WARRANT is currently on the road touring in support of their latest release, Born Again, featuring new singer Jaime St. James (BLACK N' BLUE) - the album is out now on Cleopatra Records. Boston-based scribe Deb Rao spoke to Jaime St. James about a number of topics recently. A few excerpts follow:

Deb Rao: Born Again goes back to the old school classic rock sound of Warrant. How would you describe Born Again?

Jaime St. James: "Well that is exactly what we wanted to do. We wanted it to sound like an '80's record. Because that is what we are. I don't want to, or do the other guys in the band want to be something we are not. Those guys really wanted to go back to the first two records and recreate that sound. That is what they are all about. Jerry (Dixon - bass) and Erik (Turner - guitar) are anyway. To be honest with you, it is not hard to do. It is not like we had to twist our own arms and say, 'How do we write like this?' That is what naturally comes out with us anyway. I am from Black N 'Blue, back in the day it is the same thing. That is where I come from, and that is what I want to do. I have no interest in sounding in anything than what we should sound like, which is an '80 s rock band."

Deb Rao: How do you get the gig in Warrant?

Jaime St. James: "To be honest with you, they asked me if I would consider joining the band. I said, 'Well let's try it out.' I basically went down and sang five songs with them in the rehearsal room. I learned five Warrant tunes. I think we all knew right away that it worked.

Deb Rao: Did you Erik and Jerry know each other from back in the day?

Jaime St. James: "Oh yeah. I have known those guys since way back in the early days. They always use to hang around Black N' Blue. They kind have looked up to us in a certain way. Because we will already kind of established here in LA. Then we got a record deal early on. I use to hang out with them. Jerry and I use to hang out at a couple of parties drinking on occasion."

Deb Rao: What was the vibe in the studio working with Erik and Jerry for the first time together?

Jaime St. James: "We started writing those songs, a year before we went into the studio. We just kind of took our time. We were constantly playing shows. We were constantly going back and forth across the country. In our spare time, we would try to get tunes together. Basically, Jerry and I got together at his place and started writing. I went down to Erik's place. Now we all have Pro-Tools. So we can send each other ideas over the Internet. We can load it into our Pro-Tools and pull it up. Now Erik can send me guitar riffs, I can make a vocal on it, and send it back. We can send to Jerry and he can chop it up. It is kind of like we are doing that way."

Deb Rao: So you really didn't have any reservations about joining Warrant?

Jaime St. James: "At first I thought, I really like these guys. They have a good sound; I mean the music is good. If the music wasn't good, I haven't have been really interested. Now here is the situation. I realize the hardest thing for a band to do is to replace a singer. It is just the hardest thing. There are some people, who will never accept it. I think for the most part, a lot of people really think I do a great job in the band. Most of the rock fans get it. They understand, why sometimes you have to replace a member. Stuff happens like that. I think I do a great job, I think I fit in really well. 99 percent of the Warrant fans get it."