QUIET RIOT Singer: Reunited 'Metal Health'-Era Lineup Was A Nightmare

Blasting-Zone.com recently conducted an in-depth interview with QUIET RIOT vocalist Kevin DuBrow. Several excerpts follow:

Blasting-Zone.com: What was the main cause for the break-up of the reunited "Metal Health"-era line-up? For me, as a fan and as a journalist, the reunion was a dream come true...

Kevin DuBrow: "It was a nightmare for me..."

Blasting-Zone.com: Really?

Kevin DuBrow: "...You have to remember that when we went in to record 'Metal Health', the lineup was me, Frankie, Carlos and Chuck. Carlos had just got the gig a month before. The guys that we had auditioned with was me, Frankie, a guy named Craig Turner and Chuck. ...Right before that, it was me, Frankie, a guy named Bob Stephen and Chuck... It wasn't a band at the time...it was called DUBROW...if you go look at the tape box in Sony's vaults, it says DUBROW...we changed the name later. The 'Metal Health' line-up, in my opinion, is something people envisioned as a band because of it's use in videos and people associate it with a certain time in their lives. Musically, the crux of it was something Frankie and I had been doing in clubs for a few years with a revolving door of other guys. That was the line-up that we had right as we signed that deal. I wouldn't say that line-up was particularly responsible for the architecture of that sound...they just happened to be in the band when we got signed. It was also a line-up that had its inherent problems. The problems of the '80s were made worse by my drug abuse and by my ego. The problem with this line-up in the '90s...I've blabbed on and on about what they were and I really don't like to put a spotlight on a problem that isn't there anymore, ya know? Musically, I felt the life had been sucked out of the band by the end of 2003. It was a negative situation...when I'm not into something, I can be pretty difficult...I can be pretty territorial about my music...I take it very serious when I am up on stage. ...If the band isn't together as a unit and isn't grooving musically, I get very...miserable...every part of my life is miserable because I love music. Just because we may not be considered a valid musical force doesn't mean I don't take it as seriously now at the age of fifty as I did when I was eighteen, ya know?"

Blasting-Zone.com: In retrospect, how do your feel the current QUIET RIOT line-up compares to those of the past?

Kevin DuBrow: "...Musically, it smokes it...smokes it down the road....it buries it on every fucking level. ...In the past, there were personality conflicts. Certain people just aren't meant to play together. ...If you could see...how a certain persons actual personality differs from what the public perceives them to be, you'd be amazed. I can tell you that right now, we are already writing for our next studio record. We already have more than enough material even though we haven't started recording yet. By the time we get it done, it's going to be the best record that we've ever done... Frankie just played me a demo of three songs that he's done with a guy name Neil Citron at Steve Vai's studios...I've been doing my demos up here with Michael Lardie and (current QUIET RIOT guitarist) Alex Grossi. It's funky, it's heavy...some of it sounds more contemporary...some of it sounds super '70s retro. Live, we have a band that plays in the groove, in the pocket and the tempos are great...it's got a swing. You can play as loud as you want on stage if you play the parts that are right for the tunes...there is no limit to the volume, it doesn't hurt your ears. But when it's all...shit...it's all a little hard to take. We did a New Year's Eve show in Baltimore and I was a bit concerned because we'd only had one rehearsal...but we sounded fucking amazing. The 'Metal Health'-era line-up never rehearsed. We never rehearsed because there was no fucking point...nobody listened. ...I told Frankie when we got back together that we had to have a different philosophy...we had to rehearse. You want to have an element of spontaneity each night, but you also want each member to know the songs going in. One of our previous members could not remember how to play 'Slick Black Cadillac' at the beginning of a weekend run...that's a song we've been playing since 1977. I don't know what to say about that. The rehearsal was great...the shows have been great...we're doing 'Condition Critical' again...the song sounds much better than the record. Alex listened to the original recording and duplicated what Carlos had done within a live setting. Carlos never had that sound live. Alex is so serious about his tones...he brings a whole new element to our sound..."

Read the entire interview at Blasting-Zone.com.