WARRANT's JERRY DIXON: 'We Had A Horrible Run For About Ten Years'

In a new interview with music writer Joel Gausten, WARRANT bassist Jerry Dixon discusses a variety of topics, including the struggles the band faced following the release of 1992's "Dog Eat Dog", which saw the band's record sales drop as the grunge movement took over. An excerpt from the chat appears below.

Joel Gausten: This year is the 25th anniversary of the "Dog Eat Dog" record. That record's always been of particular interest to me, because it was obviously a departure for WARRANT during some really interesting times in the music industry. When you look back at that album now, what are thoughts on it in terms of its place in WARRANT's history and its success as a WARRANT album?

Jerry: "I think we really found who we wanted to be on that record. You do your first record, and those are the songs that you played in the clubs. Then, we did the second record, and that was a lot heavier; it had 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'. That was the vibe we were going for, and at the last second, [the label] wanted a big anthem, 'We Will Rock You'- type song. Out popped 'Cherry Pie', and it changed the face of the Earth. [Laughs] It was the title of the record, and we were like, 'Oh, wow!' I mean, we're thankful, but that wasn't the master plan. When 'Dog Eat Dog' came up, we had a little time off and time to reflect on kind of what happened to us — all the good stuff and all the touring. We just said, 'You know what? Let's really just make a serious kind of record. Seriously play and make the songs have more substance.' We just kind of grew up a little bit, and I think that was kind of the sound in the band that we were always striving to end up being. I think it just came out a little bit too late. The grunge wave hit, and it just got clobbered.

Joel Gausten: The band had a few lineup changes over the years, but we're at a point now where the four surviving members of the classic lineup have been working together again for a few years now. What makes the combination of the four of you work as well as it does to where it's still the same four guys nearly 30 years later?

Jerry: "I think it's super cool that we're able to do that. I think other variables made the lineup change along the way. There were a lot of hurt feelings; there was a lot of shit that happened. We had a horrible run for about ten years. We lost all of our homes, we went bankrupt, our manager died and, to cap it all off, Jani [Lane, vocals] ends up passing away. It was just fucking horrible. At the end of the day, there's something that four people — or any band — do when they play [their] songs that can't be duplicated. We've had other drummers and other guitar players and things like that, and it just doesn't sound the same. I think now, with all the deaths and all the horrible things happening to us, the four of us are so happy that we're actually a functioning band. This is kind of what we wanted all along. It took forever to get to this spot where things are cool and there's no more drama. We can just go play music and have fun."

Read the entire interview at Joel Gausten.