Magazine article - Viva Rock 1991

From: VIVA ROCK magazine, December 1991

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WHAT'S LEFT AFTER THE TURMOIL...
Rumors have been heard in LA. that RATT is very close to a breakup. Robbin Crosby has withdrawn himself from the band before the crisis.

One day I ran into him, and the first words that came out of his mouth were ; "Hey, I've got so many things I want to say!" Sure we would love to have an interview with you, Robbin. Let's hear what he has to say - what he has been up to lately, what happened to RATT behind the scenes, the real story...if that helps him discharge his pent-up emotions and makes him feel any better.

Interview & Photographs by Keiko "Ginger" Suzuki

AFTER THE RATT N' ROLL / ROBBIN CROSBY (ex. RATT)

So here we are at the Mexican Restaurant (El Compadre in Hollywood, CA). It's no wonder he seems so friendly with the waiter, as this restaurant is his favorite place. But, wait - when I listened to him carefully, I realized that he's speaking in fluent Spanish. He said, "I learned how to speak Spanish before I was able to speak English..that's because my baby sitter was Mexican." Okay, now I see why his Spanish is so fluent...although, I'm still amazed how fluently he could speak it. "Well, there's one problem...I don't know how to describe the difference between the past/present/future, so I always speak in a present participle." He ordered lunch in fluent Spanish as well, and says…

"SO-where should we begin?"

(The rest of the interview is all in his words)

Okay - I think I should start the story with what happened when I was still a member of Ratt. When we were recording Detonator, I guess that's when I started having these doubts in my mind about being in that band...well, do you want to know the truth? Or should I just tell lies? First of all, I'm a person who always tries to think positive, and giving effort to make things turn out best. To tell you the truth, during the Dancing Undercover era, I started thinking that something's gotta give.

When we started the band, everybody were real good friends. We all lived in a small apartment together. Then we became successful, and everybody was happy. Although the Invasion of your Privacy album didn't sell as much as our previous record, still we went on a huge tour with Bon Jovi opening for us. During that tour, Stephen was bitching about them the whole time. I think that was just because he was jealous of them but anyway, I was tired of listening to that so I used to visit Bon Jovi's dressing room every night and having a great time with them. At that point, I was already getting a bit tired of Stephen. We (Ratt) are us, and Bon Jovi is Bon Jovi. Ratt is more Rock n' Roll than them. No matter what happens, we will never play such song like "Livin'on a prayer~ (singing in high note)". All we needed to do was to go out there, play, and kick ass, instead of wasting time getting jealous of others.

When we were recording the album Dancing Undercover, we already had this huge wad of money. Some got married, and everybody went on spending sprees for their girlfriends, luxury cars, and drugs. When we got into this business, it wasn't like we started this because we expected to make money, so no one actually knew how to spend the money we earned. Well, that's fine. That’s Rock N' Roll.

During the Dancing Undercover era, we rarely spoke to each other anymore. My zodiac sign is Leo, so I have this "leader" kind of personality, but at the same time, I'm emotional and sensitive. Therefore, if someone's acting weird, I feel uneasy. We had this album out, went on tour, received a platinum album, and we were rock stars. However, for some reason, I had this feeling of emptiness in my mind.

On the night we received the platinum album, we played a New Year's Eve concert in Indianapolis. I think Cheap Trick did the opening show for us. That night, I cried...and those were the tears of joy for receiving a platinum award for 3 albums in a row, just by doing what we loved to do. I wonder if there were any other members in the band who felt as thankful or grateful about how well we were treated?

It took us nearly one year for the recording of Reach for the Sky album. We were all disjointed, our producer Mike Stone did nothing but cause more problems. Everything was a disaster. Everybody was drinking heavily and doing a lot of drugs, including the producer. One day, while we still haven’t made any progress, Atlantic Records ran out of patience and asked us to give them the demo tape. Mike Stone got fired the very next day. We had to bring back Beau Hill as a replacement, or else we couldn’t finish anything. I mean, couldn’t START anything.

During that time, we were all using drugs. But look what Bobby said in his recent interview with RIP magazine…”We had to fire Robbin because he had serious drug problems…??” I would like to ask him, who’s the one who stayed awake for a week with the help of cocaine, and drinking Jack Daniel’s the whole time? Do you mean you’re the only one who’s allowed to do such things? That sounds just like what Guns N’ Roses did to Steven Adler.

When I left the band, we all made a promise not to speak ill of each other. But when I see what they say in the magazines...how can I keep my mouth shut? I would have to sue for slander! YES, I was an addict, but so were they. They said I was the bad guy, but at least I’m not a liar. When we finished recording Reach for the Sky, Stephen became an extreme alcoholic, and I was really into drugs. Warren was too. The tour for that album was okay, but it was cut short because of certain reasons.We used to be so close like real brothers, but during that time, I felt our attachment drifting apart.

Now….the Detonator album. To put it briefly, I hated both Arthur Payson & Desmond Child. As I had some private problems, there’s only 2 songs on that album which I wrote. And look how it turned out…they can make excuses as much as they want, but the sales of Detonator, which I was the least involved with, did not even reach half the sales of the others. It’s not about my ego that I’m talking about.

After we went on touring Europe, we came back to the states and did a couple of club dates. For me, it was really refreshing to play those small venues, but for Stephen, he seemed to be feeling strange about playing at a club after getting so used to playing large arenas.

Anyway, during our last Japan tour, I made up my mind that I no longer want to be in the band anymore. No one was talking to each other throughout the whole tour. Not even one of us! There was no “Good morning” nor “How’s it going?”. How miserable is that for a band? I didn’t say anything in public, but the Japanese fans were pretty observant. Even though they don’t speak our language, they seemed to sense that something’s wrong and say “Please don’t quit Ratt!” That gave me mixed feelings. Of course, all I could tell them at that time was “Don’t worry, everything’s fine”…because I didn’t want to make them worry any further.

You know, the song I’m Insane from Out of the Cellar album, that is a song which I wrote when I played in a different band before I joined Ratt. I didn’t know who actually owned the copyright of that song, and right after we released the album, we got sued. To settle that problem, we had to give away most of the money we made from that album. The band paid $200,000 to save us from the trouble of going to the court. I paid all the money for the lawyer. And you know what? After we came back from that Japan Tour, they went to an accountant's office to see if there’s a way they could get me to pay them back all the money the band paid to settle the case!!!THAT’S IT!! Who cares about Ratt? Fuck you!

I don’t give a shit about Stephen and Blotz anymore. I don’t have any bad feelings about Juan and Warren though. I like them both… But please don’t forget, Ratt was MY band. I’m the one who made that band. Just take a look at the EP, and you’ll find out that I’m the one who wrote all the songs (besides that cover song). The song Round and Round got huge because of You Think You’re Tough. I’m the one who used to be the leader, but in the past several years, Warren was trying to assume leadership of the band. Gimme a break, how can he take the leadership while he’s blown away like that and can’t even think straight? I mean, come on…he sleeps like 16 hours a day!

Anyway, I’m out. I’m going my own way. I’m proud of what I have done in Ratt, but there’s no bonds or miracles between us anymore. I read a review on the L.A. Times the other day about their show in L.A. and it was awful…they said it was “Their worst show, ever”. When I was in the band, we never got those kind of reviews. Well, without me, nothing’s the same… Without their first initial letter “R”, they’re nothing but just an “ATT”!! (lol)

From the moment Michael Schenker joined, nobody would care about the rest of the members…he’s the one who will get the attention. I think it's just a matter of time before the band is going to be disbanded. They’ve got so many issues and everybody hates each other…how could they possibly carry on like that? They may, if the record company required them to make another album, but that’s just hard to imagine because during the recording of Detonator, everybody was fighting all the time. Seriously, making another record with the same members would be like 5 people Sumo-wrestling all at once! (lol)

Talking about myself, I am so looking forward to performing in front of an audience again. I’m planning to form a new band and its marketing will be focused mainly at Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and China. Honestly speaking, I have a feeling that Asian people appreciate the music more as an art.

I won’t mind if my new band doesn’t make it in the States, as I have once accomplished that goal already. Besides, I’m tired with doing business in States. Fuck that! This week everybody loves you, and the next week, they love another band. The rest, they don’t even care, or simply completely forgotten. On the other hand, Japanese fans care about the music and love it more. That’s the way I see it…I mean, I strongly believe so.

Currently, I’m looking for a singer. It's preferred that this person can work on writing songs with me. Oh, and I certainly want another guitarist. I don’t want to be egotistic and take all the guitar solos. Warren is undoubtedly a great guitar player. I do respect him a lot…but that’s as him being a soloist. The difference between him & me is that my playing style is as being a song writer. My playing approach is rather direct and to the point, a more bluesy & rock n’ roll style, don’t you think? It’s not too much “ Heavy Metal” style, nor does it sound like Van Halen. (lol)

I want my next band to be a real band, not an “Always-in-competition/Who’s taking the solo?” kind. I want the members to get along well, and have a mutual understanding with each other. When I was in Ratt, we were always arguing over every single thing that we do, and it made me sick. When on tour, we even had a fight about what we’re gonna eat! It makes me want to vomit recalling this shit. Stephen and Blotz are both self-centered egomaniacs. I’m not like that. I don’t even care if I never talk with them anymore. Stephen and I used to be best friends before we started the band, but he has totally changed…he thinks he’s a “true Rock Star” or something. Ha ha…you should not over-estimate yourself like that because you’re not the press. He thinks he’s far better than everybody else.

I am not playing rock n’ roll for the money or to get chicks. I’m an artist who loves the art which is called Rock N’ Roll, and I am proud to say this. I’m not a merchant who writes commercial hit songs. I dearly hope my Japanese fans would give me a warm welcome with their “true love”. I think all my fans and friends in the music industry know that I’m not an irresponsible person.

What Have I been up to lately? I‘ve just finished producing a demo for a band called Mail Order Brides.　What, you’ve seen them live? The vocalist is kinda like an alternative type singer, but don’t you think they have a cool Ramones-ish kind of thing, eh? In my personal life….I’m going to be divorced soon. Recently, I haven’t gone back home because of that. (lol) I’ve been crashing at my friend’s place.

So now that I have given my honest feelings about everything, one thing that I’m afraid is that I don’t want to be misunderstood. The reason I dished the dirt on Ratt is because I wanted to shut the door on the past and move on. I may have sounded like a cocky egomaniac to some people, but I’m not. Everything I told you is damn true, and I don’t want to live on by relying on whatever happened in my past. I wanted to make things clear & let people know what was happening.

~from the interviewer~
Robbin said that he does not want to look back to the past. The man who made Ratt has left the band and set out on his own. As a matter of course, he has the right to say what he has to say. Whatever happened, the truth will remain and should prevail in the end. It must have taken a lot of courage for him to tell us the story. Actually, being his natural self may be even better because we could feel his genuine humanity. As a man, making a fresh start over again in life must be like sailing out on the rough sea…

Translated from Japanese to English