Twisted Sister - Jay Jay French Interview

by Tina Whelski

Have yourself a head-banging holiday with Twisted Sister. The unlikely carolers give the season’s classics a heavy metal makeover during their second tour supporting A Twisted Christmas. (Because seriously, what self-respecting metal fan wants to hear about “twelve lords a-leaping”). Guitarist and founder Jay Jay French talks about how a band that was once mad at the world re-interprets peace on earth.

How did A Twisted Christmas happen?

About a year and a half ago we were rehearsing for our summer tours in Europe and thought it would be a fun if we did a Christmas record…Much to my surprise it was like whoa, “Come All Ye Faithful” was really the inspiration for “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” So we played “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and we sang “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” on top of it and it was like, ‘Oh my God that really worked.’ So we approached the record as if we asked Judas Priest and AC/DC and other bands that we love to do a Christmas record. How would they sound? “Silver Bells” sounds like AC/DC. And “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” sounds like Judas Priest. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” sounds like the Ramones. “White Christmas” like Iron Maiden and “Let It Snow” sounds like Thin Lizzy. So we had fun with it. In the very beginning I was saying, ‘Is this really going to work? Or is this really just going to destroy our careers, what’s left of it’ (laughs). We did it with a lot of care and it worked.

How did you give the classics a Twisted Makeover?

Well Twisted is Twisted anyway. Dee sounds like Dee. And Eddie and I play guitar like we play. And Mendoza and A.J are the best rhythm section out there and they pummel. So it’s not going to not sound like us.

“Heavy Metal Christmas” was a highlight for me. Obviously you changed a few lyrics.

We had real fun with that one. Dee said, ‘We’ll write it just as a heavy metal fan would.’ When we do it live it’s hysterically funny. It was just a matter of group thinking and taking certain phrases, ‘nine tattered t-shirts’ and ‘three studded belts, ’‘two pairs of spandex pants’‘ and a tattoo of Ozzy. Twisted is such an interesting mix of bands because the band can be amusing. On the other hand it can be brutally heavy. There’s a darker side to the band that allows us to play death metal festivals in Europe that most people don’t understand. Anyone who really wants to understand the band has to figure out how we can play Six Flags on a Saturday and then go play a death metal festival in Europe. The person who figures that one out wins the prize.

What goes through your mind as you get into that hair and make-up each night after all these years?

Um, the same thing that’s been going through my mind ever since I was twenty which is ‘What the hell am I doing?’ It’s almost like I can’t go onstage without doing it anymore. I feel like any other way isn’t real. I transform into this guy called Jay Jay French. I understand from people that that guy is a different person than me. And I’ve been doing it so long I don’t even think about it. But we celebrated our 9000th show last year. It makes me feel like I’m in the heavy metal version of Cats or something. So when I’m in the mode of changing over it’s weird. You have to get a game face on. It’s kind of like walking into a football locker room and they’re putting pads on and the black tar under the eyes. Usually they’re the nicest guys in the world, but they’re getting ready to kick ass! And I think that’s what happens. We’re nice guys. We don’t sacrifice animals and burn churches down like these death metal bands. We’re just guys from New York who play soccer with our kids. But you have to develop a game face. And I guess over the years we really perfected the game face. And we go out there and we do. We take no prisoners. We play this heavy duty locomotive freight train metal that we play and then we go home. We do it around the world in 23 countries and it’s a never-ending wonder to me to be honest. Every time we go out and do this stuff I always say, ‘How do we do this stuff.’ And then we do it and I go, ‘Oh that’s how we do this stuff.’ You would think after all these years I would know how we do it. I have no idea.

You’ll also perform Twisted Sister’s hits during the show.

A real fan just wants the hits…And that’s what we do. We go out there for an hour and forty-five and just kick your ass.

Larger-than-life rock shows always elicit a larger-than-life response from the audience. What happens when you add a bit some Twisted holiday spirit?

I don’t know. We just have fun with it…Ten years ago if you’d have asked me if there would be a reunion I’d say it would never happen. Five years ago if you asked me, ‘Would we play more than one show?’ I’d say it would never happen. Four years ago if you asked me if we thought we’d ever make a DVD and a new CD, I’d say that would never happen. Three years ago if you asked me if we’d continue to headline festivals around the world, I’d go, ‘That would never happen.’ I’ve given up on this ‘never happen’ business. I have no idea what is next. People say to me, ‘Well we hear it’s over.’ And I say, ‘Listen, it’s over every December.’…Then somewhere in March or April promoters start calling and we keep saying no. And they keep saying yes. And we keep saying no. And they keep upping the money. And I say, ‘How much do I need to get paid to walk around stage as a middle-aged transvestite?’...I just don’t know on a year-to-year basis what Twisted’s going to do. So at the end of these four shows it could very well be the last shows we do, I just don’t know.

Join Twisted Sister’s classic line-up—lead singer Dee Snider, guitarist Eddie Ojeda, bassist Mark Mendoza, drummer A.J. Pero and Jay Jay French—at The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza on December 20 and 21.

Here's the video for "Oh Come All Ye Faithful"



And some classics, "We're Not Gonna Take It"



and "I Wanna Rock."



Originally published in The Aquarian Weekly.

Aimee Mann - Interview

by Tina Whelski

Aimee Mann celebrates the yuletide with her second annual holiday tour. The festive variety show features Christmas classics from her album One More Drifter in the Snow and a new line-up of guests, including comedians Paul F. Thompkins and Fred Armisen, and musicians Josh Ritter, Ben Lee and Morgan Murphy. Mann talks about sound-tracking the season and spreading good cheer.

You wanted to make a record that reflected “the range of emotions that people have at Christmastime.”

When I started talking to producer Paul Bryan about the record and the kind of things that we could do, you know, first of all it’s mostly about the songs. So we listened to Christmas songs to see what songs were out there that we felt were good enough just as songs. There are lots of Christmas songs that are really annoying and not really good songs, not pretty melodies or anything. And the other thing that we talked about was the tone of the record. To me the nicest Christmas moments growing up were listening to certain records that my parents played. Johnny Mathis is one that I remember distinctly. Dean Martin, Julie London, people like that. That tone. Having that kind of approach to a Christmas record. Rather than trying to modernize it or make it groovy or whatever. I never really was a fan of that. Christmas was always about nostalgia to me. And I think it is for most people. And then thinking about the feeling you have when you’re a little kid. It’s very exciting, but it’s also a weird, mysterious holiday because a strange man comes into your home. It’s almost supernatural. So I wanted to try to capture that feeling, as well as that mellow, sitting-by-the-fire-drinking-egg nog-kind-of cozy feeling.

You perform mostly covers on the album. How did you capture the nostalgia of the songs but still make them your own?

It’s all about choosing the band and working with the players and getting the beautiful things that happen between musicians when they play live together in the studio and are listening to each other. Cool little unexpected moments happen. With these particular players, it’s really just about the personalities involved.

How does your original tune “Calling On Mary” fit into the collection?

I thought if you have a Christmas record there has to be at least one original song and I wrote that with Paul Bryan. We just sat down and started playing around with some music. It sort of has a traditional theme. Like It’s a Wonderful Life kind of stuff. Where this person is walking around town feeling depressed and awful and then has sort of a revelatory Christmas spirit moment.

What is one of your first Christmas memories?

I would always wake up in the middle of the night, because you’re excited as a little kid, and look out the window and up at the stars to see if I could see the Christmas star. That happened almost every year. And that’s why Christmas to me had this really mysterious kind of beautiful quiet to it, because I had those moments.

When you put a bunch of people together and that holiday spirit fills the room I’m sure it’s amazing to see.

Yeah. Absolutely. The tour last year and this year, it’s a very old-fashioned idea, to have this variety show with a bunch of different people. I love playing shows like that because I love the ensemble feeling. I love people interacting with each other and having a bunch of different things happening, rather than just one person playing for the whole night. It really imparts a Christmas spirit to everybody.

Aimee Mann's Holiday Tour warms the Grand Ballroom in NYC on December 14.


Here is a sampling from Aimee's holiday album.



And even though this report is about Aimee's holiday show, I couldn't resist posting the video for "Save Me" from her classic Magnolia soundtrack.



And from the Forgotten Arm album, "She Really Wants You."




Interview originally published in The Aquarian Weekly.