I caught a Warrant show the night before this interview took place and, let me tell you, they put on one hell of an amazing show. No matter what kind of label you might wanna stick them with, the truth is that Warrant's a damn good rock 'n' roll band. Their material holds up rather well...in fact, it has a whole new life when you hear it in a live setting. They had a lot of energy and if it was at all possible, I think they would've played until the sun came up. They connected with the audience, especially Jani Lane, who made it as personal as he possibly could. There wasn't a single person who could've walked away from that show disappointed. The day after this show took place, I recieved a phone call from Erik Turner and he had a nice little conversation about the band and what you are about to read is the end result of that conversation. So, check it out because this is where the down boys go!

Paul Autry: Well, since your out on tour, I guess I should start off by asking how everything's going. I mean, hell, you're playing with Judas Priest in a few days. I guess you're looking forward to that, huh?

Erik Turner: That's exactly what we're looking forward to. We're actually doing three shows with them. That's gonna be great. I mean, we don't really know those guys. But, we wanna get to know them because they're one of our favorite bands. It's gonna be cool to meet The Ripper. Also, we're huge fans of Halford and I don't know if you heard any of his solo stuff, but, we're really big fans of his too. The last two records that he's done were just awesome. He's doing his thing and it's kind of like old school Priest. We're touring now with L.A. Guns, Firehouse, Ratt and Dokken. Last night though, it was just us and Dokken. I don't know what happened to Firehouse.

Paul Autry: I was told they had to fly in and I guess they couldn't make it on time or something like that.

Erik Turner: I'm sure they'll come back and do it right for everybody. But, it's nice to tour with these guys, it's great. But, to get another band like Judas Priest on the bill. It gives it more of an edge. We're fans and we wanna hear it. Someone else to get to know and to drink a lot of beer with and do some shots.

Paul Autry: Now, in Warrant history, you formed the band in 1984. What were you doing before then and what led to the decision to form Warrant?

Erik Turner: Well, you know, we were all playing in bands, local friend bands. For Warrant to come about, it was just one of those things. It was me and Jerry, we wanted to go to the next level, especially with everything that was happening on the strip with the bands. In L.A., there was a great scene. You had your stuff like Poison, Ratt, Motley Crue...the natural thing was to put all these other guys, who you saw in other bands that weren't happening, and try to put a band together. This one just happened to click and it took us a long time to get signed. But, once we got signed, it was what it was. We've arrived. We went from there. I mean, I played in a few bands before, but, none you probably have heard of.

Paul Autry: Hot Wheels?

Erik Turner: Yeah...back in the day. It was just one of those things and this is what stuck. This is my band now, the one that I've been in for seventeen years.

Paul Autry: Now, I was doing a little reading and Warrant had more line up changes than I actually realized. Now, do you feel that changes the chemistry in a band, especially one that's as well known as Warrant. If it does, is it better or worse?

Erik Turner: Well, of course, when you bring other guys into the band, obviously, we can't do this without Lane. Warrant wouldn't be Warrant without Jani Lane. It just can't. But, Joey leaving the band and having Rick come in, that was great. Rick was great. He was a whole different entity kind of guy, playing guitar. When he left and K.K. came in, for a minute, he was cool, he was a different vibe. He left and Billy came in and he's a whole different vibe. Obviously, in that situation, it's one of these things were...the band is evolving. We do all the hits, but, it's a little more re-arranged. It's not exactly note for note from the record. We try to represent it as best we can. Some of the new songs that Lane has written has a more modern feel and groove. Lane's a big fan of the Lit guys and that's where he's trying to move this music. The natural progression, you know. It's not like we're gonna put record scratches in or loops or stuff like that. That would be something we're not, like a Korn or a Limp Biscut.

Paul Autry: I was waiting for those two names to come up.

Erik Turner: Yeah, yeah. I mean, they're great bands. But, if we were to do something like that it just wouldn't be us. I saw a picture of System Of A Down in a local rag from around here and they were in suits and stuff and they were like a greasy, dirty rock band. Now they're all in suits. I mean, that's the ultimate fom of selling out. Like Metallica when they sold out and cut their hair and started wearing suits and being all fashionable. That was their progression of growing and trying to be modern. But, that was just a sell out. For Warrant to do loops or scratches, that wouldn't be us, you know?

Paul Autry: Like Motley Crue's "Generation Swine," which I like. But, to me, that's just not a true Motley Crue record.

Erik Turner: Exactly. So, you can swing a few different guys in and out of the band. We've had quite a few drummers and now Mike's doing a great job. He's in there and he's accepted by the fans and he bring a lot to the table too. It's just evolution, you know. We're evolving and we're trying to hold this together in order to take the next step. Hopefully, we're gonna be in the studio this fall to record the new record, if we don't get an offer to tour. What happens is, we go out for three months and then we take a month off, take a break and we get a great offer to go out and tour again. So, it's hard for us to get in the studio for three months to make a record. But, Lane's got a solo record coming out here shortly. That's something he wanted to do.

Paul Autry: Will this be a rock record? I mean, I remember reading that he had a country music fixation there for awhile.

Erik Turner: No, this is more like heavy pop rock. It's not country. It's actually pretty good. We heard some of it the other night, he was playing it on the bus, it's really good. It's good for him because he gets to get that out of his system, you know what I mean? Once that goes out, he'll do some dates around the country, maybe he'll go over to Europe and Japan for a minute. He'll do his thing and then he'll do Warrant. Who knows, we might even play a few of those tunes. It's hard for us when we're playing. Sometimes when we get 45 minutes to an hour, it's hard to get new material in and out of the show because everyone wants to hear the old stuff.

Paul Autry: How did this whole tour come about?

Erik Turner: Well, it was one of those things where we had talked about doing a tour with Ratt, we talked about doing a tour with Dokken. We've done one off's with Firehouse and we toured with L.A. Guns. We could either do a club tour or we could try to put this together. Our manager ran the idea across a few different sponsors and Metal Edge jumped right on it and they thought it would be a great thing for them to do. It would help everybody because it would help get some of the older bands into that magazine, which does cover the new bands now as well. They do the Drowning Pool, Korn and all that stuff. So, they jumped on it and said they wanted to be a part of it. They did some press and some promotion and they got it rolling. Hammered it out in a few months and here we are, out on tour.

Paul Autry: Now you played a club last night and a lot of people that I talk with have this mentality that if a national band has to play a club, they're not what they used to be. But, personally, I think that's what rock 'n' roll needs to get back to. I mean, you, as a band, can get more personal with an audience of a few hundred people as opposed to being in front of 20,000 people. What are your thoughts on that?

Erik Turner: I like playing the clubs myself. It is a good way to get up close and personal with the fans. But, playing in front of 20,000 people is great too because, last year when we were on the Poison tour, so many people came up and said, wow, we didn't know you were still around or whatever. So, we got to hit a larger market of people. The reality of rock 'n' roll today and what's happening right now is that we have to play wherever they want us to play. If it's a fair, a club, an arena...a few years ago, we played a fraternity house. We will play anywhere. We can't say, oh, we're not gonna play here or we're not gonna play there. If someone wants us and if our rider's met and we have everything we need, we'll play anywhere. The next step for us...bands like Skynyrd, the ones that are doing the fairs, they're starting to die out and now they're trying to bring our bands up into that scene, the Poison's, the Ratt's and the Warrant's...and that's a great thing because you play to a lot of people, it's a great gig and the fair has the money to pay. There's a lot of people who are still into the rock!

Paul Autry: Has Warrant been able to shed that "hair band" tag that you got stuck with?

Erik Turner: It's one of those things that the label and the local radio with the "Hour Of hair power" show keep going. Back in the day, every band had the big, silly hair. As far as the label, I think the songs...when someone comes to a Warrant show and they hear these songs...like "I Saw, Red," "Heaven," "Down Boys," "Cherry Pie," whatever...they're gonna be like, wow, I didn't know they did that one and when we sneak a new one in there, something from one of the later records, like "Indian Giver," people dig it because it rocks and it's catchy. So, I don't know, as far as being labeled, call us what you want. Call us the hairless band. The hair band that doesn't have long hair anymore or whatever. Whatever you can tag it with and keep people talking, it doesn't really matter. We were what we were. Silly outfits, big hair. But, we've evolved and I think we've come into our own.

Paul Autry: Yeah...besides, when you take away the silly outfits and the big hair, what it boils down to is that it's just really good rock 'n' roll music.

Erik Turner: EXACTLY!

Paul Autry: Are you on the road now or are you still at the hotel?

Erik Turner: I'm still at the hotel. I'm on the computer, but, I've got my cell phone.

Paul Autry: Do you ever think that, some day, I'm not gonna be able to make music anymore.

Erik Turner: Well, I hope to be playing for a long time. Look at bands like Aerosmith and The Rolling Stones, huge bands that are touring in jets and everything is comfortable and stuff like that. The thing about it is, I love playing music and I love playing in this band and, as long as we can do this thing, we're gonna do it. I don't think there's a time limit, like five or ten years. As long as we can still get gigs and do shows, we'll pull it together and make it happen. When that's done, I think I'm just gonna play golf. Maybe I'll try to get on a touring tournament.

Paul Autry: With Alice Cooper!

Erik Turner: Oh, yeah. He's a good golfer. That would be great to do. I'll do that and raise my family and stuff like that. We're out here now and today's today. All we're thinking about is making it through this tour, rock 'n' roll, meeting fans, keeping everybody happy and letting everyone know that rock 'n' roll is still alive.

Paul Autry: Is there any misconception about the band...you know, people think a certain thing and in reality, it's a whole other story. Anything like that that you'd wanna set the record straight on?

Erik Turner: Going back to that hair band thing and the, as Lane says, the pussy ballads, that's all stuff that we did. But, I think the band has a lot more to offer, especially with the new music. A good song is a good song and we're out here trying to write good songs and we're trying to give it 110% every night and put on a good rock show. I don't know, people are always gonna say good things about you and they're always gonna say bad things about you. I'd rather have someone say something good or bad and not be lukewarm about us. Either you love the band or hate the band. We came from where we came from and we're heading where we're heading and we're doing this because we love doing it.

Paul Autry: What's Down Boy Records, for the people who aren't familiar with it.

Erik Turner: Down Boy Records is our label that we put "Under The Influence" out on. The reason we put that out is because we wanted to put a couple of new tunes out and we wanted to do some of our favorite bands from when we were growing up and do a cover record. Those are some of the covers we do and it was just something we could have out on the Poison tour. So, we put this little label together. We did this on our own. Maybe we'll do a home video, we're thinking about it. Maybe that'll come out on Down Boy Records.

Paul Autry: Have you considered doing a DVD, something which Dokken has done recently. Speaking of which, have you seen "Live From The Sun?"

Erik Turner: Haven't seen it yet. Had a very in depth conversation with Don about it though and we're gonna see it when we get a minute and yes, it's something that we're considering doing. I heard Don's was cool cause there's a lot of different things going on on it.

Paul Autry: Yeah, it's more like a movie, which is what Don said. It's not just your typical concert video.

Erik Turner: I think that's what you have to have for the fans. People wanna see something like that and we've talked about it. Now, if it's gonna be as cool or as in depth as Dokken's, I don't know. If I have something to do with it...well, I'm gonna have something to do with it (laughs). I think it would be cool to have some different shots of us like, hanging out at the golf course or getting ready for a show, fan interaction. I can't wait to see Don's, especially after the way he described it.

Paul Autry: What are your thoughts on the whole free music online thing?

Erik Turner: Well, if there's a Napster or not, people are still doing the bootleg thing and trading, there's that whole underground thing that you can't really control anyway. It's all going around and with the amount of fans that we have now, they pretty much have everything. As for new bands, I'd say that there's money being lost. But, really, if someone wants something bad enough, they're gonna get it. Either they'll pay for it or they won't pay for it.

Paul Autry: A friend of mine gave me an old demo where you guys were doing "The Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and, to be honest, the quality of it isn't all that great. My friend mentioned that if he could buy something like this from the band, just to have a good quality copy of it, he would. Do you think bands would benefit from putting stuff out like this? I mean, hell, I could go to a record store right now and pick up every one of your albums. But, there's still stuff out there that I won't have. Plus, I think that would help bring the bootleg circle down a bit because if I could get a good quality demo from you for a price, why would I pay that same amount of money to get a bad quality copy from some guy with that tape on his list.

Erik Turner: That's another great idea for another Down Boys Records release, putting all that stuff out. But, who's to say that, even if you got a good CD from us, with artwork and all that, that someone wouldn't burn one for their friend, ya know. It's that whole thing about somebody getting what they want. I'm a fan of that stuff too. There's some stuff out there that I wouldn't mind getting.

Paul Autry: Looking back on your career, what are some of the moments that make it all worth while?

Erik Turner: Well, most recently, last year, doing the tour with Poison. That was great because we got to get out in front of a lot of people, sometimes seventeen, eighteen thousand people, that didn't know we were still around. Everything that came out of coming out of the 80's, coming out and actually making a stink and being a band that sold millions of records, that was great. We were one of the lucky ones and that's why we're here today. Being out here and being able to tour, we appreciate where we are now and, you know, it's not easy out here. But, we try to stay positive and work hard. It's all worth it.

Paul Autry: Final comments?

Erik Turner: I'd just like to thank the fans for all their support and for continuing to come out and see us and keeping rock alive...and seeing all the other bands that roll through your town as well. We have a lot of the same fans as Dokken, Firehouse and Ratt, so, keep supporting that so we can keep this alive!

http://www.warrantweb.net

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