Clint Switzer of the "Music Mania" podcast recently conducted an interview with RATT bassist Juan Croucier. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). On the live show approach for this incarnation of RATT: Juan: "We set out to get a lot of shows under our belts. And, it's what we do. We're performers, so, we had a little bit of a lag time. Stephen [Pearcy, vocals] had a knee operation earlier in the year and we picked up in May — I think it was the Domination Festival or something like that, in Mexico City. That's kind of where we started. We've been going ever since. The plan is just to have the band working on a regular basis and really kind of give it that sort of synergy that occurs when you're constantly playing." On the issues he and Pearcy have faced in maintaining RATT: Juan: "Look, I don't want to cast any negative light upon the past. We did what we had to do to allow the band to survive. And in doing that, one of the issues was that we, over the years, were inconsistent. We would tour one year, we wouldn't tour the following year, and so forth. And all Stephen and I set out to do is ensure we had consistency in how the band operated [with] the touring schedule. It's really been the kind of thing where RATT has always been a live band. And we neglected many markets for quite some time and we're out to sort of rectify that." On new RATT members drummer Pete Holmes (BLACK 'N BLUE) and guitarists Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders (BRITNY FOX, KNIGHT FURY): Juan: "Listen, the band is firing on all cylinders. We had to, obviously, think fast and on our feet when the changes came. And Pete Holmes had been playing in my solo band for quite some time, so he really knew the RATT material and was really of great assistance to us when we had to audition guitar players. Upon doing so, we had to be very selective with the small group of people because we weren't really going to amplify that we were in search of a couple of guitar players, which we, by the way, didn't anticipate. It really sort of came as a surprise — a chain of events, not getting long-winded with regard to it. He helped us audition people. We got Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders on board. They've acclimated really, really well. The main thing is that we're all on the same page as far as doing what's best for the group for the foreseeable future. They've really brought fresh blood to the band. I hate using that term lightly; it really is a situation where the band is working cooperatively now together and again, not to take anything away from the past lineups, but at this stage, we all need to kind of agree that we're going to work. It's pretty important. Things are going really smoothly. Stephen and I are really happy. Jordan, Chris and Pete are absolutely amazing. And let me tell you one more thing: The band performing live now, in my opinion, is giving you the most accurate representation of the RATT records that I personally believe that we've ever been able to achieve. It's a real treat for fans who want to come and see the band and hear the old songs that we're known for and we want to represent it in a good light." On what RATT has in store for 2020: Juan: "What we're doing is, in 2018, we did a handful of shows, approximately 14. We over doubled that this year; we're going to increase it next year, so we're going to be getting to places we haven't been to in a long, long time. We really want to solidify this lineup and let people hear it because a lot can be said and a lot is said in places like the Internet. The truth of the matter is, we hunkered down, we've put our heads down and we're taking every single show like it's our last show. We're really playing like our lives depend on it, which is the spirit that I've always enjoyed playing by. As far as new material and/or singles or a record, in the future we're just going to take this thing as it comes. We don't want to force anything. Of course, we'd love to have some new material out there. We got to sort of balance the priority of touring and the time it would take to really record and properly deliver the types of songs that we need to deliver. RATT has a certain quality level, for a lack of a better term, that we want to maintain. It's really not about quantity, it's really about quality." RATT hasn't released any new music since 2010's "Infestation" album. This past January, Pearcy underwent knee surgery. The operation came three months after two disastrous RATT shows that saw the now-63-year-old singer incapacitated to the point where he had trouble remembering the words to some of the band's biggest hits. Photo credit: Joe Schaeffer
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