HISTORY

Tripp first picked up the guitar at age 13. He already has much musical experience, learning piano and trumpet at age 8, and played in concert, jazz & marching band throughout school. He formed bands in high school such as Batt and Starriders, and most notably Vamp, in which he wrote his first original songs at age 14. He has a younger brother, Kirk, who is a drummer. Kirk has toured and/or recorded with bands such as The Ambulance, Society 1, and Lords Of Acid. Tripp auditioned for Marilyn Manson in 1996, just a year before joining Dope. The nickname Tripp was first used and
bestowed on him when he joined the then-forming band Dope in October 1997. He was previously known as Rex (his actual middle name), and uses this most often among friends and family.

Tripp’s first break was getting an audition with east coast glam rock band Teeze in 1986; a band he idolized and followed. He was instantly a rock star and played in front of sold-out crowds. Teeze changed their name to Roughhouse and were singed to CBS/Columbia Records and gained national exposure in music magazines and on MTV. Throughout the 1990’s Tripp formed various bands while living in New Jersey: Lovesick, The Right (where he first met Preston Nash, who would join him in Dope), Fractured Mirror (Ace Frehley tribute band), Ego, The Rezin Hits, AAAA Freak Ensemble, among others. He is best known for being a founding member of Dope, founding the Murderdolls with Joey Jordison, and joining Static-X in December 2000. Tripp was incarcerated for 2 offenses in 2005. This led to his split from Static-X. Taking full responsibility and paying his debt to society, the following years were spent putting things back together in his life. During these years Tripp composed many songs and wrote many lyrics. In 2013 Tripp was offered to return to his old band Dope and came close to touring with them but circumstance didn’t allow. Then in 2016, Tripp facilitated the reunion of his most successful band, Static-X. He worked with bassist Tony Campos on some of the songs that ended up on the new Static-X album Project Regeneration Vol. 1, released in 2020. It debuted at #1 on the iTunes Metal Chart and #8 overall on iTunes. Tripp’s song “Die MF Die” remains Dope’s #1 song on Spotify, with 125 million streams and Tripp’s song “The Only” is still Static-X’s #1 video on YouTube. He currently performs with his old band Roughhouse, who reunited in 2016, and Tripp’s metal-industrial band Face Without Fear is performing live shows and working on and EP and an album.