Skid Row

Introducing Erik Grönwall of SKID ROW

Interview by Ken Morton

Skid Row has been touring across the country with new lead vocalist Erik Grönwall, playing all the classics and premiering a few songs from their upcoming The Gang’s All Here endeavor. And for fans who have seen these live shows, they’ve witnessed a solid performance from Erik Grönwall, who delivers the hard rocking goods with a great amount of passion and conviction. Highwire Daze recently had the opportunity to interview Erik Grönwall to discuss his membership within the legendary Skid Row, their upcoming album The Gang’s All Here, his tenure in the almighty H.E.A.T., his side project New Horizon on Frontiers Music Srl, and more...

I want to go way back when you were on Swedish Idol when you covered 18 & Life by Skid Row on the show. You went on to win the competition. What was that experience like for you?

There’s so many answers to that question. Before Idol I was in a band, and I started writing my own music – and my dream was to become a singer in a rock band. I was trying to find my way forward; I was working as a Karaoke host at the time and was just trying to make it in the music industry basically. And I saw Idol as an opportunity for me to do that. I auditioned with 18 & Life because that was one of the bands I was really inspired by. I did the whole television show thing, and it was great for my career. When I look back at it now, it was great. But at the time, after a show like Idol, that’s when you start building your career. A television show is a television show, and I noticed people liked me because I was the guy famous from television – not because I was a good artist or had my music out there. You have a platform – you have a name – but you still have to put in the work. The whole hard work for me started after Idol, but I would do it all again.

And of course, you actually wound up in Skid Row. How did you wind up being the new vocalist for Skid Row?

There’s a few different components here. First of all, my

band H.E.A.T. opened for Skid Row in the UK – it was either 2018 or 2019 – just before the pandemic. So, we opened a few shows for Skid Row, and I know that Rachel watched a few shows. And he told me a couple of weeks ago that his plan was to contact me for a side project in the future. By then I had YouTube channel, and I did a revisited cover of 18 & Life. And Rachel contacted me and asked me if I was available for a Zoom call – and he basically asked me in that call if I could fill in for a couple of days which their former singer ZP couldn’t do. So that was the first question I got, Last year I was very sick with leukemia, and I had to ask my doctors, because I had to make sure my blood values are good enough for me to be out touring. And they said well it’s fine starting in March, because my blood values had recovered by then – but I told them yeah, I could start March. But two weeks after, they sent me a demo of a song called The Gang’s All Here – and they asked me if I could track some vocals to it and give it a try. And I did that right here in this room. This is where I recorded 80 percent of the album. And I told them “Fine, I could definitely record myself.” But the thing is, I had never recorded myself before – I just lied! (Much laughter). So, I told them, that’s fine, I’ll figure it out. And I told them when I met them the first time, I had no idea how to record myself. The first time I’ve ever tracked my own vocals was for this album. And he was like, “I’m so fucking glad you didn’t tell me that.” He would have freaked out. And then when I sent my version of The Gang’s All Here, I had a call with Snake and Rachel – and they pretty much asked me in that Zoom call if I wanted to join the band.

Describe that very first live show you did with Skid Row, and what was going through your mind.

A lot of different things. I think it’s one of my blessings and a curse for me – because I get kind of ignorant when I have big performances. I’m kind of like an introvert, so I focus on myself and on the job at hand. Somewhere I knew that a lot of people were watching, and it was going to be a big thing – but I was just so focused on me. But also because of my health history from last year – I was in Vegas with Skid Row and performed six months after my bone marrow transplantation that I did. So, six months after, and it was the first time I was onstage in two years. Just being onstage again even without the leukemia would have been hard and it would have been challenging. And I went up there with my health history with Skid Row – new singer with Scorpions in Vegas – it was just too much to take in. So, I decided to take it in incrementally and process everything slowly. And I’m still processing it! But I think with every show we’ve done; we’re gotten to get to know each other on and off stage – and I feel more confident onstage. I connect with the songs onstage and I know how I want to perform them. It’s been one hell of a journey and it’s been happening very fast. I met the guys for the first time one week before the show in Vegas – we did two rehearsals and then we’ve been playing like 40-50 shows – we recorded an album – we released a music video – we started working on a new album. It’s been very intense. It’s not the year I thought I would have.

I’ve heard the new album The Gang’s All Here and it’s awesome! For people who haven’t heard it, how do you think this new album compares to the classic Skid Row releases?

I would say when I first heard the songs – and you know, I’m a fan of the band – I have a fan perspective – I’m here in my Skid Row tee shirt by the way - I’m allowed to wear my own band’s merch as a fan. (Much laughter). When I first heard the songs, I just thought that it sounded like old school Skid Row – but with a modern touch. There’s one foot in the old school Skid Row, and there’s one foot in the new Skid Row. All the songs were written before I joined the band, but I think they just did an amazing job with Nick Raskulinecz as the producer. They really found that balance in my opinion.

Have you ever met or encountered any of the past Skid Row singers?

No, I haven’t. I have a lot of respect for all of the singers. I know Tony Harnell said some good things about me in an interview recently – which I’m thankful for. And Sebastian was one of the vocalists I listened to a lot when I had my own rock band in high school. I think Slave To The Grind is one hell of a vocal performance – probably

top ten in rock and roll history – in my opinion. And I like the John era as well. I think all the singers have contributed to keeping Skid Row alive – which also makes it possible for me to step in and do a good job now.

When you look back on your time spent with H.E.A.T., what do you think of it now in retrospect?

It was a great place for me to grow. I joined H.E.A.T. a year after Idol. At first, I was focused on my solo career, but I realized that H.E.A.T. was aligned with my vision. I wanted to become a rock singer in a rock band and be a front man. And they had a singer before me, so that was also big shoes to fill – he’s a great singer. I think that gave me the right mindset – it was a place for me to grow as a front man and a singer. I just reached a point after being ten years in the band where I wanted to try new things in life. And also, I felt like I had given it my best. I stopped growing after a while, so I needed new challenges. I’m one of those guys – I need challenges. So, I decided I wanted to leave the band and try new things. And half a year after that I got leukemia. And all I ever wanted when I was in the hospital was to be back onstage, so that gave me a lot of perspective.

H.E.A.T. just released a new album. Have you heard it and what are your thoughts on it?

I’ve listened to it – I think it’s great! Jona Tee is my buddy, and we still keep in touch. Basically, every time they’re out touring, they face time with me – and when I’m out touring with Skid Row, I facetime them. We’re great friends. No hard feeling whatsoever. Jona sent me the masters, and it sounds like they have managed to do what Skid Row has done now – they have the old school H.E.A.T. sounds but they have a new touch to it as well. A little bit edgier – more hard rock. This is the perfect balance for H.E.A.T., because I felt that the last album I did, that we found the right balance between the melodic – the AOR if you will – and the more hard rock vibe to it.

Around the time you were announced for Skid Row, you had the New Horizon album come out. Tell me about the New Horizon album, and what was it like working with the H.E.A.T. members Jona and Dave again?

So, Jona is one of my best friends. He’s a genius! I love working with Jona – it’s so easy! He started New Horizon, and the idea was to have multiple singers on the album as a side project, because he’s always loved power metal. So, he wanted to do that as a side project, and I was only supposed to sing two songs on the album. And when I got to the studio and I tracked some vocals, we basically said, “Hey, I should do all the songs!” (Laughs) Because we had so much fun! Why should we get other singers? I’m here! Let’s do all the songs! We’re great friends. And we started to record the album and we told Frontiers about it, and they liked the idea. I was ready to go all in with New Horizon. We still have songs we want to release. But the timing – it has to be better – now that I’m on Skid Row, because it’s taking pretty much all of my time and I need to focus 100 percent on Skid Row – and I want to focus 100 percent on Skid Row. So, I’m not sure when we’re going to release more music with New Horizon. But Jona and I – our vision was to have fun and release good metal music.

It would be cool if New Horizon did a few live shows sometime.

We actually had a few shows booked – but they were never announced, so I just had to go to the promoter and tell them, “Hey, this happened. Skid Row happened! I’m sorry, but there’s no chance we could do this.” And of course, they understood. So, we had a couple of shows booked and we were ready to go, but Skid Row happened!

Do you have any messages for Skid Row fans in the Los Angeles area who are reading this now?

First of all, I’ve read the comments and I’ve seen the love you’ve given me, and I really appreciate the support as being the new lead singer of Skid Row. In my career before Skid Row, I hadn’t really played a lot in the Los Angeles area – but I love it there and I would love to play more. Thank you for the support and please listen to the new album. I hope you like it!

https://www.skidrow.com/

XG (XANDER GAMBINI) BAND IS LOOKING FOR A FULL-TIME DEDICATED PHENOMENAL SINGER/FRONTMAN, AGE: 18-28. GREAT IMAGE AND ATTITUDE REQUIRED, GREAT LYRICIST AND BILINGUAL IS A BIG PLUS. FULL PARTNERSHIP AND TOURING CONTRACT AVAILABLE.

INFLUENCES INCLUDE: GUNS N ROSES, DEF LEPPARD, MOTLEY CRUE, JOURNEY, VAN HALEN, CHEAP TRICK, AEROSMITH TO NAME A FEW.

XANDER IS A 19 YEAR OLD VIRTUOSO GUITARIST AND COMPOSER WHO DEDICATES HIMSELF FULL-TIME TO HIS MUSIC CAREER, ALSO, HE HAS PARTICIPATED AS AN ACTOR ON NETFLIX SERIES AND MUSIC VIDEOS.

IF INTERESTED CONTACT: VICKY HAMILTON AESTHETICV@GMAIL.COM PLEASE SEND PICTURES, BIO, AND VIDEO/SOUND CLIPS VIA LINKS. THANKS!

IG: @XANDER.GAMBINI SOUNDCLOUD: XANDER GAMBINI