In a new interview with Metal Kaoz, TROUBLE singer Kyle Thomas spoke about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the long-awaited follow-up to the band’s 2013 album “The Distortion Field”. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): ”Real progress has been made. The music is nearly finished being recorded. I have gotten into the recording of the vocals.
“Things happen very slowly in the world of TROUBLE,” he explained. “I always say that TROUBLE years are like dog years in reverse. [Laughs] It’s true. But it’s happening.
“I’m never a big fan of saying ‘it’ll be out by this time.’ I can’t say that,” Kyle continued. “Not to mention I’m the singer of the band. I’m not a part of the business side of TROUBLE — that’s not my job, and that’s the way it should be. But for me, my job is to do the best work that I can do for TROUBLE and honor the legacy and create great music with people I love playing with and look up to.
“Rick [Wartell] and Bruce [Franklin], to me, are probably the most criminally unheralded guitar duo in rock history, and that’s true. Any TROUBLE fan knows this. So, here we are. We’re putting together another album, and I’m very excited about it.
“I don’t wanna overhype it and give people a measuring stick that might be difficult to meet, but I’m extremely excited about the songs that they have given me to work on.”
In a separate interview with Defenders Of The Faith, Thomas was asked about the reports that TROUBLE‘s upcoming album will be the band’s “swan song”, a reference to a person’s final public performance or professional activity before retirement. He responded: “See, that question is a tough one because I just don’t know. Ultimately, at the end of the day, whether or not it’s the swan song, the answer to that lies within Rick and Bruce. Rob [Hultz, bass], Garry [Naples, drums] and I, our job is to help Rick and Bruce carry the torch, honor the legacy, and do our best to add to the legacy ourselves.”
He continued: “We are in the process of recording the [new TROUBLE] album. I know for a decade or more there’s been talks of, ‘The album’s coming out next year.’ I still don’t even want to say that, but the music is almost finished being recorded right now, if it’s not 100% complete. I think it’s already been sent over to Bill Metoyer for mixing purposes. I am in the process of recording vocals and still trying to sort out lyrics. To me, it’s very important that this one is as good or better than any TROUBLE album that I hold dear to my heart. Again, that’s a subjective thing. That’s up to the fans more than anyone else. As a fan of the band, I can promise you I’m taking it extremely seriously and I’m not in any hurry to spit something out and leave it there that I wouldn’t spend money on myself.”
A year ago, Thomas was asked by Scott Davidson of Chicago’s Rebel Radio 92.5 FM 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 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 the group’s frontman of four years, Kory Clarke (of WARRIOR SOUL fame).
TROUBLE played its first official show with Thomas 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”.
Singer Eric 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.
Image credit: Jackal Today
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