Interview with Rachel Bolan

Do you know who Rachel Bolan is?

He is the bass player of the excellent heavy-metal band Skid Row.

Skid Row. Rachel Bolan is on far-right.

Skid Row are scheduled to play a show in Tokyo on 2014 April 14th to promote their latest album “United World Rebellion: Chapter One“!
This will be Skid Row‘s first visit to Japan since 1995. Nineteen years ago!

Today, Rachel Bolan was kind enough to answer some questions from me for an interview!

My questions are in red.   Rachel Bolan‘s answers are in black.

1. Could you give us a self-introduction, please?

Rachel Bolan, co-founder, bass player and song writer for Skid Row.

2.  The new Skid Row release “United World Rebellion: Chapter One” is quite good.  Will there be a “Chapter Two” ?

Thank you. There will be 3 chapters in all. As a matter of fact, we just finished up recording  “United World Rebellion – Chapter Two”. We are very excited about it!

3.  What music / albums do you listen to most often these days?

Lately I have been listening to an artist named Gin Wigmore. She’s great!
I also listen to the music that I grew up with. KISS, The Ramones, Aerosmith, Queen, etc.

4.  Do you like Japanese food?  Have you ever tried Tokyo’s original dish “Monja-yaki“?

I love food in general, but Japanese is one of my favorites. Japanese meals always seem so well balanced.
I haven’t had Monja-yaki, but would like to try it. I think every culture has a dish similar to it. My Uncle used to make something like it. It didn’t have dough in it however. Just egg as a binder.
I’m getting hungry. Haha.

5.  Skid Row is scheduled to play a show at the O-East club in the Shibuya area of Tokyo, Japan.  Could you give us a preview of what fans can expect at that show, set-list-wise and otherwise?

We usually try to play something from every album. That gets more difficult as time goes on because our catalog keeps growing and I can’t see us playing a 4 hour show. Haha.
We will play all the songs that you would expect us to play. Some new songs as well as some deep tracks. Lots of energy on stage because we love what we do! We may be getting older, but we haven’t slowed down a bit.

チラシ (Flyer) for Skid Row’s upcoming show in Tokyo.

6.  The last time Skid Row toured Japan was in 1995, wasn’t it?  Why did it take so long for you to finally return?

That’s right. Almost 20 years since our last visit. I have no idea why it’s taken so long. We’ve always had such an amazing time.
I wish we were playing more than one show on this trip. We’ll make sure it doesn’t take another 20 years until we play there again.

7.   How many times have you been to Tokyo?  Are there any sites that you’re particularly looking forward to revisiting?  Or some places in Tokyo that you haven’t seen yet that you would like to visit?

I believe I’ve been to Tokyo 6 times.
I hope to get back to Kiddieland if its still there!! (It is. It’s actually not too far of a walk from the venue you’ll be playing at!)
Also, Akihabara. I like to check out all the gadgets.
I have never been to Tsukiji fish market.  I’d really like to see it.

8.  How do the fans in Japan compare to those in other countries?

It’s funny. I’ve been asked that question by many journalists from many different countries.  The answer is always the same. Skid Row fans are awesome in every country we go and very similar except for the language they speak. We have the most dedicated fans in the world.  That’s why we called the trilogy ” United World Rebellion “.

9.  Do you receive a lot of fan-mail from Japan?

We do get quite a bit of email from Japan via Facebook and such.

10.  Do you have a message for the fans in Japan?

I just want everyone to know how excited we are to return to your incredible country. And how  much we appreciate your unconditional support over the past 25 years.
There’s not a night I step on stage that I don’t think how great a life that has been afforded to me because of fans like you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart!

Thanks again to Rachel Bolan for taking time to answer my questions.  These are great answers!  Very interesting interview!  I look forward to your show next month!
Thanks also to Skid Row‘s webmaster, Noel Saabye to getting me in contact with Mr. Bolan.

Here are some relevant Skid Row links that everyone should check out:
SkidRow.com
SkidRow’s Official Facebook Page
Hayashi Promotions Skid Row Japan Tour Info

Upcoming concerts in Japan

What type of music do you like to listen to? Do you go to concerts often?

As for me, I like heavy metal music. Actually I don’t understand why anyone would listen to anything else. 😉

There are a number of great bands scheduled to play shows in Japan soon.

For example:

● Linkin Park

– 2011 September 10, 11: Chiba, Japan
– 2011 September 13: Yokohama, Japan
– 2011 September 14: Nagoya, Japan
– 2011 September 16: Osaka, Japan

Also, on 2011 August 31, Linkin Park will play a show in Los Angeles, California to help raise money for the victims of the March 11 earthquake in Japan.
The Japanese hard rock band B’z will be the opening act.

● Anthem

The Japanese metal band Anthem are currently on a tour of Japan until the end of July (2011).

● Anthrax

In support of their new album, “Worship Music“, Anthrax will play four dates in Japan this December:

– 2011 December 12: Osaka, Japan
– 2011 December 13, 14: Tokyo, Japan
– 2011 December 16: Nagoya, Japan

The band “Hellyeah” will be the opening act for the Anthrax shows.

● Aerosmith

Hard rock icons Aerosmith will play shows across Japan in (2011) November and December:

– 2011 November 22: Kanazawa, Japan
– 2011 November 25: Hiroshima, Japan
– 2011 November 28, 30: Tokyo, Japan
– 2011 December 2: Fukuoka, Japan
– 2011 December 6: Osaka, Japan
– 2011 December 8: Nagoya, Japan
– 2011 December 10: Sapporo, Japan

● Loudpark Heavy Metal Festival 2011

– 2011 October 15: Saitama, Japan

At this year’s Loudpark, Whitesnake, The Darkness, Stryper and many other acts are scheduled to perform.

● Whitesnake

In addition to headlining this year’s Loudpark festival, Whitesnake will play four additional shows in Japan:

– 2011 October 17: Osaka, Japan
– 2011 October 18: Okayama, Japan
– 2011 October 20: Miyazaki, Japan
– 2011 October 22: Nagoya, Japan

● Mötley Crüe

– 2011 September 28: Nagoya, Japan
– 2011 September 29, 30: Osaka, Japan
– 2011 October 3, 4, 5: Tokyo, Japan

● Def Leppard

– 2011 November 5: Osaka, Japan
– 2011 November 7: Tokyo, Japan

New X-Japan song

I wrote a post about the Japanese heavy metal band X-Japan (they were simply called “X” when I first came to Japan).

I was surprised by the negative comments that post I wrote received from a number of X-Japan fans overseas!  The post is here, by the way.

Well, X-Japan has released a new English-language song via i-tunes.
It’s currently available to for download in America and Europe.
The price is £0.79 (which equals about US$1.27 (or ¥102)).
(Click here if you want to download it from i-tunes.)

It will be available for download in Japan and Asia on 2011 July 13.

The song is titled “Jade“.

Here’s the video for the song:

Also, X-Japan is currently on a short world tour.
They just played a concert in London on Tuesday (July 28) and then they play a few more shows around Europe.
Then on August 13 they’ll be in Osaka, Japan and on August 14th they’ll play in Tokyo.
From there, they’ll play some shows in Central America.

(News and images are from the official X-Japan website).

Postponed…or canceled?

As I mentioned in this post, the American hard rock band KISS were scheduled to perform in concert seven nights in a six-city tour around Japan this coming April (2011).

The KISS flyer for the four dates KISS were scheduled to perform in the Tokyo area.

I say that they “were scheduled” to come to Japan because it was announced today that KISS “postponed” their tour of Japan.

The "radio schedule" from the newspaper that the postponement of the KISS tour will be explained tonight.

My friend told me that the famous hard rock / heavy metal music critic / journalist Masa Ito mentioned on his radio show that KISS are now tentatively scheduled to come to Japan this autumn (2011).

Hopefully they won’t just decide to cancel the tour altogether.

Is my music collection considered “oldies” now?

In 1986, when I was sixteen years old, if you had asked me my opinion of music that was released twenty-five prior to that (in 1961)…music by artists such as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Chuck Berry was popular at that time…I wasn’t interested in that type of music and I probably would of considered it “ancient”.

It’s now 2011 and 1986 is now twenty-five years in the past!
My taste in music hasn’t changed at all. I still listen to the same great albums that I bought in the ’80s.
My I-pod has a number of albums from 1986.

Look at this list of albums that are now twenty-five years old (listed here in order of release). You can’t deny that they’re all excellent…much better than most of the forgettable “music” that is released today:

• Black Sabbath “Seventh Star” 
  
• Ozzy Osbourne “The Ultimate Sin”

• Metallica “Master Of Puppets“

• Van Halen “5150“

• Judas Priest “Turbo”

• AC/DC “Who Made Who“

• Savatage “Fight For The Rock“

• Loudness “Lightning Strikes“

• Great White “Shot In The Dark“

• Iron Maiden “Somewhere In Time“

• W.A.S.P. “Inside The Electric Circus“

• KiLLeR DWaRfS “Stand Tall“

Have you heard any of these albums? What do you think of them?
As for me, even though they’re twenty-five years old now…and nearly every one of these bands have better albums in their catalog (except Metallica—“Master Of Puppets” is legend!…these albums still stand the test of time!

Day of the monsters

It’s ハロウィン (Halloween).

I like monsters. In movies my favorite characters are the ones such as Darth Vader, Frankenstein, and such.
My favorite musicians are “shock rock” bands like KISS, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, and Lordi.

So to celebrate Halloween, let’s watch a few videos by the “Monsters of Rock”, Lordi.

Here’s “Would You Love A Monsterman?”:

“Hardrock Hallelujah”:

“It Snows In Hell”:

and “Who’s Your Daddy?”

The Holy Diver has passed away

When I go online, first I check my email.
Today one of my emails was from my friend Masa. He told me that the legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio has passed away.

After I check my emails, I always check my favorite websites for updates. There are a number of blogs, news sites, and others that I visit everyday.
But once I knew that Dio has died, I knew that some of my favorite music-related blogs would have posts about it…Hard Rock Hideout, Metal Excess, Metal Odyssey, Heavy Metal Addiction, and Heavy Metal Time Machine all wrote excellent posts about Ronnie Dio’s passing.

Ronnie James Dio was most famous as the lead vocalist for the metal bands Rainbow, Black Sabbath (after original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne was fired), and his solo band Dio.

I knew that he had been fighting stomach cancer but I was still surprised and saddened to learn that he died on May 16.

Ronnie James Dio, 1942 July 10 – 2010 May 16, R.I.P.

Here are a couple official promotion videos for two of his biggest hits with his solo band Dio, “Holy Diver” and “The Last In Line“.
The videos seem pretty “cheesy” nowadays, but when they were first released in the ’80s they were cool (at least to the teenage heavy metal fanatic that I was back then).

Jason McMaster interview

Jason McMaster was kind enough to do an interview with me today.

Do you like heavy metal, southern hard rock, Dangerous Toys, KISS, Judas Priest, Metallica or Motorhead?
Of course, you do! Who doesn’t??
Then click here and read my interview with him. (And come back to this page to leave comments / questions).

Japanese rock fans are living (the) music. They believe in it’s power.

–Jason McMaster

X Japan in America

When I came to Japan, I heard a Japanese heavy metal band called “X” play.
I thought they sounded good and looked quite different from American metal bands with their giant hairstyles.

They were called simply "X" when I first heard them.

They are considered by many to be the pioneers of the Japanese “Visual Kei” type heavy metal.
The way I’d described the “Visual Kei” genre of music is a uniquely Japanese cross between ‘shock rock’ and ‘glam metal’.

In 1991, X released their album titled “Jealousy” that includes the song “Say Anything”.

X "Jealousy" album cover

Here’s the official music video for the X song “Say Anything“.
This was the first music video of their that I ever saw. It’s kinda long, but it show many concert venues around Japan…including the “Tokyo Dome”.

(The person who uploaded it wrote the band’s name as “X Japan”, but they were still called “X” when the released this song):

This album was very successful in Japan. It’s the first album of theirs that I bought.

Due to the immense domestic success of this album, it was believed that their dream of international stardom would be realized soon.
So to prepare for their international debut, the band decided to change their name to prevent any potential confusion with an American band that was also called “X“.

So, they became “X Japan“.

Logo for the band "X Japan"

Unfortunately, international success managed to elude them. (Probably because their entire catalog of music is sung in Japanese).

In the late ’90s, X Japan broke up.

The lead guitarist, hide, had a semi-successful solo music career after the band break-up. But he died soon after (official cause-of-death was listed as “suicide”, but the other band members insist his death was caused by a drunken accident).

The feminine-acting drummer / pianist, Yoshiki, recorded an instrumental version of the KISS song “Black Diamond” for the KISS tribute album “KISS My A$$“.

The lead vocalist, Toshi, left the music industry for awhile (some say he temporarily joined a religious cult. But he denies that.)

But in 2007, X Japan reunited. They have a new guitarist…but the late hide is still officially considered a member of the band. His guitar and often images of him are always displayed on stage when the band performs.

For their reunion, they updated their image. Gone is the giant hair.

Also, in 2007, the American horror movie “Saw IV” was released and X Japan was asked to record a song for the soundtrack.

They recorded the song “I.V.” for the soundtrack.

The international exposure from that song, plus the current “Japan boom” overseas seems to be providing X Japan with a chance to finally realize their dream of international stardom.

Because X Japan has been invited to perform at the popular “Lollapalooza” music festival in Chicago, USA in 2010 August 6-8!