John Parks of Legendary Rock Interviews spoke with Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Portions of the interview appear below.
RI: Do you think at this point that whole lead singer conversation is sort of a dead issue? [Singer] Johnny [Solinger] has been on enough albums and played enough live shows that I would hope people have gotten the point.
Rachel: I agree. Johnny’s been in the band for almost 14 years I believe people understand that he’s the lead singer of Skid Row. It’s pretty obvious. These EPs will be the third album, so to speak, that we’ve put out with Johnny. Granted, there has been a lot of time between each one but really, it was like that with the first two albums as well. That’s just how we work and that’s part of the reason we’ve decided to release a series of EPs instead of one full length record. Johnny is here to stay and if people aren’t getting it by now, they are probably never gonna get it. I mean, I know people who still won’t listen to AC/DC because Bon Scott isn’t singing (laughs) which is just absolutely ridiculous but….true.
LRI: I heard Snake on Eddie Trunk a few days back clarify a few of the reunion rumors that were kind of floated out there last year which was nice because one of the things that is consistently mentioned by bystanders is that you were the lone holdout of the reunion and everyone else is on board. Obviously you can give me a “No comment” and I totally understand, but I still want to ask you directly for those fans who continue to claim this. Is there any truth to the sentiment that there is some exclusive beef that is is strictly between you and him?
Rachel: I’d really rather not talk about him but I can say I think everybody has a beef with him honestly. I know what it’s like from this side, meaning Snake, Scotti and myself and I know all of our feelings towards that but we just choose to ignore his comments because it really doesn’t matter.
LRI: So the release schedule is every six months, have you already started recording tracks for United World Rebellion, Chapter 2?
Rachel: Haven’t started recording the second one, we have some songs and we will probably work some on that in between dates this summer. We’ve already got a few written but we need to write a few more. So, we’ll get that done and then immediately start demoing them and that type of thing.
LRI: Do you ever miss those hardworking days of sweating it out in those North Atlantic club years prior to being signed to Atlantic??
Rachel: No, they’re fond memories but to actually go back and do it?? No, I kind of like where I’m at now (laughs) instead of living in an apartment above a crackhouse. I lived in Long Branch, New Jersey next to a train station. It was just bad…..after I left, the roaches and mice probably were looking for a nicer place to move into because it was just that bad.
Read more at Legendary Rock Interviews.
Skid Row’s United Word Rebellion Chapter One release dates are as follows:
North America-April 16th
European Union-May 24th
UK-May 27th
Rest of the world-May 27th
source: legendaryrockinterviews.com
3 Responses
I don’t think the songs sound like “STTG.”
Long Branch NJ!
Tragic that Skid Row still thinks they are a big enough band to swallow their pride and get down to business with Bach. Even with Bach the best they would do is headline a summer shed tour.