ROCKET Interviews Author and Photographer Eric Hendrikx

ROCKET: Where were you born and raised?

ERIC HENDRIKX: Orange County, California. My dad came to the U.S. from The Netherlands when he was a kid. I source my Northern European heritage for my affinity to Metal. I’m that much closer to being a Viking.

ROCKET: Do you come from a big family?

ERIC HENDRIKX: Are you calling my family fat? We’re only two questions into the interview. This isn’t good.

ROCKET: Don’t worry. I am sure I will offend you at least two more times before this thing is over. Ha! Do you recall your first rock concert?

ERIC HENDRIKX: Yep. Slayer opening up for Judas Priest. I was pretty young and a little scared of the upside-down burning crosses. But I got all kinds of street credit with the cute metal girls at school for going. Plus, I still love both bands.

ROCKET: When did you first realize you were good at writing and might be able to actually make a career out of it?

ERIC HENDRIKX: You’re the first person who has actually told me that I’m good at writing—at anything for that matter. This interview just did a 180 for me. Time to step up my answers. Did you say you could have a career doing this?



ROCKET: Hey, I seen pictures of your new pad online, bro. You either gotta sell a lot of drugs to get to where you’re at in life or you had to of actually accomplished something! What about photography? How did you get the passion for that? You do great work!

ERIC HENDRIKX: I’ve always been into the arts. I started piano at 6 years old. I got into oil painting around then too. In high school I got into drawing, guitar and photography. Those passions never left me. I’m always keeping an eye out for opportunities to challenge my creative abilities. Photography has opened many doors for that to happen.

ROCKET: Oil painting at six? That’s killer, man. I can’t even remember back that far. I think at that age I was probably doing nothing but stick my finger into my nose. How did you first meet Zakk Wylde and what was the experience like?

ERIC HENDRIKX: I played guitar in a heavy metal band in high school. We used to do Slayer songs, Sabbath, Megadeth and stuff like that. I was a huge Zakk fan when the No Rest for the Wicked record came out. I had a poster of Zakk up on my wall with some of my other guitar heroes: George Lynch, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads. It was during that time when I first met Zakk, in1988 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Orange County, California. Zakk was on tour with Ozzy Osbourne for the No Rest for the Wicked tour. It was close my house and a venue that the guys and me used to sneak into all the time. I remember after we jumped the fence, we were sitting in the lawn section and Zakk literally walked out into the grass and sat down right next to us. He was wearing these crazy southern flag bell-bottom jeans. He sat down with a cup of beer in his hand to chill out before the show. I knew exactly what he looked like because of the poster on my bedroom wall. Zakk shook my hand. I confessed that we had just snuck into the show because we didn’t have the money for a ticket. He laughed and told me about sneaking into shows where he grew up in New Jersey. Later that night I had made my way down into the pit. Ozzy and Zakk were killing it—an incredible performance. Zakk jumped down off the stage into the crowd, just a few feet away from me, during his guitar solo. We didn’t become friends that night, but it was my first experience meeting him. One that I’ll never forget.



ROCKET: What is your all-time favorite BLS song?

ERIC HENDRIKX: Each of his records has certain special memories for me. What was going on at a certain time in my life, or maybe a batch of shows that I attended and the good times we had. I think a highlight was Suicide Messiah. I participated in the filming of the video for that one. It was also Zakk’s birthday weekend. All had a good time and the drinks were flowing all day and all night. Plus it’s just an amazing song with a great hook. I love the entire Mafia record.

ROCKET: What do you think it is about Zakk that endears him to his fans so much and for so long now?

ERIC HENDRIKX: Zakk has always been an outgoing guy. He’ll have a conversation with a gas station attendant, a barista, or anyone else he comes across throughout his day. He doesn’t discriminate who he’ll share his time with. Obviously. I mean, he wrote a book with me. I know his fans appreciate all of the time he spends with them telling stories, talking about sports and music. At his core, Zakk is a huge music fan. We spent a lot of time reading about Led Zeppelin and Van Halen, watching videos, and listening to music. When we weren’t writing, we would go check out Led Zeppelin and ACDC cover bands. One of my favorite nights hanging with Zakk was going to see John McLaughlin play.




ROCKET: Let’s talk about the book you two have co-authored together: “Bringing Metal to The Children”. What is it about exactly?

ERIC HENDRIKX: The book is sort of a world tour survival guide. In one aspect, Bringing Metal to the Children gives music fans an inside look at the silliness of life as a rockstar. We really spent a lot of time making fun of everything. In another aspect, the book gives advice to young aspiring musicians in a new climate—the music industry has completely changed over the past twenty years. How can you still make a living in music, playing in a band? This is something we address as an ongoing theme. We went through Zakk’s career and took relevant stories, both good and bad, not only to convey Zakk’s journey, but also to illustrate how he would duplicate his career in today’s musical environment. The book is packed full of funny stories and laughs. But musicians will read deeper and get some sound advice as well.

ROCKET: Well the short excerpt I have read so far was really cool. I dig your writing style. Was it hard trying to get Zakk to focus on writing the book?



ERIC HENDRIKX: No, not at all. Basically I would show up at his house at about 10:00am. Then we’d have some coffee, and then some more coffee. Then we’d take a nap. Then we would go grab lunch and feed the ducks at the lake. Then he’d work out. Then I’d tag along while he’d run errands. Then back in the gym. Then we’d go grab dinner. Then we would watch a little TV and take another nap. Then at about 10:00pm we’d pour yet another cup of Valhalla java and get started on our writing. It was incredibly focused.

ROCKET: How long did it take to write it?

ERIC HENDRIKX: That’s hard to figure. But, if you subtract all of the naps, errands, and workouts—probably about a year. We both have a lot going on in our lives, so we would block out weekends where I would stay at his house and we would knock out big chunks of writing. Sometimes we did this several weekends in a row and sometimes he was out on tour for a few months.

ROCKET: Did you have to censor out anything?

ERIC HENDRIKX: Fortunately, we had final approval over the manuscript and didn’t have to deal with much censorship. In fact, we may have set a record for the amount of F bombs dropped in one book. There were a few times when we felt that we may have crossed the line of what people might think is funny. And in those cases we put those words in the book anyway.

ROCKET: The book drops April 10th, correct? Where is it being sold?



ERIC HENDRIKX: The book is coming out initially in a hard cover version and in a variety of e-books everywhere. At this point, world rights have been secured for release in North America, UK, Australia, New Zealand and throughout Europe. They are currently translating into Finnish and Italian. Zakk and I just got a call this morning from NASA. The book has just been secured in Uranus.

ROCKET: Haha! Now I know where to get my copy! You also jammed guitar in the rock band Snake River Conspiracy and toured with big acts like A Perfect Circle and Queensrÿche. You guys aren’t together any longer but is that still something you have an interest in doing again someday?

ERIC HENDRIKX: I play music everyday. It’s a big part of who I am. Music saved my life during my teenage years and still gives me an outlet to express myself. Right now I’ve got a few Marshall & Dime amps set up in my music room, a piano that I love to play, and about twenty guitars around the house. I’m always playing and writing.

ROCKET: You performed in the latest Dimebash concert. How much fun was that?

ERIC HENDRIKX: I played Planet Caravan with Sebastian Bach, Rex Brown, Brian Tichy and Dewey Braggs. It was awesome. Getting a nod from Rex signifying that he was digging what we were doing was a huge highlight of the night. There were so many awesome musicians playing that night. I was honored to be apart of it—and honored to celebrate the memory of Darrell.

ROCKET: Were you a big fan of Pantera’s music?

ERIC HENDRIKX: Absolutely. I consider Vulgar Display of Power to be one of the best heavy metal records in existence. I’ve been to countless Pantera concerts.

ROCKET: You are also editor and feature writer for Revolt in Style Magazine. When did that get started and what type of content do you feature there?



ERIC HENDRIKX: It’s an action sports & music magazine. Revolt gives me an outlet to continue to write stories & do interviews while I’m working on my books. It’s awesome spending a year or two on a book project. But it’s also great to knock something out in a couple of weeks and be able to share. I’ve got carte blanche as far as topics and subjects. The past few people I’ve had the opportunity to work with were Mike Vallely and Ben Harper. Both are legends in their own right and, more importantly—good friends.



ROCKET: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to a young writer who is just starting out and trying to sell their first book?

ERIC HENDRIKX: Start right now. Don’t sit around thinking about it, talking about it, asking for help. Just do it. It sounds cliché, but it’s a kick in the ass most people need. You’ll make mistakes and learn lessons along the way. If it’s truly what you want to do, then do it right now.

ROCKET: Are there any other book projects you’re working on that we need to be aware of?

ERIC HENDRIKX: I am writing another book right now that I won’t mention just yet. As far as current stuff, my photography is being exhibited and auctioned for charity at a number of shows in the near future. All of the information can be found on my website.

ROCKET: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

ERIC HENDRIKX: Fat and poor.

You can read more about Eric Hendrikx and his photography and writing here:

http://www.EricHendrikx.com

http://www.revoltinstyle.com/