Former RATT Bassist Discusses New Band

Debra Stocker of All Access Magazine recently conducted an interview with former RATT bassist Juan Croucier. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

All Access Magazine: Juan, you have perfomed with DOKKEN, RATT and LIQUID SUNDAY, and now All Access Magazine has learned of your newest effort, THE JUAN CROUCIER BAND. Who may we expect to see standing alongside you?

Juan: The band consists of myself on bass and lead vocals, John Medina on drums and Carlos Cavazo on guitar. I really enjoy playing with John and Carlos, they are not only excellent musicians but we are also very good friends. We intend to begin playing live shows within the next month or two.

All Access Magazine: Will you be performing new material, or will this new project be RATT, DOKKEN and songs from the other members' former bands?

Juan: The band is performing original songs as well as hit songs from RATT's catalog. In fact, we're playing about half of each at the moment. This lineup is playing more RATT songs than previous incarnations of the band. We may also do a QUIET RIOT song or two, depending on what Carlos decides.

All Access Magazine: Any plans for a new album yet?

Juan: We are planning on recording a song or two in the near future. Just to get a feel for how things are going to work in the recording studio. Right now, we are focused on rehearsing for live performances. But I'm sure we'll get into the studio before too long. Eventually, we'll record a record. I can only speak for myself, but it's my intention to play in this band for the foreseeable future.

All Access Magazine: Your musical career has spanned over two decades. You certainly have seen the music scene go through changes. What in your opinion were some good changes, and bad?

Juan: Actually four decades, but who is counting! In the mid-Seventies it seemed almost impossible for a hard rock band to get a record contract out of Los Angeles/Hollywood. There was no shortage of talented bands throughout the area, it's just that few record companies wanted to take a chance. Getting a record deal seemed almost impossible. Then VAN HALEN got a deal with Warner Brothers. That gave a lot of local bands a reason to hope. What came after that was almost a record company signing frenzy. Later, in the early Eighties, I believe MTV was very good for the music world. It allowed fans to see what had been going on in Los Angeles and Hollywood. On the bad side of things, in the late Eighties, record company greed, complicity, lack of insight and foresight, caused a redundancy of bands. It got boring and repetitive. That brought a backlash against hard rock bands. That consequently opened the door to the grunge movement. In the last eight to ten years, downloading has eaten away at record sales. Now, iPods have helped to cause the decimation of record sales. I'll tell you the truth, "recording is hard work." To have someone steal your work just because they can is wrong and is no different than stealing anything else. It really says a lot about human character and what people will do if they can get away with it. But what most people don't understand is that stealing music simply hurts the artist and especially up-and-coming bands. One more thing, anyone that says, "Bands make their money touring, not selling records," is only saying that because they have never sold any records themselves.

Read the entire interview at All Access Magazine.