FRANKIE BANALI: 'My Whole Thing Has Always Been To Keep QUIET RIOT Moving Forward Regardless Of Who Wants To Be Involved In It'

Ragman of "The Right To Rock" podcast recently conducted an interview with QUIET RIOT drummer Frankie Banali. You can listen to the entire chat at this location. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On vocalist James Durbin leaving and being replaced by the returning Jizzy Pearl:

Frankie: "It was his decision. I had a number of singers in mind that I was going to reach out to that had never worked with QUIET RIOT before, but rather than go to them first, I wanted to revisit the possibility of seeing if Jizzy Pearl was interested in coming back into the band because we had three great years, almost three great years, with Jizzy on board. I spoke with him and I was very, very happy and thrilled with the fact that he was more than willing to come back into the QUIET RIOT situation. I said this in an interview because it's true: I really like Jizzy. I really respect him. I think he's an amazing performer. I think he's got a great rock voice and he's his own person and his own artist, and what happens is, when he performs the QUIET RIOT material, and especially the catalog material, he does a great job to bridge it between what we had done in the past and what he, himself brings to the table. For me, that's a win-win situation. I didn't want him to be a Kevin [DuBrow] clone. Yeah, Kevin was one of a kind; he was an amazing singer with an amazing range and an amazing stage performance. But I wanted to ensure that Jizzy coming into the situation, he would be comfortable being himself within this thing called QUIET RIOT. Literally, he replaced James within 24 hours of me accepting James's decision that he was quitting."

On whether Durbin's departure was yet another "here we go again" moment for QUIET RIOT and caused him to panic:

Frankie: "No, actually, I didn't. My position has always been: I only want people to be involved with QUIET RIOT that want to be involved with QUIET RIOT. A lot of people don't understand that QUIET RIOT lineups have changed forever. We did 'Metal Health' and 'Condition Critical', then the lineup changed. Then we did 'QR III', then the lineup changed. Then we did the fourth QUIET RIOT record, and the lineup changed. We did the 'Terrified' record, and the lineup changed. This is something that, whether people realize it or not, people have this romantic idea that QUIET RIOT was always the four members that were on the classic 'Metal Health' record, but the reality of it is that it is constantly changed and evolved, both the music and the personnel. When James decided that he wanted to quit, for me it was, 'Okay. I have to get myself in gear and fix the situation and continue to move forward.' My whole thing has always been to keep QUIET RIOT moving forward, regardless of who wants to be involved in it or who does not want to be involved in it."

Banali was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in April 2019 after going to the emergency room for shortness of breath, leg pain and loss of energy. A scan of his lungs caught an image of his liver, which is where the first spots were seen. Then came the discovery of a tumor on his pancreas.

QUIET RIOT's latest studio album, "Hollywood Cowboys" was released on November 8 via Frontiers Music Srl.