SKID ROW's SCOTTI HILL On New Singer JUSTIN SARGENT: It Feels 'Like He's Always Been Here'

In an interview with Neil Jones of TotalRock, SKID ROW guitarist Scotti Hill spoke about the band's new singer, Broadway veteran Justin Sargent, who made his stage debut in 2011 in the hard rock jukebox musical "Rock Of Ages", as well as appearing in "Bonnie & Clyde" and as the lead in the famously troubled superhero musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark". The singer has also appeared on TV in small parts on "Royal Pains", "Mr. Robot" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". Asked what it was like for him to play with Sargent for the first time, Hill said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It was very positive. It was really good. We were, like, 'Oh.' He definitely got our attention. Our manager had seen him perform — I don't remember where or what the situation was — but it was, like, 'Hey, I just saw this guy last night who was really good.' So we got in touch with him, and as it turns out, he coincidentally lives in New Jersey. So I was, like, 'Wow, okay.' Well, we had him down to our rehearsal space."

Scotti continued: "Now, you gotta remember that Snake [SKID ROW guitarist Dave Sabo] and Rachel [Bolan, SKID ROW bassist] live within a few hours of each other in the New York/New Jersey area. I live in Los Angeles and Rob [Hammersmith, SKID ROW drummer] lives in Atlanta. So rehearsal is, like, we have to plan it. We have to fly there, and we have to stay. So we all met up. I think we might have played with a few singers that weekend. I'm not sure. It's all been a blur. It's all kind of jumbled together. But, yeah, Justin came in and was great energy right off the bat, even before he started singing. He didn't seem nervous. He was friendly and confident but not too cocky. But, yeah, when he started singing it was, like, 'Oh, this is good. We should get to know this guy a little bit.' So we had to spend some time with him also. There's a vetting process at this point. So, the singing was great. We had him down two days in a row and got to spend a little bit of time with him. And then, as the whole thing developed, we got together with him… We spent some time, went out, had some serious conversations, and eventually made the decision. And it's been a while now that we've known about this. So, it's been very hard to keep secret. So, in that time, we've met, we've recorded, we've rehearsed, we've shot a video, we've spent some time together."

SKID ROW announced Sargent as the band's new singer on Thursday (October 29) via a cover of THE WHO's "Won't Get Fooled Again".

"The first thing I noticed, spending time with Justin, was we got to the studio to record 'Won't Get Fooled Again', and it immediately felt like he had always been there," Scotti told TotalRock. "He just fit right in with us — his sense of humor. I mean, we're always — everything's a joke. We laugh a lot. And he just fit right in. I said to one of the guys, I was, like, 'It's like he's always been here.' It's so weird… It always feels like there's a new guy in the room. There's nothing wrong with that. But when somebody comes through, whether it's a band member or a crew member, it feels like somebody new is there. But I never got that feeling. It was really cool. It was good — very natural, and fun."

Asked what Justin said about his career on Broadway, Scotti said: "He really enjoyed it, but it wasn't ... I'm paraphrasing, but I think he kind of wound up in the Broadway scene mistakenly. He was kind of a band guy that wound up over there doing that, and he enjoyed it. He really liked it. I saw him. I went to see him in 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. He had the lead role. He was fucking amazing. He was great. There was definitely a rock singer up there. But aside from the Broadway thing, he does different rock type of gigs. So he's not unfamiliar to that. I think he did 'Rock Of Ages', and I'm not sure of his whole history there with all that. But he's been in bands and all that stuff. But Broadway has been his main income for some time now."

Scotti went on to say that Justin is welcome to contribute to the songwriting process for SKID ROW's next album, which is currently in development.

"We don't have any specific formula carved in stone [when it comes to the writing]," Hill explained. "Snake and Rachel will always be the writing nucleus of the band. They just go well together, and they always have. I even said to them the other day, I was, like, 'You guys need to spend more time together.' 'Cause I can do what I do, we can all do what we do, but those guys together, that's our sound. And then when you bring it into the band and we play it as a band, the individual personalities come out in the music."

As for constant calls for a reunion with former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach, Scotti said: "Well, it's always been there. I think it's always going to be there at some point because of going back to the early days. So people are always gonna bring that up. But as far as who's come and who's gone, there's been a reason for people's departures in every circumstance. And none of them have really been that bitter — maybe except for one of them… Yeah, I am looking forward to moving past that. But people will always have questions about reunions and things like that, which is just out of the question, so we'll just fix that right now. So that's not even up for discussion. But, yeah, onward, man. Onward."

Born in Murphysboro Illinois and raised in Florida, Justin has been performing since high school. Since he graduated, he has been lucky enough to make a living doing what he loves. He has performed alongside music legends like John Legend, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles, Dee Snider, Kip Winger, Graham Russell, and has been a guest singer with the band AIR SUPPLY. Justin has toured the country singing everything from QUEEN to Andrew Lloyd Webber. His TV/film appearances include "Jesus Christ Superstar: Live" on NBC, "Law & Order: SVU", "Mr. Robot", "Delocated", "Royal Pains" and more.

Justin's addition to SKID ROW follows an extensive worldwide search that attracted overwhelming interest from singers across the globe. Earlier this year, SKID ROW partnered with leading music retailer Sweetwater to further extend the search and engage the global music community.

Singer Erik Grönwall exited SKID ROW two and a half years ago. The now-38-year-old Swedish-born musician, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021, announced his departure from SKID ROW in March 2024, saying that it had become increasingly "difficult to prioritize" his health and full recovery as the lead singer of the group.

Erik was SKID ROW's fourth frontman since Sebastian's departure.

Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY. In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of bassist Rachel Bolan, guitarists Dave "Snake" Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger. SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing ex-TNT vocalist Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart, who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I. Theart was fired from SKID ROW in February 2022 and was replaced by Grönwall, who was previously a member of the Swedish hard rock band H.E.A.T.