EDDIE TRUNK

To have survived in radio for 30 years is pretty remarkable. Even more remarkable is to have been able to do it in the same market I've lived in my whole life.

How do you possibly say that a cover band is better than the band that created and wrote the material? It's absurd.

I've got to say, my parents have always been very supportive. I used to sit in my bedroom and read every liner note and listened to records. My parents are rock fans.

I still love radio, but TV is also an awesome platform.

I wrote the music column in my high school newspaper.

The only time people get pressured into doing reunions to make more money is when the current lineup is underperforming. And by bringing back the other guy, it increases their draw.

I'm a pretty big news junkie.

I have never said anything critical about Ozzy that he didn't say about himself many times.

I've always supported new music from classic bands, especially if it's good.

It's hard for people to realize now, but my gosh, when I was in school, you could not name a group that was less cool than Kiss. Going in to school with a Kiss T-shirt, you were asking for ridicule. In '77, they were one of the biggest bands in the world, but by '80, there was a severe backlash.

When I was a kid just starting out on the radio, I would always watch people. And I'd see the interest they'd have in trying to get a photo with an artist or get a ticket stub signed. I guess, to me, that's the ultimate thing - to know that what you've done is important enough to other people that they want to take a picture with you.

Anytime rock and metal can get on mainstream TV at all, it's a good thing.

People tell me all the time I should stop and smell the roses, but I can't. I'm always thinking of what I can do to make what I have better and do more.

One thing people would be surprised about is that although hard rock and heavy metal are without question 90% of what I listen to and my passion, there are other things I enjoy. My first ever favorite band in my life before KISS was a power-pop band called The Raspberries.

I want to be the Letterman of metal. I want five nights a week, Monday to Friday, 11 to 12, live. I always shoot for the moon.

I wasn't a good student in high school. I mean, I got through it, but unless it had something to do with music, it didn't really interest me.

My interviewing style and my approach to things is that, yes, it's okay to be sincere; it's okay to be yourself; it's okay to be real.

The biggest compliments I've heard about 'That Metal Show' are the ones from people that say that they don't even listen to this kind of music, but, 'We love watching the show.'

Metal has always been somewhat marginalized, and I love to prove the perception and stereotypes that go with it wrong.

In a way, Jersey really supports rock, maybe more than New York City and Long Island. I know plenty of bands that tour and do much better at Starland or other clubs in New Jersey than others in the tri-state area.

When I do interviews, I never pre-plan them at all, radio or TV.

Guys like Howard Stern, Bill O'Reilly, Jim Rome, Bill Maher, those are the guys I love and respect as broadcasters.

The power chords in 'Come Sail Away' were super heavy to me as a kid. Metal? No. Hard rock? At times, for sure.

People sometimes tell me that I don't talk or act or look like a metal fan. Well, what does a metal fan look like? I've found people from all walks of life who love metal.

I have literally been working in music just about my entire life.