STRYPER's MICHAEL SWEET: 'It's Very, Very Costly And Very Expensive To Tour'

In a new interview with Sean P McKenna, host of "Rimshots With Sean" on Barstools And Bandtalk, Michael Sweet of Christian metallers STRYPER spoke about the lasting damage to the live entertainment industry caused by a variety of economic problems, including inflation and high shipping and transportation costs. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The economics in this country, and in the world, but specifically in this country, just to kind of focus on that, because we tour mostly in the U.S., aren't good right now. And that affects what we do. Everything's more expensive. I don't remember the days when buses cost as much. And I'm not talking about the '80s. Of course, you go back that far, it is a night-and-day difference in in the cost of everything. I'm talking about within the past two years, three years. The cost of everything, some things have doubled. And it's very, very costly and very expensive to tour. And when you're only making so much money, a band like us, we're not BON JOVI and an arena band selling out arenas anymore. So we're playing clubs, pulling five, six, seven, eight hundred people. And when you get a 10-thousand guarantee or a 15-thousand-dollar guarantee and you've already spent 10 or 15 thousand dollars and you're in the red, it makes it very difficult to continue touring. And it's not really anything to do with the music business, but it's to do with the U.S. business."

Sweet, who has publicly stated that he voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, then went on to suggest — unsurprisingly — that he won't be voting for the presumed 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris this time around.

"The U.S. is in a world of hurt right now — a world of hurt — and why anyone would wanna repeat that and continue down that path just makes my head spin, spin in circles," Sweet said. "It's, like 'Wow, let's change it.' I'm not getting political or anything. I'm just saying it's not a good situation at all. So it's very hard. We've felt since the pandemic, and I don't think anything to do with the pandemic many times — some times but many times, most times nothing to do with the pandemic — just the economy, it's very hard to tour right now. Very hard."

In the early stages if the pandemic, global inflation declined sharply amid a collapse in demand and oil prices, according to World Bank. In mid-2020, however, it started to pick up as demand bounced back, supply disruptions deepened, and oil prices rebounded.

Two years ago, compounded by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, inflation reached a 40-year high in the United States. Globally, it grew in 179 out of 194 nations compared to 2020.

Despite high interest rates and inflation, the economy has been surprisingly resilient in the U.S. as a result of strong job and wage gains that have provided consumers the wherewithal to keep spending. Earlier this year, the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ all reached record highs with the Dow crossing the 40,000 threshold for the first time. The markets have rallied back from the recent lows of 2022 and the Dow is about 40 percent higher than when the pandemic started.

Trump has promised to fix inflation and bring back prosperity if he returns to the White House but has released few hard numbers and no real policy language or legislative blueprints. Last week, he told voters that he would bring prices back to pre-COVID levels if elected, drawing heavy skepticism from economists who have studied his proposals, according to Salon. His key policies — a combination of tariffs, tax cuts and a crackdown on immigration — are likely to cause a flare-up in inflation, according to many Wall Street economists.

Earlier this month, Sweet spoke to Ernest Skinner of Canada's Border City Rock Talk about the upcoming U.S. presidential election and alluded to his previous support for Trump, despite the fact that America's 45th president — with his history of casino ventures and two divorces, as well as allegations of sexual misconduct, one of them affirmed by a civil court verdict — could be seen as incompatible with the stated values of the Christian faith.

"Vote for policies. Stop voting for personalities," Sweet said. "If we voted for personalities, we wouldn't like anyone. We wouldn't vote for anyone. The personalities of a lot of the candidates, you dig deep and you find out things about them where they all have issues, and you may not like a particular person, but it doesn't mean that they're the wrong person for the job. Look at their policies, look at what they stand for, look at what they've done, look at what they haven't done and go with that."

Michael continued: "The presidents throughout time that weren't great people per se, they had a lot of sins, a lot of skeletons in the closets, a lot of things that happened that no one would be proud of, but at the same time, they were good presidents. They did great things for [the country], and they certainly tried to. And that's my point.

"When you're looking for an attorney to win a case, you're not hiring that attorney because he's a nice guy or because he doesn't say mean things," Sweet added. "You're hiring that attorney because he's won every case and you just want the best and you wanna win your case. That's what America needs right now. We need an attorney that's gonna win our case. And that's who you should vote for."

Last fall, Sweet was asked by Real Music With Gary Stuckey how he goes about working together in harmony with fellow musicians like Tracii Guns (L.A. GUNS) who represent completely opposing viewpoints. He responded: " I've said this before. I just said it recently in a post. It comes down to respect. And I make mistakes. I blow it. I say things that might come across as disrespectful, so I'm not perfect. I'm not saying I am. But it comes down to respect. You either respect people or you don't. I see a lot of disrespect from all sides."

He continued: "I see disrespect towards Christians. I see Christians disrespect non-believers. I see Republicans disrespect Democrats, Democrats disrespect Republicans. I'm a Republican. I voted for Trump first time around. I don't know who I'm voting for this time around. But when I say publicly, if someone asks me, 'Who'd you vote for?' I'm not gonna sit there and fidget and lie.

"I'm not a believer in you can't mix politics with music," Sweet added. "That's just stupid. It's part of your life. Talk about that. Be open about it. What are you so afraid of? And I said, 'Yeah, I voted for Trump,' and boy, I took a beating for that — some of my friends. Some of my friends were, like, 'Oh, what a moron. He's a Trumptard,' or whatever these disrespectful words are that you can use that you've heard. That's mindblowing to me, man. That's why we have so many issues in our world. Everyone talks about peace and a better world and being politically correct and being respectful of everybody, but yet people are more disrespectful now than they've ever been. It's insane."

Stuckey also asked Sweet why he thinks his public opinions on religious, social and political issues have made so many headlines in the rock and metal world in recent years. He responded: "I mean, honestly? Because of my faith, mostly. Because I take a bold stand for Christ. And that's an easy target. That's something that's funny, something that's easily mocked. 'Oh, my God. What a whack job. He believes in a genie in the sky. What a kook. Oh, my God. F this guy. They suck.' And then it leads to that. Like, we've got gold and platinum albums on the wall, but we suck because we stand for Christ."

He continued: "It's just so hypocritical and such a joke. But that's the world we live in. This is the way it's always been from the very beginning, and it's the way it still is. So all you can do is try to change it, try to be a light in the dark and try to inspire people and encourage people and always take the high road instead of the low road. And I fail at that. I totally fail at that, 'cause it gets under my skin, and I'll react the wrong way or say the wrong thing. But, man, I really try not to. I try hard to be a good guy and to spread love and light instead of negativity and despair. I'm working on it. I'm trying."

Four years ago, Sweet defended his support of Donald Trump, saying that the real estate mogul had "done a lot of good things for America."

Despite the fact that he is twice divorced and had faced over two dozen accusations of sexual misconduct, Trump was white Christians' preferred candidate for the 2020 presidential election, with some insisting that the president was a Christian hero who was standing up for religious rights.

Asked in an October 2020 interview with Slabber.net why he voted for Trump in 2016 and why he believes Trump is a Christian, Sweet said: "I have put it out there already that I voted for Donald Trump four years ago. I voted for him because I had really become fed up with politicians. I feel like most, if not all, politicians are there to tell us what we want to hear so they can get into office, and once they get there they don't deliver. So, when Donald Trump came around, I thought, okay, this guy is not a politician and he's going to be different, and that's why I voted for him.

"I don't think his delivery is often good," Sweet continued. "I wish he would stay off Twitter. The way he presents himself, the way he speaks, and some of the things he says get under my skin as much as anyone else. But I do feel Donald Trump has done a lot of good things for America, especially for the economy.

"I think it's very easy to blame someone for the economy tanking due to a pandemic that's not their fault. This pandemic would have come along regardless of who the president is, and the economy would have tanked regardless. No president in the world could stop the coronavirus coming but Donald Trump has been easy to blame. I don't feel that is justifiable and I feel that it's wrong.

"Joe Biden is an example of someone using Trump and this virus to suit his agenda of getting into office," Michael added.

"There's a lot of people out there who don't like their boss, but their boss is in that position because they do a good job for the company they work for. That's kind of how I view Donald Trump. I don't love everything he says or does, but I voted for him. But by saying all of that, and being Michael Sweet of STRYPER, that opens the door for me to be attacked. I'm okay with that. I'm not gonna run from what I do or say. I'm not afraid to be challenged for my decisions."

Back in November 2016, Sweet drew criticism from some STRYPER fans for posting a picture of Donald Trump and congratulating the real estate mogul for "working his ass off for the presidency of the United States of America."

In March 2020, Sweet praised Trump's actions that served to ramp up the federal government's response to the COVID-19 epidemic — even after Trump was criticized by some parts of the media for downplaying fears about COVID-19 or actively spreading misinformation about its repercussions.

In May 2020, Sweet said that he would like to see his band represented by Trump's fourth White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany.

In October 2020, Sweet praised Amy Coney Barrett, who narrowly won confirmation to fill the vacancy left by the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, for answering questions during confirmation hearings "with poise, grace, patience, humility and intelligence."

In 2017, USA Today reported that nearly three-quarters of Republicans are white Christians, but white Christians account for fewer than one-third of Democrats.

Photo courtesy of Frontiers Music Srl