WRIF Virtual Rock Room with Skid Row's Rachel Bolan and Snake

Beasley Digital

Transcript

00:00Thank you so much for watching Riff TV. Now this interview is obviously with video, but I don't

00:05interview everybody on Zoom. That's why I put it on my Talkin' Rock with Meltdown podcast. We talk

00:10to rock artists from all over the genre. So check out Talkin' Rock with Meltdown wherever you get

00:15your podcasts. And now to today's video interview. Snake, how you doing, brother? I look like I just

00:24got my head done with a hedge clipper. I just kind of walked out of bed. So I'm doing great

00:32though. How are you doing? I'm doing well. We're waiting for Rachel so we thought we'd just get

00:35started. It's kind of funny. This has been like, we were supposed to talk last week. I got an email

00:39somewhere along the line saying we were supposed to talk today. I don't know what's going on, but

00:43we finally made the connection here in a snowy, wintry Detroit day. Yeah, man. I feel you. It's

00:51this last few days have been pretty rough with the weather, man. It's traveling and stuff. So

00:56yeah, we're in the middle of it too, buddy. You're not alone. Yeah. You had to cancel a date over the

01:02weekend, didn't you? Because of the weather, right? Well, we actually thankfully were able to postpone

01:06it. We're going to go back in September and make that date up. So it's not a complete loss. We felt

01:12terrible, but it was impossible to get there. Absolutely impossible. All the major roads are closed and then

01:18the roads that aren't closed, we're all iced up. And you know what? I hate, we hate missing shows.

01:26It's terrible. Hate it. But we also have to put the safety of everybody at the top of the list of

01:34what to be concerned about. And after going through every existing option to turn out, there was no

01:43options for us to be able to get there. Yeah. So you've been doing this for a long time. Do you

01:49still like the tour life? I love it, man. I love it. I love it. There's ups and downs with all of it,

01:58as with any job in life. But I've got some of my best friends out here. And we all get along so well.

02:09And we're all so appreciative, uh, of the fact that we get to do this, uh, night in and night out.

02:17And we're just a lucky group of people who are really humbled by the idea of, of still doing this

02:24after 36 years of being a band and people still wanting to see us and people responding to our new,

02:31new music. Uh, it's been just such this last year has just been, uh, phenomenal for us as a band.

02:42Yeah. I was going to ask you about the last year, because of course,

02:44was it around this time last year that you guys brought Eric in the fold?

02:48It was, it was, uh, it was late February, early March. Yeah. So he's been in a band for about a

02:55year, a little over a year. Yeah. So I was going to ask, uh, what the first year, uh, uh, how was it

02:59like for him and for you guys? Yeah, it comes Rachel. Yeah, there he is.

03:07Think I'm here. Ah, there he is. Uh, with the, with the blank screen. Yeah.

03:13All right. What's going on here?

03:15There you go. There he is. So sorry. I thought we're in Eastern time zone.

03:20That's what Snake said. That's, that's fine. It's no big deal. Dude, we've screwed up this

03:23interview time a bunch of times already. I think it was my fault last week. I don't know. I saw an email

03:27somewhere that said, we got to move it to Monday. I can't find that email, but anyways,

03:31we were just talking, uh, Rachel, before you got on about, it's been just about almost a year to

03:36the day since Eric's joined the band. So, so tell everybody how, how things have gone for the last

03:40year. Well, being that he's sitting right here, I got to say something nice. No, uh, it's actually,

03:45it's, it's gone great, man. Um, I can't. Here, look, here he goes. Hi.

03:51Um, yeah, everything's gone great, man. It's, uh, you know, considering the way it all came

04:03together, things could have gone terribly wrong, but they did it. And, you know, we've got a great

04:08record out of it and we've been doing killer shows. Yeah. The record is awesome. I've told

04:13you guys this before. I love it. Uh, tear it down is probably my favorite October song. I love, uh,

04:18hell or high water. I mean, it's just some great stuff. And it's funny cause at the beginning of

04:22the year, last year, you probably didn't know what the future brought in here. We are now in 2023 and

04:26you guys have, you guys have dates booked throughout the entire year. Yeah. It's, it's been, it's really,

04:33really been amazing. Um, the whole process, the whole writing of the record, getting together with

04:40Nick Raskin-Linitz, which was just like a godsend, uh, having to make some really difficult decisions

04:46regarding your position and then just going with our gut and realizing, uh, that we, we need to make

04:55a change. So we did. And we kind of looked at each other for a moment, like, what are we doing?

05:01And as it turned out, uh, it worked out to be, uh, better than we ever could have imagined with,

05:09uh, when Eric joined the band, it felt like we had known him for decades. It wasn't anything

05:16weird. There wasn't anything, uh, complicated about it. It was just a really cool guy coming

05:23into a band and then, uh, being able to perform at such a high level, raising our game. Uh, and also

05:32the positive aspect that he brings to the table is, is infectious. So we're all, I think, better

05:39people and better players and a better band because of it. Yeah. And I noticed, I saw you guys have,

05:45you know, some dates opening up for a kiss and our Rachel, that was your first concert back in

05:491977. I saw on your Instagram a few months back. Um, you guys have opened up for kiss before,

05:53but what is it like opening up for a, uh, a band that you guys idolize so much like that?

05:59Um, right. We got these dates. No, you're kind of, you're kind of, you're kind of muddled there,

06:07Rachel. You got your, your phone in a pile of clothes or something. No. How about now?

06:11Okay. Um, yeah. When we got these new kiss dates, the 12 year old me is kind of freaking

06:18out pretty hard again. You know, um, I think we're one of probably the only band that could

06:24say we're playing both their farewell tours, but it's, it's so exciting to go out with a

06:31band, especially just zeroing in on Gene Simmons. He's the reason I even picked up a bass in the

06:37first place. He's the reason why I learned what a bass was, you know, I had no idea. And, um,

06:44it's, it's, it's pretty great feeling to be asked to do something like this. And just, it's, it's now

06:50that they're down to their final 50 shows and to know we will be doing about a quarter, uh, them,

06:57a decent amount of them, you know, a big chunk of them is, is, uh, yeah, it's, it's hard to kind of

07:03process. It's, it's really cool. Yeah. I can imagine. I mean, I was a huge Aussie fan growing

07:09up. I saw his last tour back in 1992 or whatever it was. And here we are all these years later,

07:14of course. So these guys keep pushing us back. Snake, what was your first show?

07:18It was kiss. It was December 16th, 1977 at Madison square garden. And so, and that's the day that my life

07:27was completely changed. And, uh, I walked in there as one person and I walked out a completely different

07:34person. Uh, I w I was absolutely blown away by what I had just witnessed. It was the most insane

07:43experience of my life. And especially being 13 years old, uh, to sit there and, uh, to be able to

07:52experience something like that, the enormity of it, the, how bombastic it was, uh, it was

08:01incomprehensible. And so when I got home, I knew that I was going to do something in the music

08:08business. I didn't know what it was going to be. I didn't play an instrument. I had no clue, but

08:13a year later I picked up the guitar and it was nothing's changed since then. Like I knew exactly

08:21what I wanted to do from this, from the seventh grade in high school.

08:26Now, Rachel, that wasn't the same show you saw, was it? Was it? Or, or, or, or say it was

08:31same week. I saw them, uh, he saw them at the garden. Uh, I saw them at the Philly spectrum

08:38on the 22nd of December and Scotty. So we're at Scotty. See the Nassau snake.

08:42That's what I'll see. Yeah. Same week. We all saw him same week. Had no idea that, you know,

08:4830 some odd years later or whatever it is, we were going to put a band together.

08:53Yeah. Well, I think way more than 30, but, uh, yeah, that's unbelievable. You know,

08:58speaking of Madison square garden, I just saw a story to say that Billy Joel said that

09:01he'd like to take back 25% of his songs. Do you guys feel that way about any of your

09:06writings?

09:08Huh? Not really.

09:10No.

09:11What do you like? He'd like to take it back, like throw him in the garbage.

09:14Yeah. He says he wasn't crazy about it. 25%. I thought that was a lot.

09:18No.

09:18He didn't write as many songs as Billy Joel.

09:22So our percentage is a lot lower.

09:26Yeah. That's, I thought that was kind of interesting. Hey, uh, today is a three, one,

09:30three day, of course, March 13th. And we're here in Detroit and that's the, uh, you know,

09:33the pretty much the, uh, area code for Detroit. So tell me something about Detroit that rings

09:38true with you guys. I know that you guys travel around the country and you go to a lot of cities

09:41and whatnot, but just being kiss fans and stuff. And I mean, just, uh, you know, what's your

09:45connection with, uh, with Detroit?

09:46Well, I mean, Detroit, let's start with the music. Let's start with Motown. Let's start

09:53all the greatness there. Um, then move on to Iggy Pop, MC5, um, the, the list goes on and

10:03being a kiss fan, like Michigan itself. Cause the whole Pontiac thing that they did, you

10:10know, um, they're like the, the sons of Michigan. So there's always been a connection for every

10:17kiss fan with Michigan, Detroit in particular. So, uh, whenever we go there, just, I think

10:25me personally, I think at Detroit rock city right away. Um, it's kind of the city's theme

10:31song I would imagine. And it, um, I don't know, it's always been a really special place

10:36for us. We've always had really good shows there and had a lot of fun.

10:41Yeah. Snake, what do you got?

10:44Well, I, much like Rachel said, there's such a great, uh, history of music there. And, uh,

10:51the Motown thing I think for me is, is the one that really does it. That had such a huge

10:56influence on me growing up. And I just love that they called it Hitsville USA. And it truly

11:03was. And you look at the amount of, um, amazing songs and the most amazing artists, but often

11:11get what gets forgotten is their session players were just, they, they were the, they were the

11:18best, like they were the top of the mountain. And so all those bands with those sessions,

11:22session musicians, like the, you know, the four tops and the Jackson five and the temptations

11:28and Marvin Gaye and the Supremes, uh, it, it's such an incredible catalog of great music

11:36that I think still has an influence on me today. Uh, whether it be from a melody standpoint

11:42or chord changing standpoint, things like that harmonies in some way, I just, it had such

11:49an indelible imprint on, on my life growing up that still exists to this day.

11:56Now you guys, uh, like you said, we have, you have a lot of stuff coming up here in 2023

11:59with, uh, you know, concerts and tours and whatnot, but, uh, I think I read somewhere that

12:04you guys are working on some new music and on the new record just dropped back in a, you

12:07know, just last year, but, uh, are you guys working on some stuff to get some ideas kicking

12:10around?

12:12Yeah, um, we do. And which is really odd for us because in case you don't know it, Skid Row usually

12:17takes a long time between records, but, uh, we, uh, yeah, like we, we have stuff, riffs

12:26that we're working on now. And even there's a few complete songs that we, uh, want Nick

12:32to listen to, but we've never started this early in an album cycle ever started writing

12:39for the next record, but there's a lot of creativity going on right now. So we're not

12:43taking any of it for granted. Yeah. I remember talking to you guys when, uh, when you guys

12:47were writing this record before you put it out or whatever, but you said, Nick kind of

12:49told you guys to go back to you, like, you know, back to the roots of what Skid Row really

12:53was. And of course you guys are there, but when you're working with a younger guy, like

12:56Eric, does he have like, maybe like a little bit of an older soul and was able to capture

13:00some of that?

13:01He's got an old soul. He definitely has an old soul. He, uh, he's influence or his influences

13:10through the course of his growing up are very, very similar to ours, whether it's like, you

13:17know, fifties music, uh, you know, like the Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, uh, uh, era,

13:24uh, James Brown era, uh, to the sixties to the seventies. So for us, when we started to

13:33get to know him, it was such an easy fit. Um, and I think that he, uh, sees these, those

13:44influences the same way we do. And I, I forgot what the question was.

13:52He definitely has like steak was saying, we have a lot of the same influences. I think

13:59me personally, his influences go further back than a lot of mine do as far as like a lot

14:05of the fifties stuff. And, but you know, it's, it's really cool to see his dad is a musician.

14:13And so he, uh, you know, he was turned on to a lot of really cool stuff. And, and that was

14:20kind of like us with our brothers and older brothers and sisters, they turned us on a lot

14:24of cool stuff. So it, it worked out really well that we have a guy that has such a fast

14:29for like, uh, you know, a really wide palette as far as taste for music goes.

14:37Yeah. You guys are playing here at the motor city casino soundboard. That's really a cool

14:40room. If you guys played there before, I don't think so. No, it's, it's pretty cool. It's a,

14:46it's kind of like a, a much nicer forge from Joliet, you know, it's like, Oh yeah, yeah,

14:52yeah, yeah. Same kind of, uh, you know, design and stuff. So you guys are going to be playing

14:57there. I'm coming up on a Wednesday and by the way, real fast, this 18 in life contest,

15:01tell me about that and how that started.

15:05Well, um, our management was taking notice and how many people just cover the song in

15:12general online. And we always get people always send us stuff and like, man, this is really

15:17cool. Some people are doing really unique versions of the song and really creative.

15:21And someone in management said, man, you guys should do a contest. Uh, let's, let's see

15:27how many we could get. And what, how many submissions have we had so far, Snake?

15:31What do you say?

15:31Over 5,000.

15:32How much?

15:345,000.

15:36Yeah.

15:37Is that what, is that what it was, Snake?

15:39Over 5,000. Yeah.

15:40Yeah. Which is, it's incredible, you know, to, to see, and we, we've seen a ton of them.

15:47We haven't seen 5,000 of them yet, but we, we've seen a ton of them and, and they're,

15:52they're, um, yeah, I, I wish I knew the whole plan for it, but I kind of checked out after

15:58I thought the idea was really cool.

16:01So, so we, uh, yeah, it's, I've, I've saw a lot, I've seen a lot of really cool submissions,

16:10uh, versions of that song.

16:13Yeah. I saw Scotty the other day kind of showing people how to play it and stuff.

16:16Like I thought that was a, that was pretty cool.

16:18Not being a musician at all, but a snake, have you been impressed by the, by the selections

16:23you've been getting?

16:24I saw, uh, a band consisting of a family siblings that range from the age of nine to 12 playing

16:35it last night and they had learned it that day.

16:38And this little nine-year-old kid is singing and he's singing the crap out of it.

16:43And you could tell that they're, they're discovering their instruments and everything, but the amount

16:48of effort that they put into it, uh, and just the fact that they even decided that they wanted

16:54to do something like that.

16:56It looked like they were playing in their parents' living room.

16:58Uh, so we all can relate to that.

17:02Uh, but the, the, to hear a nine-year-old kid singing 18 in life, I mean, as long as written

17:1036 years ago, 37 years ago.

17:14And so it's just really humbling that you get these people that are, you know, learning,

17:21taking the time to learn and play your song.

17:23Something that you helped create is just really, really, uh, humbling.

17:28And, uh, and the cool thing is, is that, uh, whomever wins, it gets one of my, uh, Kramer

17:34snake guitars, which, uh, they'll probably use for firewood.

17:39And then, uh, and then, you know, we'll, we'll hopefully be able to do more of these

17:43in the future because the response has been pretty incredible.

17:47Now, uh, I want to do a track by track with you guys sometime in the future when you got

17:49a little bit of time, I know you're kind of, you're backed up right now and I want

17:52to go up through all the tracks of the debut record, but that song 18 in life, how, how

17:55long before you actually recorded that song?

17:57Was it written?

18:00Oh, a while, a while before.

18:04Yeah.

18:05At least two, two to three years, right?

18:07Yeah.

18:09Yeah.

18:10That's what I thought.

18:10I thought that a lot of that stuff was, was written long before you even went in the

18:13studio, correct?

18:14Oh yeah.

18:15Yeah.

18:16It all was.

18:17Yeah.

18:18And you guys were playing this in bars and stuff for a couple of years.

18:22Oh yeah.

18:23Yeah.

18:24Without a doubt.

18:25Yeah.

18:26All right.

18:26We'll have to get to, we'll have to talk about that record because man, what a great

18:29record that just celebrated an anniversary, I think in January or something.

18:33And, uh, speaking of anniversaries, uh, Rachel, you just celebrated your birthday last year

18:37in, um, in Hawaii or last month, I should say in Hawaii.

18:39I celebrated my birthday, celebrated my birthday this past Friday here in Detroit.

18:43So that's the difference between us.

18:46Well, happy belated, man.

18:47All right.

18:50We'll have to celebrate on Wednesday at the, uh, Motor City Casino soundboard.

18:53Uh, guys, thank you so much for your time.

18:55I really appreciate it.

18:56It's always great to see you guys.

18:57Thank you, bro.

18:58Peace out, man.

18:59Peace out, man.

19:00Peace out, man.

19:01Peace out, man.

19:02Peace out, man.

19:03Peace out, man.

19:04Peace out, man.

19:05Peace out, man.

19:06Peace out, man.

19:07Peace out, man.

19:08Peace out, man.

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