In a new interview with LA Weekly, Alice Cooper discusses the new music competition show No Cover, on which he's one of the judges. In the following excerpt, Alice talks about the current state of rock music.

Q: When you look at the music charts, rock and roll is not the cool, hot thing right now. What can we do about that, Alice? What can these bands do to bring rock back into the pop charts and get more popularity again?

Alice Cooper: "Well, you know, you’ve got your certain bands – you know, Foo Fighters still going. Green Day, things like that. I kind of look at this a little bit differently. There was a time when we first started playing that rock bands were outlaws. We were on the outside looking into the party and we weren’t invited to the party. It was more pop music and dance music and disco. I think we’re back to that point. I think it’s kind of healthy that rock bands now are not number one, number two or number three. We’re back to the point of being rebels again."

Q: So not being the part of the mainstream makes for better music? Do you think that provides a freedom of  sorts?

Alice: "Gene Simmons said rock is dead but I think he was talking financially. I think there are kids in garages right now learning Guns N’ Roses, learning Aerosmith, learning Alice, learning Ozzy… Young 16 year old kids rocking, just rocking. That’s healthy. That’s really healthy. I don’t think rock is ever gonna die. When you talk about hard rock, like the Stones, The Who and all that, that’s the only music that’s lasted. Grunge was here for a while. And punk was here for a while. Emo was here and all this, but hard rock bands just kept going. So if you’re in a hard rock band, you can go as long as you want to go."

Read the full interview at LA Weekly.

The ninth episode of No Cover, Semi Finals Round #1, is now available for streaming below.

No Cover is the only true original music competition show focused on changing the lives of unsigned artists. This series is about discovery, mentorship, hard reality and launching careers. No Cover is created and produced by the music business, not traditional Hollywood Studios. This is the show fans and musicians around the world have been waiting years to see and it’s finally here! No Cover, No Mercy!

No Cover was filmed on location at the legendary Troubadour and Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood, CA. 25 of these original artists will be competing for the top prize, which includes a six figure recording contract with Sumerian Records, representation from United Talent Agency and Shelter Music Group, performance slots at a Danny Wimmer Presents Music Festival, a $10,000 shopping spree from Guitar Center, plus brand new gear from Gibson USA, Mesa Engineering, Ernie Ball, Liquid Death and Discmakers.

No Cover features five main celebrity judges: Alice Cooper, Lzzy Hale, Gavin Rossdale, Bishop Briggs and Tosin Abasi. No Cover is hosted by Kellin Quinn (Sleeping With Sirens) Caity Babs (Sirius/XM) and Matt Pinfield (MTV, Vh1).

For further details, and to view previous episodes, visit NoCoverShow.com.