Bobby Blotzer Of Ratt Interview Continued

Bobby Blotzer of Ratt – Interview Continued From Sick Drummer Magazine Issue 8

By: Craig Sternberg

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SDM: What do you think is the biggest difference in touring now compared to the ’80s when you started?

Bobby: We’re not headlining arenas right now, that’s the main thing.  We’re headlining smaller things, playing a lot of festivals that are ten to fourteen thousand people, a lot of theaters, 2500 seats or so.  I’d rather be in big buildings every night, absolutely, but at this stage of the game Ratt is still a multi-million dollar grossing band a year, and I’ve been in this band twenty-eight years.  To still be doing it especially with the way we tumultuously get along, it’s amazing we’re still able to do it.

SDM: In the ’90s after Ratt had disbanded for a while, what did you do in your life?  Were there any other bands?

Bobby: There were a couple of projects.  We broke up in March of ’92.  Being in a band from the fucking ’80s at that time, you might as well be leper.  It was sad, really sad.  I would go out and socialize at some show, running into guys from other bands, platinum bands, and other people would be like, “Can you fucking believe this?  No one’s working!”.  It was really sad.  It was like telling you you were no longer relevant.  So I just raised my sons, I snow ski’d in the winter, boating in the summer, golfing, I did this for about three years and watched my bank account shrinking.  Then I bought some businesses, because there wasn’t anything I was being offered that was paying me any money or anything like that.  Record labels were like, “We appreciate what you’ve done, but no one is willing to touch ’80s metal artists right now”.  So that went on til we reformed at the end of 1996.  I plan on doing this now until I drop.

SDM: What side projects do you have going on, and how does being in Ratt affect those side projects?

Bobby: The most recent one was Saints of the Underground.  I produced it down in Houston, Texas.  I wrote it along with Jani Lane and Keri Kelli.  Sadly, this thing came out last April, it is a great record and it can be bought at warriorrecords.com.  The production is super great, the songs are great.  It came out and we couldn’t get on the same page to tour.  We never went out and played any gigs around it.  Plus there was a Jani Lane factor, he had personal things to iron out.  It’s sad because it’s such a great record.  From 2006 to 2008, I produced a ton of records.  Ratt is a top priority, we are either playing live or writing, so I haven’t done as much production stuff lately.

SDM: How did the Saints of the Underground project even come together?

Bobby: We had an all-star jam band called Angel City Outlaws.  We got approached by a good friend of mine named Sebastian Knowlton.  He was doing a Judas Priest tribute record and wanted Ratt to do it.  I took it to Warren, and he didn’t want to do it.  So I took it to the Saints of the Underground all-star cover band, and it came out so well, they asked if we had any original material.  I had stuff written that’s ready to go, and the other guys had material, so it worked.  I think it sold around four or five thousand records, not breaking any barriers, but I really love the record.  If you like hard rock and some kick ass tunes, it’d be a good CD to pick up.

SDM: Are you still working with Gregg Gill and Diamond recording?

Bobby: No, we had a falling out.  It turned out to be a falling out because I was moving back home to California and I was homesick.  I couldn’t deal with the weather out there in Houston.  I still wanted to bring bands in there.  I think that started to eat at him that I wanted to go back and forth from LA and Houston.  I enjoyed the production end of it, it was fun; a lot of hours, though!

SDM: I always loved how your toms sounded so big.  Did you ever use triggers on your toms?

Bobby: I used triggers in ’89.  They were pretty primitive at that point.  Especially for the snare, you had to do like quarter notes; if you did a roll it would sound [does snare drum roll].  I hated that sound on the snare, so I canned it.

SDM: Tell us about your endorsements.

Bobby: I’ve been with Paiste since 1981, Yamaha since 1987, Pro-Mark since 1985, DW since 1984, Remo since 1984.  Dean guitars is actually going to offer me an endorsement.  I’m going to get a guitar and be a part of that family, I don’t know many other drummers with guitar endorsements!  They make fabulous guitars.

SDM: Are you familiar with drummers in hard rock and heavy metal?  Any bands impress you?

Bobby: Not really.  I’ll probably get hated for saying this, but all these bands to me sound like Nickelback.  I can’t tell one from the other.  Everyone’s good musicians in all these bands, I can hear that they can play, I just don’t know who’s who!  That doesn’t mean I don’t like it, I just don’t know how to separate them.  My oldest son Michael is a drummer, and he gets me listen to Danny Carrey and extreme metal and stuff.

SDM: What was it like being back on MTV back when it first started, and how different is it now compared to then?

Bobby: Well, just like the LA scene, the metal scene in the early ’80s, it was a SCENE.  There are no scenes anymore!  MTV was part of that club.  It was a true music channel, rock’n’roll, we know what it is now, it’s like game shows and reality shows.  I don’t even know why they call it MTV anymore.  It was great, though; I don’t think our videos were that good, but our manager was always trying to have us do some shtick.  Do something funny.  It was silly, looking back on the videos, I don’t really like looking at them.  I’m not bashing MTV though, they made this band.  I thank the MTV family for that.  I hate where the family ended up going and bastardizing the child, you know?

SDM: You’ve obviously been in rock’n’roll for a long time and put in a ton of hours behind the kit.  What was your practice regimen growing up, and if you can give advice to drummers today, what would it be?

Bobby: First thing I would say is to take lessons, learn how to read music because you never know, you might become a studio musician.  The more knowledgeable you are with that stuff, the more work you get.  I don’t read music and I don’t get a lot of session work, unfortunately, because the guys who have that edge get all the work.  I would advise people to keep their education not only musically but to get their college degree as well, and do music at the same time.  You’ve got your bases covered.  My son is still looking for a break and just hasn’t had it.  When I was young, we all struggled before we made it as musicians and I watched guys fall to the wayside.  Just keep your options open in case your dreams fall to the wayside.  As far as rehearsing, I started playing drums at fourteen and I played at least four hours a day.  I’d play to my favorite records and to my favorite drummers, and learn all that stuff.  You end up developing your own style, your favorite fills, twisting things around.  Music is about sharing.  Every musician borrows and makes it into his own.  Drummers, though, focus on time, groove, and a good dynamic.  Also, a six pack of Coors Light!