SKID ROW guitarist Scotti Hill spoke to Everyone Loves Guitar about the progress of the recording sessions for the band’s long-awaited new album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re working with [Grammy Award-winning producer] Nick Raskulinecz [FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON, RUSH] in Nashville; he’s producing it. And I don’t have a release date, but it will be out — I’m gonna say early next year [2022], because we’re doing it in steps along the way. He’s got a lot of projects going on. He’s a very in-demand producer who really wants to work with us. He’s been a fan for years, and we consider ourselves very lucky that he’s carving out the time to work with us. He’s fantastic. We’ve gone through pre-production with him, and it’s just like having another cool member in the band in the room. Because we’re a band that gets along really well with each other — we’re all friends, we hang out, and he fits into that perfectly.
“I’ll be going in with Snake [guitarist Dave Sabo] in a few weeks to cut all the guitars. I’m looking forward to that. We’re gonna do something interesting this time — Snake and I are gonna get in a room together and cut our parts at once together rather than he shows up on a Thursday and I show up on Friday. It’s gonna be fun.”
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 [Bolan, bass] 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
