The thing for us is not about nostalgia, but about the next chapter in the band's career. It's about moving forward while still maintaining the integrity of who we are. Rachel and I still write the bulk of the material, so it's still going to be Skid Row, but now we have Johnny Solinger singing, and he puts his stamp on it and makes it his own. It's very exciting for us because it's a new band in a sense. It's like starting over, but with a wealth of knowledge.
Skid Row has always been a bit harder edged then your contemporaries. Is that still the case on this CD?
Without a doubt. There is a lot of heavy stuff on the record, but it is a well rounded record. The record makes sense as a whole. We run the gamut, show all sides.
Why are you releasing Thickskin on your own label?
We signed licensing deals all over the world, but it's our own label. We decided that we were going to take every matter regarding this band into our own hands, so we cleaned house. We manage ourselves, we do everything on our own when it comes to our records. We do all the artwork in-house, we do all the T-shirts in-house and do all the licensing deals ourselves. We're in complete control of every aspect of our careers, and at this point in our lives if we don't know what we're doing in regard to our own career we never will.
In this day and age the music business is different. We had a great relationship with Atlantic Records, but the new regime comes in and all the people that were so supportive of you have moved on to other places, and the new people are more interested in working other people's records instead of yours. I'm too proud of this record to have its sit on a shelf somewhere, so we decided to undertake it ourselves. It's an uphill battle, but it's something that we relish because our band has always been the underdog anyway. We've always had to fight uphill and it makes us that much stronger, hence the title of the record, Thickskin.
How are fans reacting to Johnny as the lead singer?
They've been great. He's not the new guy anymore, he's been in the band since 2000, so it's been over three years now. He's taken it upon himself to lead us, and he does an amazing job of it.
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