FRANKIE BANALI Says New QUIET RIOT Singer JAMES DURBIN Is 'An Incredible Live Performer'

Brian Rademacher of RockEyez recently conducted an interview with QUIET RIOT drummer Frankie Banali. You can now listen to the chat below.

Asked how new QUIET RIOT singer James Durbin is working out so far, Banali said: “It’s been really, really great. He’s an incredible live performer, which is a must with QUIET RIOT, once you understand the legacy that [late QUIET RIOT singer] Kevin DuBrow left behind. So he’s a great live performer, but he also has… Kevin had a really unique and incredible range, vocal range, and James can hit all those notes that Kevin hit. He’s a different singer, which is something that I wanted this time around, because I wanted to make sure that it still sounded like QUIET RIOT and the old songs sounded like QUIET RIOT, but at the same time, James brings his own personality and his own vocal style to the songs. And I certainly welcome that for the old material, and it’s certainly been phenomenal for all the songs on [the upcoming QUIET RIOT album] ‘Road Rage’.”

Frankie also talked about QUIET RIOT‘s schedule for the coming months, which includes lots of touring. “We started the touring cycle this year in January and we’re booked, by and large, all the way right now into February of 2018,” he said. “We’re playing Las Vegas with QUIET RIOT this weekend and we just continue to tour. And with the ‘Road Rage’ record coming out on August 4th, we’ll be adding more songs from the record to the live set to see what works. And we just keep moving forward, man.”

He added: “It’s great, after all these years, after all these decades, to still be able to do this, and still be able to do this with QUIET RIOT. And I thank the fans for that — they’re responsible for [us] being able to continue to do this thing we do.”

Durbin, who became known as the “metal guy” on 2011’s season of “American Idol” after performing “Living After Midnight” and “Breaking The Law” with JUDAS PRIEST, hooked up with QUIET RIOT in March after the dismissal of Seann Nicols (a.k.a. Sheldon Tarsha; formerly of ADLER’S APPETITE). Nicols was with QUIET RIOT for just a few months, but long enough to record the vocals for an early version of “Road Rage”.

Durbin made his live debut with QUIET RIOT on March 18 at The Cotillion in Wichita, Kansas.

Banali revived QUIET RIOT in 2010, three years after DuBrow‘s death, along with guitarist Alex Grossi and bassist Chuck Wright. The group went through two vocalists — Mark Huff and Scott Vokoun — before settling on Jizzy Pearl in 2013. Pearl announced his exit from QUIET RIOT last October.