SKID ROW Bassist: JOHNNY SOLINGER 'Will Always Be Our Singer'

Metallian.com recently conducted an interview with SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan. A couple of exceprts from the chat follow:

Metallian.com: Musically, SKID ROW has come down on the hard rock side of things. You aren't exactly trying to sound modern or get into newer sounds.

Rachel: Yeah, I think for the most part that is correct. We are a hard rock band and that is what we have always claimed to be. We have punk influences and we have metal influences and there are tracks on this album, such as "White Trash", "When God Can't Wait" or "You Lie" that just come out of nowhere. We threw convention aside and said let us not write ballads and instead do a rock record, but if something else comes in there that we like then we will put it in there. That is how "Revolutions Per Minute" came about. If you had to put a label on SKID ROW then it would be a hard rock band.

Metallian.com: Drummer Phil Varone was in and out of the band a couple of times in recent years. What is the situation there?

Rachel: Well, Dave Gara is our new drummer. He has been in the band two years now. It was one of those things with Phil. The rock 'n' roll lifestyle was taking a toll on Phil. He lived it to the hilt. He took advantage of the pleasures of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and it was better for he and his family that he didn't do it anymore. It is something that I don't choose to do. I like some beer, but I don't dabble in the other stuff that slows you down. When he left, it was good for him and probably good for us. Dave is a friend of mine and one of the first people I met when I moved to Atlanta. He was playing with a band called BETTY BLOWTORCH at the time. We became friends quickly and when Phil left it was natural for Dave to walk in. He had drum sticks, he had a drums set and had tattoo so he fit in.

Metallian.com: In your opinion, will "Revolutions Per Minute" put to bed the nostalgia and comparisons to the band with previous singer Sebastian Bach?

Rachel: You know, we are proud of what we did in the past and we will always play those songs, but with 2003's "Thickskin" we set out to tell everyone Johnny is in the band, he is our singer and will always be our singer. This album puts everything to rest and let's everyone know that this is serious, that Johnny has the goods and he is the singer. He is as much SKID ROW as I am.

Metallian.com: What do you think of the fans' reminisce of Sebastian Bach and also his performing SKID ROW songs on TV recently?

Rachel: That, well, there is some stuff that is about to go down about that because he never got clearance from us to do that — the TV thing. You know, it's weird, I couldn't go out and do other people's songs. That is me though. I mean Snake and I own the name, we started the band and we write the songs. The rumours are ridiculous, but they are what they are. Johnny has been in the band longer than Sebastian has — or was! He has been in the band for seven years!

Read the entire interview at Metallian.com.