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18 фев 2025
KYLE THOMAS Says ERIC WAGNER Was 'Encouraging' To Him When He First Joined TROUBLE
Referencing the fact that some TROUBLE fans have never fully embraced the version of the band with him on vocals, Kyle continued: "This is a band that people are either gonna accept that there's a new version or they're gonna be polarized in the opposite direction and go, 'No Eric, no TROUBLE.' I heard that so many times: 'No Eric, no TROUBLE. No Eric, no TROUBLE.' Man, you know what? Whatever. I get it. I get it. I fucking get it. I'm a fan, so I get it. So, I don't wanna fight with people over that. I just wanna go out and pay tribute to a band I grew up listening to, pay respect to their legacy and Eric's legacy. And for him to reach out to me, unannounced and uninvited, and say, 'I'm with you, bro,' that meant the world to me. And then when I hung out with him in person — I don't know — maybe two or three years after that, we literally… He invited me. First of all, he said, 'Let's get a picture together.' Took a picture. [CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's] Pepper Keenan took the picture. And then he's, like, 'Come on, let's go sit at the bar.' And we sat at the bar and talked about anything that was notTROUBLE. And that meant the world to me. He just wanted to meet me and hang out with me and — I don't know — just be humans together. And we share a lot of common interests: Edgar Allan Poe, THE BEATLES, PINK FLOYD, life in general, as we philosophized on it. And maybe the philosophies were not that important. Maybe just having a drink and being, 'What do you like? What do you not like? What do you like to eat?' It was that simple. It was not about TROUBLE. And for me, that was the greatest Eric experience I could have ever had."
TROUBLE returned to the live stage on January 25 at the Cobra Lounge in their hometown of Chicago, Illinois. It marked TROUBLE's first live appearance in nearly a year and a half. TROUBLE also played two shows on the 2025 edition of the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise, which took place from January 30, 2025 to February 3, 2025, sailing from Miami, Florida to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and back.
In a recent interview with Scott Davidson of Chicago's Rebel Radio 92.5 FM, Thomas spoke about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the long-awaited follow-up to TROUBLE's 2013 album "The Distortion Field". He said: "So, on and off for several years now — I mean, probably better than a decade — there's been pre-production very slowly just kind of creeping down the line here. So, I don't know — there's about eight to ten songs, maybe, on this thing. And they've been trickling the recorded music versions of them to me so that I can get myself in gear and started [on vocals]."
As for a possible release date for the new TROUBLE album, Kyle said: "I couldn't give you a timeline on it. I'm always scared to do that anyway, because it seems like every time you say something's gonna happen at a certain time, it doesn't. I think more importantly, we're busy, we're working on it, and that's something that really hasn't happened for a long time. But, yeah, we're ready to get this thing going and give everybody a quality TROUBLE record. It's been a long time."
Regarding where he gets the inspiration for his lyrics in TROUBLE, Kyle said: "Well, I think it's safe to say most of what I write comes off my sleeve. I like to write from my life experiences. That doesn't mean that everything that I write has something to do with my life in particular. It might be current events that I'm looking at, it might be something that happened to someone I know that's inspired me to jot something down. So, it's never really one thing, but I do try to at least have most of the lyrical content have some meat to it. But on another hand, there are times when I'll scat into a microphone when I'm listening to a new piece of music and whatever comes out, if it sounds cool, I'll try to find words that match what I scatted. But you try to keep it interesting, you try to not get into a pattern. I think more than anything, you don't wanna be in a pattern that's looping the same thing over and over again. I think that gets a little boring, perhaps.
"I used to work with a producer when I was younger, and he had a word that he used when we were experimenting, and he liked to call it 'blowing things up,'" Kyle continued. "Like, 'Let's blow this up. Let's blow that up.' And all that really meant was, 'Let's experiment with this idea and see if it sticks.'
"For me, my passion is a lot more aligned with songwriting and production and the magic that you make with your music in that regard, more so than trying to be a virtuoso at this or that," Thomas added. "That's less important to me than the quality of the craftsmanship of the material that you're working on. So, I don't know — maybe one day I'll figure out the songwriting enough to be able to live off of it. But that's definitely more important than just trying to be killer at something."
When Davidson noted that Kyle sings the classic TROUBLE songs the way they were originally sung, Thomas said: "I'm a TROUBLE fan. Before I was really even in bands, I was listening to TROUBLE. And I'm definitely a fan of [original TROUBLE singer] Eric [Wagner] and Eric's work, his legacy, the band and its legacy. So, for me, it was never an option of… I'm not gonna sit there and pretend to sing like Eric or pretend to be Eric. I think that is a disservice to Ericand to me, but to me, what Eric did in the song, the spirit of TROUBLE through him, through his voice, through his soul, is what I like to honor. I wouldn't dream of trying to put my own spin on it, per se. Now, again, like I said, I'm not trying to imitate him, but at the same time, there's a certain way the songs need to be sang.
"There's people that probably never will love me in this band because I'm not Eric," Kyle acknowledged. "And I mean, I can't help that. So, the good news is those old records will never let you down. Listen to those old records and stay home. And the people that wanna come see the show, they'll come and enjoy it. I've met people on the road that are old, old friends of the band, old friends of Eric's. They came up to me after a show and they go, 'Man, we didn't want to like you, but you do such a good job, it's obvious that you care about the songs and the band.' And I'm, like, 'Yes.' That's priority number one."
When TROUBLE announced its co-operation with Hammerheart Records in January 2020, it was already planned to record a new LP in the summer of 2020. However, that did not happen due to several reasons, including the coronavirus pandemic. But recording finally started in July 2022, according to founding guitarist Rick Wartell.
Back in February 2019, Kyle, who joined TROUBLE in 2012, told "The Metal Magdalene With Jet" about the band's plans for a new album: "This time they've actually written songs with me in mind as the singer instead of, 'These songs were written when Kory Clarke was in the band, but that didn't work out, so let's give it to Kyle and have him back-cleanup, I guess.'"
TROUBLE's first studio album in six years, "The Distortion Field", landed at position No. 25 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200. Released in Europe in August 2013 via FRW Records, the 12-song follow-up to 2007's "Simple Mind Condition" was helmed by veteran producer Bill Metoyer (SLAYER, W.A.S.P., ARMORED SAINT, DARK ANGEL, SACRED REICH, CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER, D.R.I.) and marked the recording debut with Thomas following the departure of Clarke.
TROUBLE played its first show with the band's new lineup in October 2013 at the Day Of Doom festival in Barcelona, Spain.
TROUBLE formed in 1979 and released several classic albums like "Trouble", "Manic Frustration" and "Plastic Green Head".
Wagner left TROUBLE in April 2008, citing his disdain for the touring life as the main reason for his departure.
Eric, who was TROUBLE's original singer, died in August 2021 after a battle with COVID pneumonia. He was 62 years old.
According to Wagner's TROUBLE and THE SKULL bandmate Ron Holzner, Eric was generally opposed to institutionalized medicine but he wouldn't make an exception for the COVID vaccine.
"We argued about it, and he stood his ground on the matter," Holzner told the Chicago Reader. "I always joked, 'The World According To Eric Wagner — you should write a book.' He lived his life his way."
Wagner, who smoked cigarettes and occasionally drank and vaped, had health issues, but had begun taking better care of himself and switching to a plant-based diet, Holzner said.
Photo credit: Erik Hernandez
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