“The lineup now is the same energy and vibe the band had when I first joined it with Todd (Kerns - vocals, guitar), Brent (Muscat - guitar), and Rob (Cournoyer - drums). Then Todd got the gig with Slash so he was off. Other members came in – Louie Merlino and (former Aerosmith guitarist) Jimmy Crespo helped out for a while. Then I left the band because I had personal problems and alcohol abuse problems. When I came back, they had this guy named Zach Throne, and he was great. Then Zach split, and Brent and Rob split. So Jason (Green, manager) and I were the last ones carrying the torch. So we just picked guys I really think are talented and now recording new music comes very easily; everyone’s very much on the same page again, the way it was originally. It’s very exciting for me.”

Those aforementioned guys are bassist Scotty Griffin (L.A. Guns), drummer Blas Elias (Slaughter, The Blue Man Group) and singer Joshua Alan – who, along with Doc, are in the midst of putting the finishing touches on a brand new Sin City Sinners album comprised of all-original material. “Working out drum parts with Blas in the studio was an absolute pleasure,” chimes Doc. “We’re lucky to have him. I cannot express how much I love every member of the band in this lineup, the way I did in the original lineup. It’s the same and completely different.”

So the question beckons, where did Sin City Sinners find phenomenal new vocalist Joshua Alan? “Jason scouted Joshua in a band called Black Box 13,” recalls Doc. “This is how Josh got the gig – he came in, he sang two songs, I looked at Jason and said, ‘that’s our singer!’ He had everything that a singer should have – which is talent! The Sinners have always had very talented lead singers, and Josh is right there in line. He’s got the high voice, but he’s got this low range too that we’ve never dabbled in before; it’s very cool. I’m repeating myself – I’m very pleased with the lineup right now, very!”

Doc, Joshua, Scotty, and Blas are more than halfway done recording the new Sin City Sinners album. “Yes. We tracked four songs in three days – done! We did six altogether,” reveals Doc. “I’m old, so an album for me should be ten songs, nothing more than 45 minutes. You listen to an old Van Halen record, they’re maybe 38 minutes. You just play them over and over and over again. We’re just old guys – except for Josh, who’s eighteen,” laughs the Doctor.

“Living Like A Sinner” will be the first single from the forthcoming SCS album; various different versions of it are available on YouTube. Doc shares a few other song titles, “Josh has got this really heavy one called ‘Puts Me Through Hell’, which is really something completely different than the Sinners have ever done before; it’s very Black Sabbath. ‘Higher Than High’ is a punk rock anthem. I recorded a song called ‘So Yeah’, which is just me yelling and bitching in the best way I can do it. Scotty’s got a tune called ‘If Mary Wanna’ which I absolutely love! And I can’t believe I never thought of that.”

Slated for a November release, Doc delves further into the new Sinners album. “On the first album, obviously Todd (Kerns) was a major songwriter. On this album, everybody in this band has got songs. So tracking another four songs is going to be nothing. We bash around ideas all the time – ‘that’s a cool lick, let’s build on that.’ We get in a room and hash this shit out, that’s the way you make records.” When you say “everybody’s got songs,” will Josh sing on all of them, or will you each take a turn on the microphone? “I sang my song, Scotty sang his song… I think that’s about as much as I want to sing. Josh will sing the majority of the record for sure.”

Somewhat surprisingly, Sin City Sinners travelled from Las Vegas, Nevada to Hit Track Studios in Cedar City, Utah to record the new, as yet untitled album. “Yeah, Tom Parham is a guy we’ve worked with on every album. He was originally based out of Vegas, as we did the first album there. Then he moved to Utah, so now we have to go there. I like working with Tom, we’re familiar with each other and he knows the sound we want to get. Fortunately for us, by the time we get to mixing the record, he’ll be moving his operation back to Vegas, a couple of miles from my house. So that’s much better than going to Utah. Every member of this band will tell you, when it comes to recording, I’m 12, 15 hours. I’m there to work, that’s what I love to do. I never wanted to be a rock star; I wanted to be a studio musician. I love being in the studio. So when we get in there, it’s fucking work time.”

A double-headed dragon, that’s what the Sinners are. Fans, both local and worldwide, know the band for the cover songs they play live; but this new album is all original material. “Yeah,” agrees Doc somewhat hesitantly. “But I’m going to sum that up as… this is one of the reasons for me leaving the band in the first place, plus I had a lot of problems. The Sinners, the band that I joined, was this great rock band. Then all of a sudden, casinos in Vegas started calling for us. You’ve got to pay the bills, so we did it. We sold out. But the band was going more toward that, and that was one of the reasons I left. When I came back, I wanted to play music and be in the fucking band that I joined, and that’s what this is – this is a fucking rock band! We play covers, yeah, but at heart it’s still a rock band. And if we can go on playing more originals than covers, that’d be nice.”

When it comes to live shows, the super-lengthy list of special guests that have got on stage and jammed with Sin City Sinners is unbelievable!  However, don’t expect any guest appearances on this new album. “No, not on this one, this is just a Sin City Sinners record. We’ve done the guest thing on Dive Bar; it was a lot of fun. We did it on the Christmas albums as well. The first record was a Sinners record, Broken Record was a Sinners record; this next record will be a… I just want to call the album Sinners. Flat out, this is where it is, but we’ll see what happens.” So the title’s not solidified yet? “We all have ideas of what we want to call the album… with the two Christmas records and the covers record; that was three covers records. I want to play our songs! That’s the reason I started playing guitar – I didn’t want to be Jake E. Lee, I want to be me.”

One of the more popular ways of funding a new album these days is the PledgeMusic format, which the Sinners did not utilize. Doc offers his thoughts on this somewhat controversial method of generating cash. “I never saw it as begging for money. Here’s a product, do you want it? Well then give me the money and I’ll ship you the product. We’re not greedy fucks.”

The original Sinners videos, including ‘It’s Not You It’s Me” and “Goin’ To Vegas” (both of which can be enjoyed on YouTube) really had a good sense of humour about them. Will that be carried over into the presentation of this new lineup? “That goes back to what I’m talking about where it has the same vibe. Everybody in this band is a fucking clown! It has that brotherly fun again.”

As far as touring goes, Sin City Sinners play Nevada quite regularly. Will we see you in Canada? “It’s not really up to us; it’s up to the venues and music promoters. So if we get the call to go play someplace, we’re more than happy to travel. To be honest, we were in the back swing of promoting the first record when Todd got that gig (with Slash); which kind of put a halt on that. It wasn’t until we realized Kerns isn’t coming back, that we tried to build another band. There was a night where Todd played the fucking MGM (with Slash) in front of a gazillion people. I went, picked him up, and took him down to Sunset Station, and he played for about 80 people. He definitely tried to sling it as long as he could! But now – Scotty, Joshua, and Blas – these are the guys. And the new album is fucking good! It’s very eclectic, but it sounds like a band.”

Fan-filmed footage, courtesy of John J Morasso, of brand new Sin City Sinners songs: “Puts Me Through Hell”, “So Yeah”, “If Mary Wanna”, and “Glad To Say Goodbye”, performed live at Count’s Vamp’d on August 27^th can be seen below: