RATT Frontman: 'To Me, Playing To 1,000 People, 10,000 People Are All The Same'

Deb Rao of Glam-Metal.com recently conducted an interview with RATT frontman Stephen Pearcy. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Glam-Metal.com: How do you feel the tour [with POISON] is going so far?

Pearcy: It is going fine. We just had to get our life back, which we did. We are keeping the set list interesting. We are changing songs here and there. We are having a good time. POISON and us go way back. It is way cool.

Glam-Metal.com: How does it feel back to be touring with POISON again? I know your first full-blown tour with POISON was in 1986. Then you did the 1999 POISON tour.

Pearcy: Well, good, you know. I have always been on the road. To me, playing to 1,000 people, 10,000 people are all the same. We went on the road with POISON in 1999, I believe. It wasn't executed properly. This is a better timing. We got the new CD and DVD coming out, "Tell the World: The Very Best of Ratt", at the end of the month on Rhino Records. It should be very cool. The CD is a "best-of," and songs that we actually wanted to put on there. The DVD features videos at the time that we weren't able to present back then and they went platinum and gold. So we are excited about just getting them out and letting people seeing all of them at all at once.

Glam-Metal.com: One of the things I noticed at your concert the other night is that the RATT songs are really timeless. It felt so good to hear them being played live again. Everybody was on there feet from "Lay it Down" to your last song, "Round and Round". Why do you think RATT music has remained so popular and garnering a whole generation of RATT fans?

Pearcy: Well, we never claimed or wanted to be press darlings. From day one, we always just wanted to do our own kind of music which we called "ratt and roll." Nothing has changed. You learn a lot more. We are survivors. We have as many original members involved. There is a certain element. To have this style of music or whatever they label it hair bands, it was just that era that was timeless. That will never happen again. It will never go down again. To be part of it and have the success that we did and continue. It is new again. It is all good. Whatever defends the faith, you know?!

Glam-Metal.com: Who initiated the RATT reunion? I know we talked prior to the debut of the RATT VH1 "Behind the Music" and possible a RATT reunion in 2005. It is so great that it is finally happening.

Pearcy: Well, we wish that Juan [Croucier, bass] had been a part of it. But it didn't happen. It is a way of life. It is a full commitment. We are already working on some new music. Again, we will see what that gets us at the end of this tour.

Glam-Metal.com: Well, I know you have the mobile recording studio out. How is the songwriting going?

Pearcy: Yes, we have a studio out here digital. It is real cool. We are already working on stuff. We will continue to work on music, until the end of the tour. Hopefully, we will have a big bag of RATT songs.

Glam-Metal.com: Will RATT remain on the road after the POISON tour wraps up in September?

Pearcy: Yes, we have a lot of ground to cover. We have some international stuff, and finish up some stuff in the States. As I say, we are trying to get a record going. That is the plan and we will see where it will take us. We got a lot of things to do. It is a whole new breed of RATT. This time, we are having a real patience with things.

Read the entire interview at Glam-Metal.com.