TWISTED SISTER's JAY JAY FRENCH: 'Any Classic Band That Releases A New Record Is An Idiot For Playing It'

May 27, 2016

During a brand new interview with Goldmine magazine, TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French once again reiterated his belief that fans are not interested in hearing new music from veteran rock artists. He said: "Let's be honest. Any classic band that releases a new record is an idiot for playing it. I mean, they can justify it all they want but no one cares. Let me tell you, you're a bunch of stupid fools if you think that anyone gives a shit. They don't. They say they do, but they don't. Which is why most of these classic bands make a new album, go out on a tour, start out with five songs from the new record, after a few weeks there are two songs and then they just want to play that one new song and get it over with. Because no one knows it and no one gives a shit about it, and they're delusional to think they do. Another delusional thing is, let's alter the arrangements and be hip. No one gives a shit about that either. If you're a great entertainer, you'll give them exactly what they want to hear, exactly how they want to hear it. That's what great entertainers do. Idiot entertainers don't do that."

French also talked about TWISTED SISTER's decision to call it quits after a final round of dates, dubbed "Forty And Fuck It - The Final Tour". He said: "Whether you like it or not, once you reach a status of 'classic,' you really start to understand people — if you really truly want to understand why people like you. You can make new product, it's all well and good, but when someone spends 200-300 bucks for a ticket, they expect certain songs, they expect the songs played correctly, they expect you to be proficient, on time and professional — that's what an entertainer is. And I will tell you that the club scene taught us an enormous amount of discipline."

He continued: "You know, I can't emphasize it enough. Dee [Snider, TWISTED SISTER singer] became one of the greatest frontmen in the world because he learned how to do it on the club scene. We learned how to be great entertainers in the bars and we followed through. And I think the band just wants to say that we reached a point where we can't do it anymore in the manner that we feel we need to do it and we should probably be respected for that. Because I don't want to takes someone's money that I don't earn. And it's hard for some people to understand that. They want to keep you hermetically sealed in a jar with their memories forever. Which I get. I do get it. But I think at some point this year will be our last show, and I'll turn around to the other guys in the band and that'll be it."

Most of TWISTED SISTER shows in 2016 are featuring the core lineup of Dee Snider (vocals),Jay Jay French (guitar),Mark Mendoza (bass) and Eddie Ojeda (guitar),along with drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, ex-DREAM THEATER).

TWISTED SISTER's movie, "We Are Twisted F***ing Sister!", was released on February 23 on DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, and digital formats, with an included two hours of bonus material and director commentary.

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