SKID ROW Singer JOHNNY SOLINGER: Reunion With SEBASTIAN BACH Is 'Just Not Gonna Happen'

John Parks of Legendary Rock Interviews recently conducted an interview with SKID ROW singer Johnny Solinger. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Legendary Rock Interviews: Snake [SKID ROW guitarist Dave 'Snake" Sabo] told us in our last interview that there was a lot of new material you were sifting through and I think you played one the other week, a song called "Let's Go", is that correct?

Johnny: Yes, that's a new one, and I'll tell you, John, this new material is some of the best stuff we've done, definitely some of the best since I've been in the band. I consider a song like "Ghost" a truly great song that really should have been a big hit single, but that song came out on my first album with the band, "Thickskin", and nobody gave a shit at that time, which I understand. At this point, I'm on my third album and I've been around for over a decade. This next album and these songs are going to put us right back where we need to be because it's been a while since "Revolutions Per Minute" came out. The new album's got a lot of the energy and vibe of "Slave To The Grind" and the lyrics and riffs are just technical and crazy and everyone is just really juiced up about it and that excitement is translating itself onto the tape.

Legendary Rock Interviews: Snake had said he was in no hurry to get it out and that the songs all had to be there but the way you're talking it's moving along nicely. Do you think we'll see it around this time next year?

Johnny: Snake's really right in saying that to you. I mean, we all talked about that and we could rush it out just to put it out, but we just don't wanna do that. We've definitely got the songs, but we don't wanna just push it out there like that. If it's not great and things aren't lined up, then we're gonna wait. We are in negotiations with a pretty cool label and we're talking about all kinds of different ways of doing it. It's a different era and the whole record company business has changed so there's been talk about putting out a couple of EPs or doing it this way or that. Snake is very cautious about that, and I understand that, but we're setting on about 12 or so demos that rule, to be honest with you.

Legendary Rock Interviews: You mentioned talking with a label. Are you also waiting to see what materializes as far as producers or is that something you're willing to go on your own with?

Johnny: The way technology is, and the way these tapes are sounding with Rachel's [Bolan, bass] studio and equipment, it's tough to say. I think once the ink is in place on this deal we will have a better idea of whether we wanna go with a name producer or try and go at it ourselves. I don't have a problem either way as long as they don't try to change the sound or the songs too much because they are so headed in the right direction. We could easily do this one ourselves, but I guess it all depends on how the business end of it shakes out.

Legendary Rock Interviews: [Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach] made a lot of headlines a month or so ago when he said that he knew for a fact that there was only one person who was against a SKID ROW reunion. I knew from Snake telling me point blank that it was he who was dead set against it but I was also kind of confused because just a few months earlier Sebastian himself was telling me he wasn't interested and was more than happy with his solo career. How difficult does it make things for the band when [Bach] floats things like that out on Twitter or whatever?

Johnny: You know, John, I've never said anything bad publicly about the guy, because I don't care, it's my band to sing in now and has been for thirteen years. First of all, when he comes out and says stuff like that it's all crap. It is, just like "four out of five dentists approve" is crap. He's been wanting back in the band since I joined but there's not much he can say about it and not much I care to say about it. His statement that four out of the five guys are wanting a reunion with him was just his way of getting a little attention, and we don't really care either way about it because it's not going to happen. I'm not saying that to be bad to the dude, because I've never been that kind of guy to slag him or anything he does. In fact, I totally understand the old SKID ROW fans that abandoned us when I joined; that's fine, I get it. I totally love the fans that stayed on and enjoyed me with the band, of course (laughs) and I totally love the old SKID ROW fans that have come back into the fold. I just appreciate all of the fans, old and new, because they're all SKID ROW fans. It's all about the songs and the creativity and I love that about this band and their fans because they get it.

Legendary Rock Interviews: Paul Stanley once said something to the effect of, "there's a reason why your ex is your ex" and that seems to be the case in a lot of bands as well…

Johnny: The thing that blows my mind about all these guys is that they're all still friends. I mean, we play shows with other bands where the guys in the band can't even stand to be in the same room at the same time and it shows when they're onstage. My guys, to their credit, are all very cool. They hang together, they talk to each other and are genuinely close which isn't always as common as you'd think and is really something that makes it a pleasure to be in this band. There's not a druggie in the band, there's not an asshole in the band, all these different personal issues that can get in the way of making music are not an issue for us anymore, which is why it's so funny when those reunion rumors pop up, because it's just not gonna happen. All the true-blue fans know that by now, though.

Read the entire interview from Legendary Rock Interviews.

Photo credit: Fran Strine