WARRANT's ERIK TURNER Says Younger Rock Bands Aren't Partying Like He And Other Musicians Used To In 1980s

In a new interview with Shaggy of the KPKY / KZKY Classic Rock 94.9 / 104.5 FM radio stations, guitarist Erik Turner of veteran California rockers WARRANT was asked at what point in his life he started to notice that the rock and roll backstage party scene was starting to fizzle out. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, probably 15, 20 years ago, I would say. We look forward to the after-show meal and then getting back to the hotel. A lot of times we only have a few hours to sleep before we've gotta get up and catch a flight or run to an airport. But it's not crazy like the old days, I can tell you that. We still like to have a little wine, maybe a little tequila, some good food, good camaraderie, but none of the craziness that we used to do in our 20s exist anymore. And I don't think we would survive if we acted like that, quite honestly."

Shaggy then noted that "even with a lot of these younger bands, it's not like the backstage scene of the '80s anymore." Asked what he thinks happened to change the younger bands' focus away from the debauchery that existed four decades ago, Erik replied: "I don't know. I first noticed that a long time ago. I went to see some friends of ours. I won't say the name of the band, but they were extremely popular in the early 2000s. And we went backstage, and then we went and hung out on the bus. And quite frankly, they were just drinking sodas, smoking a little weed and playing video games. And they were in their early 20s at the time. And I'm just, like, 'What's going on?' It was very different than the '80s, when we were rockin' and rollin'. It was a decade of decadence."

Asked if people have definitely calmed down over the years, Turner said: "From what I've seen, yeah, my limited viewing. I don't hang around a lot of bands from the new guys, but everybody's definitely mellowed out. I think everybody's playing better than ever, after playing for so long and going on stage sober and all that good stuff. You play better, you sound better. The band [WARRANT] right now, we've been touring all year long and the band, in my humble opinion, is sounding really tight."

In a recent interview with Mankato, Minnesota's "The Five Count" radio show, WARRANT guitarist Joey Allen was asked if there has been any talk of a follow-up to 2017's "Louder Harder Faster" album. He responded: "We are actually writing right now for a record. So people are sending riffs around. You can do it on the Internet nowadays. We just have a cloud-based files system where we just upload ideas. And somebody will take an idea, a music idea, and put some lyrics to it, and we'll start to craft our songs. So maybe by this fall we'll dig into the studio again and [record] the follow-up to 'Louder Harder Faster', which came out, I think, six years ago this year. The recording process takes about four or five weeks, so maybe early next year we'll have something new out for everybody to listen to and back on the road we will go to support that."

Two years ago, WARRANT singer Robert Mason told the "Thunder Underground" podcast that there wasn't "a defined schedule" for the group's next studio album, but he added that he and his bandmates are "always writing."

In 2020, Turner told the "Talking Metal" podcast that WARRANT was "throwing some ideas around" for a new LP. He said: "I've been sending Robert some riffs, and Robert's been working on songs. I've got a song going with Jerry [Dixon, bass]. So it's a slow, long process for us, but the seed of a new record has been started. Now, that doesn't mean the seed will grow into a record. We've got a long way to go. We don't have one finished song. We've got a couple of things cooking, and we're actually sending ideas around back and forth to each other."

"Louder Harder Faster" was released in May 2017. The disc was recorded with producer Jeff Pilson — a veteran bassist who has played with DIO, FOREIGNER, DOKKEN and T&N, among others — and was mixed by Pat Regan, except for the song "I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink", which was mixed by Chris "The Wizard" Collier (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, PRONG, LAST IN LINE).

Mason replaced original WARRANT frontman Jani Lane in 2008 and has brought a degree of stability to the band after Lane's unceremonious departure and subsequent 2011 death.

WARRANT is rounded out by original drummer Steven Sweet.