STEPHEN PEARCY On Whether JIMMY DEGRASSO Will Play Drums At Upcoming RATT Shows: 'We're Still Figuring That Out'

Three members of RATT's classic lineup — singer Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Croucier and guitarist Warren DeMartini — performed a full set of the band's classic songs as the "surprise band" on October 1, 2016 on the Monsters Of Rock Cruise West, also known as Monsterwood. Joining Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini on stage at the event were former QUIET RIOT guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on RATT's last studio album, 2010's "Infestation", and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, who previously played with Y&T, WHITE LION and MEGADETH, among others.

Asked if DeGrasso will once again sit behind the kit when Pearcy, Croucier, DeMartini and Cavazo start playing shows as RATT beginning next month in Welch, Minnesota, the singer told "Trunk Nation", Eddie Trunk's show on SiriusXM channel Volume (106): "I think we're still figuring that out. You know, we're taking things a little differently nowadays. Everything has to be I's dotted, T's crossed. No disrespect to anybody, but we want things done properly, we want things done right to where there's some life left in this and we can walk away going, 'Hey, that was a really good run. Let's do it again in three years.' You know what I'm saying? So we wanna do everything very meticulously — just like the approach I took on [my new solo album] 'Smash'. I mean, look, we took our time until we couldn't do anything else to it. We didn't throw more icing on it to sweeten it up; we just said, 'Hey, it is what it is.' So the same approach is going to be schematic with how we approach RATT and our business — very carefully, very meticulously and very smart."

Pearcy added that DeGrasso's touring schedule with the BLACK STAR RIDERS could conflict with RATT's upcoming live activities, but remained confident that a suitable drummer would be found in time to take part in all of RATT's shows. "There's options, believe me," he said. "You know, this time around, it's working smart, not hard. So we wanna plan on taking RATT to some of these places that we should have been and could have been and more. We wanna go to South America, Australia, Europe, Japan… I mean, we wanna cover some ground. If this is the last rodeo, you know, we're getting on it."

A completely different version of RATT — led by drummer Bobby Blotzer and featuring a revolving door of members — has been hitting stages across the country since the fall of 2015.

Last November, a California judge ruled against Blotzer with respect to whether Croucier had committed trademark infringement by using the RATT name and logo to advertise his band RATT'S JUAN CROUCIER back in the fall 2015. The judge furthermore decided that the corporation WBS, Inc. — of which Blotzer and DeMartini were thought to be the sole shareholders — did not have ownership interest in the RATT marks and that the name and brand was still owned by the members who were part of the original RATT partnership agreement.

In addition to claiming to have expelled Blotzer from the partnership following the latest court ruling, DeMartini, Croucier and singer Stephen Pearcy said that Blotzer could now only refer to himself as a "former member of RATT," as per the partnership agreement.

Blotzer's most recent lineup of RATT included singer Josh Alan alongside guitarists Mitch Perry (TALAS, HEAVEN, STEELER, MSG, LITA FORD) and Stacey Blades (L.A. GUNS) and bassist Brad Lang (Y&T).