TWISTED SISTER Guitarist: 'We're Stuck With Having To Play With Each Other Some More'

Metalshrine.com recently conducted an interview with TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metalshrine.com: So, right to it. What's going on in the world of TWISTED SISTER?

French: "Oh, just the realization that we have to play more (laughs). Oh my God, I have to go to the gym again, get that liposuction, you know, all the stuff that goes with that. Pay for hair removal, the wig, the lipstick. All the stuff that the women have been dealing with for years. The realization that the last ten pounds have to come off and then I have to fly to some god forsaken country in order to jump around like a middle age transvestite. What a thrill! That's the world of TWISTED SISTER!"

Metalshrine.com: Sounds unbelievable!

French: "Is that the interview? Thanks, I appreciate it! (laughs)"

Metalshrine.com: Alright! The Christmas DVD is coming out. Is it out in the US already?

French: "Yeah, the Christmas DVD is out and doing very well. The CD is back on the charts again, because it's a perennial because it turned out to be a hit. It was kind of like... not only did we not expect it to be a hit, but we thought for sure it would destroy what was last left of our credibility, but unfortunately it became successful. And now we're stuck with having to play with each other some more. I thought we'd never have to play again and look where we are now! More popular than ever, you know. You gotta do it and that's what's happening. "

Metalshrine.com: Cool! Actually, the first time I saw you guys live was at Sweden Rock Festival and that was a real blast!

French: "That was the first major gig we played for the reunion. It was a little rusty and of all the gigs we played it was raining and it wasn't the best show and basically as we came up on stage I said to myself 'Man, we haven't played in a while!', not in a big arena like that and there was some work that had to be done. We did the work and we got it together and of course the shows all came together and now they're all famous. It was huge! The German crowds, everything we do now is gigantic and big and especially in Europe it's overwhelming."

Metalshrine.com: It's got to be nice to come back and see that there's a lot of people that still want to come see you guys?

French: "Well, I have to be honest with you. When you're fifty years old and you can look at your next door neighbor and say 'What are you doing this weekend?' And they say 'I don't know. I'm gonna play some tennis!' And I go 'Well, I'm gonna play for 50,000 people in some country. I'll see you on Monday!' That's something that most people can't do. So I think that's cool."

Metalshrine.com: Yeah, definitely! I read somewhere that the Christmas album sold somewhere around 150,000 albums and that's a lot these days, considering downloading and all that stuff.

French: "Yeah, and there's a reason for that. Seriously, around Christmas time people like to give product, giving a gift, and giving a digital download isn't exactly a Christmas present. It may be in ten years, but it's not a gift now. So, here's the big secret to retail, make music around the Christmas holidays and you'll sell a lot of product, because people like to give the gift and so, it's a perennial gift. And the video we did for it was a hit and then the DVD is selling very well and it's going to be very successful and eventually that gave us new life."

Metalshrine.com: Since that record did so well, other bands would immediately put out "A Twisted Christmas 2". Would you consider doing that?

French: "I may. It's just hard to do this stuff. It's hard to get together and do this stuff. On the other hand these are great songs and there's enough on this record that we can continue and make a video once a year for the next ten years and keep marketing it. I don't know! There may be a volume 2."

Read the entire interview at Metalshrine.com.