A Dirty Dozen with ERIC JAYK from WILDSTREET – August 2019

According to a recent press release: “WILDSTREET began in 2006 and released their self-titled debut album on Retrospect Records in 2009. The band spent the next 4 years touring nonstop & performing at US festivals including: Rocklahoma (5 consecutive years), SXSW & M3 Rock Festival. In March 2019, the band sold out The Knitting Factory Brooklyn and then headed out on their first tour in Europe, playing 10 shows in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, including Sleaze Fest 2019 in Bochum, Germany. Upon returning to NYC, WILDSTREET filmed the official music video for “Tennessee Cocaine.” The official video and 1st single will be released worldwide on August 23rd.” We get singer Eric to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Tennessee Cocaine is pure narcissistic adrenaline. Its instinctual… sexual… It’s fast…hot…sexy.. and it will it fuck you up just how you like it..so good! One taste and you won’t go back to that second rate rock you been shooting, smoking or sniffin’.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Musician? I thought this interview was about my “image.” 😂😂 (lord help us all) thank you for being real! I started playing guitar when I was 8. My early influences were prince, Michael Jackson, GNR, Hendrix, Crue and Aerosmith.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

At any early age I watched my mother listen to her Tina Turner, Rod Stewart and GNR albums… As I child, my 1st album was Purple Rain. My 1st three concerts: Poison, Cinderella & Lollapalooza. Need I say more?

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Only if you tell me yours first?!?!? Lol. Let me make it east for everyone..in the past WILDSTREET accepted critics comparisons to other bands they know. and perhaps we brought that ourselves with our first record. I’ll break it down simple and crush all the comparisons out there! To me, Prince is the only musical influence that really matters to what I do.. he’s hands down the greatest frontman ever, among the greatest guitarists ever, a great songwriter, producer.. and always looked great.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Prince

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Hey all press is good press… except when they coerce me or put words in my mouth that I didn’t say… (yes, these things happen!).

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

The truck stops, sleeping on floors, cheap hotels, not showering… (jk) the shows ..the adrenaline.. the happiness one brings to those who love your music.. 🙂

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

When the band is hanging out… Jonny cooks up a ton of shit… Jimmie builds us new shit… Lock & Dom talk a lot of shit… I don’t like eating much.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

Perhaps, the funniest was when I almost ran over Sebastian Bach in a mini-van at The Chance Theatre in Poughkeepsie, NY in July 2018! Oh wait… star struck I get it… wait what’s the question?

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

I’d probably join five seconds of summer.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I make no mistakes. To be a great leader that has to be your mindset. And honestly, everything happens for a reason.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Michael Jackson’s Dangerous. It represents Freedom, evolution and non-conformity. As soon as anyone tells me who I am or tries to make me be something they understand. I change and reinvent myself.

WILDSTREET LINKS:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Category: Interviews