In a new interview on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes talked about his time in the band.
He said:
“You take the first album of W.A.S.P., and it was a group of guys — a group, a band.”
“And after that, the second album, it wasn’t a group — it was a one-man show. And it’s been a one-man show after that ever since. It’s the way it is. Look at the records. It’s the way it is in that band.
“W.A.S.P. never played any shows until I was in the band, so where does a band start — when they record or when they do their first show?” he continued. “I came in before the first show, and it was ‘one for all, all for one.’ But then when money came into it and fame, people changed — they change real bad. And I never changed. I don’t change. I haven’t changed the way I think, the way I am. I’m not gonna change. I am what I am.
“During the [making of the] second [album], I was told the manager wants to use Blackie‘s [Lawless, W.A.S.P. frontman] image [on the cover], which the manager didn’t tell me that — Blackie told me that.”
Chris added:
“Everybody thinks we [all] signed to the label, but it wasn’t [like that]”
“I never learned about the business till about 10 years ago.”
“How do you learn about the business? You’ve gotta be in there with the manager and all that stuff, so I was always kept from that… I put my trust into somebody, and [I found out later that he was] sticking a knife in my back. I didn’t find that out until 2010 or ’11.
“Once [W.A.S.P.] became [all about] one person, [my attitude was] ‘Hey, I’ll just do my thing, and leave me alone. I’ll play my guitar.'”
He concluded:
“If I would have quit after the first album, the way I play guitar, the way I play is really important to writing those songs.”
“If I hadn’t joined in the beginning, it would have never worked. Blackie told me that the first day, when he came and talked to me to play in W.A.S.P. He says, ‘I’ve got this band. It’s not gonna work unless you’re in it.’ He told me that to my face.”