Tripp Eisen’s Former Bandmate Details More Predatory Sexual Behavior
As a guitarist for Static-X, Dope, and Murderdolls, Tripp Eisen (né Tod Rex Salvador) was a staple of the early-aughts nu-metal scene. But that all changed in 2005, when he was arrested — twice — for having or attempting to have unlawful sexual intercourse with an underage girl. Understandably, that lead to Eisen being fired from Static-X… and then he was arrested again in 2008, this time for attempting to “to Lure or Entice a Child.” He spent large swaths of 2005 and 2009 in prison, and is included on the Megan’s Law website as a sex offender.
Despite this, Eisen has been attempting to re-launch his career as of late. But when the guitarist suddenly re-appeared in headlines earlier this month, it wasn’t because of his new projects, Face Without Fear and RoughHouse — it was because he was taking credit for the Static-X reunion. According to Eisen, he co-wrote much of the material that appears on Static-X’s new album, Project Regeneration, Vol. 1. He also claims it was his idea to cast his former bandmate Edsel Dope as ‘Xer0,’ Static-X’s new frontman.
The band has previously denied Eisen’s active involvement, noting that they only used the late Wayne Static’s vocal tracks, and not the music, from previously-unreleased tracks recorded with Eisen. Furthermore, Edsel Dope has called the guitarist “an egotistical, low talent idiot,” insisting that Wayne Static “fucking hated” him. In response, Eisen said the band “had no reason to change Wayne’s music while saying [they’re] honoring the last pieces of art that he created,” while also insisting that he “didn’t target underage girls as I was unaware of the ages of the girls.”
Now, in a lengthy statement released to MetalSucks, former Face Without Fear bassist Mike Curley alleges that Eisen is a “narcissist, egotist, liar,” and “pedophile.”
We will print the unabridged, unedited statement made by Curley, who was a member of Face Without Fear for three years, at the bottom of this post. For the sake of convenience, though, here is the slightly condensed version:
Curley says he met Eisen in April of 2016, at which time the guitarist invited the bassist to try out for a new band he was starting. “I was hesitant to audition but my girlfriend at the time pushed me to,” says Curley. The two “met up at a diner to discuss things,” at which point, Curley says, Eisen “lied about his convictions.” Curley claims that to hear Eisen tell it, he’d met a 14-year-old girl at an 18-and-over club — and thus assumed she was of legal age. Eisen told Curley that “you can’t believe everything on the Internet because they tried to make him look bad.”
“After several auditions we had become friends,” says Curley, and he eventually became Face Without Fear’s bassist. Fast forward to 2018. Curley enlisted a 17-year-old co-worker and aspiring music photographer to take photos of Face Without Fear, at which point he claims Tripp behaved inappropriately:
“Upon finding out how old she was he would go off on how it was perfectly legal for me to hook up with her if I wanted to, because in Pennsylvania the legal age of consent is 16. Now keep in mind, I only brought up her interest in taking photos for us, nothing more. But he’d keep pushing me to try and sleep with her. He [did] this several times, [despite] me being very adamant that I had no interest in doing so and that she was only my friend. But he’d continue talking about how if he wanted to sleep with a 16-year-old it’d be fine, because technically, it’s legal.”
Curley says that Eisen “persisted with these conversations” until the young woman turned eighteen that May.
Meanwhile, Curley says, Eisen was acting “shady” as a bandmate, too:
“Not long after that Static-X announced ‘Project Regeneration’… Tripp was bragging about all these things he did, he revealed the identity of Xer0, he was promising we’d be on all the East Coast tour dates… Then came March when the tour was announced, Static-X made it perfectly clear we were not playing any of those dates. It was clear they wanted nothing to do with Tripp and how he was handling it was unacceptable, threatening calls to Tony [Campos, Static-X bassist] and whatnot. It was ridiculous how much he wanted to control everything Static-X was doing.”
Eisen also became pissy when Curley’s other band, Husk, were booked to open for Static-X at the Reverb in Reading, PA. Curley eventually quit Face Without Fear, asking that Eisen “not use my likeness in photos [and] not use my recorded backing vocals in released music as to ensure I have no association with his band.”
Husk did indeed open for Static-X, and “People who knew Tripp,” advised Curley that “It’s better to have no name than his.” Curley says that “It was clear that [Eisen’s] actions made him not welcome there.”
Then, after leaving the venue, Curley spotted someone handing out flyers for a Face Without Fear show. The band photo on the flyer included Curley. “The next day I called Tripp flipping out and he begged me again to come back and play the first show,” says Curley. Still, the band continues to use photos that include Curley on streaming services and social media. Curley also says Eisen used his backing vocals without his permission. Eisen has told Curley that “nobody will know it’s me.” But Curley has “received no payment for my contribution to the track.”
Curley concludes:
“I can assure you that [Eisen’s] claims for the new Static-X album is false. He was recognized with proper song writing credits and is receiving royalties. He was not the one who got the ball rolling or made that start. To him, that album isn’t about Wayne’s legacy, it’s about Tripp being recognized and [having] his career back… He cannot be trusted and has proven multiple times to be a manipulative liar… Tripp keeps spreading lies to news outlets just to make himself seem relevant. Make no mistake, he plays a victim, but he is absolutely a pedophile and does not deserve to be in this industry.”
You can read Curley’s entire statement below.
Tod Rex Salvador: A Face Without Shame.
Where to begin on this long story? My name is Mike, I’m the former bassist of Face Without Fear. Considering Edsel Dope finally said something, its lit a fire under my ass so I feel it’s time I finally come out too. Tod Rex Salvador. Tripp Eisen. Former guitarist of Static-X, Dope, and The Murderdolls. Current guitarist of Face Without Fear and RoughHouse. Narcissist, egotist, liar, and of course convicted pedophile. Not alleged like some news sites will say, he was convicted twice and no matter how much he tries to lie about it, he’s a pedophile. And just to be clear before anyone associated with Tripp gets all up in arms, I have nothing against the current members of his band nor anyone working with him past or present. I have a deep respect for Tom, Kenny, and Dan as well as the other musicians I worked with the three years I was in the band. I don’t know who the new bassist is, nor do I care, but there’s nothing personal against him either. Everything I am about to say is about Tripp and the truth of how he is and what it was like being in a band with him for three years.
Now, I’d have kept my mouth shut about him had he honored my request to not use my likeness in photos or not use my recorded backing vocals in released music as to ensure I have no association with his band. But here we are, where he did the exact opposite as I requested. He claims he wanted civility between us but decided not to show me respect.
So Tripp came to my job in April of 2016 where I recognized him and he gave me a flyer about a band he was starting. I was hesitant to audition but my girlfriend at the time pushed me to. So I contacted him, met up at a diner to discuss things and gave him my old band’s first album. It was there he lied about his convictions. You see, Tripp has a way with words, a master of manipulation where he comes across as believable if you aren’t too familiar with him. He told me it was only one incident where he hooked up with a 14 year old at an 18 and over club where he was caught having sex with her in his car and that you can’t believe everything on the internet because they tried to make him look bad. As if it were some kind of witch hunt. He also played for me then unreleased Static-X songs, Something Of My Own and Bring You Down with a few others along with Start A War era demos. He played at the fact that I grew up with this band and was a fan, even noting them as a huge influence on myself. A week later I drove two hours into Jersey and auditioned as the singer. A setlist of Static-X, Misfits, Ramones, and Metallica covers.
After several auditions we had become friends. We shared an interest in movies and comics, we’d hit up comic book shops, conventions, and toy stores. My girlfriend at the time continuing to push me to listen to everything Tripp had to say. She would tell me if I wanted to make it in the industry to put all my trust in him. Things were going well. In fact the first year and a half seemed to go really well. It soon got to a point where Tripp wasn’t a fan of the current bassist so I had been taught the bass parts. It was at this time I solidified myself as his bassist and backing vocalist as we went through multiple members. Several drummer auditions while trying to find the right one. Even auditioned the current Face Without Fear drummer, Tom, but settled for someone else. That drummer didn’t work out after several months and we went back to Tom. Tom is a phenomenal drummer and one of the best musicians I’ve had a pleasure to work with. That being said, again, I hold no ill will towards any members of FWF, current or past, my only beef is with Tripp and his lies.
So let’s get to February of 2017. Things are going well, original music is being worked on and a consistent line up of Tripp (guitar), Tom (drums), Ed (keyboards), and myself on bass. We started auditioning several vocalists before picking Andy. We kept this line up for a bit. Tripp added Grace, a female guitarist, on rhythm guitar to the band but she didn’t last too long. And it was around this time I think I started noticing weird things about Tripp. Conversations when we’d carpool to rehearsal became weirder, his ego starting to show itself but not too off putting just yet. He definitely had a controlling vibe but I just sort of went with it. A few members pushed for us to start gigging but Tripp refused even though we were definitely ready to.
When Andy quit we started another vocalist hunt. Tripp wanted Michale Graves of The Misfits citing his political views being similar to his own as to why he wanted him. He also happened to live in New Jersey where most of the band members resided. Numerous emails to his manager seemed to rule him out as an option. Then we finally found Kenny who seemed to fit the right vibe of the band. So the lineup at that point was the main one. Finally did a test photo shoot in August of 2017. This photo shoot is where things started to make me uncomfortable. Tripp would not discuss ideas for how he wanted the band to look, he wanted suits or military garb, it was dorky and just didn’t feel right. Lots of thrift store clothing and whatnot. Despite members giving input and ideas of what we felt would be better, like an early 2000s nü metal look. Tripp wanted no part in what our ideas were, it was how he wanted to look, saying it was cool. Keep in mind he has done anything in the industry since 2005 so it’s doubtful he knows what’s cool and what’s not. We spent the whole day doing this at his girlfriend at the time’s house where when she took photos and tried to direct photography he would belittle and berate and treat her horribly. “Just push the button. Just take the picture,” he’d demand of her in such demeaning ways. Incredibly rude and outrageous tone of voice while she was trying to give us something good. It seemed like she would burst into tears at any second and she kept apologizing to all of us and trying to accommodate and make us all happy like we were upset with her. No other member of the band seemed upset with her at all. It was horrible. But I stayed in the project despite feeling disgusted by how he was treating her. Looking back I wish I would have spoken up. She didn’t deserve that treatment and I still feel awful about what happened.
We again tried pushing to do gigs feeling we were ready but again, Tripp refused. A few months later we got another guitarist, Dan. This would be the final line up before I quit. A month after Dan joined the woman I was in a relationship with for two years and kept pushing me to always listen to Tripp left me, though I thought things were civil the next year proved otherwise. It’s now 2018, Tripp is cracking down on launching. Finally. He’s trying to have everything perfected. He didn’t want to open for any national bands, he wanted to headline big shows, act mysterious and not meet fans, just play and leave the venue. A lot of us thinking that was dumb but nothing was ever booked. He wanted to play pretend as if he was still a rockstar. Around this time I’m in a fight with my ex on getting property back and credit cards she opened under my name. Things are stressful but I’m still doing this band while also doing my own band, Husk, as to keep myself feeling sane. Husk was at least playing shows and I had more creative freedom. Car conversations with Tripp are getting weirder. Odd conversations out of nowhere how he had to do therapy to prove he wasn’t attracted to underage girls, how he is always questioned if he is attracted to underage girls, or how being gay is a severe mental disorder. These talks would come out of nowhere. He’d be on about how his probation officer would stop by his house to make sure he wasn’t up to anything. It was definitely unsettling.
Come February I had become close friends with a coworker of mine, she was a photographer and did live shots for Husk, and at this time she was 17. She wanted to do photography for bands and I had brought up her interest in taking photos of FWF. She did quality photos so I thought she’d be a great choice. An up and coming photographer who did great work and charged next to nothing, what could go wrong? Upon finding out how old she was he would go off on how it was perfectly legal for me to hook up with her if I wanted to because in Pennsylvania the legal age of consent is 16. Now keep in mind, I only brought up her interest in taking photos for us, nothing more. But he’d keep pushing me to try and sleep with her. He would do this several times, me being very adamant that I had no interest in doing so and that she was only my friend. But he’d continue talking about how if he wanted to sleep with a 16 year old it’d be fine because technically it’s legal. Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it morally right though. She wouldn’t turn 18 until May and he persisted with these conversations until she was 18. This made me uncomfortable and started to doubt his story of accidentally hooking up with an underage girl at an 18 and over club. By the middle June that same friend expressed having feelings for me and would end up asking me out and I though I was hesitant I had agreed. I had initially no intention of dating again after my ex but decided since we were friends for several months prior, had similar interests, and gotten along really well that maybe this would work. We would date from June 2018 until February of this year. Tripp started to give her bad vibes instantly upon meeting him. I never even told her about the previous car ride conversations with him. She absolutely despised being around Tripp, he made her uncomfortable and she thought he was off. But she still offered to do photoshoot for us and to edit all the photos for $120. He’d refuse saying she should work for free because, “girlfriends should only work for free.”
He’d come to some of my shows and hit on my female friends/fans who were in their early 20s making them uncomfortable as well. August we did another test shoot with the awful suit idea on the boardwalk with one of Dan’s friends. The photos were decent but again, this was another “test” photoshoot. By fall we had an actual photoshoot, instead of going the cheaper route and pay my girlfriend to do photos, while he constantly complained about how expensive things were or how she was over charging, he paid $400 for a shoot. All day at his uncle’s old house, freezing cold weather, suits again, these stupid colored shirts made to look like playing cards. Really cheesy ideas. He told us to come up with stage names, but refused to let me use my already established stage name as Vulture. Not long after that Static-X announced Project Regeneration and it became clear why he was waiting for us to play any shows. Tripp was bragging about all these things he did, he revealed the identity of Xer0, he was promising we’d be on all the East Coast tour dates. Things were looking up. We were stoked for this. Now being February of 2019 we started recording three songs, Counterpart (now Deliverance), My Parasite, and The Zero. My bass playing is used on the released Deliverance and My Parasite tracks, we well as backing vocals on the latter. Recording sessions went alright. I started to have hope for this project again.
Then came March when the tour was announced, Static-X made it perfectly clear we were not playing any of those dates. It was clear they wanted nothing to do with Tripp and how he was handling it was unacceptable, threatening calls to Tony and what not. It was ridiculous how much he wanted to control everything Static-X was doing. Tripp made Tom and I swear that our bands Methodical and Husk would not play any of those dates. He was trying to control everything we were doing and showing just how toxic he is. April comes around and Husk is offered the show at the Reverb in Reading, PA. Guaranteed to sell out. My band mates didn’t even discuss it with me, they booked it and then told me. I tried to argue with them and they would have been stupid to pass on this show. I couldn’t tell them no. I called Tom and asked his opinion and he seemed all for it it, I told him about using it to help FWF. So I broke the news to Tripp and he seemed cool with it. I was telling him we could use it as a way to try and get him on good terms with the band again and use it as a chance to extend an olive branch with the Static-X/Dope crew. He was all for it. Then a week later he changes his mind. He’s acting childish, he’s telling me to pull off the show, quit Husk, just not show up to the show, give my tickets to another band. Like really shady shit. He was telling Tom and I to not play shows with our other bands whatsoever. He then told me that if I didn’t do that then I couldn’t be part of the promotional video for the band and I couldn’t play the first show. He would never fire me but he wanted me to fully submit to him. At this point everything that made me uncomfortable around Tripp was building up, I started seeing through his lies and I was pissed. I tried to have a discussion as a full band and he wasn’t having it. So I quit. I wasn’t going to have my face in pictures and someone else in the video and playing the first show after I dedicated three years of my life to this band. When I told him that I quit he begged me not to, pleaded with me but wouldn’t stop letting his ego get in the way. He pleaded for me to stay in FWF but to quit Husk. Saying things like, “You won’t make it in Husk, your only chance to make it is in Face Without Fear.” I requested he not use my face and not use my vocals to avoid association with the project, just as a sign of respect to me to keep things civil. He chose to use them anyway. He called my phone multiple times telling me I was making a mistake and each time I told him to fuck off. Several music news sites shared the FWF launch with my likeness in the photos. Because of me quitting the show booked in June was rescheduled for August.
Come July I played with Static-X, an amazing show. People who knew Tripp gave me advice, the one that sticks out is, “It’s better to have no name than his.” They confirmed all his lies to me and showed just how big of a controlling egotist he was. They proved how toxic he was too. It was clear that his actions made him not welcome there. Flyers were handed out with my face on them at this show for FWF by their street team, my bassist taking one and pointing at me saying, “I know him.” The person told him, “Oh, that’s our bassist, Mike.” To which my bassist responded, “He’s my band’s singer!”
The next day I called Tripp flipping out and he begged me again to come back and play the first show. I refused. So they found another bassist. They played their first and only show in August to a dismal crowd. Every other show they had booked was cancelled due to Tripp being a pedophile. No venue wants him performing. Months later I ended up commenting on their Instagram about using photos with me to the point where I flipped on the guy who runs their social media. The single for Deliverance has me on the cover all over streaming platforms. Tripp seemed to be purposefully doing this to spite me. A few months ago their song My Parasite was released and a friend of mine heard it on Spotify to tell me my vocals were still in the song, called Tripp immediately and he lied saying it was redone. I listened to the unmastered version and compared it to the release and it’s the same vocal track. Caught in his lie he said that nobody will know it’s me, yet someone told me it was my voice. I’ve received no payment for my contribution to the track and no royalties for my work on it either.
I asked out of respect to not use photos with me or my vocal tracks and out of disrespect and spite he chose to. He preaches me being civil and he decided to act this way. Now FWF can’t even book any shows without them being protested or canceled because of Tripp being a convicted pedophile. I can assure you that his claims for the new Static-X album is false. He was recognized with proper song writing credits and is receiving royalties. He was not the one who got the ball rolling or made that start. To him, that album isn’t about Wayne’s legacy it’s about Tripp being recognized and have his career back that he fucked up. He cannot he trusted and has proven multiple times to be a manipulative liar. I fear the other members of Face Without Fear will be labeled as condoning Tripp’s actions of being a pedophile, so here’s hoping their musical careers aren’t destroyed by him. The other members aren’t bad guys, and I wish for the best for them. However Tripp keeps spreading lies to news outlets just to make himself seem relevant. Make no mistake, he plays a victim, but he is absolutely a pedophile and does not deserve to be in this industry.
