Ex-RATT Singer Discusses 'Bastards Of Metal' Tour, Former Bandmates

The "Bastards of Metal" tour, which was set to feature Stephen Pearcy (ex-RATT),Joey Belladonna (ex-ANTHRAX),Marq Torien (BULLETBOYS),Ron Keel (KEEL, IRON HORSE) and Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS, WATCHTOWER),has been pushed back to 2005 "due to routing, weather, and change of agents," according to a posting at ZRock.com.

In an exclusive interview with ZRock.com, the tour's mastermind, Pearcy, discusses the upcoming trek and his former band. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

ZRock: In 1985, People magazine quoted you as stating, "We're not into politics or the devil or even heavy metal. We're into playing rock 'n' roll. We want to make RATT "establishment" to become a huge band, like ZEPPELIN or VAN HALEN." Has your music met your expectations?

Stephen Pearcy: "Yes and no. Yes, you see the world (or however much you can or want to),you get enough drugs to put down a rhino; you play the big shows, travel and see the big small world, etc. For me it was and still remains the three Ps — pussy, party, paycheck — in no particular order, as long as it was the best. I have since eliminated one of the Ps. And still encourage that belief as much as possible. Again, through many elements RATT couldn't get to the tip top in the years we had available (1983-1991).

"I believe the original RATT band accomplished more than anyone could imagine and I do appreciate the people who still get off on me doing my RATT music to this day. Our song 'Round & Round' was used by NASA 2004 recently to wake up the Rover for a few weeks, being one of the first bands (rock) to be played on the moon.

"So yes, the music did achieve great life and will continue, that is a good trademark for any band. No, because I haven't yet seen the true accomplishments from the band RATT. We didn't have time to mature together. It is the 20th anniversary of 'Out of the Cellar' (1984-2004),I will keep that in mind.

"There are two elements on a long-term destruction course to see the original band members or RATT from ever giving back to the hardcore fans. Really sick in a way, as long as they can fool the public with my picture to sell a ticket and it doesn’t benefit the founder and original lead singer or former member, be it dead or alive from RATT, they're happy to keep misleading what audience is left for them with the RATT logo and trademarks I created. It was a case of them two firing a corporate director to use the RATT logos to tour. They could make more money paying someone else a lot less then the original lead singer. Or the guy who started the band RATT. (laughs)

"Upset? Not really, the courts will take care of that legal b.s. and I will take care of the rest by having the best players involved in the re recordings of the RATT songs. RATT cannot release any product titled RATT without me getting benefits and god forbid De Martini and Blotzer have to pay for something they didn't create, again.

"They should really give RATT some integrity and shit or get off the pot. Round two is on the way for them! They should be honest to the fans and really let people know I'm not singing in the band RATT and have not been for four years."

ZRock: Many bands that were playing the L.A. scene rose to fame in the '80s, traveled the same circles, partied together, and jammed together. Several achieved huge success to varying degrees in the '80s and '90s, and then seemed to drift out of sight. In the last 4-5 years, many of the bands are enjoying a renaissance of sorts. How have attitudes or relationships changed in the past 20 years?

Stephen Pearcy: "I think if you dedicate yourself to what you wanted to achieve and want a life in the music media business like a lot of the L.A. music scene bands or anyone from the '80-'90s music scene.

"Relationships, I wouldn't know. I made a few, lost a few and still see a few. I was always within the RATT world and pretty much kept that interest, you can't trust everyone. And then again you can't even trust your once bandmates. With attitude you're seeing some bands that had some success, be it a gold album or a couple of platinum releases, finally figure they can create and market on their own. Some are successful at it and some just take what they can for what it's worth. Again, some '80s bands like the RATT you might go see without me, with them they are just sucking the last drop of marquee value left instead of really trying to reestablish that initial success and move forward. Too bad for some. 'What comes around goes around.' "

ZRock: "Round one" of "Bastards of Metal" has been pushed back to 2005. What's your vision and longterm goals for "Bastards of Metal"?

Stephen: "Yeah, we are getting off to a strange start, then again anything different will be looked at as that. I had the idea stolen from an agency I approached earlier this year and they kind of tainted the water. So I have to get the rudest bastards I can find, people who want to take a chance and be involved in a new idea. We have faith; we'll see where it goes. For now it's ALL touring, ALL the time thru 2005. Everything's 'Fueler'."

Read Stephen Pearcy's entire interview with ZRock.com at this location.