'I remember Cincinnati always being pretty intense.' Skid Row set for 'Nati return

Skid Row joins Warrant and Winger for the Live To Rock Tour, coming through Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati, Downtown, in early June. Known primarily for hits like “18 and Life” and “I Remember You,” the hard rock band has released six albums since their formation in 1986, including this year’s “The Gang’s All Here."

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I spoke with songwriter and bassist Rachel Bolan about his decades-long collaboration with Dave “The Snake” Sabo, the role of MTV in Skid Row’s success and his hobby of racing cars.

Q: You just finished a residency in Las Vegas with Scorpions. How'd you enjoy that?

A: We had never done anything like that before. And to do it with a band you grew up listening to – one of my favorite metal bands. It was a really cool experience. The whole residency thing was such a foreign idea to us. We stayed in Vegas for a month and finished recording the record on the days off. It was fun all the way around.

Q: You've played Cincinnati a few times. Do you have any good stories from stops here?

A: I remember Cincinnati always being pretty intense. It's kind of like sports fans in Cincinnati. The rock fans are the same way. They're loyal and loud, which is what we love the most.

Q: You've been working with Snake for a long time and have also collaborated with other bands. What is the role of collaboration in your music? Do you like having different roles in the bands that you've guest-played in?

A: As far as with Snake, before we were in a band together, we just decided to write songs, and it turned into Skid Row. I think the key element of writing with someone for so long is knowing each other's strengths. Snake and I have always had a songwriting bond that we don't get our feelings hurt if the other guy doesn't like your idea and we just write. You can't get your feelings hurt because not every idea is going to be a good idea. Snake and I, we've always worked very honestly, and we work hard at writing songs.

I played on a Stone Sour record. It was a different angle because I didn't write the songs. I just came in to play bass. When I did that record, they said “Dude, just do what you do.” And I did, and it worked out well. But as far as Skid Row, Snake and I, we are the key songwriters in the band, but I always say it's not a Skid Row song until we get in a room and everyone puts their own feeling into it.

Q: Your new single has a lot of nostalgia to it and sounds like an update, but not like a whole new direction for the band. And you’ve changed your sound over various albums, but not wildly. Was that a decision you made early in the band's career? To play strictly hard rock?

A: It happened organically. Most of us were born in the mid-'60s. We cut our musical teeth on bands like Kiss and Ramones and Cheap Trick and Judas Priest. It was all of our influences coming out. If you heard the stuff that I wrote before Skid Row, before I wrote with Snake, and the stuff he wrote, it sounded considerably different until when we got together and then everything just meshed really well, and that became the Skid Row sound.

Q: My first introduction to the band was through MTV. You fit in during their most influential years. How do you see music videos, and MTV in particular, as influencing your career?

A: It definitely did. I mean, it was a brand new medium for bands to get their stuff out. You could actually see a band, and see what they look like, and you didn't have to wait for the next issue of a magazine to come out. And it definitely helped a lot of bands. If you were played on there a lot, people would see you and hear the song again, as well as on the radio. I miss the old MTV.

With the internet, you can just watch a band at any given time, and it's up to the listener. You don't have to wait for it. I think sometimes the waiting is better for a band because it builds up anticipation. Like, what's the band going to come out with now? It's instant, which is kind of a bummer. But I'm an old guy. I’ve got to catch up with the times.

Q: I love driving cars but racing them is a totally different thing. What got you into racing?

A: My big brother got me into it. Taking me to drag races in Englishtown, New Jersey. It turned me on to NASCAR and then I really wanted to try it someday. Then one day I had the chance for a charity event and I said “okay, I’ve got to get a car.” And I did it for a few years. It was expensive, but it was fun. When we're out on the road and there's some high-performance go-karts, we'll hit the track.

Skid Row

What: Live to Rock Tour, with Warrant and Winger

When: 9 p.m., Friday, June 3.

Where: Hard Rock Casino.

Tickets: $34-$84.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Skid Row's Rachel Bolan: 'I miss the old MTV'