FRANKIE BANALI 'Couldn't Be Happier' With JIZZY PEARL Fronting QUIET RIOT

QUIET RIOT drummer Frankie Banali was interviewed at this year's HRH AOR festival, which was held in March in North Wales. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On managing QUIET RIOT since 1993:

Frankie: "I'm an A-type personality, and the thing is that I don't like delegating something to someone else and assuming that they're gonna put as much work and effort as I do, and then have to keep checking. So, with me, the buck stops with me. I mean, I do everything — I book the flights, I book hotels. I've done all the contracts for videos, records, everything all the way down the line. So I never blame my own inadequacies on anyone else; I take control."

On QUIET RIOT appealing to new, young fans:

Frankie: "I think a lot of things like VH1 and those things, and especially the QUIET RIOT movie that came out earlier this year has helped a lot. Because what's happening is we're getting a younger audience that actually knows the lyrics to the songs and knows the tunes. And if they were alive, they were two years old when 'Metal Health' came out. Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of the release of 'Metal Health'. So it's been a long journey with some wonderful highs and some terrible lows."

On bringing in Jizzy Pearl (LOVE/HATE) to sing for QUIET RIOT in 2013:

Frankie: "Replacing [late QUIET RIOT singer] Kevin [DuBrow] was impossible, because Kevin was the complete deal: he had incredible range, he loved being on stage, he was an amazing entertainer, he was the funniest man I've ever known. With Jizzy, I wanted to get somebody… Because if you're gonna play the QUIET RIOT material, you have to respect that material and you have to respect the fans. So it has to sound like QUIET RIOT. But at the same time, I wanted somebody who had their own identity, so that you've got QUIET RIOT plus this other component to it. And it's working out really great. I couldn't be happier."

DuBrow died in November 2007 of an accidental cocaine overdose. He was 52 years old.

In addition to Banali and Pearl, QUIET RIOT's current lineup includes bassist Chuck Wright and guitarist Alex Grossi.

"Quiet Riot: Well Now You're Here There's No Way Back", the feature documentary on QUIET RIOT, was released last year. It is described as an inside look at Frankie's road to recovery after losing DuBrow as he forges ahead to conquer his loss, regain his life and put the band back together.