Former QUIET RIOT Drummer Talks About The Band's Split

Former QUIET RIOT drummer Frankie Banali recently spoke to Classic Rock Revisited about his current activities and the possibility of a QUIET RIOT reunion in the future. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

Classic Rock Revisited: Will there be a QUIET RIOT reunion? If so, who will be invited back and who won't be?

Frankie Banali: "That's the gazillion dollar question in some circles. I think it's safe to say that in their own words there are no warm and fuzzy feelings between Kevin [DuBrow] and Rudy [Sarzo], they are as different as can be. And the issue with the use of the name without the four individuals that were the 'Metal Health'-era QUIET RIOT collectively participating would make a reunion at this juncture next to impossible. But, in a business where the unusual is not so unusual, only time and circumstance will dictate what may or may not be..."

Classic Rock Revisited: From what I understand it seemed inevitable that QUIET RIOT was going to end. Hell, you may have read the interviews I did with Kevin DuBrow and Rudy Sarzo. Kevin admitted he was drunk and hated showing up 'cos of the inner band turmoil and Rudy says is was time to move on from a bad situation. Still, I have heard that QUIET RIOT existed because of Frankie Banali. It has been told me time and time again that you were the man behind the scenes keeping the band together. How hard was it for you to let go of something you loved so much?

Frankie Banali: "The band asked me seven years ago to handle the business affairs for the band. So all the mechanics that make it possible for a band to function were my responsibility. I worked daily with the agency that booked the band and I approved dates, did routing, advanced the shows, dealt with the designing and ordering of merchandise, I dealt with promoters, club owners, backline companies, merchandisers, bus companies, you name it. The understanding we had in the band was that I would take care of the business and would keep them advised of every aspect of the business on a daily basis and all they had to do was show up, play and get paid. When even that simple requirement became a burden, the end was just a matter of time.

"I have a ''live and let live' type of personality for the most part. I was able to stay focused on the business even though for the last three or four years of the band it was internally spiraling out of control. It came as no surprise to me when it finally imploded in late September of 2003. It was inevitable and I had built in as many business safety valves as possible within what had become a very malignant situation on many levels. Once I realized that certain ingredients no longer worked and certain actions made it impossible to consider QUIET RIOT a viable vehicle for all concerned, I took a hard look at the situation, spoke with the particulars involved both in and outside of the band, and it ended. Not because I wanted it to, but because it had. I personally would have the band continue, but collectively it was clearly an impossibility. I still love QUIET RIOT, it just no longer exists, but now nearly a year later I'm still having to deal with the dissolution of the band as a company on everyone's behalf."

Read Frankie Banali's entire interview with Classic Rock Revisited at this location.