STEPHEN PEARCY: 'My Vocal Exercise Is Having A Coffee And A Smoke And Yelling And Laughing'

In a new interview with Scott Davidson of Chicago's Rebel Radio, RATT singer Stephen Pearcy was asked for the "secret" to keeping his voice in shape for his live performances more than five decades into his career. The 69-year-old musician responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I come from late '60s, '70s scene. So I just do what a [Robert] Plant or one of these guys [would do]... You just sing. I don't have any regimen. I don't bite a towel and yodel. My vocal exercise is having a coffee and a smoke and yelling and laughing and talking and yippity-yi. I'm too busy stretching and keeping myself limber out there."

He continued: "But no, you know what? More so nowadays, I'm having a great time. It's just Ratt 'n' roll. It's right back to the beginning. You go to my shows now and it's like stepping back into the Sunset Strip 1983, '84. We don't give a shit. We're just having a party for you. And that's what I'm bringing back. We don't have tapes, this and that going. We don't rely on shit but just having a good time."

Back in 2017, Pearcy told Icon Vs. Icon that he initially "didn't want to be a lead singer. In the early '70s, when I was introduced to the guitar, I just started writing my own songs right away," he explained. "Some of those songs ended up on the first RATT EP and even 'Out Of The Cellar' — songs like 'You Got It', 'Sweet Cheater', 'In Your Direction' and 'Never Use Love'. Those were songs I wrote in 1978 or 1979. I really stumbled into the singing thing. It really came down to someone saying, 'Can you sing?' And me saying, 'I guess.' The next thing you know I'm singing in front of bands. It was seeing bands like LED ZEPPELIN and AEROSMITH which had me saying, 'Oh, okay. This is what they do? All right, I'll give it a shot.' I started singing and then I started playing guitar and singing. It wasn't until late 1982, when Jake E. Lee was in the band, that I started singing with [the pre-RATT band] MICKEY RATT. I just went with a David Lee Roth, Steven Tyler, Robert Plant type of approach. How my voice is how my voice is. It's a mystery to me. I don't take vocal lessons or do anything but sing… or yell at people. [Laughs]"

Pearcy's sixth solo album, "The Dogg Mob", is tentatively due this fall via Stephen's Top Fuel Records label.

Pearcy's most recent solo LP, "View To A Thrill", came out in 2018 via Frontiers Music Srl. The follow-up to 2017's "Smash" was produced by Pearcy's bassist Matt Thorne and Stephen and was mixed and mastered by Pearcy's longtime guitarist Erik Ferentinos.

This past April, Pearcy released "I Need U", the first single from "The Dogg Mob". The track features Pearcy on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Ferentinos on guitar, Thorne on bass, Blas Elias on drums and an undisclosed "special guest" on guitar.

For the past year, Pearcy has been playing sporadic shows with guitarist extraordinaire Warren DeMartini — his longtime bandmate in RATT — under the PEARCY/DEMARTINI moniker.

RATT hasn't released any new music since 2010's "Infestation" LP.