All images courtesy of Atom Splitter PR


By Andrew Daly
andrew@vinylwriter.com

After years away from the studio, Toms River, NJ, natives Skid Row are roaring back with a vintage vengeance.

Renowned worldwide in the wake of masterstroke records Skid Row (1989) and Slave to the Grind (1991), the east coast headbangers’ pace slowed considerably in the wake of grunge and alternative music coming to prominence in the early ’90s.

Though not as commercially successful, Skid Row spun three more critically acclaimed affairs off in Subhuman Race (1995), Thickskin (2003), and Revolutions per Minute (2006), as well as two EPs in 2013 and 2014 before going dormant.

That changed in early 2022 when Swedish sensation Erik Grönwall entered the fold for Skid Row. Poised to break out of its creative slump and determined to make a change, Grönwall provided the shot in the arm that veteran outfit so badly craved.

With the new lineup cemented, the fivesome hit the studio, reviving existing tracks, and working as a band to complete additional music, which would ultimately round out Skid Row’s first record in 16 years, The Gang’s All Here.

From its inception, Skid Row’s unique blend of street-smart lyricism and jagged-edged swagger has annihilated stages worldwide. And at the center of that is the band’s bassist and chief songwriter, Rachel Bolan.

Posturing at the stage’s edge with old friends Dave ‘Snake’ Sabo and Scotti Hill, Bolan, along with Rob Hammersmith, appears reinvigorated by the presence of their Swedish wunderkind frontman.

The Gang’s All Here, man, it really does feel like an ethos for us to rally behind,” said Bolan. “That was unintentional, obviously, but it is true. And that’s the way the label saw it well; they were like, ‘Wow, the gang is all here. Now you’ve got the band to this perfect point.’ It’s crazy to think about, but I would say there’s a whole bunch of meanings throughout this record for all of us.”

As a man re-energized, Rachel Bolan recently joined me from his home in New Jersey to discuss the addition of Erik Grönwall, the recording of The Gang’s All Here, and a bright future ahead for Skid Row.

Andrew:
Starting with The Gang’s All Here, this is Skid Row’s first new album since 2006. What made now the right time to get back in the saddle?

Rachel:
Well, we had been working on some of these songs for a while, and as it sounds, it’s like planets aligned for this. We recorded some of it once, then decided we wanted to write more songs, and then Erik [Grönwall] came into the fold. And Erik was a real game changer, and while we didn’t plan on this timing, everything started happening; we got a new label and new management. So, here we are; we’ve got a record that will come out in a couple of months, and we couldn’t be more excited about it.

Andrew:
Would you say Erik’s presence has reinvigorated Skid Row?

Rache:
100%. It’s the same effect that Rob Hammersmith had on us when he joined the band in 2010. When that happened, Scotti [Hill], Snake [Sabo], and myself really started to dig in again, play harder, and play better. And then, when Erik joined the band, the four of us said, “Okay, we feel it.” We felt it the minute of the first rehearsal, knowing we were on to something special. When Erik joined, the energy level of the band just went through the roof.

Andrew:
What was your introduction to Erik, leading to him joining Skid Row?

Rachel:
Erik was in a band called H.E.A.T out of Sweden, and they were touring with Skid Row through Europe, in the U.K., I believe. I remember listening to him playing live, and I noticed; I was like, “Wow, this guy’s got a really cool voice.” I thought maybe we could hook up for a side project or something, and I left it at that. And then, when we decided we were going to make a change at singer for Skid Row, Erik was at the top of our list. Honestly, Erik was the list. [Laughs]. It was all very sudden, and we knew we wanted him, so I was like, “I’m gonna try and get in touch with him and see if he’s interested.”

As that was happening, I noticed that he put a cover of “18 and Life” on his YouTube channel, and he nailed it. And I knew a little bit about his background, like winning Idol in Sweden, in 2009, so I reached out to him, and I was like, “Hey, dude, I want to talk to you about a couple of things if you’re interested.” Well, he got right back to me – this is all through Instagram – so yay for social media. That’s probably the only time you will ever hear me say that. [Laughs]. Anyway, he got right back to me, we started talking, and things progressed quickly from there. It went from, “Can you fill in for a couple of dates,” to “Hey, try singing these songs that we’ve written and see what you think.” to “Do you want to be in Skid Row?” And this happened all within a matter of a couple of weeks.

Thankfully, Erik said “Yes,” and then we recorded the record with the guidance of Nick Raskulinecz, our producer. We were all over here in the U.S. with Nick, and Erik was in Sweden; he was recording the vocals for the album over there. He did most of the songs in Sweden except for two that he did when we were doing the residency with the Scorpions in Las Vegas. And man, everything was just so different than the way we normally do things, but it all worked out really well.

All images courtesy of Atom Splitter PR

Andrew:
With Erik continuing to make his home in Sweden, what challenges does that present?

Rachel:
Just logistics every now and then, but as long as his flights don’t get canceled, we’re cool. Erik will come over to the States for a few weeks, and he’ll stay at my place. And the last couple of times Erik came over; it was very cool; we worked on new songs and demoed some stuff in my studio. It’s a challenge, and, hopefully, one day, he’ll be able to move here because it’ll make things a little easier for all of us to get together. But, I mean, we’ve all lived in different states for so long, so having someone in the band live in a different country is only a few more time zones. [Laughs]. That’s the way we look at it, anyway.

Andrew:
After having ZP Theart in a band for six years, what about Erik finally moved the needle toward putting new music out?

Rachel:
First of all, I think it’s just his approach to everything. The fact that Skid Row was one of his favorite bands definitely helped. It’s weird to say, but Erik just fits us. He was perfect for the way we were writing, and he came along at the perfect time. And his range, obviously, and Erik is a talented guy with a great work ethic. He takes so much pride in what he does and has a ton of pride in his craft. We’re all the same way, so Erik fits right in. The way Skid Row is, we work until we get it right. We don’t cut corners in making stuff sound good or anything like that. Erik has the same mindset, which makes it easy to get going.

Andrew:
Can you break down the origins of the title track, “The Gang’s All Here?”

Rachel:
That was written quite a few years ago by Snake, our friend Paul Taylor, and myself. We demoed it a couple of times and then recorded it a couple of times, but it wasn’t working. But once we got together with Nick, he said, “Man, I’m hearing a few changes here. Let’s do this. Let’s try that.” We put so much trust in Nick, and he really helped us get on track in thinking like Skid Row again. But the origins of that song; let’s put it this way: that’s Skid Row’s “Boys Are Back in Town,” you know what I mean? It’s about getting together with your buds after not seeing them for a while, raisin’ hell, and maybe getting in trouble. [Laughs].

All images courtesy of Atom Splitter PR


Andrew
I would think that “Tear it Down” could be looked at from a similar perspective. What is the genesis of that cut?

Rachel:
You know, that one is really about tearing down barriers. It could be racial barriers or whatever kind of barrier may be between people as humans. It’s us saying that you have to put way more energy into hating someone than you do to coexist; it’s really easy to coexist. It’s just saying that everyone needs to be better at being cool with each other. That song is about tearing down those barriers to build bridges.

Andrew:
Describe your approach to songwriting, Rachel.

Rachel:
It’s kind of the same as always. Something might spark ideas story-wise. It might be something someone said when I’m getting my tire fixed at Discount Tires or just seeing something on T.V. that piques my interest. Or it could be that something happens personally, and that’s what we pull from a lot of times; the stuff that happens to us personally or that we hear, and we go from there. A lot of the songs are built around stories, but we try not to make them too self-indulgent. It’s really easy to tell a story about yourself, but when you have to include everyone in it, that’s more of a challenge

When it comes down to it, though, we don’t have a formula. We just kind of do it as we do it. Sometimes Snake will come in and say, “Hey, I’ve got a great title for a song,” or I’ll say, “Man, I have a riff,” or Snake or Scotti will have a riff, and we go from there. We’ll just start expanding on it, and a lot of times, Snake and me will just get in a room and write some stuff. Sometimes it comes to us quickly, and sometimes it doesn’t. But there’s really no set formula or any kind of pattern that we follow.

Andrew:
Your relationship with Snake cannot be understated. Describe your musical partnership and the symbiosis you share.

Rachel:
Oh, man. Well, it’s to the point where we almost finish each other’s sentences, which is really bad. I mean, it’s got to annoy people around us. [Laughs]. But as far as songwriting goes, we know our own strengths and weaknesses, but it’s not always the same; actually, it could go song by song. When we write, if one of us is running with an idea, the other guy just gets out of the way. And if it’s like, “Well, I’m not sure about that,” then we’re like, “Okay, let’s work on something else.” I’ll break it down; it’s like this: we usually start every songwriting session talking for about an hour, “Did you see the Yankees last night? Ah, screw the Mets,” and all that kind of stuff. From there, it organically makes its way to writing a song at some point. That’s how we’ve always done it.

Sometimes we come in with set ideas, but there have been times where we’ve hit a wall, like, really bad, where we sat in a room for half a day and came up with nothing. And it gets very frustrating sometimes, but we’ve never let it get to the point where we’re like, “Okay, screw it, we’re done. We’ve got nothing else in us.” We don’t get to that point because we know that it’s going to come to us sooner or later. Again, I go back to talking about Nick Raskulinecz, who, when we wrote songs and we had ideas, Nick was a guy that just really pulled it together. Nick was the one who would say, “Yeah, I like that. That idea is great. No, let’s try this,” and he was able to help us pull it all together.

Snake and I have always had that thing, man, where it’s just like, “Do you want to write?”“Nah, man, I don’t feel like it today.”“Okay, let’s not push it.” Like I said, there were times when we got together for a week and probably only wrote for maybe a day and a half total because we just weren’t feeling it. The worst thing to do when you’re not feeling it is to try to push it. But the best thing to do when you are feeling it is to go until the wheels come off.

Andrew:
Invariably, Skid Row’s work will always be compared to its first two records. Would you say that this incarnation of the band is the closest to matching that era since?

Rachel:
Absolutely. I think it definitely matches it and certainly eclipses it too. I mean, we’ll see; are we going to sell millions and millions of records? Who knows? I’m not going to sit on my doorstep waiting for a gold record to appear; I can tell you that. But we’re really proud of this record, and the reaction we’ve been getting since releasing the two singles has been incredible. And with Erik in the band, the shows we’ve done have been amazing too. This has been something that hasn’t happened for us in years, and we don’t take that for granted. It’s a great feeling to be this far into our career, and we’re seeing stuff happening like getting on the covers of magazines and being played on the radio again. Man, it’s just a good feeling. I’m excited for this record to come out. I think all of our fans are really gonna like it. I really, honestly do. I think everyone’s going to be way into it just judging by the reaction of the first two singles.

All images courtesy of Atom Splitter PR

Andrew:
With that being said, the vintage sound is present throughout. Was that a conscious choice?

Rachel:
Honestly, it wasn’t. We couldn’t even if we wanted to. It was so long ago for us that we can’t go back and say, “You know, let’s write another, “I Remember You.’” We can’t do that, and we don’t do that. We write the way we write, and if we like it, then we have a good feeling that our fans will like it too. Nick, again, he made us Skid Row again. He brought this back out of us because he was a fan before he was a producer. We all have that album that changed our lives when we were young, and I think our early albums were that way for Nick.

Andrew:
Was there one album that did that for you?

Rachel:
There were a couple for me, but one stands out: KISS’ Rock and Roll Over. Time froze the first time I heard that album from start to finish. I still remember the very first time I listened to that record. I remember exactly where I was, exactly what I was doing, what my room looked like at the time, and what the weather was like outside. I don’t have that with Skid Row because I’m in Skid Row, but Nick has that with our first album. So, it’s easier for him to retrace our roots than for us to retrace our roots, if that makes any sense. So, we don’t intentionally go back and say, “Okay, let’s do something like we did on the first two records.” If it happens, it was a natural progression and probably something Nick pulled out of us.

Andrew:
As a native New Yorker, those first two albums have always been essential
to me. When you look back, what about those two records makes them so timeless?

Rachel:
Man, I wish I knew. I wish I knew because I would bottle it and drink it every single morning. [Laughs]. Sure, I could tell you the records that did it for me, but with my own records, I have no idea. I’m glad it happened. I’m glad they’re important albums to people. But I don’t know; I don’t know what it was. Maybe it’s the attitude; like I said, it’s that mental photograph that stays in people’s heads like KISS did for me. I think that over time there will always be a sort of energy that comes out of that music, and these memories will always be there for people when they think of those two albums.

Andrew:
Do you feel Skid Row still carries some of that same energy today?

Rachel:
Yes, I do. I think the record as a whole, the energy of it, the pacing of it; we wanted that energy to come out. Whenever we sequence records – we pretty much do it as if it were a setlist – everything flows. I just think there’s so much energy in this record, and there’s an urgency to it because of how we did it. Before Erik joined the band, we figured we were done with the songwriting. And then, one day, Nick goes, “You guys need more songs. We need better songs. This song needs to change, and so does this one.” And then we went back into pre-production, and we just got in a room and did something that we’ve never done before; wrote as a band.

Andrew:
Is that when you recaptured that lightning in a bottle?

Rachel:
I gotta admit, it was cool because we all gelled, got along, wrote as a band, and rehearsed the songs as a band. After that, we had two new songs, and Nick was like, “Great. Okay, so this one goes, and that one goes, and now these are in.” And then when Erik came into the picture, and at first, he was gonna fly over here, but then with COVID and all the restrictions, we were like, “Okay, he can’t come here right now.” So, we were like, “You’re gonna have to do it from over there in Sweden,” and so he did. And that speaks to the urgency because we had to push the release of the record out by another month. It was stressful, but wow, the pride we felt from the end result was pretty fuckin’ cool, man.

Andrew:
Would you say this is Skid Row’s most potent lineup to date?

Rachel:
In a lot of ways, yes. I think you have a guy in Erik that, first of all, the song that was responsible for starting our career; that same song started Erik’s, and that’s “18 and Life.” Because Erik auditioned for Idol with “18 and Life,” and that’s where his career as a professional singer started. And if you go back, “18 and Life” was the song that broke us open worldwide back in ’89. Everything involving Erik has come full circle for him and us. It’s interesting; Eric was so young when the first record came out, and in Skid Row, now you have grizzled veterans, but you also have a younger guy; not saying he’s not a veteran because Erik’s toured the world plenty. Erik had done plenty of stuff before Skid Row, but it’s like two different worlds that have come together as one planet, which is just amazing. The full circle story; it’s like an after-school special, man. [Laughs].

Andrew:
Skid Row appears stronger than ever, Rachel. To what does the band owe its longevity?

Rachel:
First and foremost, it’s loving what we do. We love making new music and just going out and playing a ton of shows. We love seeing people come to our shows, having a good time, and enjoying what we do. I mean, before I take that first step out on stage – I do this every show – I think about what I see. I look out, and I’m like, “Man, we’re the luckiest guys on the fuckin’ planet.” I still can’t believe that I get to do this. I get to tour the world and play rock ‘n’ fucking roll, and to me, that is pretty fuckin’ awesome.

All images courtesy of Atom Splitter PR

Andrew Daly (@vwmusicrocks) is the Editor-in-Chief for www.vwmusicrocks.com and may be reached at andrew@vinylwriter.com

Leave a Reply

Trending