Guitarist EDDIE OJEDA Suggests Possible Future For TWISTED SISTER

As part of his month-long Bananiversary Celebration, rock 'n' roll comic C.C. Banana spoke with guitarist Eddie Ojeda about his current projects and the possible future of TWISTED SISTER. A few excerpts from the interview follow:

C.C. Banana: Eddie, what are you currently up to?

Eddie Ojeda: "Well, I have a solo CD out now called 'Axes 2 Axes'. It comes in a digipack with a full-color booklet. These are expensive to make and it costs me a lot to bring this to you. This is not cheap shit! But I'm willing to take less to bring the fans a quality package. I also have a new instructional DVD available, featuring four TWISTED SISTER songs. And of course, TWISTED SISTER itself is still together and touring. This summer we'll be heading to Europe and playing the festivals there, as we've been doing for the past several years. It never stops!"

C.C. Banana: In November 2001, TWISTED SISTER reunited to headline the 9/11 benefit concert known as New York Steel. How was the band able to work together as a team after so many years apart?

Eddie Ojeda: "Actually, when we got back together it was quite pleasant. Maybe not the first couple of rehearsals, of course! Those were a little awkward. But then we started joking around and having a great time and before you knew it, everybody was getting along. It was like, 'Wow, we kind of like each other again!' At first we thought it was going to be really hard, but fortunately nothing too unforgivable had ever happened between us. Nobody had ever slept with somebody else's wife or anything like that. With us, it was always just the stupid little shit that got in the way. So we actually got along pretty well and we realized that we all still liked each other."

C.C. Banana: Five years later, is anybody in particular getting on your nerves?

Eddie Ojeda: "Oh, definitely! I don't want to mention anyone by name... (laughs) You know, the stupid little shit just starts coming up again. But we're a lot more mature now so we just blow it off. We know that we all have our little personality flaws. I even have a few myself! Hard to believe, I'm such a nice guy! But by and large, it's all good."

C.C. Banana: What's the deal with BENT BROTHER, the so-called TWISTED SISTER tribute band that actually features all the members of TWISTED SISTER? Is that for days when it's just too much work to put on the make-up and squeeze into the spandex?

Eddie Ojeda: "That's definitely part of it. It's also good around Christmas time when we need a little extra dough! Plus we can perform in clubs and more intimate venues like that. It's nice because we can just come in and play without the hassle of getting into costume, you know? Like we just walked in right off the street! People seem to dig it."

C.C. Banana: In an interview last year, Eric Brittingham of CINDERELLA said that he once worked with you on a song for an Ace Frehley tribute album. The track was to have featured you, Eric, Sebastian Bach and Rob Affuso but for some reason the label chose not to include it on the CD. What song was this and how bad could it have been that they refused to release it?

Eddie Ojeda: "The song was 'Shock Me' and it actually turned out really well. However, there was a disagreement between Sebastian and the producer of the record. At a certain point, Bas called me to say that they were not going to be using the song. I think that maybe the producer wasn't happy with the mix or something. But I don't know what he expected, it was pretty much dead-on to the original. Sebastian was happy with it and he sang great on it and I did the solo pretty much note for note. But we still got paid for the session and we had a fun time doing it."

C.C. Banana: TWISTED SISTER played what they claimed to be their "final area appearance" in Montclair, NJ on August 21, 2005. Then on November 26, 2005 they played another "final area appearance" in nearby Poughkeepsie, NY. And on December 16, 2005 they played yet another "final area appearance" at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ. Plus, the TWISTED SISTER website lists a bunch of dates for 2006. Not that we're trying to get rid of you or anything, but exactly how many more "final area appearances" does the band plan on making?

Eddie Ojeda: "Well, according to THE WHO you can keep doing that forever! In our case, Dee said that the Montclair gig would be the final New Jersey appearance for TWISTED SISTER. He made that announcement during the show itself! I didn't even know, that's how we all found out! We were all onstage looking at each other like, 'This is our final New Jersey appearance?' So I asked Dee if this really was our final New Jersey appearance and he said, 'It is for me!' So I thought, 'Okay, I guess we're not playing Jersey anymore.' As for Poughkeepsie, well... that's in New York! Then when we played New Jersey again in December at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, that was actually billed as BENT BROTHER. We never said that BENT BROTHER was retiring. BENT BROTHER can still play anywhere!"

C.C. Banana: Have you ever worn the Dee Snider Halloween costume?

Eddie Ojeda: "No, I haven't. And I don't think I ever will!"

The entire interview is available at CCBanana.com.