Eric Young has always been consumed by music, and now he’s turning that obsession into a new hosting gig with AXS.
EY is the host of the second season of AXS TV’s Vinyl Obsession, which premieres on October 6. The show sees Young traverse notable record stores with celebrities including actress Melissa Joan Hart, Bush’s Gavin Rossdale, and Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach.
Young spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about how important music has been in his life. EY joked that he couldn’t sing or play an instrument, but his lifelong obsession with music led to him landing the role on the series.
“I think that comes from my parents being obsessed with it. And it’s just been a massive part of my life since I was a little kid,” Young explained. “About ten years ago, my wife bought me a record player. Unbeknownst to her, I would lose my mind. From about that time to today I have over 2000 [records]. I don’t know the exact number. But it’s over 2000 vinyl records and it grows. Not daily at this point, but for sure it grows weekly. So, yeah. It is an obsession. It’s not just a clever name. It was already called that. But I definitely have one, a vinyl obsession.”
“I was kinda geeking out”
Young also shared his excitement about some of the conversations he got to have with some of the musicians he grew up listening to. Young touted Rossdale and Foo Fighters’ guitarist Chris Shiflett as two that resonated with him.
“A big one for me was Chris Shiflett,” Eric Young explained. “He was in a band called No Use For A Name, and that was a CD that I wore out listening to it. Then he was in a super-punk band called Me First And The Gimmie Gimmies, they do [punk-style covers of vintage songs like] “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” So he’s been part of my life for 30-plus years. And getting to hang out with him, he’s such a cool guy. [We talked about] his influences in music, and how country music influenced him. Merle Haggard and guys like that influenced him in his guitar playing and his love of music. It was so cool man, I was kinda geeking out.
Young said Rossdale and Bush provided one of his favorite musical performances he’s seen, calling Bush’s 1996 MTV Spring Break performance in the pouring rain an iconic moment. They also got to dish about their love for reggae music quite a bit, too.
Does Eric Young have a “must-find” record?
Some collectors have a “holy grail” of records. Young says his is a changing list, but he once learned of a wrestling-related record, he knew he had to find it.
“Once I heard that it was a thing, I had to have it. This guy has recorded three separate albums, Sweet Daddy Siki,” Young noted. “One of ‘em is him covering really cool classic country songs. And the other one of songs he wrote himself. There is another album, his third album. It’s almost impossible, but I will continue to look. I don’t have that one, I have the first two. And any time wrestlers come over, I show them that one. But yeah, otherwise, it’s a moving target.”
Young pointed out an original pressing of Silverchair’s 1995 album “Frogstomp” as another album he’s proud to have.
“I don’t think they have ever re-issued it. I think they only pressed 15,000 of them. So, it was pretty rare, was pretty expensive. I don’t collect them to sell them or make money,” he pointed out. I don’t care about any of that. It’s just, if I like it, I want to own the physical copy of the music. So, that’s where the obsession comes from.”
Eric Young on crossover between music and wrestling
There has been plenty of crossover between pro wrestling and music, as pro wrestlers want to be rock stars, and vice versa. Young said tapping it to that has been “a really cool thing” for him, as it’s allowed him to create new relationships in different genres of entertainment.
“I feel like everybody has some kind of connection to pro wrestling just like they have some kind of connection to music. And whether it is they watch it, or their friend watches it or that was them and their grandma or their grandpa or father’s thing, or they would watch when they were younger, finding stuff like that,” Young explained. “Kat Von D was a big wrestling fan. Jeff Timmons from 98 Degrees has become a pretty good buddy of mine and has come to a couple of tapings in Vegas. Him and his son just love it. I’ve kind of made new wrestling fans out of those two. So, it’s been a really cool thing.”
Watch our full interview with Eric Young below:
