Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

Eric recently took some time out of his very busy schedule to talk with KISS ASYLUM and complete an in depth interview for all the online fans, including answering some questions which were submitted via email by fans specifically for this interview.

As you will see, Eric really covered the bases in this one on such varied topics as: the meaning of his tattoos; thoughts on hip-hop and “sampling;” his upcoming tour with Alice Cooper; his infamous watch collection; Gene as business man; drumming gear and technique tips; Russian women; his brutally honest “tell it like it is” walk through the nuts and bolts of how the music business really works; and, of course, ESP and his other musical endeavors. Read on for the “Essential Eric Singer Interview.”

KA: Everybody knows the work you’ve done with artists like Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath and KISS, but how were things when you first started and were trying to make a name for yourself. Particularly why did you play with the bands Drive and Stream?

ES: Well, the band Drive was like a heavy metal band, kind of influenced similar to like an Iron Maiden-ish, Queen type band. I was just hired as a studio drummer. I mean, even now, I still do studio work. It’s the same type of thing with a band called Stream I played for recently. When you do studio work that means you play virtually almost any type of style of music and you have to be not only capable of being a chameleon and adapting to the situation, but you have to realize that a lot of times you may do things that maybe aren’t of your personal musical taste. For example, that band Drive. Those guys were really good at what they did, but that’s not particularly the kind of band that I personally would want to play in. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t still go in and do a good job and enjoy myself and have a good time. The bottom line is that I’m a drummer for a living. I am a musician for a living. I play drums and I look at myself as a professional drummer; I make a living by playing music. (more…)

©Elizabeth Sneed/Elizabeth A. White – Please do not reproduce without express written permission.

Brent Fitz, the “Mystery Drummer” behind UNION’s heavy kick, was kind enough to take some time out of his schedule recently to do a phone interview with The UNION Asylum so that UNION fans could start to get to know him a little better… and you’re gonna love this guy! Brent was very excited to get a chance to share his thoughts, and was a real pleasure to talk with.

Being the “young gun” of the band, Brent brings a really cool perspective to UNION, and he had a ton of great information to share about the band and himself including: his musical background (guess who has a degree from the Royal Conservatory of Music), how the guys all met, the saga of borrowed drum gear, very cool details about the recording of many of the songs, and, being Canadian, hockey!

UNION Asylum (UA): Brent, thanks for taking the time to do this interview.

No problem. Is it too late for you? I know it’s like already 11:00 p.m. there.

UA: No, I’m a night owl. This is cool. I’m glad you wanted to do this so people can get to know you a little better. The ground rules are really whatever you want.

That’s totally cool, Beth. I read John’s interview a couple days ago and I thought it was cool because he was just so open and said what was on his mind.

UA: Yeah, and I knew Bruce was the kind of person who would not be involved with people who were jerks so I was expecting John to be cool, but he was even cooler than I was expecting.

Yeah, definitely. The first time I met Bruce that was my first impression from him, and then I was kind of on guard, probably like yourself, with John just a little bit because of the Mötley reputation kind of thing, like he’s a “bad boy” or he’s gonna have maybe some sort of ego or whatever. And he did not, from the first time we met he didn’t. (more…)