Chris Jericho‘s latest project is a heartwarming story that proves your dreams can come true, even if you stopped chasing them yourself.
Jericho recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about the new rock documentary he produced called I’m Too Old For This Sh*t: A Heavy Metal Fairy Tale. The documentary is available now via Gravitas Ventures on iTunes, Amazon and various streaming platforms, and it tells the story of “the unpredictable highs and lows of ‘80s underground, fan-favorite heavy metal band Siren as they reunite more than 30 years after their breakup for a special performance in Germany at the Keep It True Festival.”
Siren is a Brandon, Florida-based band that almost no one has ever heard of, and Jericho says that is exactly the point of the film in the first place. Known for his heavy metal fandom almost as much as his wrestling accolades, Jericho talked about how relatable the story was, but how Siren was in a unique situation in that they did get the big break many failed bands dreamed of.
“This demo they made as kids snuck over to Germany and suddenly there’s a huge fanbase for Siren that they never knew existed. And they get this invitation to play this really big heavy metal festival and they’re like, we haven’t even played our instruments in 30 years. That doesn’t happen!” Jericho proclaimed. “Most bands, when they break up as kids, they’re done and that’s it. But these guys actually had this fanbase over there and when I heard about it, I thought, there’s no way. This is either gonna be the biggest shitshow ever, or the greatest heartwarming ‘dreams can come true’ story that has ever existed, and what we got on camera was even so much more. It’s really inspirational. It’s a story about how your dreams can come true no matter how old you are and no matter what the circumstances may be.”
Jericho has been friends with Siren drummer Ed Aborn for twenty years and knew about the band in name only, but didn’t talk much about it otherwise. When Aborn approached him about the music festival and told him Siren had fans, Jericho scoffed and said there was no way it was a legitimate opportunity. At Aborn’s insistence, Jericho asked a camera crew to at least scope the situation out for him, and he said that what they found was better than what they thought and said it’s a really heartwarming story that goes beyond just rock n’ roll.
“I said, ‘Go see what you can find on this because it’s either going to be just the worst or we’re going to catch lightning in a bottle and it’s gonna be something that everybody wants to see’ and that’s basically what happened. Like I said, when I say it’s a heavy metal fairytale, it really is because stuff like this doesn’t happen. But it did happen to these guys, even in their mid-50s and after all these years, their dream of being a rockstar so to speak came true. And whether it’s for one weekend or one show or not, that’s more than almost anybody can say. And that’s what I was like, it doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of heavy metal or a fan of rock and roll or anything. If you’re a fan of a great story about some guys and they’re very likable guys that had this seemingly forgotten dream finally happen, this is the movie that you’re gonna wanna check out.”
Related: Chris Jericho-Produced Documentary ‘I’m Too Old For This Sh*t: A Heavy Metal Fairy Tale’ Out Now
The documentary is focused on a single rock band, but the story is one that’s relatable to anyone that ever dreamed of making it big. Speaking in terms of professional wrestling, it’s very easy to think of someone you were a fan of on a local level, but perhaps never broke out the way you saw it going for them. Jericho pointed to his friend, AEW star Dr. Luther, as a prime example of someone it happened to, noting that it could happen to anyone and he’s glad it worked out the way it did.
“If you look at Luther in AEW, that’s a perfect example of a guy who had all the tools and did all the work and it just never happened for him until he was in this advanced stage of his career. You know, Luther could be in this movie if you were talking about it in a wrestling sense. You know, [he] never got a national TV contract and last week, he kicks off the show cutting a promo on Brodie and getting his head stuffed in the cake, and he’s kind of one of the stars of the show. I mean, that doesn’t happen—but it did for him, and the same thing with Siren.”
In regards to the title of the film, Jericho says it just made sense because you could almost guarantee one of the band members would utter the phrase as they trekked across the globe.
“That, to me, is the sentiment of this movie. ‘I’m too old for this shit,’ this is way beyond what I was expecting,” Jericho said, “but the guys pulled it off.”
As Jericho pointed out, another great part of the documentary process is that it was largely filmed in real-time. While they did have some archival footage available, he says it was an enjoyable experience getting to see the redemption story unfold as it happened, including a triumphant finale.
“I love the fact that the final scene of this movie is the guys on stage after playing this kickass show in front of 5,000 people who were chanting ‘Siren!’ and singing all their lyrics and they got the crowd behind them and they got their hands in the air, and you can just see this look of wonderment and passion and gratification and magic in their faces. And they look like 18-year-old kids even though they’re in their 50s, and that to me is the magic of rock and roll. It’s the magic of having a dream and it finally came true for them. It’s the brilliance of the internet, it’s somebody who goes, ‘Hey are you Ed the drummer from Siren?’ It seems like the universe kind of pulled it together because they had all these different people emailing from Brazil and the Soviet Union and here, there, like, ‘Why is everybody emailing us at the same time?’ Which caused them to kind of have a reconciliation and then right after that, they get this call to do this festival. So it seems like whatever kismet there is was definitely at work for this band.”
I’m Too Old For This Sh*t is a story that sees everything on the line for a band that really didn’t ask for a second chance, and had pretty much started their own lives and moved on. Noting that it would have made for a terribly depressing movie if things didn’t work out, Jericho is happy that it all paid off for Siren because the band was given a second chance at chasing their dreams and they did more than deliver on the opportunity.
“We have enough of those kinds of ‘strikes in gutters’ to make an interesting story, but the real beauty of the movie is it worked and it did come true for those guys. This is just a story that will bring a tear to your eye. Because here are some legit nice guys that, through no fault of their own, kind of gave up on this dream and 30 years later, it tapped them on the back and said, ‘Here’s your chance.’ And they took the ball and ran with it.”
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PRESS HERE to listen to an in-depth conversation about I’m Too Old For This Sh*t between Chris Jericho and Siren band members on “Talk Is Jericho.”
