And they're like, hey, going up to the ATM.
04:03It says in the ATM, like, no wearing dark sunglasses.
04:06You know, they even tell you on the ATM, they're filming you.
04:09So they want to see what's up.
04:10And now it's like, you can wear a mask everywhere.
04:13It's crazy.
04:13But this brought back memories of like, never mind over the face.
04:17But just wearing a bandana like this is like the 80s, you know?
04:21Yeah.
04:22Yeah.
04:23I don't know.
04:23I grew up in Western New York.
04:24We didn't wear bandanas, I don't think.
04:26I know.
04:26Where'd you grow up?
04:27Did you grow up on the East Coast?
04:29Yeah, in Pennsylvania.
04:30Yeah.
04:31Like Eastern Pennsylvania, like right on the border of Jersey.
04:34So it's like the Poconos and the Slate Bell and stuff.
04:37It's like pretty cool area.
04:40Allentown, you know, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
04:42Yeah, I do.
04:43Yeah.
04:43Somebody wrote a song about it.
04:44I can't remember who that was.
04:46Billy Joel.
04:47Oh, so you grew up where?
04:50Western New York, outside of Buffalo.
04:52Oh, okay.
04:53Okay.
04:54Yeah.
04:54I would go up to Rochester a lot.
04:57Yeah.
04:58Back in the early 90s, there was a place called the Penny Arcade.
05:01Yes.
05:02And have you ever been to the House of Guitars?
05:04Yeah.
05:04No, I haven't.
05:05I heard so much about it.
05:06Like people in different bands and then Virus, who was in Dope.
05:12And I knew him since like 92, 93.
05:15And, you know, I think he worked there.
05:17And, like, I hear so much about it.
05:19I just never got there.
05:19We were there so many times.
05:21And I just, we just didn't get over there.
05:22We were just busy.
05:23But I heard, is it still there?
05:25I think it's still there.
05:26I've never been there before.
05:27I followed on social media and stuff for whatever reason.
05:29But they've got, they had the, well, of course, you know, not to get too much off on a tangent here about Rochester.
05:34But that's where the song Jukebox Hero came from because Lou Graham was from Rochester and he was standing outside the Rochester War Memorial hearing a band play one time.
05:42And that's where that whole song came from.
05:43Oh, okay.
05:44Jukebox Hero.
05:45Oh, wow.
05:46Yeah.
05:47Rochester, like, there's two things about Rochester.
05:50Wegmans.
05:51Yeah, that's right.
05:52That's a New York thing.
05:53No, Wegmans is always down here in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
05:57I mean, Wegmans is huge down here.
05:59Everybody loves it.
06:00And then Nick Taho's, you know, I guess that's, but that's like the whole area, right?
06:04Buffalo wings, Buffalo, like hot sauce.
06:06Nick Taho's is just, was a place to go.
06:09But yeah, that was, that was a cool little thing, you know, back in the day.
06:11But, but yeah, getting back to Detroit, it's weird.
06:14I had a crazy dream about Detroit the other night.
06:17A friend of mine who had passed away, I was dreaming.
06:21I was driving through Detroit.
06:22And does Detroit have any steep hills?
06:26Not really.
06:26It's pretty flat.
06:27Well, I was in this dream.
06:29I was in Detroit and I was going up the steep hill while the car and the brakes were bad.
06:32I was like, oh my God, I'm going to go back.
06:34I turned the wheel so it would roll into the curb.
06:36And ahead of me was a stadium.
06:38Is there any stadium downtown?
06:39Yeah, there's a, yeah, there's a, you know, Ford Field and where the Tigers play and stuff
06:43like that.
06:44Yeah.
06:45Well, I was, I pulled up and there was this giant stadium.
06:47I made a left, ride with my dad.
06:49And like, and I saw my friend who passed away, walk in the streets of Detroit.
06:53I'm like, is that him?
06:55I thought he was dead.
06:56And I pull over quick.
06:57I said to my dad, watch the car.
06:58Cause there was no parking pulled into a bus stop.
07:01And I ran down and my friend was there.
07:02I'm like, what are you doing in Detroit?
07:04I had to start my life over.
07:05I'm like, you lied about being dead.
07:07It was a crazy dream.
07:08But are you, are you a spiritual guy?
07:11Do you think that, you know, uh, people that have passed away, come back to you in dreams
07:14like that?
07:16I don't know.
07:17I don't know.
07:18I don't necessarily believe that, but it's, it, I think it has deep meaning of, you know,
07:23you're like, like unsettled things.
07:25You know, I, I've had many dreams about Wayne, you know, about just there's Wayne and I'm talking
07:31to him.
07:32He's, he's alive.
07:33And I'm like, he didn't know that he died.
07:35He's back to life.
07:35I, all these different scenarios.
07:37I went back in time.
07:38I was like so many dreams.
07:39I have dreams about Wayne, about my other friend who passed away.
07:42Yeah.
07:43I have dreams, like these dreams about my grandparents.
07:45So yeah, it has deep meaning.
07:47I love dreaming about, you know, people had have passed away.
07:50Cause then you get to talk to them again.
07:52It's just surreal.
07:53But I definitely think it has meaning, you know?
07:56Yeah.
07:56What was your relationship like when Wayne with Wayne, when he passed away, were you in touch
08:00with them or?
08:01I had making a positive move for sure.
08:05I went out to see him play.
08:06Um, he had a, uh, the band, uh, his solo band, which was the pig hammer album.
08:13And he had played Allentown actually.
08:15And I went down to see him play.
08:17Didn't tell him I was coming.
08:19I didn't make any announcement.
08:20I just showed up kind of incognito in disguise.
08:23Like, you know, wearing, I put my hair up and I'm wearing some glasses.
08:27Just don't look like a nerd.
08:29Cause I don't want fans to recognize me either.
08:31Yeah.
08:31Put your bandana up.
08:32Right.
08:33Yeah.
08:34But no, this was actually, it was Valentine's day, 2012.
08:39And, um, I went to the show and coincidentally, the tour manager at that time was the same
08:45static X tour manager from back in the day.
08:47So I don't want him to recognize me, but I handed him a letter.
08:51I wrote Wayne a little note and I put it in an envelope and I planned this out and I
08:56handed him this letter.
08:57And he's like, all right, kid.
08:58Yeah.
08:58Give me, he called me like kid.
09:00All right, kid.
09:01And I said, just give this to Wayne.
09:03And, uh, hold on.
09:05Stop.
09:06Did he know the tour manager still didn't know who you were?
09:08He just thought you were some random fan.
09:10I would.
09:10Yeah.
09:11So in disguise, he didn't recognize me.
09:12So how do you think he was, do you really think he was going to, do you really think he
09:15was going to hand you a hand, a note to Wayne?
09:19I, yeah, I thought he would.
09:21And I thought he would, I just, uh, cause I know him.
09:23He's very on point type of guy.
09:25All right.
09:25Fair enough.
09:27Yeah.
09:27He's very on point.
09:28And, uh, he, he, he said, all right, kid.
09:31So then I'm sitting out in my car in the parking lot and I see him running across the parking
09:36line to the tour bus and back.
09:38And I see the guitar player who I recognize that I never really met him.
09:42And I'm like, I can't do this to Royal.
09:45His name was Royal Jets.
09:46I can't do this to Royal be here.
09:47And then I'll find out why didn't you tell me you were here?
09:49So I like, I go up, I get out of my car.
09:51I go up to, I go Royal.
09:52He goes, Hey, I'm busy right now, kid.
09:55I go, it's me, dude.
09:57He's like, trip.
09:59Oh.
09:59And he hugs me.
10:00And it was like, well, wait a, hold on a second.
10:02I want you to meet somebody.
10:03And he goes and gets Wayne's guitar player ashes.
10:06And he, oh, dude.
10:08Oh, I love you.
10:09You know, you, you, he's, he's a fan too.
10:11And he was talking to me about, you know, it's so great.
10:14We brought your song, the only back into the set.
10:17Cause I love that song.
10:18It's my favorite static X song.
10:20And he goes, you got to talk to Wayne.
10:21And they were like, come on, come on to the bus.
10:25And like, yeah, come on the bus.
10:26I'm like, you're going to bring me on the bus.
10:28Well, what was your relationship with them at this point?
10:31Did, were you guys just kind of excommunicated?
10:34Yeah.
10:34We were just not in contact.
10:36So like showing up, having his guitar player and the tour manager,
10:39bring me on the bus unannounced sounds a little inappropriate.
10:42Like maybe he's going to be him and his wife might be a little bit ticked about
10:45that.
10:46But I'm like, but I was incognito.
10:49And I'm like, I don't feel it's the right time.
10:51I regret it now.
10:52Cause I didn't go.
10:53I didn't, I didn't go.
10:55I was like, no, it's okay.
10:56There'll be another time.
10:58So I said, did you give him that note?
11:00He goes, so later he gave him the note that I, and the note was very simple.
11:03Just like, Hey dude, it was great to see you.
11:05I'm glad to see you're still doing it.
11:07And it was really nice to see you play tonight.
11:10You know, I didn't give him my number or anything.
11:12Cause you know, I, I, I figured it's not the right time.
11:14And you could contact somebody if you need to.
11:17And I know those guys to get ahold of them.
11:20So I let it go, but it was a note.
11:22And then he said to me later, I talked to Royal after that tour, but I don't know if
11:27you, a lot of people paid attention back then.
11:30And that was right before a gigantic drama happened where there was drugs found on the
11:36bus and they got run down all these charges in Kentucky.
11:40And Wayne had to fly back to face chart, all these charges.
11:43And there's what they're having drugs mailed out and Royal had to quit because he don't
11:48want to get charged with anything.
11:49So it's like all this stuff happened at once.
11:52But after the tour, I talked to Royal, I say, you know, you know, sorry to hear about all
11:57this, but what, what happened when he gave him the note and he goes, you know something
12:00I gave him that note and he goes, this look came across his face.
12:04Like, Oh, trip was here.
12:06And he read the note and he was like, Oh, trip was here.
12:09And then Tara was like, Oh, what's, what's he, what is he stalking us?
12:14I'm like, no, but I would have liked to meet his wife and, and, uh, you know, just see
12:18him if I was stalking them.
12:20Maybe I would have went on the bus, but, but, uh, and that was the last time.
12:24She never got a chance to talk to him again.
12:25You know, right.
12:27And, and I, and I, I mean, I don't want to let it, you know, eat at me, but I felt like,
12:33you know, the fact that he reacted positively to this note that I gave him and, you know,
12:39we have such a history.
12:40It's kind of like one of those things like, dude, you know, like dude, you know, like if
12:45we saw each other again, just like I saw AC Slade out at a club or I saw, uh, when I met
12:52up with Edsel, um, when I, you know, like recontacted everybody and just sometimes it
12:58would just happen spontaneously for my, Hey, Edsel wants you to come out on the tour and
13:02he wants you to, you know, put you on the list or, you know, this person I made contact
13:08with people.
13:08And, you know, when you see someone's like, dude, how are you doing?
13:11It's good to see you.
13:11And I feel like that could have happened with Wayne, you know, you know, cause obviously
13:15he wasn't, he looked at the note and he was like, Oh, Tripp was here.
13:19Like, like, why didn't he come on?
13:21Like, almost like he was, you know, why didn't he come on and say hello or something, you
13:24know?
13:25And I, I wish I would have, but I was kind of, you know, I was a little bit self-conscious
13:29in 2012.
13:32So, but then he passed away two years later and I got that call.
13:36I mean, Tony called me, we were all in contact, you know, I was talking to Tony at the
13:40time.
13:40I reconciled with Tony in 2013 and then, you know, I had devices to put, I had in my
13:47mind, I want to, you know, work with these guys again, you know, I want to work with
13:50them.
13:50So I, I reconnected with Tony and then I reconnected with Ken J and, you know, just started talking
13:57to everybody again, but Ed Soul, AC, all, a lot of people that I used to play with, you
14:02know, pretty much I was starting to be in contact with everybody, you know, little by
14:06little.
14:06So a lot of good vibes.
14:09Now, this might be a dumb question.
14:11I don't even know.
14:12You probably answered this before, but how come you're not involved in the, in the current
14:15static X?
14:17Yeah, basically.
14:20So, so you go back to 2014 when Wayne passed away and you know, we were all talking on the
14:27phone back then.
14:27Cause it was a tragedy and we were, but I, I was already talking to Tony at the time.
14:33And then Ken J, you know, I start talking to him.
14:36I think I was talking to him anyway, too.
14:38And it hit him very hard.
14:40So right then before the year was over in 2014, Wayne had passed away in early November.
14:48We were already talking about getting back together and doing like a tribute thing for
14:52Wayne.
14:52Back then we were going to do maybe a couple, maybe a six city tour and just go and, you
14:58know, find somebody to sing the songs and go out and do like a farewell or a tribute to
15:03Wayne with the, you know, all the, whatever original members there were me, Tony and Ken
15:09and maybe Nick Oshiro on drums.
15:11Like I haven't switched off on drums and have Koichi and me both play guitar and have somebody
15:15come out and sing.
15:17So it was, it was going to be like a tribute concert.
15:18And then, you know, something happened.
15:22We just, you know, we've, we felt like, all right, well, we should be talking to his
15:26Wayne's widow.
15:28And then they had a little bit weird relationship because Tony and Koichi, they had a bad, you
15:35know, ending with everything, you know, static X.
15:37So they didn't want to deal with all that, but then she did a, she did a concert, like
15:43a tribute concert for Wayne in Hollywood.
15:46And it was like, all these people were out there, but there's no members of static X
15:50invited.
15:51But I talked to Ash's, the guitar player.
15:52He said, Oh, you should have came trip.
15:55Well, I wasn't invited.
15:56And it's like, there was not a lot of communication back then, but there was some bad blood between,
16:00you know, his ex, his widow and the ex members of static X.
16:04So, you know, but, you know, there's always bad, weird things with bands when they break
16:09up.
16:10I got so many stories like that, how I left, just how I left dope, how I left murder dolls.
16:15And then I reconcile with Joey Jordison later.
16:18So yes, there's a lot of crazy, interesting stories, but you, you, you want there to be
16:22good vibes.
16:23You want there to be some reconciliation, but back to your question.
16:26I was involved with the static X reunion.
16:31So 2016 happens like 2014, Wayne passes away 2015 in the beginning of 2016, Tara Ray passes
16:40away.
16:41Wayne's widow, you know, she died.
16:43He's no longer with us.
16:44So she passes away.
16:47Later in the year, I call Tony up and I'm like, dude, like, I love this music.
16:53Let's, let's just start working on some things.
16:55Would you be into getting the band back together in some form?
16:57Let's just start working and see what happens.
16:59Let's work on stuff.
17:00Let's put the band back together.
17:03Obviously you want to use Ken J and, and just see what happens with the singer.
17:06You know?
17:06So I, I'm the one who made the initial phone call to Tony.
17:10He said, let's just, let's do this.
17:11And looking now they're back together.
17:13So I got the ball rolling.
17:15It makes them uncomfortable because we had a falling out because there was some miscommunication,
17:19bad communication, some, you know, misunderstandings and stuff.
17:25So 2016, me and Tony are working on a bunch of songs.
17:29It's feeling great.
17:31We get Edsel involved in the production and stuff.
17:34Ken J's hearing all the music we're working on.
17:382017, 2018, Wisconsin death trip anniversary is coming up.
17:45So they're like, well, let's do this anniversary, Wisconsin death trip with Koichi playing guitar.
17:51Cause that's the 20th anniversary and original members.
17:53So you can step aside and come back in for the machine anniversary.
17:57Cause that's, you know, that's the album I was on, which is that that's when I came into the picture.
18:02So, um, but then there's like, then all of a sudden miscommunication happened and they're changing songs that I wrote and they weren't communicating with me.
18:11And, uh, it just, it, it got very upsetting to me because I'm like, what's going on?
18:18What, why are you changing these songs?
18:20And they were getting other people involved, other singers.
18:23You're going to have guest singers, maybe Jonathan Davis, Corey Taylor, all these names are floating around, but it never materialized.
18:31You know, they all may be passed on it, you know?
18:34So, but I'm like asking questions, why are you changing the songs?
18:37And that's where all the bad blood happened.
18:39I had the lawyer up and then, oh, you're lawyering up.
18:42And then all of a sudden there's lawyers contacting.
18:44It's like, oh my God, it goes from me getting, having the idea to bring them back together to like now lawyers and, you know, everyone's freaking out.
18:51And, uh, so yeah, it kind of got, you know, kind of got heavy and it's really sad because I reconciled with all these guys and now I'm not even talking to them.
19:01So it's kind of, so that's, so I'm trying, I'm doing interviews and I'm doing some podcasts, doing some interviews, getting things out there, uh, doing some press releases.
19:09And, you know, unfortunately these guys are like, you know, I don't know if you, I don't know if you saw any of it, but I did a couple podcasts recently.
19:16And both podcasts I did ended up being blabbermouth articles, you know, and getting out there.
19:23So it's like, you know, it's like, I just want to get, you know, my, my version of things out there, which to me, it's the truth.
19:30This is what I did.
19:31I wrote these songs with these guys.
19:33So, but now they're saying this and saying that it's, it's unfortunate, but, but, you know, I, I persevere.
19:39So I got my own, one of my projects, what I was saying, I got three projects.
19:42I got face without fear, my original band.
19:44And I got rough house, my old school hair metal band, but I have a third project, which
19:48I call project X.
19:50And that's pretty much me going to release the static X stuff that we were working on.
19:54You know, we were working on this stuff.
19:56It morphed into something else that they're doing.
19:59And I got my songs.
20:01I wrote with Tony and Wayne and Ken J and Edsel.
20:05So I got a bunch of songs that they may never put out or maybe they will, but they're my songs
20:09too.
20:09So I'm going to put them out.
20:10You know, I got a singer, I got a bass player.
20:13I got a drummer and we're going to do kind of a static X sounding project because that's
20:18what I wanted to do.
20:19And they, you know, kind of, uh, gave me the two step here thing.
20:23So, you know, you never know.
20:26Now is that, is that the new stuff that you're working on right now?
20:28Or are you working on new stuff with a face without fear as well?
20:31Yeah, both.
20:32I mean, we're in the studio.
20:33I'm in the studio with both projects, working on stuff.
20:36Face without fear is nearly complete.
20:38We got, you know, 11 originals and we do some cool covers, but I have in project X, I got
20:4620, almost 30 songs in session, maybe over 30 that we're working on.
20:53Some have vocals, some don't, but I have a singer that has a very Wayne style vote voice.
20:58I got a great drummer, a bass player, and, uh, they're all down with this.
21:05And it's like, it's exciting.
21:06You know, we're going to, we're going to do these songs kind of in the original vibe of
21:11how they were, they were meant to be, how Wayne and I were working on it, or me and Tony
21:15were working on some songs.
21:16So each song has this individual history.
21:19Some of them are from back 20 years ago.
21:21Some of these songs are from 20 years old.
21:23Some of them are from the recent, uh, project, uh, that me and Tony did in 2016 when we reunited
21:29Static X and we were working on a bunch of great songs.
21:32I mean, the vibe was great.
21:34Um, working on it with Tony was some things.
21:36So, and that was like, now you're looking at, you know, six, seven years ago.
21:40So will Wayne and Tony have writing credits on some of these songs?
21:44Absolutely.
21:44Yeah.
21:44I mean, it's their, it's their songs.
21:47It's my songs.
21:48It's like copyrights are shared, you know?
21:51Um, so I have, you know, I got these songs that they're not, they're not being used.
21:57So I'm going to record them.
21:58I mean, some of them were recorded already.
22:01They're extra songs from start.
22:02I don't know how familiar you are with the Static X catalog, you know, start a war album.
22:07That's from 2005.
22:09That's the album I worked on.
22:11Um, and there's a couple extra songs on there that never got released that are finished.
22:16They ended up on the new Static X album, but they changed them around a lot, you know?
22:21And I feel like I don't like what they did with them.
22:23That's part of the dispute I have with these guys.
22:26So I'm going to be doing the original versions of these songs.
22:29They were copywritten in 05.
22:30So they're, you know, they're my songs or Wayne songs.
22:33So we're going to do the original versions of those songs, which is going to be cool.
22:36Cause nobody's ever.
22:37Any timeline as to when that will be coming out?
22:40Not, not really.
22:41We're working on it.
22:42I, I, I might release a song as early as a month from now, you know, one of them, get
22:48them out there, you know, because they're really cool.
22:49I want people to hear them, you know?
22:51So, um, but yeah, we might trickle them out like little by little, do it, get released
22:55song and do a video for it and, uh, kind of get the band that my project out there.
23:00We don't have a name for the project.
23:01I got a couple ideas.
23:02So the name for the band is not decided yet.
23:06I just call it project X right now.
23:08And so project X is in, is forming and working on this stuff.
23:12So, but I'm pretty sure, uh, we'll have a song within a month, you know, it's getting
23:17close.
23:18When you look back on your career and you've been in a bunch of projects, you've been doing
23:21this for a long time.
23:21What was like the peak of your career?
23:23Was it the early two thousands?
23:26Yeah.
23:26I mean, joining static X, uh, for machine, um, they were on top of the world.
23:32They just came off Wisconsin death trip, platinum album.
23:36So it was great.
23:37We came out, we were on two tour buses.
23:39It was like touring the world, touring all over the place.
23:42And that was obviously a highlight.
23:44It was amazing.
23:45You know, going out, playing these songs, playing, they just had two albums.
23:48So playing the songs from the first two albums in the set every night was awesome.
23:53And then the next album shadow zone, I get to make my debut writing debut, or I got to
23:58write songs.
23:59And, uh, the first song I wrote with static X was the only, that was the first single.
24:03And it's one of the biggest songs, you know, to this day, it's the biggest song on YouTube.
24:08So it's like, it means something, you know, so that's, I mean, there's two big highlights
24:14joint, joint static X and torn with them on machine and doing the cold video, the queen
24:18of the damn soundtrack doing, uh, black and white, all that stuff.
24:22I mean, it was so much fun, you know, and then doing shadow zone, um, Nick Oshiro came
24:28in on drums.
24:29He was, he was a great guy to play with.
24:31And then we toured on shadow zone and played all over the world with that.
24:34That was a highlight playing my own songs on stage.
24:38So it was like, what do I like better?
24:40I'm not, I'm going to tell you, it's like playing my own songs on stage or playing their
24:45songs on stage.
24:46It was equally just as good.
24:47I mean, it was, it was fun doing both those things.
24:50And, uh, you know, so those, those are two big highlights, but playing with dope.
24:54I mean, when I joined dope and we went out on tour 99, that, I mean, the memories there
24:59meeting static X and torn with kid rock and Alice Cooper and all the bands slip me slip
25:06nod and cold chamber and fear factory and seven dust and power man 5,000 and torn with all
25:11those bands was, was amazing.
25:13It's like, that's a highlight.
25:15It was tougher touring and it was more of a struggle because we're farther down the bill
25:19and the shows are more, it just goes crazy, but that was a lot of fun, you know?
25:23So like, I feel like I was blessed.
25:25I mean, I did a lot, I had a lot of cool things and then the murder dolls was great.
25:28I never got to tour with the murder dolls, but working with Joey Jordison and getting that
25:32project going, that was, that was a dream.
25:34It's like, I mean, I feel like, um, a lost opportunity because I didn't get to tour with
25:40them because static X was in the studio.
25:43I had to quit the band murder dolls.
25:45I had to quit because static X is, you know, writing schedule and stuff.
25:49So I don't want to miss out, you know, if you had to choose like something like as a musician
25:54performer, like what's more important, writing songs or performing?
25:57I mean, everyone likes to be on stage, but writing songs, you know, is, is the bread and
26:02butter.
26:02It's also like the heart and soul of everything.
26:05You know, you want to write music, you know, get your music out there.
26:08So, so what's going on with Wednesday 13th?
26:11Cause I hear all this stuff.
26:12Are you in contact with him or no?
26:14Yeah.
26:14I've talked to him a little bit recently.
26:16Yeah.
26:16He's a, he's a, you know, he did put out a new album, did a tour, you know?
26:21Yeah.
26:22He's a, you know, the struggle between him and AC and the trademark of murder dolls, you
26:28know about that, right?
26:29Yeah.
26:29Yeah.
26:29Yeah.
26:29I talked to AC about that last year.
26:31Yeah.
26:31And he, he, he was kind of doing the same thing, talking to guys like me to get it out
26:35there and put his side of the story out.
26:36Yeah.
26:37Yeah.
26:37I mean, there's, uh, yeah, it's obviously a dispute that's not going away, but it's
26:43like, you know, it's unfortunate because AC Slade is, uh, I, I got a complete history
26:50with him.
26:51You know, it's like, I go back to 1991.
26:53He tried out for a band I had in New York city and, uh, we lived through the, going through
26:58the nineties.
26:59He played a bunch of bands.
27:00We did shows together and, uh, you know, I pretty much got him into the band dope.
27:05So it's like, you know, he, he, uh, he and I like shared a lot of, have a lot of memories
27:11and stuff, but, but the current thing with murder dolls, it's, it's a tough thing because
27:16like, you know, I would love to talk to AC, but he's made himself like, kind of like in
27:22a situation where he's got a, an agenda with this, with murder dolls and he's putting this
27:26out.
27:26And I guess he just, he's banking on, you know, there's, there's enough people that
27:30just love everybody and don't want to dispute and here's murder dolls, check it out.
27:36But there's a weird thing, you know, Joey Jorison, not being around, you know, it's, it's a, what
27:42would Joey think about this?
27:44You know?
27:45And I kind of, it's the same thing like the Pantera guys.
27:49I, I don't know.
27:51We don't need to go down that rabbit hole, but, uh, but it, but wrapping things up here
27:55cause I'm running out of time with my zoom, but, uh, you know, if there's a, what can you
27:59tell the fans about what you got coming up this year and, and what, what do you want to
28:02leave the fans with as far as from your side of the story, from anything that you, that
28:06you want to get out there?
28:07Yeah.
28:07Basically I got a website called tripeisen.com T-R-I-P-P-E-I-S-E-N.com.
28:14My name tripeisen.com.
28:15Just got that up, right?
28:17Just a few weeks ago.
28:18So yeah, that's going to be a hub for everything.
28:20It'll have a lot of content and it's going to build, but I'm doing a podcast.
28:25So with all this controversy going on, dope, murder, all static X and all this stuff.
28:30So I'm going to have an outlet to talk about it.
28:32It's fun doing interviews and talking about it and taking questions about it, but I'm going
28:37to put myself in a forum where I'm going to have people that were in the trenches or
28:42there, friends of, friends of, um, people that knew Wayne and Tara, people that were
28:48there with dope and people were there with murder dolls and people that know intimately
28:52what was going on 20 years ago with a lot of this stuff.
28:55So it's not just Tripp's version.
28:57Oh, this is just Tripp's opinion.
28:58I'm going to have people on the show talking.
29:01I'm never going to talk by myself.
29:03I'm going to have somebody on.
29:04It's going to be a conversation going on and keep it short form and, uh, talk about
29:08things.
29:08I'm going to have guitar techs and assist personal assistants and people that knew Wayne
29:12and Tara, people that were there from the nineties, all the ways to the very end.
29:16So it's not going to be like, Oh, it's not legitimate.
29:19That doesn't have street cred.
29:20What's Tripp talking about?
29:21I'm going to have stuff that's credible.
29:23So they're not going to be able to say like, Oh, what is that?
29:25No, these are people that are legit and it's going to be interesting conversations and
29:30stories, the interesting stories that need to be told about dope, about murder dolls.
29:36That's cool.
29:36But static X is obviously my favorite thing I've ever done.
29:39So it's called the dope on static X podcasts play on words, the dope on static X podcast.
29:45So I'm going to do maybe a limited episodic thing, maybe 10 or 12 episodes only see how
29:51it goes and, and make it it's a limited run.
29:53I'm not going to be going on and on.
29:55So get the story out there and make it interesting.
29:58And, uh, so tripeisen.com will be a hub for that.
30:01I'll probably be on a lot of platforms like your, your, your podcast.
30:05You got to get it out there.
30:06You got to, you know, push it as much as you can face without fear.com face up here is
30:12all over social media.
30:13I love it.
30:13The guys are great and we're putting out great music and then project X will be coming
30:18up.
30:18There'll be some cool music and that'll be a whole, who knows where that's going to go.
30:23It's exciting.
30:23We don't, I mean, we don't know.
30:24Are we going to play live?
30:25We're just going to do videos.
30:26The guys are like flexible.
30:28We don't know where that's going to go for you.
30:30You know, I don't know if it's going to, you know, it's going to, it's not going to interfere
30:32with your face without fear.
30:33It's going to be two separate entities, but either way, it's, you know, it's going to be
30:37a lot of fun.
30:38I got to, I got to be playing music, you know, just to, just to turn it in like, Oh, no,
30:42I got to keep playing music.
30:44I don't want to play covers.
30:46I hear you.
30:47Well, I'll tell you, when you get all this stuff up and running, like maybe in the fall or something,
30:50come back and revisit and we'll, we'll talk about everything you got going on.
30:54Definitely, man.
30:54I appreciate it so much, man.
30:56It's like great, great talking to you.
30:57Yeah.
30:58Great to make your acquaintance after all these years.
31:00I've been in this business a billion years.
31:01Like you haven't, I never had a chance to run across you.
31:03So trip, good luck to everything.
31:04I appreciate the time.
31:06Yeah.
31:06Thank you so much.