WARRANT Singer Robert Mason Talks About New Album

WARRANT Singer Robert Mason Talks About New Album - "We're Still Plugging Old School Guitars Into Old School Amps, But I Think It's More About The Attitude"



Jason Woodbury from the Phoenix New Times' Up On The Sun blog caught up with WARRANT singer Robert Mason (ex-LYNCH MOB) recently. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

UOTS: Did you feel a lot of pressure with the new material? To live up to the hit songs the band had scored?

Mason: "We're just musicians. I'm just a songwriter/singer in a rock band. I was writing songs for this record, and personally, did I feel like they had to fit into an old school Warrant mode? To a degree, but I don't really think you write songs like that. The fact that we are all from the same headspace, it kind of worked out that way. Some of these songs sound like a bit of a departure, but there are tracks on this new CD that we played live in the rehearsal room, and they came together through pre-production and shit, for the year prior or so to this record, and they sound like Warrant songs to us. It's just me singing. My voice is a little different than the original singer, but it's just a thing were you go on, and you write songs. I turned over things I had written, and say, do your thing, play it the Warrant way, and they could do nothing else, and I would ask nothing else. So, is that the long way of answering yes? (laughs) I didn't feel pressure, or intimidation, but there was a certain responsibility."

UOTS: I would say that's probably the case with almost any band putting out a new record. You want to make something good.

Mason: "And also, the guys in the band, they aren't the same guys they were in the early '90s, there are still elements of the old school vibe that will satisfy fans of those songs, but we're not trying to reinvent the wheel, or make it some sort of modern rock thing, but you can't help it, you get older and write more songs and the world changes and you reflect that."

UOTS: What are some of the new things you mention? The departures? What is unique to this Warrant record?

Mason: "Well, technology has taken a leap. We're still plugging old school guitars into old school amps, but I think it's more about the attitude that everyone grows up a little bit. The old school Warrant attitude is about everyone living out on the street on the Sunset Strip, and that sort of behavior isn't what you are like when you're 40. So like I said, everyone grows up, but the spirit is still there, you get together and play those old songs, and it still feels like that. So we brought some elements from the old songs to the new record, that are just, it's a good time. Warrant, for me, is always about a little male bravado, a little rock star ego. Though, I'm hardly a rock star. I'm a guy who plays in a band. Tell you what: Keith Richards is a rock star. David Bowie is a rock star. I'm a not a rock star. That's a ridiculous word to me, a ridiculous two words. There are rock stars. Am I one of them? Nah. On stage I give my all, and you leave some sweat and a little blood on stage, you never know. You do the best you can, and we are five guys who want to do this and are so thankful to do this for a living. And people appreciate it. And that fans, just give the energy back. You're trying to push all over your energy on to them, and they give it all back."

Read the entire interview here.

Warrant have been in the studio recording their seventh studio album with legendary producer Keith Olsen (OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE, SCORPIONS) at the helm. The CD is tentatively titled Rockaholic and will be released later this year via Frontiers Records.

Bassist Jerry Dixon commented recently: "The last few years has been like holding in a big "secret"from the world and now we get to share it. I really think we captured a perfect mix of the past and present on this record. Each song has its own vibe that's going to take people on a kick-ass Warrant rollercoaster ride. To help achieve an old school sound mixed with the flair of today, we called on the legendary Keith Olsen to do the production. There's enough '80's influence on songs like 'Tears In The City' and 'Sex Ain't Love' to keep the die-hard Warrant fans rocking while introducing them to new material".