Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French has written a new article for Inc.com entitled How To Network Like A Rock Star. An excerpt is available below:

"Lately, there's been a lot of media buzz about the amazing resurgence of vinyl record albums. Wow, what's next, people actually talking on the phone?

What's old is new again, because it's better. Millennials are buying vinyl again, because it's a better way to listen. I'd argue that some of the old ways are better when it comes to business relationships, too. Personal contact is still the better pathway to success, whether you are in the music business or any other kind of business.

The most often repeated fear that I hear these days is that the art of communicating among the millennial generation is being lost to new technology. The problem is that without real human contact, the person you're doing business with looks at you as just another name on a list. Your name has no context, no story, no connectivity, and ultimately, no network of people who want to work with you and help you succeed."

How do you develop these relationships? It's actually pretty simple. Look people straight in eye and shake their hands. Ask their names and repeat it back to them as many times as you have to when asking questions (an old bartender's trick to remember customers' names). And ask a lot of general personal questions (Where did you go to school? Where were you born? Any family?). When asked subtlety, you would be surprised what people will tell you. As soon as you can, jot down their names and info into a document or whatever database you use. And then follow up with an email less than 24 hours later. (Oh, and drinking with people also helps.)"

Click here for the complete article.

After years of work and struggle, the Twisted Sister movie, We Are Twisted Fucking Sister!, is now getting its World Premier at IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival) in Amsterdam, known the biggest documentary festival in the world.

Featured as part of IDFA’s Music Documentary series, the Twisted movie’s first showing, on Sunday, November 23rd, will be a special presentation in the Rabozaal Theater at the Melkweg. It’s an early bird show at 10:30 but the “special” part means that there will be a featured discussion with Twisted band leader and guitarist, Jay Jay French, along with director, Andrew Horn. Jay Jay and Andrew will also appear at the Monday evening show (November 24th) for a Q&A; afterwards. Two more shows follow on November 29th and 30th. More info here.

Special for all German SMFs... Simultaneously, the film will also have it’s German premier at Soundtrack Cologne, in Cologne on November 23rd and 26th. Director Andrew Horn will be present at the November 26th show.

Trailer:

Synopsis: Some considered Twisted Sister a joke, but others called them the greatest bar band in the world. While the microcosm of punk/new wave was being born in Manhattan, Twisted Sister was battling their way to the top of a working class, suburban, cover-band bar scene, that surrounded NYC in a 100 mile radius, yet existed in a parallel universe.

Twisted were the Grand Funk of Glam and the NY Dolls of metal, channeling youthful fury, and a wicked sense of humor, into a sort of blue collar performance art in a vast scene that boasted monster clubs, attracting audiences of up to 2-5000 a night. It was both a great living and a dead end, offering no future outside the suburban enclave. If you think you know them from their hit songs, the MTV videos and massive stadium shows, this is the untold story of how they became that band - full of strange, and often hilarious, twists and turns.

It's about rock 'n roll and the business of rock 'n roll. It's about perseverance and things blowing up in your face. It's about finding yourself, finding your audience and doing literally anything, however wild, to connect with them. A mesmerizing, and wickedly funny story of a 10 year odyssey to overnight success. Dress like women, talk like men, play like motherfuckers!