by Mark Kadzielawa

Blackfinger is a new project from vocalist Eric Wagner. Wagner made a big name for himself fronting Trouble. Joining him in Blackfinger are young local musicians. Despite Blackfinger’s new status, Wagner fans will find plenty of trademarks he is known for. His vocals are still as distinct as ever, and the band complements him nicely.

Blackfinger is taking their first steps in the scene. They are concentrating on the writing the material, but are slowly starting to play out. The band is mainly in the writing mode, and polishing their skills.

Eric Wagner is looking good and is in good spirits. He is relaxed and very excited about making new music with Blackfinger. Wagner talks about Blackfinger, and mentions that “other” band he used to be in as well.

Let’s begin with Trouble, what happened there?
Eric Wagner: I don’t know. I kind of just kept my mouth shut on the topic of Trouble. Yes, I’ve been with Trouble for a long time, and I don’t want to air any dirty laundry. After I got back from the tour of Europe last year (2008) I just had enough. I ran away from the band back in 1996, and I did my own project (Lid.) It was good, we got back together and we did a new record. It just didn’t seem like everybody was on the same page anymore. I wanted to do my own thing. I was working on a lot of new songs at that point. I like touring and everything, but after all that time we were doing the same songs every night. I just felt like I wasn’t growing. I’m older now, and I just wanted to relax and take it easy for a while.
Is Blackfinger giving you the fulfillment and relaxation you were after?
I’m having fun with it. It’s like my own thing. There is no arguing and stuff. I’m kind of semi-retired if you wanna call that. You see music was never what I did, it’s who I am. And at that point in Trouble it seemed like it was a job almost. That wasn’t fun to me, and now I’m having fun. We’re playing our first shows, and I’m kind of scared. You know for the last 30 years I’m used looking in the back and seeing the same guys, and now it’s somebody else. I mean I went out and jammed with some other people, but not like this. Lid never played.
How did you get Blackfinger organized?
I have had that name for 25 years probably. I used breed German Sheppard and that used to be my moniker. The time was right to do Blackfinger musically. I had a bunch of songs that I was writing on my acoustic guitar. I just ended up getting local guys from here that I knew. There are no big names or nothing. I didn’t want no egos, and no bullshit. I told them that right off the bat. And I didn’t want this to be The Eric Wagner Band either. I like being in the band, being part of something. We all get along and everybody is cool.
Is there anything special concept behind this name?
I don’t know. To tell you the truth I don’t even remember when I thought of it. It’s just been there for so long waiting for the right time to use it. And for Lid I didn’t want to use it then. It just didn’t seem like a Blackfinger.
What is the music like?
Well, it’s still me. Any songs that I wrote with Trouble that were my songs like Misery Shows, After the Rain, Hear The Earth. One thing which I wanted to do after I got the two guitar players was to get their opinion and their input on the music. I mean I arranged everything, but I wanted them to contribute. I do have the final say when it comes to yes or no. Lid was just one guitar, and Blackfinger has two. I wanted it to be little heavier than that.
When you listen back to the songs you are rehearsing now what do you feel?
I don’t know. It’s just me. I’ve always written the same, and I never tried to write in any certain way. My songwriting was always about how I felt in that particular moment, or in time. What I had to say, and stuff like that. It’s heavy, and I’m digging it.
Will you be incorporating any Trouble material into your set?
I felt I had to. When I first went to see Robert Plant after Led Zeppelin, he didn’t do Zeppelin material at all. I was pissed when he did that, so I felt that I owe it to the fans. They are gonna call it, and they are expecting to hear a couple tunes. So I have no problems playing those songs. I’m gonna do some Lid songs as well, they never been played live yet. I just felt this is a good time to do it.
What the long range plan for Blackfinger then?
All we do now is write music, and that’s my favorite thing about being in the band. Writing songs and recording them. Starting from nothing, and then you got a disc in your hand. We are always working on the new music. I don’t know if I’m gonna do a record deal, or just release the music ourselves. We’ll see what happens with that, but I wanna record a record. I’m kind of sick of the record labels at the moment. You don’t get anything anymore. They give you a couple bucks to make the record, and then they drive away in a BMW. And that’s the last you see of them. I’m tired of that. If I can work it out somehow I will. Everybody seems to be doing that these days. You can sell it on My Space, I-Tunes, and all those other outlets. We’ll see what happens. If I get a decent deal with a label I will definitely consider it. The labels have some advantages like promotion and things like that. We’ll see what happens.
With Blackfinger being so new, do you feel the type of freshness you felt when you first started in the business?
Yeah I do. It’s exciting because it’s new to me too. I hope everybody likes it. I’m digging it. We have ten tunes finished right now.
What would you say was the most frustrating part of the record business?
It was the support from the labels. Every time you call up a label, and ask for something. It’s always another department. So you call that department, and it turn out to be another department. And the last deal Trouble did with Escapi was just complete mess. I was just like that’s it, had enough. That’s really the frustrating part. The fun was still making records. The music part of it was great. I still enjoy going out and playing live. I do have a hard time doing Tempter in rehearsal since we’ve been playing it for so long, but live it is still fun. One thing I have to say is the Trouble fans. The true Trouble fans are pretty loyal. Over the years, I was amazed that when we got back together to do Simple Mind Condition, the fans were still there. I mean we were broken up for like 5 or 6 years. When we came back I was very surprised that people wanted to hear us. And at first it was good. We had fun. And then it started to turn into the same crap. I started figuring out the reason why I quit the first time.
When it comes to Trouble, were you able to maintain the friendships?
I didn’t talk to nobody for almost a year. Now I talk to Bruce (Franklin.) We’re still friends. I mean we wrote everything together. I wrote the lyrics, and he wrote the music. Another good friend is Ron (Holzner) from the band Earthen Grave who used to play bass for Trouble. We’re thinking about doing shows together. I think that would be cool, especially with the Trouble thing. I’m cool with all of them, and there are no problems.

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/blackfingereric