RATT DRUMMER BOBBY BLOTZER ON USING THE RATT NAME TO TOUR: “I WANNA TAKE IT OUT, AND I HAVE THE RIGHT, BY LAW, TO DO IT”

Ratt drummer Bobby Blozter was a guest on the September 28th broadcast of Eddie’s Sirius/XM show, Eddie Trunk Live. Highlights from the interview appear below as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net.

Blotzer stated about his decision to tour under the Ratt name, “I wanna tour. Me and Warren own 50/50 of the name. He does not wanna tour. The other guys aren’t gonna tour [under that band name]. So it leaves me sitting here — the one guy who never quit, out of the whole band, and who’s always been pushing the other guys to get back together. ’97, [and] continued in 2000 when Stephen quit again, etc. [I’m the one who who tries to] keep things motivating… that’s me all the time. And maybe not always in the best way. But my 50/50 partner doesn’t wanna tour as a member, [and] he becomes a non-touring member, and that leaves me open to go out and bring the songs that people wanna hear on the road.”

He continued, “If you have a company that you’ve been with for 34 years, and you and one other person own that company, and one guy doesn’t wanna work and you do, what’s…? You know what I mean? If I wanted to stay home and Warren wanted to go out, I’d be, like, ‘Okay, just have the check here by Friday.’ Because I will get dividends, and he will get dividends.”

Blotzer added, “I wanna work. I wanna play our tunes. I’ve done a lot of outside projects. I get it; it’s fun. But my body of music that I’m associated with and most accepted with is Ratt.”

Blotzer also spoke about Warren’s apparent threat of legal action if the drummer continues to book shows under the Ratt name.

“I can’t really talk a lot about the specifics, because he’s now [saying that he will try to stop me from using the name]… which is amazing to me,” Bobby said. “He’s really the one who prevented [the original band from] being together right now, by and large. Because in owning this name and this stock that he and I own 50/50… The other guys wanted 25 percent. I’m, like, ‘I don’t care. Whatever it takes.’ Safety nets below. Everybody has safety and job stability and we all tour every year, like a normal job, normal people. He wouldn’t give it up. So he’s not willing to tour, and he’s not willing to give up the stock in the name. So he puts us in a position where… I don’t know. He’s up in Candyland in the hills here.”

Bobby went on to speculate as to why guitarist Warren DeMartini is against Blozter touring as Ratt without the original lineup. He said, “My guess is, him and I both have pretty substantial hearing loss from so many years of doing this. I think that maybe his ears are bugging him a bit, and he’s just not saying anything. That’s just a guess, obviously. But I wanna take it out, and I have the right, by law, to do it.”

He continued, “[Warren’s] reasoning for not wanting to tour Ratt was not giving [the other original members] the [rights to] the name, in case Stephen took the name and toured as Ratt, and then we’d be back in court. So I’m saying to him on the phone… I’m, like, ‘So he’s not coming back and you would rather me not do that and are threatening to sue me, who you’ll make money from if I go out and you don’t go.’ That makes a lot of sense. To who? Not me.”

According to Blotzer, the recent disagreements between the members of the original lineup have likely caused irreparable harm to their relationships.

“I’m gonna say something right here that I’ve never said, ever,” he said. “I don’t ever see Ratt getting back together. There is just right now, at this point, four corners, and no one’s leaving that corner. I’m leaving it, because the guy that chose not to go — the other member; there’s two members of Ratt: me and Warren, and Warren doesn’t wanna tour. Legally, that left me allowed to go put a band together, go out, tour. He makes money. When the bills are all paid and the dust clears, here’s your check, bud.”

Blotzer also believes that there is another layer to Warren’s motivation to try to keep the drummer from touring under the Ratt name

“Let’s just say, if you were to talk to anybody else in the band, or that’s worked for the band, or in the band — any of the members, not just the originals — there’s a lot of issues with control that came from his area of the world, and complete and utter… He wants to control this until his dying days,” Blotzer explained. “Why would he not want me to go out…? If he doesn’t wanna tour. We make great money residually. Everybody can stay home and not work; I mean, that’s not a problem. I wanna get the fuck out of the house. I played enough golf. Mind you, five years we’ve been off. You can’t do that legally. It’s against corporate law in California. I don’t know what everybody does outside this state, but you cannot be an officer an a shareholder and not work your company. It’s called breach of fiduciary duty. That I know. And I’m surprised he’s not knowing that.”

Blotzer also addressed DiMartini’s September 25th statement in which the guitarist said that he was “totally against” Blotzer’s decision to use the Ratt name for the drummer’s “tribute band” and was taking steps “to prevent any further misuse” of the brand.

“I saw that thing that he put out on Blabbermouth, or wherever it came from — somebody sent it to me,” Blotzer said. “[Warren wrote], like, ‘I’m against this and [Blotzer] called to ask me if he could do this. And I said, ‘Be Bob’S Cellat.” It’s, like, I didn’t call you to ask you anything. I called to ask him if he saw the video… I’ve asked him a hundred times in the last five years when the guys didn’t wanna play, ‘Do you wanna get a band together?’ We had a very famous singer that wanted to join this band, and he wouldn’t even have a part of it, or talk about it. He’s, like, ‘If it’s the original band, I’m in.’ Even though he knows Stephen’s condition in the last few tours weren’t very productive, to put it lightly. So why aren’t you ready to switch gears and go? We did it for seven and a half years without the original guys — just him and I. So whatever his reasons are, I don’t know. But him stopping me is a direct aggressive move to stop me from earning a living with my company — that’s also his company too, but if he chooses to sit it out, that’s his choice. But I’m bringing it to the fans. When people come to the gig, they are so excited, they love it. They have a great time.”

Bobby Blotzer’s version of Ratt is made up of Josh Alan (Sin City Sinners), Scotty Griffin (ex-L.A. Guns), Doc Ellis (Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate) and 22-year-old guitar hero Blaze.

On a related note, original Ratt bassist Juan Croucier is also performing songs from the band’s catalog under the name Ratt’s Juan Croucier. Some fan filmed footage of their debut show Michigan was posted online and can be seen here.

additional source: blabbermouth.net