In a new interview with the Appetite For Distortion podcast Skid Row guitarist Scotti Hill spoke about the band’s search for a new singer, following the exit of their latest frontman, Erik Grönwall, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021, and as a result, his being immunocompromised, made touring difficult.
Scotti said (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net), “We are looking at some people. We’ve got a nice list of people that we’re gonna sit down with. And we’re continuing to look. But it’s not like Smashing Pumpkins and we’re just inviting the whole world in to throw their tapes on our desk. That’s a little over the top.
Lots of people have reached out. I understand why. But I’m not the guy to get in touch with. I love Skid Row. Skid Row is my family, it’s my life, but when I’m not with Skid Row, I’m in here [at my home] doing stuff. So I kind of keep my fingers out of that whole thing. But a lot of people are getting in touch with us and some of them are really good. Some of them are not really good. But with YouTube and Instagram and such, you can go out and find people quite easily. It wasn’t like the old days where you had to put an ad in every music paper in the country and word of mouth and all that stuff, pre-Internet. It’s much easier now…
…It doesn’t even have to be a guy. Look at Lzzy [Hale of Halestrom who played four shows with Skid Row in late May and early June as a guest vocalist]. I mean, she came and rocked it. It could be a woman.”
Hill also once again addressed some fans’ incessant calls for a reunion with Sebastian Bach, who was the singer during the band’s most commercially successful period. He replied, “Well, they’re never gonna stop asking [about a reunion]. But for me, and I think I can speak for the other guys, it’s just a simple quality-of-life issue. People are, like, ‘Just put your differences aside and do it.’ Well, I don’t wanna do it. There are no differences. I don’t wanna do it. I don’t wanna be in the room with somebody that I don’t like.”
“We did great things in the past, but this is about way more than a band or music,” Hill explained. “‘Do it for the fans.’ No, no. I’m not going to put my good life and well-being and peace, I’m not gonna sacrifice that for the fans. That’s not what I do. And anybody that calls himself a fan wouldn’t ask the band to put themselves through something they don’t wanna do. But people just want what they want…They want that band back with that guy. They still want Bon Scott back in AC/DC. I mean, come on.”
When asked about whether there is a specific “personality trait” that makes a Skid Row reunion with Bach impossible, Hill said, “I don’t wanna have food poisoning every day of the week. That’s all. It’s toxic. There’s no specific thing. I mean, there’s a lot of specific things…And we’ve always been really tight-lipped about that. And maybe someday we’ll just start talking about it. There’s a lot to talk about. Let’s put the focus somewhere else.”
“If you don’t like Skid Row without that singer, you don’t have to listen,” he added. “And on the flipside of that, if you love that singer, if you love both of us, then go see him. We’re talking about Sebastian Bach. Go see him. I’ll tell you what. You know what I’ll give him, is the guy puts it out there, man. He puts it out there. He is 100 percent rock and roll all the time, and he puts it out there. So if you go see him, you’re gonna get a rock show. But I don’t need that in my life. I’m not gonna put myself through whatever. I just don’t want it.”
8 Responses
I wasn’t sure if Dana was going to post anything about the new Black Label Society song so I figured I’d give my take here if that’s ok. First, I will say that I am a huge fan of Zakk and the band. I’m also a huge fan of Zakk’s work with Ozzy and other artists.
With that said, in my opinion, Zakk has been rewriting the same songs for a very long time now. Same notes, same chords, but with different timings and orders. This song is no different. I honestly believe he just doesn’t have any more ideas and has reached a writing block that he cannot overcome. It happens. The musicianship
is great in this band but this song is stale. I was truly hoping for a new direction but got the same old same old. I’m very disappointed. It hurts to say this because I love Zakk and I’ve met him. He’s a genuinely good person. I’d much rather have a long overdue live record from BLS than another studio record.