The Metal Web - Rat Skates Interview

Rat Skates: Dawn!

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Hello, Mr. Rat! (Laughs) What’s going on? How have you been?

Rat Skates: Excellent! I really appreciate you doing this. Your website looks great! You’re really sincere and do a really thorough job on what you have up there.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Well, I appreciate what you said, thanks! I have to say that I loved Born in the Basement! It brought back so many memories of a different era. Though I have to say, I felt it to be more of an autobiography from your standpoint while being a member in Overkill than just a thesis on the Thrash movement of the early 80’s. Would you agree and if so, why now after all these years did you feel the need to do this?

Rat Skates: Thank you! This is how this started; I'm the Associate Producer of the movie Get Thrashed. I've been working on it with Rick, who's the Director for about four years at this point. Rick is I believe 35 years old and he's sort of in that, what I refer to as the mid-school, not the old-school thrash. Old school thrash really is 1981, '83, '84 and he came in a little bit towards the real back end of the 80's whole thing because he wasn't old enough to even go to a lot of the shows. I started working on this with him being that I'm one of the first guys involved with the whole scene, and you saw Born in the Basement, so you saw everything that I was working on. I had saved everything that I put my time into over the years. Rick would give me a section, and I'd start doing photos and start doing all kinds of graphic things to it and sometimes I would look and say, I know I have a better photo somewhere. I started looking through my stuff and I hadn't done that in twenty years. I'm really looking at it and just like how you watched Born in the Basement, it's bringing back these memories. I'm looking at the people and I'm thinking, wow, all these things that I'm remembering that I haven't thought about in years and it really started to hit me. Besides the fact that I saved everything, with all the bands, the thrash movement, the culture was different and the time was different, but it was a DIY effort. I'm sure you know because you have your own business, The Metal Web! and it's your company and your thing and you kind of do things for yourself and you find a way to make it happen and that's it. In this day and age, sure, you still have to work at something, but back then there was no MySpace, no internet. Well, you know this stuff! (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: You guys use to hand me stuff at Rock n' Roll Heaven all the time, flyers, all that stuff! (Laughs)

Rat Skates: Yeah, you do whatever it takes. My life was based around Overkill and Overkill was my thing. So, realizing it was a DIY effort, I said to Rick, I'm going to cut a piece here for a bonus thing on the DIY of the thrash metal movement. I literally spent a few hours and I sat there and said, there's too much, it's too involved because it's not just what we did, like hey, just copy machines and shit like that. It's a thought. It's a mind set and it's part of your personality. When I had left Overkill, I had purposely stayed away from the press because I was still very upset about everything, that my dream that I established on leaving it behind. I didn't do any interviews. I never clarified anywhere publicly why I had left and then of course, what I had been doing through the years.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Yeah, you kind of went underground. I would ask people that we knew back then, have you seen Rat?

Rat Skates: I had done other things musically after. In the early '90's when the grunge thing was saturating everything, thrash at that point had died out a lot and I wasn't playing in a thrash band anyway. I was playing in a rock band called Bomb Squad. The point is, I removed myself from it because there was no reason for me to say musically or in the public eye because I wasn't doing that. I had started moving on to different artistic things, which is production and film work.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: But, you were always into that kind of stuff.

Rat Skates: I love music. We all do. I happen to really get a kick out of editing and graphics and just all the things that I'm able to fortunately do with this stuff. Well, since you saw Born in the Basement and music’s my love, but the combination of what I loved and what had to go with it, being touring, it weighed itself out. It cancelled out. It was a hard reality for me and actually turned me into an alcoholic. Where I could not be a musician because I had to travel because that's something that you had to do and it was really disappointing for me. So, if that's kind of answering the question. (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: (Laughs) I don't even remember what the question was.

Rat Skates: (Laughs) Ok, what compelled me to do Born in the Basement? It's definitely an autobiography. As you seen in Born In The Basement, it's a combination of the DIY thinking of thrash metal and I'm trying to relate what I did to what the other guys were doing and I don't have other guys in it. But, that's something else I'm working on actually. I also told my story, my journey and tried to relate it to the movement, to the culture and to the club band scene. I tried to get the best of all worlds, so to speak. It can definitely be viewed, without a doubt, as this is the "story of Overkill". I didn't call it, "this is the Overkill story" or Overkill whatever, it's Rat Skates. It's a musician and this is my journey. As a film maker and I just know this from other film makers, I don't want to get booked too strongly into one thing. Even though you may do a good job at it, you get labeled and they’ll say, Rat Skates is a thrash metal film maker and I don’t want that. Fortunately, outside of the music circles, I’ve had an interest in it and that’s what I wanted. I just wanted to tell a compelling story, even if you’re not a metal fan, about a guy working at what he believed in. If I linked it too strongly to thrash to Overkill, I’m actually limiting my potential and I didn’t want to do that.

Plus, I am not a member of Overkill. If they had wanted to tell this early story of actually how Overkill was formed, which I did actually tell, they could have done that because they had a DVD out a few years ago which I just saw recently. I haven’t actually said this publicly, but I will now, when I was shown that DVD, I was insulted. I was insulted that I was barely mentioned at all. I was jumped over so fast almost like; I was a burden and let’s just get through this as fast as we can. Besides being insulted, that’s not fair to the people who know Overkill, like yourself from those early days. There’s a history and a root and everything that’s happened after that, nothing could have happened after that if the beginning wasn’t there. With DD and Bobby, Overkill’s in its 20th version or whatever and the thing is they’ve had so many different musicians and everything, but still, Overkill has a name from the day, they have a colored logo, and things are still identifiable. It was insulting to me and also, throughout the years whenever I am asked about, they tap dance and blow that question off so fast that I’m insulted by it.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: But, can I tell you, I’ve talked to the guys in the past about you and they’ve never had anything negative to say.

Rat Skates: It’s not that it’s a negative thing. It’s just the fact that and I guess I understand this, in other words, you don’t want to be known for something that you’ve done in the past, you want to be known for what you’re doing now because you’re still making records. It’s kind of like, well, let’s get past this whole Rat Skates era and let’s talk about now because Rat Skates isn’t part of Overkill anymore. So, probably after a while it gets annoying to have to answer, have you talked to Rat and stuff like that.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Well, I don’t ask them every time I talk to them. (Laughs) But, in passing, I have throughout the years.

Rat Skates: I have a lot of friends and they call me and they say, hey, you should hear this or did you know this? (Laughs) But, I look at it like this, I have to tell my story and that’s it.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I guess this answers my next question but I’ll ask it anyway. (Laughs) I know some of the former members contributed to the DVD. But, what about Bobby, DD and Bobby G., did they have any contribution and what were their thoughts and/or comments on completion of the release?

Rat Skates: You’re talking about the bonus thing. The reason is because; I’m talking about a time period. Most of Born in the Basement is really about before the first record came out or what lead up to that, which I find to be the most interesting to ever have been told, but it does exist. These guys were never mentioned and they were never heard from. Bobby Gustafson has been interviewed many times, so has DD and so has Blitz. These are the guys that no ones ever even heard their name. I feel these guys should get some recognition. With Riff Thunders the founding guitarist who brought Ellsworth into the whole thing, he never played on any records. But, none the less, if he didn’t answer my ad and we didn’t start everything, there would be no Overkill. So, I just thought why am I going to rehash other things. The thing is, if I thought DD or Blitz had something that really could contribute to the story, I would have been the first one to call them up and say, hey look, I’m doing this story, do you want to be a part of it. But, you see how Born in the Basement turned out.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Did you ever send them the release or did they ever comment on it?

Rat Skates: I didn’t send it to them, but I know they’ve seen it.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: No comments?

Rat Skates: No, but they’ve seen it. And whatever they think about it... (Laughs) All I know is they've seen it.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Your choking there, you better be quiet! (Laughs) We'll go on to the next and we'll just leave it at that.

Rat Skates: They've seen it and I honestly don't care whatever their reaction is because it's the truth. It's a story and it's called Rat Skates. I can't not talk about Overkill because this is what I was working on. Their part of what I was working on so there it is. They did a DVD, and they had every opportunity to talk about whatever they wanted and they chose to talk about things well after that, so, that's obviously what's important.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Was there any footage that didn’t make the release or was edited due to time constraints that you might like your fans to know about?

Rat Skates: Yes. If you’re really an Overkill fan, you need to see this. I was the guy steering the ship through all those years and I was in charge of everything. I collected everything. My wife Lori was a photographer. We have actually quite a bit, almost the equivalent of what's in Born in the Basement that we did not show. We just tried to pick the things that were going to have the most impact and say, well we may never get to part two, so let's just try to get the best highlights. There's so many hours of footage and pictures to go through. I have music too. I have rehearsal tapes of writing. The album that was done after me, that it was actually written with me, but it wasn't released with me playing on it. I have all the original versions of all those songs. All good stuff, it's great! (Laughs) It always brings a smile to my face because I forgot about those times. It's great when you hear these rehearsal tapes and it's all on a ghetto blaster. I'm trying to explain Hammerhead and Wrecking Crew, which were two songs that were actually written on a snare drum and I'm trying to get Bobby to understand what it is that I'm doing. Then you hear all the beer bottles in the background and the arguments, people coming in and out, it's great! (Laughs) We were young.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: (Laughs) It's good to reminisce. Especially, when you hear, and I'm not saying Bobby, but I'm saying bands in general, you here their voice from then to now! (Laughs) They sound like little Mickey Mouse’s because their young.

Rat Skates: (Laughs) I love that! Dawn, if anything else, if you somewhere in your article could print the fact that Born in the Basement is about one thing. With Born in the Basement, you could see, I'm not taking everything seriously. It was stuff that was done twenty years ago. We wore high heels and make-up. This was a thrash band that started in platform boots and make-up. I can smile. I hope everyone else can smile and take it for what it says. It's just about the fun and the age, we were kids and that's it. It's not meant to do anything or expose any kind of unknown background, it's all like, wow, to be young! (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Definitely! Some things I forgot about and then I looked and said, oh my god! (Laughs)

Rat Skates: Exactly! That’s what I love about the charm of the age, the time, and that’s what it’s meant for, period. For fun, not to expose. I’m the first one to go, yeah, with all the make-up and crazy shit. (Laughs) I love that though.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I wanted to ask you to elaborate on a couple of comments that you made towards the end of the tape. You stated that years later after your departure from the band you realized that you "made a mistake by just turning your back and walking away".

Rat Skates: I’ll tell you what that is. When we were shooting that, there were people there and it was a small studio thing where I was talking about a lot of things. People were mostly from the day that wanted to know a lot of stuff. I had been asked "hey, all that work and you made it. Actually, it was a success when you left, but did you see any money?" I started to talk right there, you could barely hear it, but, we purposely ditched it.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I figured you were editing it. You came in on the next thing I’m going to ask and you were already talking. Obviously, you can tell it was edited. But, I caught it. (Laughs)

Rat Skates: Dawn, I really appreciate you asking me these detailed questions.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Well, I don’t think you want moronic questions. I try to give interviews with depth and that’s one of things people like about me! (Laughs) I give you something to think about.

Rat Skates: Excellent and I really appreciate that. In all honesty, some of the interviews are like…

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What socks do you wear? (Laughs)

Rat Skates: (Laughs) Three out of four interviews are like, (in a foreign accent) so, what was your favorite experience? What’s your favorite song? It’s like c’mon man.

But, anyway what happened is, I had started to and I did talk about the financial situation of Overkill and having made a mistake about how I did not deal with that. At that age and at that time, I turned my back and I walked away, and I didn’t secure legally my financial situation in the band. I had talked about that in depth and I’m looking back and I’m like, wow, you’re watching this whole story and then the guys going to bitch, not that I was really bitching, but, I said some pretty detailed things about money and I said, I don’t want to do that. That’s not what this about. That’s water under the bridge and was a long time ago. I did talk about it. It wasn’t that obvious, but the fact that I was starting to talk about that ….

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: And the DVD faded out.

Rat Skates: Right, so obviously there’s something missing there. Dawn and The Metal Web! will be the first to say, that I had left out a part where we’re talking about contracts and money. (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: That’s why I figured I’d ask you because you started to talk about it a little bit. I caught it of course. (Laughs) I rewound it a couple times. (Laughs) I’m good.

Rat Skates: (Laughs) Well, that’s a great question! I didn’t want to talk about that. To talk about money and business …

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: It can turn ugly.

Rat Skates: Yeah, this is a documentary on a musician. I think it’s ignorant to start talking about money and business. I think that’s no one’s business and it’s not professional to do that.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Right, or put it out there. The other comment was directly after where you stated "I just wanted to keep the family happy and I really felt those guys in my family would take care of me just like I took care of them". What do you feel the band owes or owed you at the time when you say, "take care of me"?

Rat Skates: At the time and at the age that we were at, something that we did, and what’s very much I believe missed in this day and age, is the fact that, back then it was about a family and we were all part of the same thing and had the same goal in mind, and money was something that came and actually, had destroyed a lot of bands and people. So, it wasn’t about that. It was obviously just about fun and our mission was all about people and all about friendship. It was all about a family. When I left, I left because I had issues mentally dealing with the road and I had started to at that point, becoming an alcoholic. Being that I had stayed out of the press, I turned my back literally and walked away. I did not go to the attorney to make sure that I’m signed out of the contract so that I still have rights to things, that I’m not going to tell you specifically, and that’s why I ditched it on the DVD. But the fact that, again Dawn to me, it’s very representative of the age, and all I thought about was, look, I just need to get off the road and get my head together and start other things. I don’t have to think about money. I don’t have to do any of that because these are my friends. I don’t have to go to an attorney because these are not people who would ever want to screw me. If it is interpreted that my friends would take care of me because I had taken care of them, I meant that in the sense that, in this day and age, things are about business. The person next to you who you think might be your best friend and your all in this together, if you don’t watch, he’ll push you off a cliff or sell his mother if it means it’s going to better him in the music business and that sucks. That’s what’s very disappointing to me and disappointed me in my career in music and just the business ruining friendships and friendships not meaning what their supposed to. I live by the expression that, one day everyone has to account for what they’ve done in their life and that’s just to say, it could me. What goes around, comes around and it’s so far in the past. But again, I just meant that as, sort of relative to this day and age that, it is very much a business thing and that’s how it has to be handled and all the friend aspect of it has been gone. So, consequently, it’s not fun like it used to be and that’s what I’m told by every musician. Things are just so different. I understand life is different, we’re all older, we have financial responsibilities, but, I find that disappointing. If nothing else, if the younger musicians out there can take that kind of in the sense that it was suppose to be meant anyway, like, you could be friends and it’s all fun and happy and a band is a family, but at some point, there’s a guy doing all the work. When I left, I left and said, I don’t have anything to worry about at all because the band and everyone involved are my friends. That includes the record label, the management, everyone, we’re all friends. I have nothing to worry about. I could just think about what I want to try to do and that was a mistake.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I noticed on your website you show an old thanks list that never got used from the old EP in which you titled "some idiots that deserve to die". (Laughs) In that list, you mention "Brooklyn Guidos who set Blitz’s hair on fire", "3 Guidos who crashed into Bobby Gustafson and stole his keys on Christmas Eve.", and the "chicken sisters", which doesn’t sound good. (Laughs) Can you remark on these three experiences? I remember back then hearing something about both Bobby’s, though the "chicken sisters" escape me. (Laughs)

Rat Skates: (Laughs) Dawn, that’s awesome, you did so much homework! This may not be 100% factual because it’s going so far back. Back then, everyone on their "thanks to" list just copied what Metallica had done on Kill ‘Em All. The thanks, the no thanks and the clever "thanks" to the brewery companies. The chicken sisters were two young slutty girls who use to come around.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: (Laughs) Maybe I don't want to know about this. They use to come around where, rehearsals?

Rat Skates: (Laughs) Yeah, they seemed to kind of be everywhere. All the shows. They were really young and stupid. We had one of the guys in the road crew named Tom and his nickname was Father Filth. (Laughs) So it was the kind of thing and I have to say honestly, I had a lot of things on my mind where I had to concentrate on my playing.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: (Laughs) I'm not saying that you went with the chicken sisters. I'm just asking who they are.

Rat Skates: The chicken sisters were two young, slutty girls and their nickname got pegged by one of our roadies. I never quite understood why that was so funny, but that's just me. The thing about Blitz's hair on fire, in those days there was a lot of beer going on. You would go to a bar and the guys would walk in looking like Guidos and we were there with the hair, denim and leather, it's like, fights were so easy. We would get beat up or get picked on enough, where we would get the shit beat out of us. This is true that this actually happened, Blitz had an incident where someone I guess, tried joking around, lighting up a cigarette when Blitz's back was turned and stuck it up by his hair because this dude said Blitz had Whitesnake hair or it was something like that. With Gustafson, I don't know, someone stole his keys. It's probably not that meaningful of a story, but we needed to fill up space on the "thanks to". (Laughs) With all these great, cool things to talk about in the day and that was it. Just a "big" list and we'll thank everyone we've ever met!

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: (Laughs) The carpets, the ceiling!

Rat Skates: (Laughs) Exactly, but that's how we thought.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What are your feelings on what Billy Vector (ex-Lubricunts) had to say about the band as well as DD (Verni)? He called DD a sociopath and said a couple of other things in my opinion that seemed more insulting then pleasant. I don’t know Billy personally, but DD’s good people. He just doesn’t take any crap from anyone and calls it like it is, much like myself. It doesn’t make him a sociopath or anti-social. I mean, that's his opinion and I don't know this guy.

Rat Skates: That's the thing, that's his opinion based on how we grew up. We were all in the same high school and this is part of how he experienced and what he knew, and this is not just like over a month, this is over a few years of how DD was. Maybe DD is different now or whatever, but this is his recollection. The point of his interview too, is all about that time. He did a really good job because he did paint it up well about the time period and how it was. At that time too, with DD and him saying about DD coming from a family in this gigantic house, it's all true and everything.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Yeah, but that doesn't make him a sociopath, which basically means anti-social. Then he said something about DD looking Afro-American. I don't know. Some things he said I found insulting. Maybe DD just didn't like him and he was just anti-social to him! I'm only kidding. I'm joking! (Laughs)

Rat Skates: (Laughs) Again, that's his opinion. DD had the huge hair and so did Mark Mendoza in Twisted Sister. So, at that time, I guess he was thinking that was a characteristic of him that stood out in his mind. Again, that's how things were and he was in that time period. Being that I was the final Editor and I got to choose what goes in and what doesn't, I personally think that by him referring to DD as a sociopath is actually a compliment to him as a Punk from that time period. DD's always been in his own world.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Well, he's quiet. He keeps to himself.

Rat Skates: DD and I had been through the whole Overkill experience together. He and I were doing all these things together from high school and everything. When I left, I had more phone calls from Dave Mustaine. I had a dozen phone calls from Dave Mustaine in the first month to see how I was doing, but, I had only heard from DD once or twice in that whole first year. My musician friends called me more to see how I was doing then my own band mates. And out of one of those times that DD did call me, he called to tell me they were kicking Gustafsson out and did I want come back. Then DD told me that we could find someone to try play your parts and we've got this guy who kind of looks like you named Sid, but it sucks because now I have to do everything.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: They said Sid Falck looks like you?

Rat Skates: They had told me that at the time. I guess they tried to get some guy at the time, I guess from a distance, just a blondish haired guy back there and then that's it and just try to make this transparent if we could. DD's someone who is very absorbed in his own thing and that's a factual thing. Not that that's insulting. But, he is a pretty self-entered person. Then again, he was my best friend for many years.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I know you guys were close.

Rat Skates: We were best friends. He was the best man at my wedding. I've been disappointed on the way things have turned out.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Has DD commented on what that guy said?

Rat Skates: No. Again, it's Billy's opinion and that's how he saw him and his personality.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: You’re also going to be working on a couple of other DVD’s, Me, Myself and I, We Had It All and Metal Militia. Can you tell us a little about these up-coming DVD’s, as well as who will be contributing to them and a speculated release date? We Had It All sounds interesting and may help many bands just starting out that may be naive to the road.

Rat Skates: Right now, it looks like the three projects are going to happen at the same time because I'm going to be traveling a lot to do a lot of interviews that I have. A release date is a year and a half away at minimum because I'm getting high definition equipment to do the whole thing in high definition. The thing is and this is something that we learned from Get Thrashed, is that there's so many people that you want to have interviewed from the scene and people are so busy either touring or just what they have going on in their own lives. People are all over the country and it makes it very hard to get everyone’s schedules so that we can do all these interviews. Get Thrashed tells the story of exactly what happened, the dates, the places, the important bands and it covers it all real well. It's really factual and it does a great job. My whole thing was, with Born in the Basement because I was part of it, a mutual part of it, is what I wanted to talk about. All the musicians and my friends are like, wow, that's great, no one's ever told that. But, that's right, dude! That's how we thought. Now, Rick can't do this because he's not a musician, but, he did something that I couldn't do because he's looking at it as more of an encyclopedia thing. It really establishes something for the newer guys. The guys in all these newer bands like Slipnot, Lamb of God and all these bands that love the thrash thing but maybe didn't know some of these things. The whole thing about Metal Militia is, and you know the guys from the Old Bridge Militia, I'm working with them on something because of, obviously, there's a whole Metallica thing. I'm going to be shooting a lot of things. I have a lot to talk about. Most of these people I know and were going to see how it all comes together. Dawn, it's the kind of thing, where maybe we're telling stories about the road and stuff like that, that a lot of people who aren't familiar with the old school thrash might not understand it. You know, who is Sodom? What is that? (Laughs) So, you know what, I don't care. I just don't take that kind of approach to whatever it is that I'm doing. Look, the audience that this is suppose to be for, they will love it because it's going to be on that level, it's from the heart.

The Me, Myself and I, which is a tentative title, is about having experienced an alcohol addiction and what it did to me and what it could have done to me. The friends that I know going through some type of addiction or who are still fighting addiction, and this just goes throughout the entertainment industry. There are shows about interventions for drug use, but, there's no one doing anything to correct it or to actually take a solid step to do something. When MTV had the Rock Against Drugs they had Vince Neil saying, dude, you shouldn't be smoking because it's just not cool man and dopes for losers. It was more of an ad. I actually really want all these bands, Nikki Sixx, Steven Tyler, Mel Gibson in this thing because it looks like the way it's going to come out, most of the proceeds are going entirely to charity and to drug awareness foundations. Everyone can talk about it, but to have actual solutions from people who had the problem instead of doctors and hospitals. The main thing is, Me, Myself and I is to talk to people who have had problems who are still addicts, addicts will always be addicts that are just going to fight their addiction and that were going to actually help people instead of just talking about it. It's a very difficult task in a lot of ways because of all the people I want people who have an impact, like the Mel Gibsons and the Steven Tylers. But, I have a great feeling about it. If your familiar with the programs, N.A. and A.A., it works by an addict helping another addict. So, that's exactly the approach I want to take, kind of like a big A.A. meeting. (Laughs) I'm planning on another year or two for the release. That's just another reality check and that's the way it is. But, I am going to do it. There's no question.

The other movie that was mentioned We Had it All, some of that may actually not work into a feature film because in some of the thinking. I have my issues with society, with addiction and the way our culture is right now. Kind of like how Born in the Basement integrated a lot of things, this might do that too. Music is dictated by culture, culture dictates the drugs and it's a circle that feeds on each other. Things don't look good in my mind. I have three boys and it scares me.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Congrats, on the distribution. I know you have played in a couple of projects throughout the years, but nothing really "thrash" related.

Rat Skates: (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What the hell are you laughing about? (Laughs) Do you miss it and are you currently working on anything musically?

Rat Skates: I still play. When I play and get together with a few musicians, which is very rare now and it's been less and less over the years. But, when I do, it's just like the addiction that I was just talking about. (Laughs) One night a week turns into two and it's just unbelievable. The band that was a significant band after Overkill was a band called Bomb Squad, and I found myself looking in the mirror going, what am I doing, I'm trying to get signed again? I just went through all that. I had a successful band and it's not that I didn't enjoy the actual "Overkill", it's just that, I'm going to go and get signed and go through the same thing. I miss the fun of playing in front of an audience. That is an absolute rush. It's a great trip. It's so much fun. But, everything else that goes with it, just out weighs that. So, I do miss playing and I still do play and I have fun with it and that's my whole thing. But, it is an addiction. Playing right now is one beer. Getting in a band is a twelve pack. (Laughs) It's just the way it is. I'm too busy and enjoy what I do to much in film making and production. It's interesting, my children are all guitarists. Their exceptional guitarists and their "old school" heads and I’m talking anywhere from Aerosmith to Ted Nugent to Metallica. I'm actually working on something with my son, not playing on it, but, producing it. It sounds like Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers meets the Sex Pistols.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Wow, very cool! Maybe they'll get signed. (Laughs)

Rat Skates: Yeah, and then I can tell him what not to do. (Laughs) Maybe after all those years where it's like, why did I have to do all this, kill myself and then I walked away. Maybe that's my answer, so my children don't make the mistakes that I had to go through.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: If we could turn back the hands of time at this very moment, would you reconsider your decision to leave Overkill?

Rat Skates: Oh, my god no. I give a lot of credit to them for continuing to do that. A lot of things have changed, but, playing in clubs, traveling and that kind of stuff still hasn't. It takes a certain stubbornness or I don't know if its ignorance or its part of their disposition to continue doing this and this is what they want to continue to do. This is what will, I would think, earn them money. To me it's like, I have to do that, to get this, no fucking way! (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Well, they do tour less now. They'll tour and take some take time off. It's not like it was years ago. But, it is still rough being on the road.

Rat Skates: Exactly. Right now at forty-six years old to think, well, if I could think I'm going to make money, but, this is what I have to do to make money, no way. If they've decided that they are going to keep continuing this for who knows how long, then that's what they've decided to do. I guess the alternative, could be going and pushing shopping carts, so, I think it makes sense to stay in Overkill

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: In the last couple of days, The Metal Web! had a "ask Rat" where the fans were allowed to write in and get some of their questions answered.

Rat Skates: Did you get anyone? (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Yes! (Laughs) People know who you are, believe it or not! I'm kidding. If you go to certain message boards, they talk about your drumming, your time in Overkill and everything. You big dummy!

Rat Skates: Really, that's cool! After all this time. (Laughs) I'm so out of touch, it's pathetic. I really am.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The first question I have which a majority of people asked was, do you still get along with Blitz and DD and have you seen or been in touch with any of the former members? You kind of answered this earlier, but, this is what they asked.

Rat Skates: We don't have any communication. When I left, I was pretty much dropped out of their agenda or something like that, just pretty quick. It’s something that I'm well over. But, it's disappointed me. I'm disappointed because we were friends. So, no I don't have any communication and that's basically their call. If we were to speak, I would enjoy speaking to them actually.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Another person wanted to know what you listen to today musically?

Rat Skates: Dawn, I am so stuck in the 80's. The only group that I liked, even in the 90's, I liked what REM was doing for the most part and I loved, before they got too fucked up, was The Black Crowes. They were so refreshing. It’s like, rock again. This is so great! The metal that's going on now with the Arrrgggg, I can't listen to it. I don't understand it. Call me old.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What about bands like, Kreator?

Rat Skates: Some of it's ok.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: You like rock more, which is funny because you played in a thrash band. (Laughs)

Rat Skates: I know. But, I grew up and so did a bunch of these other guys because we're all like 46. I grew up listening to rock, rock got heavier, it was metal, and then we took it to thrash metal. I like songwriting. It could be ultra heavy. It could be Elton John. I just like good songwriting and I love melody and singing. If you don't have that at some point in a good song, I can't pay attention to it and I just don't like it.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Well, me too. I like everything. I even like Enya. Believe it or not. We won't print that though. (Laughs) I love her. Have you ever heard of Enya?

Rat Skates: (Laughs) Yeah. Good and this is something that annoyed me during my time in the thrash thing, if you said to anyone that you listen to something different, their ready to shoot you. As much as I love, the enthusiasm and the spirituality of thrash people because it’s about a feeling and it’s about an aggressiveness, but they are some of the most narrow-minded people around. Very narrow-minded. Can we try something a little slower? No. Can we put in an acoustic guitar? No. Then Metallica broke down some doors where, I guess it's ok, as long as that slow part gets fast. So, that kind of narrow-mindedness is what annoyed me. I use to share a lot of music with Frank Bello (ex-Anthrax) when we were on the road. I cannot even tell you the stuff we were swapping, because when you play thrash music all night, that’s the last thing I want to listen to on the bus. I was listening to a lot of different things. Music right now in metal is so extreme because everyone's tuning so low, there's no legibility in the vocals, there's no melody in the vocals. It's almost like there's no song. It's just all these heavy sounds that are all combined that it's all really violently, evil, death, powerful and hey, that's what metal's always been, but , if that's such an extreme, where's the variation in that? It's gone as fast and heavy as it can be played. To me, if someone doesn't stand up and take charge of the whole fucking thing, it's just going to bury itself. It's suppose to be music and there's suppose to be melody. All these guy's that are going to see Ronny James Dio are like, yeah, that's fucking cool! It is cool, but, the guy is singing. This is a song this guy wrote. Their like, I love that shit! Maybe it's in them to try that, but, they won't for the fear of being critiqued by all the other knuckleheads. (Laughs)

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Well, a lot of them are cookie cutter bands. You hear some of these death metal drummers, being that you’re a drummer, the drummers are phenomenal but, they stay on the same thing. There's no time changes. There's no variation.

Rat Skates: I hate that!

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Their great players. You hear it in them. Some of these guys feet are amazing and then you got Mike Portnoy where he changes it up. He's phenomenal. You can't say anything bad about the man. But, he changes it up and he keeps it interesting with his playing. Back to the other guys, it's a shame because a lot of these guys are great players. When I see them live and am covering the shows, I'm right next to their drum set and I watch their feet, it's not just pro tools. (Laughs)

Rat Skates: It is a shame that things are like that and I think it's hurting everyone. When I left Overkill, besides my issues on the road, things were getting very generic in thrash in 1987. Everything was sounding the same. There was the same dress, the same motion and everything was patterned off of what Metallica basically had already done. Another thing that bothered me in 1987 with Overkill, is that Bobby Gustafson had, and he didn't try to hide it at all or at least if he was, he didn't do a good job, his infatuation with James Hetfield. DD listened to Slayer a little too much and DD wanted to know how Anthrax got the sounds they were getting and things like that and why are they so popular? Everyone was too concerned about the guys next to them, instead of being concerned about yourself. Taking Over has a song on it called Electro Violence, that’s not an Overkill song. That was written just to play something kind of with a polka beat and fast like everyone else was doing. I think it’s great and I love that stuff, but, Overkill is such a far cry today in the things that I’ve heard, it’s so far removed from where the band started from the new wave of British heavy metal music influenced stuff, which is the E.P. The song The Answer, it’s a pretty long song, that’s the best song Overkill ever did because there was no influence and you got to do this, because everyone else is. That’s what, to me, crumbled the thrash thing in the late 80’s. When I got out, I didn’t pay it really close attention, but I looked and I said, you know what, because everything is the same, everyone’s reached a fucking wall. It got too extreme, too fast and too much the same. Think about it, extreme is extreme. There’s not like there’s all these different levels of extreme. It’s either fast as hell or it’s not. So, everyone kind of buried themselves real quick, instead of being themselves. To this day, the things that I’ve heard from Overkill are just so far removed, from Blitz’s voice, he sings differently now then he used to and the songwriting, it’s just so far different then what it used to be. I don’t hear anything distinguishing from the other bands. To me, it doesn’t have any uniqueness. I think they could do a lot better. I really do. I think they could do a hell of a lot better.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: And last, but not least, a guy that claims he’s a huge Rat fan wanted to know your preference in brand of Spaghetti sauce because he said that he’s cooking this weekend and wanted to use only what you like.

Rat Skates: He wanted to know what kind of spaghetti sauce I like?

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Yeah, because he said that he’s cooking this weekend and only wanted to use what you like.

Rat Skates: I’m just wondering if I’m suppose to like remember something from the past.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: (Laughs) Rat, I’m only kidding! I always throw a joke in my interviews. I should of let you go with it. It would have been funnier. There’s so many kooks out there, who knows what someone would write in.

Rat Skates: (Laughs) That’s great! But, you had me! That was awesome and a good one. You know what, some guys might think it’s a whacky question, so it’s like, ok, it’s not too far fetched to be asked. So, I thought maybe somewhere it’s important to know.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: (Laughs) Because he’s cooking, what went through your mind? Ah, maybe Ragu. It depends on the night.

Rat Skates: (Laughs) I was like, really, it’s like, ok. Hey, I haven’t done interviews in a long time, maybe things have changed.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: On a serious note, what’s next for Rat Skates?

Rat Skates: Well, the next thing is those films we were talking about, which I’m so excited about doing. To portray some of the things that can help because I had a journey and I’m fortunate I think to be ok right now. I learned a lot. I hope some people might learn some things from Born in the Basement. Especially, doing some more revealing things about the entertainment industry and the whole link to the excessive addiction end of it that maybe some kids aren’t going to overdose out there. That’s what I’m really excited about doing and having the people there to talk about it. There’s a possibility, I’m actually looking into the logistics of hosting a radio show. Again, it’s not something that I’m putting my full efforts in to by making sure it happens by a certain date, but, as seeing in Born in the Basement, I’m pretty straight up, sincere and have no inhibitions about talking about things. What I plan on doing is, there’s a lot of musicians I want to talk to, believe it or not, take this as a compliment, as the way that you’re talking to me, on a very sincere level. It’s kind of like, if you want to say hey, Rat, you bleached your hair in the 80’s, so didn’t people make fun of you? It’s fine to talk about all this stuff and I think it’s of great interest to everyone. That’s what I wanted to do is have a real straight up, not just play music and check out their new album, as it’s been done so many times. But, to really do kind of what your doing, more of on a personal level.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Rat, great talking to you again, it’s been a long time! I’m glad I could help on promoting Born in the Basement.

Rat Skates: Thank you so much! It was very refreshing and great conversation!

Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!?

Rat Skates: Tell your friends! That’s all I could think of just because of the content and how in depth your going into your stories, that if people don’t know about The Metal Web! internationally, they shall. If you like The Metal Web!, tell your friends, send them a link because I certainly will.

OFFICIAL SITE "RAT SKATES": http://www.ratskates.com

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