QUIET RIOT's FRANKIE BANALI: 'I Really Don't Care About The Critics Of My Decision To Continue The Band'

Larry Petro of KNAC.COM recently conducted an interview with QUIET RIOT drummer Frankie Banali. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

KNAC.COM: QUIET RIOT would be no more, but you had a change of heart after receiving the blessing of [late QUIET RIOT singer Kevin] DuBrow's family. Who was the first to broach the topic?

Banali: It really came about after I was approached by director/producer Regina Russell when she asked me about the possibility of making a film about QUIET RIOT. Once I started going through my extensive 30-plus years of archives, I came to the realization that I missed QUIET RIOT almost as much as I missed Kevin.

KNAC.COM: Did you still have some apprehension even after you got their blessing?

Banali: Of course I did. I made a very bold statement that I wouldn't and then had a change of heart. I guess I'm the only person on the planet guilty of changing his mind.

KNAC.COM: The green light to proceed put aside for a moment, you could have just left the QUIET RIOT legacy as it was and started a new band. What for you was the deciding factor to continue on as QUIET RIOT?

Banali: I spent most of my entire professional career with QUIET RIOT, more than any other member of the band. From the "Metal Health" record on, I am the only person that has played on all the records. I've worked hard and I've earned the right and put in the decades to do so. Besides, I really don't care about the critics of my decision to continue the band. The only thing accomplished with their criticism is that it makes me more determined to keep moving forward with QUIET RIOT.

KNAC.COM: Jizzy Pearl is the new vocalist for the band now. Did you actually hold auditions or did you have Jizzy in mind all along?

Banali: After two failed attempts giving unknowns the opportunity to be involved with QUIET RIOT, Jizzy seemed like a good prospect. I sent him the songs to learn along with video links of both the live and studio versions of the songs for the live set. He worked on those on his own and then I had guitarist Alex Grossi work with Jizzy since they both live in Las Vegas. I then scheduled rehearsals and everything went really well, so we went straight out and started performing live dates with Jizzy.

KNAC.COM: Okay, so the [new QUIET RIOT] album is titled "10", but it's actually the band's 12th album. So why did you decide to call it "10"?

Banali: Kevin and I always looked at the first version of QUIET RIOT and the "Metal Health" version of QUIET RIOT as two distinct different bands that were connected by the same name and Kevin as the common denominator. The two versions of the band were very different in both musical style and membership. Now I know the pundits will say that I am saying this now that Kevin is gone, but to them I say that while Kevin was alive, the third record after "Metal Health" and "Condition Critical" was called "QR III", not "QR V". So to that end, QUIET RIOT "10" is the 10th record in line from the release of "Metal Health". But for those who might argue that point because they have little else going on in their lives, then accept the title based on there being 10 songs on this record.

KNAC.COM: Do you find that you're getting a lot of positive support from the fans?

Banali: Yes, it's been going great! It's really quite amazing that 31 years after the release of "Metal Health", we are still out there touring. We owe it all to a faithful fan base that is pretty evenly made up of longtime fans and newer fans, some of which were not even born when "Metal Health" came out. The older fans are from the MTV generation while the newer fans are from the VH1 generation.

Read the entire interview at KNAC.COM.