We write that Tripp Eisen is an alleged pedophile, because he has never officially been charged as one. But as this 2005 MTV News story makes clear, the guy had a thing for underage girls:
On February 10, Eisen, whose real name is Tod Rex Salvador, was arrested on one felony count of crimes against children. Authorities from the Orange County (California) Sheriff's Department found the 39-year-old musician sleeping in a parked car with an underage female with whom he'd just had sexual intercourse, according to Bergen, New Jersey's The Record. Eisen was taken into custody and released on $100,000 bail several hours later.
On February 24, Eisen was arrested again — on charges of kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, luring to entice a minor through the Internet and endangering the welfare of a child — on a fugitive warrant by two detectives who had flown in from New Jersey. According to New Jersey State Police officer Kevin Rehmann, the guitarist, a former resident of the state, allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old Sayreville girl he had met through "Find-a-Freek," an online community offered on Fetischmusic.com.
So, now that you're caught up, when Static-X announced their reunion, Eisen took issue with not being officially included, claiming six of his demos would make the final cut. Now that Project Regeneration has been released, Eisen put out a new statement, claiming he was the one responsible for the reunion in the first place, that it was him who suggested the band enlist Edsel Dope to be the frontman and that he was a member of the reunion up until April of 2019, when he disagreed with the creative direction of the project resulting in him taking legal action.
Here is his full statement:
‘As Static-X thanks everyone for making the album Project Regeneration Vol. 1 successful, their former guitarist and co-songwriter Tripp Eisen responds with a genuine “you’re welcome.”
Tripp’s material has been used in the development of this incarnation of Static-X. This is evident in the lead song on the Project Regeneration Vol. 1 teaser: “Bring You Down”, also a featured song on Spotify. Tripp actually wrote a majority of the music and lyrics on this particular song. The exact same is true for the song “Something Of My Own.” (see below)
In October 2018, the song “Road To Hell” was used in the teaser that launched the Static-X reunion. This was 100% Tripp’s music with a partial lyric credit. This song was re-titled “My Destruction” and is on the new album.
The question of the true authorship of certain songs casts a shadow over this project, one which is supposed to honor the memory of Wayne Static, a man of integrity and vision, a man who called Tripp a brother and who collaborated with him on some of Static-X’s memorable hits like “The Only” and “I’m The One.”
If you listen to the new chorus to the first single “Hollow” you will hear a part borrowed from the Eisen/Static collaboration “I’m The One” – the signature hook ‘yeah-yeah-yeah’!
The original versions of all of the older songs on Project Regeneration Vol. 1 are completely Wayne Static and Tripp Eisen material; none of the current members had anything to do with their creation. The band obviously wants to gloss over this fact and the patently deceptive songwriting credits on the new album highlight this point.
This is not taking anything away from the album as it is a great effort and a high quality-sounding album. We all love the memories of Ken, Koichi and Tony circa 1999-2000 and it is good to see them working together even without Wayne.
HISTORY OF THE REUNION:
This project began in September 2016 because Tony Campos and Tripp reconnected and reestablished their friendship. Tripp traveled to California to pitch his idea of the Static-X reunion. He brought his friend Edsel Dope into the project as well.
This reunion was born around several good friendships and mutual respect. Tripp’s past legal troubles were addressed early on and Tony Campos had Tripp’s back, knowing the details of his case, the exaggerations in the press and judged his friend fairly and without prejudice.
Edsel shared Tony’s sentiments about Tripp and knew his good character. They continued to work together, and Tripp was part of the project up until April 2019 when he finally objected strongly to the changing of the material and took legal action.
The real conflict is Tripp’s objection to everyone trying to get their names and imprint on the songs and trying to get every dollar they can, which sort of takes away from Wayne’s estate and family’s financial interest!
This is an uncomfortable fact but evident as you read the album credits. The band made many promises to Tripp as the project developed and he trusted his friends. Tripp was never after the profits, but mainly wanted proper credits, appreciation and to keep the project authentic!
He will take credit for spearheading this reunion, take credit for much of the noted and unnoted songs on the album, and take credit for putting Edsel Dope (aka Xer0) in the band.
Tripp also wants fans of Xer0 to know that the idea of Edsel wearing a mask was there from day one. At the first meeting it was agreed upon, that if he was to be the singer, he would be wearing a mask with an “X” on it. The idea was spawned from the X-Man in the Static-X comic book from 2002.
The release of Static-X: Project Regeneration is the culmination of 4 years of planning and hard work. The band has benefited from this and did a great job bringing back Evil Disco and paying tribute to Wayne Static for fans worldwide…’
So, I guess it's good to know that if you listen to the new album, there is a portion of the profits that go to this guy.
