SKID ROW: New Audio Interview With RACHEL BOLAN

RockNLive.org recently conducted an interview with SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

SKID ROW's new EP, "United World Rebellion - Chapter One", was released in Europe on May 24 via Germany's UDR Music. The European version of the EP includes two bonus tracks, both of them cover tunes: "Fire Fire" (EZO) and "United" (JUDAS PRIEST).

"United World Rebellion - Chapter One" European version track listing:

01. Kings Of Demolition
02. Let's Go
03. This Is Killing Me
04. Get Up
05. Stitches
06. Fire Fire (EZO cover)
07. United (JUDAS PRIEST cover)

"United World Rebellion - Chapter One" sold around 1,500 copies in the Unted States in its first week of release. Released in North America on April 16 via MRI, the effort is the first in a series of EPs that the reincarnated band — Dave "Snake" Sabo (guitar),Rachel Bolan (bass),Scotti Hill (guitar),Johnny Solinger (vocals) and Rob Hammersmith (drums) — plans to release in the near future.

"United World Rebellion - Chapter One" reignites the youthful energy and blistering sound that SKID ROW is recognized for around the world. "That sound and energy is what resonates with people and knocks them on their ass," says Hammersmith. "We had a lot of great ideas to work with, so we're all really excited about this new music."

SKID ROW's rebellious tunes hit the big time in the late 1980s. However, after several Top Ten singles, gold and multi-platinum sales, No. 1 Billboard-charting tracks and more, the band split in 1996. In 2000, to the delight of fans everywhere, SKID ROW reformed and returned to the stage to open for KISS. They then released two new musical offerings in the form of 2003's "ThickSkin" and 2006's "Revolutions Per Minute" with new singer Johnny Solinger out front. Seven years later, the band is back again with new music, ready to take over in the new age of heavy metal.

"When we put the band back together, we needed to reintroduce SKID ROW as relevant without relying too much on past success," explains Bolan. "We sunk our heart and soul into it, letting people know we weren't doing it for lack of nothing better to do."

For the new EP series, Bolan and Sabo tapped again into the potent songwriting collaboration that built SKID ROW. Sabo says they were eagerly up to the challenge. "We seem to be at our best when we're faced with adversity. It's us against the world again — and by us I mean the band and the fans who stick with us and carry the SKID ROW torch without fail."

"The idea [of releasing EPs] really appealed to me," adds Bolan, "Especially with the constantly changing musical climate. I like the idea of a steady flow of new music, as opposed to releasing a full-length album then riding it for the next two years."

And although striving to reintroduce themselves and try something different, these boys are still strong in their roots. They got older, but SKID ROW never really grew up. "United World Rebellion" is still the youth gone wild, their musical spark still burning gasoline.

"I will always be that 16-year-old kid in front of the mirror, pretending to be Ace Frehley or Michael Schenker," admits Sabo. "It's still about writing a great song with your friend, praying it connects with someone. That has never left me. That willfulness will always exist, and there's so much left to say!"