Rockin’ in Paradise Q&A: Styx Unplugged (in Spirit, Not Volume)

To anyone who’s spent more than five minutes in Styxworld, this won’t come as a shock — the guys are funny. Not “rock stars pretending to be self-deprecating” funny, but genuinely quick-witted, sharp, and clearly having the time of their lives whenever they’re in each other’s orbit.

That easy humor was one of the biggest takeaways from Thursday’s Q&A session with radio and TV personality Eddie Trunk. Depending on the chemistry and personalities involved, full-band Q&As can range from scintillating to sleepy — or occasionally, a full-blown trainwreck. Often the questions tilt toward one or two frontmen while others are left quietly smiling down the line. It’s a tough balance for any moderator to strike.

Kudos to Trunk for nailing it. He drew everyone in early, creating an atmosphere where all seven band members felt comfortable chiming in — whether to share insight, trade barbs, or drop perfectly timed one-liners.

The free-flowing setup produced plenty of comic gold: Todd Sucherman good-naturedly roasting Terry Gowan over his devotion to the Pittsburgh Steelers (and a well-placed pillow), Will Evankovich comparing Lawrence Gowan’s windblown stage coif to the Memorex man, and Tommy Shaw revealing one offbeat method for distracting Sucherman during his upcoming drum showcase.

Thank you, they’ll be here all weekend.

Trunk steered the conversation toward the band’s enduring chemistry, asking how they still manage to sound so tight live after all these years.

Gowan immediately jumped in.

“Every night, about three hours before the show, we start braiding each other's hair,” he deadpanned. “And that usually turns into a massage.”

But seriously, folks …

Band warmups start about three hours before showtime, building intensity as everyone locks in instrumentally and vocally.

“By the time we come onto the stage, we’re really amped up,” Gowan said.

“If we didn’t do all those things,” added Evankovich, “it would be like jumping out of a moving car going 80 miles per hour when you hit the stage — because that’s how Styx is. It’s par excellence. There’s a lot of perfectionism, but there’s a lot of great vibes too.”

The tone later turned reflective as the band discussed how they each consume music today — new or old.

James “JY” Young recounted buying his first record at age 11, discovering Jimi Hendrix, and the profound influence that experience had on his career.

“It’s something I’ll never forget,” Young said. “And every time we went to make a record, I’d try to sneak a little Hendrix curveball in there somewhere — not to dominate necessarily, but just to tip my hat. I saw him play three times live, and that was a mind-blower.”

“There’s always great music out there,” Sucherman added. “You just have to be more intentional — and a little lucky — to find it, because it’s not being fed to you the way it used to be.”

Shaw admitted that he missed a lot of great albums in the ’70s and ’80s simply because the band was too busy creating their own. After recently hooking up his turntable again, he dropped the needle on Supertramp’s 1974 masterpiece “Crime of the Century” and was floored.

“I got really angry with myself because we were so busy making Styx music back in those days that we didn’t see what everybody else was doing,” Shaw said. “I listened to that record and thought, ‘Should we go back and record all of our old albums? Because this is one of the best-sounding albums I’ve ever heard.’ Take my word for it — if you’re in a band that’s making records, go listen to stuff like that. I’d love to redo some of ours. We’re not going to, but you know, get out and expose yourself …”

He paused, realizing he had talked his way into an unintentional double entendre.

From the audience came a quick, perfectly timed female reply:

“After you!”

It might have been a Q&A, but even the fans were showing off their comedic chops. It’s been that kind of time at Rockin’ in Paradise.