During an appearance on the latest episode of the “In The Trenches with Ryan Roxie” video podcast, SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band’s long-awaited new album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re fortunate enough to work with a producer named Nick Raskulinecz. And I’m sure, unless you live under a rock, that you’ve heard something that he’s produced. He’s produced a couple of FOO FIGHTERS records, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH, ALICE IN CHAINS… He’s got a pretty impressive track record. And we’re doing the record with him here in Nashville. He’s actually my neighbor.
“He has done something with us that is just incredible,” he continued. “And the way he described it [is] he grew up listening to us. I mean, grew up — we’re not that big of an age difference — about 10 years, I guess. But he listened to us. You know when you listen to a band, you can listen to their first album and you’ll hear that band that way for the rest of your life. And then the band kind of strays away because that album was part of them but it doesn’t stay as close to their heart. And I don’t mean that in a bad way; it’s just that you go and you just get further and further away from your roots. That said, he has brought us back there. He took our songs… He listened to stuff, and I’d bring a song in, or Snake [guitarist Dave Sabo] and I would bring a song in, and we’d be, like, ‘Man, this song is awesome.’ And he’d listen to it and he goes, ‘It’s not SKID ROW. It doesn’t sound like SKID ROW.’ And we’re, like, ‘Man, we are SKID ROW. What the hell?’ [Laughs]”
Bolan added: “He’s so creative. Right from pre-production, he’d stand in front of each guy… His whole process is… It made me feel like I’m a better bass player now. Because he’s, like, ‘Man, you don’t play stuff like that. That’s not how you play.’ And I’m, like, ‘Wow. He’s right. I got away from the way I used to think.’ And he did it with each guy… He just kind of went in there and gutted everything and then put it back in. And not, like, ‘This is horrible.’ He was just, like, ‘Here, man. Let’s put this over here,’ this and that, and just switched it. He was like a surgeon. And he’s so creative. Just listening to him, all these ideas just keep coming out. And I’m trying to keep up with him… So, him doing that really made us take what were good songs and build them into really great bodies of work. And, as you can tell, I’m very excited about it. And we all are.”
This past March, Sabo spoke to the “Behind The Vinyl” podcast about SKID ROW‘s collaboration with Raskulinecz after previously working several times with Michael Wagener, who also helmed the group’s 1989 self-titled debut and 1991’s “Slave To The Grind”. “We wrote a bunch of new songs, and Michael‘s taking a breather,” he explained. “Nick had expressed an interest to work with us. Rachel‘s become really good friends with him, living down there in Nashville. And he’s, like, ‘Let’s do some stuff together.’ Obviously, his reputation precedes him; he’s made some great records. And he has a great excitement about working on some of our new music.”
SKID ROW‘s new LP will mark its first release with South African-born, British-based vocalist ZP Theart (DRAGONFORCE, TANK, I AM I), who joined the band in 2016 following the departure of Tony Harnell (TNT, STARBREAKER).
Unlike 2014’s “Rise Of The Damnation Army – United World Rebellion: Chapter Two” and 2013’s “United World Rebellion: Chapter One”, SKID ROW‘s forthcoming release will be a full-length record.
SKID ROW previously collaborated with several outside songwriters on its new material, including Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR) and Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of HALESTORM, a group that covered the title track of “Slave To The Grind” on its “ReAniMate: The CoVeRs eP” in 2011. SKID ROW also worked with songwriter-for-hire Marti Frederiksen, who has previously collaborated with AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, Jonny Lang and Sheryl Crow.
SKID ROW‘s 2020 “The Big Rock Summer Tour”, also featuring RATT, CINDERELLA‘s Tom Keifer and SLAUGHTER, was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the globe.
Photo by: Chuck Arland
