It’s taken Rachel Bolan almost 40 years to release his debut solo album, the punky Gargoyle Of The Garden State. “Well, you know, I have a day job,” the longtime Skid Row bassist says drily.
Still, the New Jersey native has thrown himself into the solo job, singing and playing most of the instruments himself (although he does get a hand from guests such as Corey Taylor, Danko Jones, Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt and Skid Row bandmates Dave ‘Snake’ Sabo and Scotti Hill).
“I moved back here after living in Atlanta for twenty-five years,” he says of his recent relocation to Jersey. “You start missing the comforts of home.”
Why call the album Gargoyle Of The Garden State? Aren’t you being harsh on yourself? You’re not that ugly.
I was originally just gonna call it Gargoyle. A lot of people don’t know that a gargoyle actually serves a purpose [they act as waterspouts on churches – Architecture Ed]. It’s the same with bass players – most people don’t realise we serve a purpose too, until we miss a note [laughs]. Then I moved back here and I started reconnecting with friends I’ve known since I was ten years old. So I put the two things together.
Pretend you work for the New Jersey Tourist Board. Why should I visit the place?
The thing about New Jerseyans is that we’re natural-born storytellers and hard workers. We’re very honest, too. People in Atlanta have that Southern charm. When I first moved there, a friend told me: “I thought you were the biggest asshole because you just said whatever you were thinking.” I had to train myself to hold myself back so I wouldn’t hurt people’s feelings.
Corey Taylor sings on Big Stick, which features the lines ‘It’s time to kill the king’ and ‘Let’s kick the fascists out of town’. You’re not sitting on the fence there.
I’m not Bono, but I needed to put out that song because of everything going on today. Every morning I see something more bizarre or horrible. My dad was in World War II and he told me stories about what was happening. Now I see things happening in this country that sound exactly like the stories he told me. It’s scary and it angers me.
Are you worried about blowback from any MAGA Skid Row fans?
No, I’m really not. We’re all pretty like-minded in Skid Row, though we don’t talk about it much publicly. If people don’t like me because of my views, then [shrugging dismissively] okay.
You were always the punk guy in Skid Row. What got you into punk in the first place?
I was always really into Kiss, but then a friend turned me on to the Ramones, and it was just, like: “Woah, this is even faster.” I guess I must have been fifteen. The first time I saw the Ramones, they were playing an amusement park. It was one of the hottest days in July, and the sun was beating down, but they never took their leather jackets off. The Ramones lead to the Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys and Dead Boys, and all these bands. You realise these bands are saying some heavy shit in their songs.
You’ve covered Oasis’s Rock And Roll Star on the new album. That’s handy timing, given the success of their reunion.
I did that way before they reunited, so I was ahead of the curve. Noel Gallagher is a phenomenal songwriter. I like the snarky, sarcastic lyrics in that song about someone who just wants to be themselves in the public eye. I relate to it, cos I sometimes just want to be the guy eating a hamburger without someone asking: “Where’s your nose chain and your leather trousers?” I’m like: “Uh, in my hotel room? Sorry, man, this is how I dress.”
You race cars in your spare time. What’s the attraction?
Yeah, I used to do it quite a lot. I raced high-performance go-karts and what they call Legends cars, which have a kind of stock car body but smaller. Any kind of sport I was into usually had a motor attached to it. I just love going really fast.
What’s the hairiest moment you’ve had on the track?
I was racing in Hickory, North Carolina, on this track that actually scared me. I was behind this guy who spun out, and I tried to go between him and the wall but I hit his back tyre and went airborne. The car slammed into the wall and spun back onto the track. I had the wind knocked out of me. I was lucky I didn’t break my arm. I tried to restart the car, but the safety crew pointed out my front wheels were heading down the track in different directions.
Did your manager tell you to maybe think twice about that stuff in the future?
It was Scotti [Hill] who was the voice of reason. He didn’t tell me not to do it, he just asked me not to do it while we were on tour.
What’s the state of play with Skid Row? Erik Grönwall left in 2024 and Lzzy Hale did a great job standing in for a few gigs last year, but have you found a new full-time singer yet?
We have our eye on about five guys. We have the luxury of time, since we aren’t mid-record or on tour. We’ll probably go with someone new – someone with experience but not necessarily a recognisable name.
Well, that rules out one obvious candidate.
You mean Lzzy?
No, I meant Sebastian Bach.
No, that wasn’t even a question.
Last thing: who’s the greatest person to come from New Jersey?
It’s gotta be Bruce Springsteen. I admire his storytelling so much. When you’re born in Jersey, they give you a copy of Born To Run before they even slap your ass.
Gargoyle Of The Garden State is out now via earMUSIC.
