No Skiddin'

“Basically we'll just keep doing this for as long as people listen to us,” Skid Row's bassist Rachel Bolan says of the band  responsible for '80s hair metal anthems like Youth Gone Wild and 18 And Life. But back in 2012, Bolan says the guys collectively had a revelation.

“There were seven years between our last release and this release because we were touring constantly, and then it started to feel like we were just touring to tour. So we thought to put out more music, and it seems like our fans are really digging it.”

The decision to start putting out more music resulted in the United World Rebellion series of EPs, the first of which dropped mid-last year. But what inspired them to take such an unconventional route to releasing new stuff?

“The major thought was just about keeping a constant flow of music out. Because it is kind of the days of information overload, there's so much stuff coming at people all the time, that there's a lot of stuff out there for people to have to try and absorb. So it seemed like a really cool way to give people stuff that they could digest quickly, and then it keeps us out on the road and keeps us busy.”

Keeping busy will see the band return to Australia for a co-headline run with Ugly Kid Joe. The two bands did a European tour together and it went gangbusters, so they just knew they had to reprise it somewhere else and when they thought about it, Australia seemed like the perfect place.

“The love of rock is still so alive and well in Australia. You know, we see how many people are liking us on Facebook from Australia and how many people comment on our stuff and email the guys in the band. It's obvious it's still something that's thriving there.”

As for what fans coming out to the shows can expect, Bolan promises that you don't get to play shows for 30 years if you're not making sure the crowd leaves with smiles on their faces.

“We do what we call the 'big six', our most popular songs that we have to play every night. And then for a lot of it we go by what people are, online, asking us to play. And then we like digging deep into an album, playing a song that people like, but it's not technically a 'popular' song. But it's really cool to do that and see people's eyes light up. And you can tell that they get off on that, and so do we.”

That's always been the point of Skid Row, that moment when you can just get lost in a crazy, sweaty and most importantly, fun, rock show: “It's all about throwing your fist in the air and a big release. It's about forgetting about the world and your problems for a couple of hours.”