On the latest episode of the 80’s Glam Metalcast, former Kik Tracee frontman Stephen Shareaux discusses his upcoming solo album, the stellar Kik Tracee debut No Rules, the rise and fall of the band, and the time he auditioned for Mötley Crüe.

About his upcoming solo album

Stephen: "I'm about to release another solo record, a follow up to Golden titled Silver Linings. That's what I've been up to over the past few months, just putting the finishing touches on it. I'm working with Bernie Larson again (who was also on Golden). He's my one man band and the two of us just get it done." 

Looking back at No Rules

Stephen: "The most significant memories are of being signed to major label and going through that whole process. All those steps that you dreamt about, and literally my dream came true. We were probably on the last wave of big money being spent on bands like us. The process of picking producers was part of all of that. We originally picked Bob Ezrin to produce our record. Then Bob ultimately introduced us to Dana Strum because he had a scheduling conflict. Dana was all in and we trusted him to produce our record and none of us have any regrets. That record holds up....it's solid!"

On how the band broke up

Stephen: "The whole grunge thing wasn't what broke Kik Tracee up. Kik Tracee broke Kik Tracee up. The five personalities in that band were going through some serious life changes. We were a young band with money, resentment, egos, drugs, divorce, marriage....you name it! The band just imploded during recording our third album. We just took it for granted. Nobody stepped in like management or the label to say you guys gotta get this done. It should have been me. We all just checked out." 

On if he would ever reunite the band

Stephen: "We are the last standing band that hasn't reunited! Hopefully that's creating more demand and value. I'm not opposed. I'm sure four out of five of the members would do it. It would be fun. It would be interesting to get in a room and play that stuff again." 

On auditioning for Mötley Crüe

Stephen: "Nikki called me one day and said Vince left that band and he wanted to know if I wanted to come down and check it out. I thought I was fucking dreaming! So a week later I found myself in this massive room with Tommy, Nikki, and Mick. We played 'Live Wire' first and it was just the loudest and most intense rehearsal I had ever been in. I hung out for 3 or 4 hours with them, it was a fantastic experience. When I left I remember sitting in my car and the hair on my arms was standing up, tingling from the energy and the volume from it all. But there was also something in me that knew that those weren't my shoes to fill, it wasn't for me. A guy named John Greenburg (who was handling John Corabi at the time) filled me in on the whole thing. He said it was down to me and Corabi. Corabi just fit the bill and he was the right guy for the gig. I do think they lifted a song title from me..."Til Death Do Us Part". That's my title. I went to the bathroom and they were thumbing through my lyric book and that was a song that was in there. I'll take credit for that!"