Skid Row bassist and cofounder Rachel Bolan has released his debut solo album, Gargoyle of the Garden State. While it is his first record on his own, Bolan is still joined by a number of guests, including his Skid Row bandmates Scotti Hill, Dave “Snake” Sabo and Rob Hammersmith.
“This is a monumental moment in my career where I’m doing my first album,” Bolan tells ABC Audio. “When you’re doing something really cool, you call all your friends in to share the experience, and the fact that they all said yes was awesome.”
Other guests include Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor and Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. Taylor is featured on the politically leaning, Ramones-referencing track “Big Stick.”
“It’s just chronicling what is going on in my head at that moment, and with all the crazy crap that’s going on here,” Bolan says of “Big Stick.”
You’ll also find a cover of Oasis’ “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” which Bolan heard without knowing much about the Gallagher brothers’ music. He interpreted the lyric of “Tonight I’m a rock ‘n’ roll star” as being about having another life outside of his onstage persona, which reminded him of a time a fan ran into him at a restaurant and was disappointed by his offstage wardrobe.
“He looked at me in disgust and said, ‘Is this how you dress?"” Bolan recalls. “I was like, ‘Jeans and Chuck Taylors? Yeah, it kinda is.’ [He said,] ‘Well, where’s your nose chain? Where’s your leather pants, where’s your leather jacket?"”
“I always thought that was so weird!” he laughs.
Gargoyle of the Garden State is out now.
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