Sebastian Bach didn’t help start Skid Row. He also didn’t write all the songs. He was basically a kid – they all were – but him especially. Much like with other lead singers who joined already created bands, Bas basically pulled off a coup d’é·tat. No one voted for him to take over, he just sort of did, and while the band was charting strong, selling millions of records, being played on the radio and featured all over MTV, not to mention playing huge venues, it was easier for the founders of the band to sedate themselves than lay down the law. I think in hindsight, they probably saw the error in their ways and vowed to never let a lead singer take over like that again.

That said, sometimes fame can numb the pain or the unhappiness every bit as much as drugs or alcohol. Not only would it have been impossible for the founding members to have rein in Sebastian during the band’s heyday, but they had no leverage. I suspect if they had tried to silence their singer and he even hinted at going for the door, management and the record label would have acted swiftly. They would have more than likely put the band on suspension and/or pressured them into submission using other means. There’s a reason no one ever read Bas the riot act. The problem is the more out of control he got, the harder it was for founding members to stomach. As sales waned and they became less of a priority to their label, I think they may have jumped the gun. After all, the break took place in 1996, not 1989. Sebastian forgot what year he was in and paid the ultimate price.

Every band has a leader or leaders. With Skid Row, it’s believed to be run by its founders, bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarist Dave Sabo. I’d say that’s a pretty accurate breakdown. Guitarist Scotti Hill seems to have considerable influence as well. That said, even when there are two founding members calling the shots, there’s always one that’s a little more hands on, especially with the day-to-day operations of the band. Think of KISS, for example. While Gene and Paul are the two leaders, it’s Paul who’s considered by most to have the final word. With Warrant, there’s also two guys at the helm with Jerry Dixon and Erik Turner. With Warrant, I’d argue Jerry is the more day-to-day between the two. And with Skid Row, I’d argue that that distinction goes to Rachel Bolan. If Rachel wanted Bas back, I think he could convince Sabo. If Sabo, however, wanted Bas back and Bolan was opposed, I don’t think Dave could convince Rachel.

Now let me stress that my above hypothetical is just that! There’s nothing to suggest that Dave Sabo wants Sebastian back. In fact, he may want him out as much as Rachel – if not more. My only point there was that I believe if someone had to be convinced, that Rachel would be more effective at convincing Sabo than Sabo convincing Bolan. It’s the same with Stanley/Simmons and Dixon/Turner. You have two equal members, but one of the two just takes a more direct hand in running the band. When Sebastian is out playing fourth on the bill somewhere and he’s attacking Skid Row fans, why on Earth would guys like Rachel, Dave, and Scotti want that guy to be a part of their band again? They’ve been making music and touring extensively for over twenty-five years without him.

When club singer Stevie Rachelle of the band TUFF and the force behind Metal Sludge reported on Sebastian verbally-attacking Skid Row fans at his concerts, it sent shockwaves throughout the rock and metal communities. Reverberations were felt and continue to be felt. Insiders believe that the Skid Row camp is absolutely furious with their ex-singer and any hopes of a reunion have been dashed, yet again. In fact, sources close to SSF state on condition of anonymity that one founding member is “livid.”

And it’s not Stevie’s fault or Metal Sludge’s or any other website’s. We didn’t make the news. It was 100% Sebastian and his inability to process his frustrations with the fact that no matter how much money can be made with a reunion, the Skid Row guys just don’t want him back. Even if they can’t secure a singer for now due to scheduling conflicts, that’s not enough for them to bring Bas back. And fortunately for SR, they never squandered away their earnings and were left penniless under a bridge somewhere. From everything I’ve heard, they live all live comfortably and they’re all working musicians.

That’s not good for Sebastian. His ex-bandmates would actually have to want to play with him again in order for a reunion to happen. They’re not out of options and destitute. And with him cursing out Skid Row fans at his concerts and that making the rounds all over the rock press, do you honestly think Skid Row wants that guy back on tour with them? Therefore, Sebastian needs to be accountable for his own actions and needs to try to grow up. Him tracking down Rachelle and shoving him into a locker isn’t going to make things better. It might make him feel a little better for the time being, but as he walks away and hears the Tuff singer pleading for him to let him out, he’s still going to be left with the reality that he’s created an even bigger rift between himself and the band we all know he wants to be a part of again.

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When it comes to media fanfare and camera time, The Warning seems more like a duo than a trio. It’s often said that Ale Villareal is the quiet one. This would normally apply to most rock bassists, with the exception of band leaders like Gene Simmons, Geddy Lee, or Nikki Sixx. Unless the bassist is the sole writer or founder of the band, they tend to set into the background. Typical rock band dynamics have center-stage type personalities and background types. Take Aerosmith, for example. That band centers around Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. Brad, Tom, and Joey have been termed by roadies as “the other three.” They don’t tend to do many interviews, they don’t command legions of fans, and they rarely – if ever – will sing a lead vocal. They’re every bit as much members as Steven and Joe, but they take on the role of supporting musicians. Do they like this role? It really doesn’t matter what they like. It’s not like they have a choice. And if they were missing on stage few would notice, much less care. Sorry, but we all know it’s true.

Although The Warning is a family endeavor and the band is comprised of three sisters that grew up together that does not make them immune to the excesses and trivialities of stardom. Look at Oasis and the hatred between the Gallagher brothers. I’m not saying that anything like that will happen to this great band, but we also don’t know what the band dynamics are behind the scenes. The band can’t control what film crews and the media decide to film, who they want to interview, and/or who they write about. What the band and their management can control is how members are portrayed and what roles they have in the band.

While all three sisters can sing leads, Dany sings the most songs. As a result of singing, playing guitar, and doing the most press, it would seem Dany is the leader of the band and that is how’s treated by the press. She’s also the oldest and the first to pick her instrument. Pau is the middle sister, sings leads, and has tons of mic time with the audience. Pau picked drums as her instrument.

The story goes that Ale picked bass, but in reality, bass was all that was left. Had she picked guitars or drums, it’s unlikely they would have given the youngest sister her choice to play instruments already covered by her older siblings. I don’t for a second believe a 6 year old picked bass over guitar or drums. Sometimes alternate narratives just don’t make sense and when it comes to The Warning, I’m guessing it was bass or nothing.

In any event, Ale is a phenomenal bass player with a wide range of styles that create in her a very seasoned player despite her very young age. Sadly, her bass is often turned down so low that fans can barely hear it. This happens in guitar/drums dominated bands like The Warning. Moreover, Ale is often kept to the back during interviews, and interrupted ad nauseum by her two older sisters. Is this just sisters being sisters or more so shameless attention-seeking by Dany and Pau?

At what point will this constant relegation to the background get old? The irony is that Ale is not quiet and actually likes to talk. The reason that’s such a piece of bombshell news – even for Warning fans – is because the youngest sister is often kept quiet. Her videos on social media usually outperform her sisters and the fans have a very special bond with her just the same. The fact Ale is such a skilled musician, can probably write her own songs, and has a fantastic lead voice, makes her likely to be the first member of the band to go solo.

Perhaps there won’t ever be a need for Alejandra to break out. This could be the case if they raised her profile and let her speak more. I think it would also be a good idea to give her a few songs where she sang lead. The bottom line is she’s just too gifted and too ambitious to settle for being the other member of the band. I’ve seen tons and tons of videos from concerts to tv appearances where Dany and Pau each get about 45% of the questions and talking time and Ale is lucky to get 10. Maybe that was ok when she was 12, 16, or even 18, but as she becomes more of an adult musician, I think she’ll hit a breaking point.

Also, if Ale’s not writing as much as she’d like – or – if her songs aren’t making the cut, but Dany’s and Pau’s are, it may be the publishing that splits this band up. It’s one thing to split the sales and contracts three-ways, but it’s quite another when publishing money starts rolling in. Publishing factors in with regards to who receives writing credits on songs. If big publishing checks start arriving for Dany and Pau and Ale is left out, that’s going to be a problem over time. It is for most bands.

Like I said, we don’t know anything about the business side of The Warning, but something tells me Ale is getting the short end of the stick.

I’d love to see this band go all the way, but I just hope they take very good care of their baby sister. Unlike Brad, Tom, and Joey in Aerosmith, Alejandra Villarreal Vélez has a lot of choices. She’s very musical, very beautiful, and could easily go solo and do very well for herself. I hope her two older sisters shut the fuck up every so often and let Ale speak without interruptions. I also hope they dramatically raise her profile because this not an artist that should be in the background.

Ale does not need The Warning to be a star.

Christian I. Duque

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Once Riley’s LA Guns formed they landed a deal with Golden Robot Records and cut several killer tracks – all of which I’ve listened to dozens of times on Spotify. They were able to catch that debut LA Guns 1988 rawness. They sounded edgy, unpredictable, and every bit the dirty L.A. rock band their roots go back to. The other LA Guns sounds way cleaner. It doesn’t make your speakers bleed and it lacks that NY Dolls slop that’s so punk rock, with that no-f*cks-given attitude, and some metal theatrics thrown in for good measure. The namesakes sound good, but are also boring; they’re safe – they don’t take any risks.

Phil Lewis is a terrific singer who’s kept his pipes firing on all cylinders. His range is quite frankly noteworthy. And Tracii is a phenomenal guitarist that can pull from a wide range of influences and has some insanely classic and innovative riffs. That said when you compare LA Guns to Riley’s LA Guns, it’s Riley’s LA Guns all day and night for me. Sorry but not sorry.

From a legal standpoint, however, I don’t know where Steve’s passing leaves his band. Are they able to carry on with Golden Robot Records? Will the label honor the deal without Steve? Nickels is a phenomenal player and writer. And while no one can ever replace Steve, I’m sure they can find a good drummer to move forward with. I know in my heart that Steve would want his band to continue. Plus I’m sure these guys probably have plenty of unreleased music including Riley which could easily make for at least 1-2 records. It would be pretty cool to release a couple of albums worth of new music and unreleased tracks as a package. Who knows if they have any video content, perhaps from the studio or from the road. While VHS and DVD’s are dead formats, the label could release video through digital downloads, and may even press some DVD’s for the most hardcore of the hardcore on pre-order. Vinyl is also making a huge comeback and fans will pay any price to get their hands on records they can play and/or get autographed at concerts.

On another legal note, I don’t the specifics of why Tracii Guns and Steve Riley were able to acquire the rights to the band name in the mid 90’s. Did they buy everyone else out like in the Dokken scenario? Did they pay back taxes? Did they assume the rights from the major label the band was once signed to? Or did they sort of just take it? We saw what happened to the WEB deal with RATT, where ultimately just Warren and Bobby owned the name. That got set aside in court and suddenly guys like Stephen and Juan now had equal ownership stakes in the band. Not to mention a ton of back royalties and moneys owed them. I wonder who inherits Riley’s 50%? Could Kelly get it? Will Steve’s family have a claim to it? Does Tracii absorb it?

And what if Phil Lewis, Kelly Nickels, and Mick Cripps challenge the status quo and seek their 20% shares in the LA Guns band name today? I mean Kelly and Mick wrote a lion’s share of the songs and Phil is the voice of the band. It may not be a truckload of money, but Cocked And Loaded has been certified RIAA platinum. I’m pretty sure the debut record has been certified gold by now, as well as Hollywood Vampires. Vicious Circle probably broke the 100,000 units mark. Plus you have countless independent releases using the LAG name, merch, downloads. It just seems a little crazy that Phil’s up there singing his heart out every night and is essentially an employee of his guitar player’s. I don’t know? To each their own I guess. I mean what do I know? I’m just a lawyer out of Louisville.

All legalities aside, I’d love to see Golden Robot Records continue to support Riley’s LA Guns. Or maybe call it Kelly’s LA Guns, Nickels LA Guns, or just Hollywood Vampires. Whatever you call it, keep that band going, honor the deal, sign new deals and keep the music coming. Dedicate stuff to Steve and keep his legacy alive!

The last thing I want is for Kelly to go back into the cave. Keep killin it, brother!!

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What Jason does with music interviews is what I do with my thousands of fitness features. Interviewing is cool and all, but it gets old if that’s all it is. Question, answer, question, answer, question, answer. If that’s all you do then more power to you, but it starts to feel redundant. Interviews that can easily pass for conversations are the gold standard. Moreover, interviews that skip the inside jokes and hidden meanings, are always hits. Some interviews are full of innuendos and double and triple meaning statements accompanied by winks and grins. These types of interviews SUCK! They suck because it’s obvious the guest is a star, right? After all, they’re the ones being interviewed. And it’s clear – 99% of the time time – that the interviewer is either connected or respected enough that the star is appearing on their platform. So it’s obvious that both the star and the interviewer are insiders so why overstate the obvious by dancing around topics with cue words and chuckles meanwhile the frustrated audience sits their with WTF written across their face? Thankfully Jason would never do an interview like that. A great example of Green digging deep but sharing the knowledge is when he asked Nadir to speak on working with a certain producer who didn’t have a musical background. And Nadir hit the nail on the head by explaining that working with that gentleman wasn’t about his musical prowess, or lack thereof, but it was all about the vibe he brought.

With regards to Nadir D’Priest you couldn’t ask for a better example of an all-around rocker! I think everyone is well acquainted with tall tales of rich and famous rockers from VH1’s Where Are They Now to MTV Cribs! But seldom – if ever – have fans gotten the other side. As D’Priest mentions, they did get a taste of that when London inked with Shrapnel Records, but most of the band’s history dealt with paying dues, getting into scrapes, and dealing other real-life situations like getting their guitars stolen and labels changing its band name. He spoke about his time with underrated and legendary guitarist Lizzie Grey. How’s that for an oxymoron? He spoke about how talented he was and how hard he worked towards his vision of making London a mega success. He also spoke of Lizzie’s demise, which many fans are clueless about.

I really enjoyed hearing about the choice to go with D’Priest over London for the Playa Del Rock record. I always figured it was done over legal reasons and/or maybe inner band squabbling. It’s very interesting and disturbing that a record label thought ditching a name with that much history for the singer’s last name made marketing sense. Perhaps if London were selling gold records they could have resisted the idea, but Nadir spoke very candidly about the situation they were in from the very first deal. They could either make do with what was offered or they could eat crow.

The truth is if London hadn’t taken the shitty deal that made Non Stop Rock possible they would never have been on the Metal Years, they never would have had follow-up records, and they probably wouldn’t be talked about today. Whereas some bands may have sided with pride and not looked twice at anything less than a million dollar deal – others were all about making it – no matter what!

I don’t think there’s any question they made the right move.

So why didn’t they make it? Well, I’d say they did make it. As Nadir says in the Wasting Time interview, there were 2,000 working bands in L.A. all trying to get gigs, deals, and sell records. The fact London got a deal the first year Nadir joined and that they were able to make follow-up records is making it. The fact they worked in world-recognized studios, participated on tours, and had videos on MTV, VH1, and radio stations around the world, is making it! I think the question is why didn’t they make it huge? And that I think is covered really well in the interview by Nadir. While Lizzie was super talented and had an ironclad work ethic, his vision for London may have cost the group valuable time. Nadir says the two were like two peas in the same pod. They got along like brothers, but Grey was going for a sound and look that had come and gone ten years prior. Nadir talks about how as a teenage singer he more or less had to set the glitz guitarist straight. It wasn’t adversarial per D’Priest but it was very much framed in what was actually working for the band and what had not. Ultimately, Lizzie would go his own way, but Nadir would carry on with London.

I can’t recommend Nadir D’Priest’s interview on Waste Some Time With Jason Green enough! What’s unbelieveable to me is that Nadir/London are currently without management and actively wanting to play!! How can this be? Surely there’s a guy, gal, group out there that knows marketing, knows venue owners, and knows social media. I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to piece together a nice string of U.S., Mexican, European and Asian club dates for a band with this kind of history and a solid playlist of songs. London would also make a fantastic addition to various package deals and/or festivals. I can list 5-10 London songs that I know of and which would make for the core of their setlist. Then of course there’s Nadir’s solo stuff, maybe they could do a version of Public Enemy No1, and maybe dazzle the crowd with new music for upcoming releases.

Jason does a lot of work with Golden Robot Records. Maybe they might want to look into backing London for an upcoming record?…

One thing I’d love to hear and maybe I’m the only one (though I highly doubt it), would be Nadir re-recording some Spiders And Snakes tracks in a tribute record to Lizzie Grey. Again, S&S is 100% Lizzie’s British glitz style and that was the antithesis of what Nadir wanted with London, but it would be a heck of a cool tribute to hear what Nadir would do with these songs while paying homage to his old brother in arms. I’d buy that record, cd, and/or digi download in a heartbeat!!

In closing, WATCH THIS INTERVIEW, and WATCH IT AGAIN AND AGAIN!! Please support Waste Some Time With Jason Green and please support NADIR and LONDON! Great job fellas!!

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