RockEyez.com recently caught up with QUIET RIOT drummer Frankie Banali. The following is a brief excerpt from the interview:

RockEyez: You brought in some fresh blood for the writing of (new album) Rehab, yet the musicians all gelled wonderfully. Please tell us about the process and why wasn't the previous year's touring line-up featured?

Frankie: "I had already been working on sessions with Neil Citron engineering, as well as playing and recording the drums for Neil for a future release of his. So we were already in tune with each other musically and had been writing not only for Quiet Riot, but also for other artists. Neil is a dear friend of mine, and a great guitarist. The song 'Old Habits Die Hard' was a song that Neil and I had written the music for, for another artist. Kevin heard it and said, 'No you don't; this is for Quiet Riot. A great number of the songs that I wrote the music for with Neil were foreign in styles to what Kevin was used to. This is when he enrolled Glenn Hughes to write lyrics and melodies for those songs. It doesn't get any better than having Glenn write lyrics and melodies, he's the best.

Kevin had been writing on his own and with Michael Lardie and Alex Grossi separately, so all of these different ingredients make for a different Quiet Riotrecord.

When we started seriously working on the record there was no Quiet Riot lineup, just Kevin and I. There were some unresolved business and personal issues that were eventually ironed out between what Kevin and I needed and what Chuck Wright and Alex Grossi needed to do. Chuck could have done a great job on the record, and while there is no doubt that Alex can play, he's got a ways to go before he can understand and relate to styles of music that came before him. Both Chuck and Alex are back with Quiet Riot now."

RockEyez: What can we expect, touring wise in 2007?

Frankie: "More of the same as in previous years but we are trying to develop international interest once again with the release of Rehab."

Go to this location to read the complete interview.