Warrant is currently on the road, touring in support of their latest release,” Born Again" on Cleopatra Records. The original Down boys are back together again with new singer Jaime St. James. "Born Again" is the resurrection of Warrant. Since the departure of Jani Lane, Warrant have found a newfound energy and rekindled the sound that made the band popular back in the late 80's. 
 
Singer Jaime St. James is from the old school of Rock and Roll. Jaime has a powerful bluesy voice that can also be melodic. He is currently demonstrating his vocal prowess on many of the Warrant ballads on the band’s current tour.  Although Jaime St. James has a very different vocal style than Jani Lane, "Born Again" will attract new fans, and delivers the classic Warrant sound.
 
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Jamie St, James about his gig with Warrant, the rebirth of the band, his musical influences, and how Warrant has added another chapter to their legacy.

                                                                                      
 
Jaime, Warrant recently released a new album,” Born Again.” It goes back to the old school classic rock sound of Warrant. How would you describe "Born Again?"
Well that is exactly what we wanted to do .We wanted it to sound like an 80's record. Because that is what we are. I don't want to, or do the other guys in the band want to be something we are not. Those guys really wanted to go back to the first two records and recreate that sound. That is what they are all about. Jerry and Erik are anyway. To be honest with you, it is not hard to do. It is not like we had to twist our own arms and say, "How do we write like this?" That is what naturally comes out with us anyway. I am from Black N 'Blue, back in the day it is the same thing. That is where I come from, and that is what I want to do. I have no interest in sounding in anything than what we should sound like, which is an 80 s rock band. 
 
How do you get the gig in Warrant?
Deb, to be honest with you, they asked me if I would consider joining the band. I said, "Well let's try it out." I basically went down and sang five songs with them in the rehearsal room. I learned five Warrant tunes. I think we all knew right away that it worked. 
 
Did you Eric and Jerry know each other from back in the day?
Oh yeah. I have known those guys since way back in the early days. They always use to hang around Black N' Blue. They kind have looked up to us in a certain way. Because we will already kind of established here in LA. Then we got a record deal early on. I use to hang out with them. Jerry and I use to hang out at a couple of parties drinking on occasion.
 

Actually, you were really the only choice to replace Jani Lane. Is that correct?
Well they called me up, because I was up in Portland, working on some music. Basically they said,” Look we put a list together of singers that we want, and you are at the top of the list."
 
What was the vibe in the studio working with Erik and Jerry for the first time together? This is Warrant's first album without Jani Lane.
We started writing those songs, a year before we went into the studio. We just kind of took our time. We were constantly playing shows. We were constantly going back and forth across the country. In our spare time, we would try to get tunes together. Basically, Jerry and I got together at his place and started writing. I went down to Erik’s place. Now we all have Pro-Tools. So we can send each other ideas over the Internet. We can load it into our Pro-Tools and pull it up. Now Erik can send me guitar riffs, I can make a vocal on it, and send it back. We can send to Jerry and he can chop it up. It is kind of like we are doing that way.
 
So you really didn't have any reservations about joining Warrant?
At first I thought, I really like these guys. They have a good sound; I mean the music is good. If the music wasn't good, I haven't have been really interested. Now here is the situation. I realize the hardest thing for a band to do is to replace a singer. It is just the hardest thing. There are some people, who will never accept it. I think for the most part, a lot of people really think I do a great job in the band. Most of the rock fans get it. They understand, why sometimes you have to replace a member. Stuff happens like that. I think I do a great job, I think I fit in really well. 99 percent of the Warrant fans get it.
 
I had the opportunity to see you perform with Warrant for the first time at The Mohegan. I was really impressed. The whole band performed really well. You really fit in well.
The way I approach it is, I try to sing the songs, melodically like they are on the record. I try and reproduce the songs as far as the way they were written. The way Jani wrote the vocals. But I sing them with my voice. So I wanted to sound like the record. I think people deserve it, and they don’t need some guy coming out there and just redoing everything and making it all different. They want to hear it like the record. But it is my voice. I have to use my voice the way it is. Luckily it works.
 
It fits in really well. The new songs sounded really great. How do you enjoy singing the new songs versus the hits?
I think the record is pretty cool. It has been so long, since we wrote those songs. We already have a ton of songs written for our next record. We will probably go into the studio again, at the end of 2007. So right now, we are just pumping the "Born Again" record. I think it is great. I really like the record. It is a strong recording. It sounds good. A lot of bands will put out songs these days, that doesn't even sound very good. But this one sounds good. As long as I am up they’re singing, I am happy. I like all of the Warrant stuff. There are very few Warrant songs that I don't like. I am only familiar with the first three records. Anything off of those first three records, I think is good. I really think they are well written. They are rocking. I enjoy doing the ballads because Black N' Blue never really did many ballads. So it is fun for me to do. It has made me a better singer in many ways.
 
Do you know Jani Lane?
Yes, I know him. I use to hang out with him. I lived in Ohio for a little bit. I hung out with him a little bit back then. We have bumped into each other back in the day. I didn't know him as well as Jerry and Erik. Actually, I just saw him a few weeks ago at a golf tournament. I didn't even know, he was there. He just came up to me and shook my hand and said, "Hey Jaime, how is it going?" He has also been a friend. I consider him a friend. I have nothing but admiration for him. I think, he is a great talent.

Now you actually started out as a drummer for Black N 'Blue. Was it hard making the transition from drummer to singer?
Before Black N 'Blue, I was a drummer all the way up to Black N’ Blue. I jumped out front, when Tommy and I formed Black N' Blue. I never went back.
 
So I take it, you enjoy singing better than drumming.
Well, I loved playing the drums. I even played drums in a Tribute band that Tommy and I did called Cold Gin. I was Peter Criss, and that was in the 90's. I much rather sing. Even, when I was drumming, I sang. Bit, it is weird to have a singing drummer. I have loved to sing from day one, and I am happy doing that.
 
Black N 'Blue had an extensive 80's career. You actually worked with a lot of great producers one of them being Gene Simmons. How was it like working with Gene Simmons?
Working with Gene was pretty cool. We had worked with a lot of different producers. We have worked with some big names, Dieter Dierks, who does The Scorpions, Bruce Fairburn, Bob Rock, these guys are huge. With Gene, we basically wanted him because we knew he would be on the band's side and not the record companies side. We would have a little more of our support and let us know do what we wanted to do. Because Geffen Records really did try and steer us in a different direction.
 

What caused Black N' Blue's departure from Geffen? Did they want to change you musically?
They just plain out dropped us. We did four records and I think the bottom line was we weren't selling quite enough. We sold pretty well. I don’t exactly know how much we sold in the end, but it wasn't enough for them. They wanted somebody who was going to go double platinum. We weren't doing that. 
 
One of your first tours was with Aerosmith. What was it like working with Steven Tyler?
Well, that was pretty amazing. I was a big Aerosmith fan. I still am. I mean when I was a kid growing up, I thought Aerosmith was cool as hell. I was amazed that my big tour was opening for Aerosmith. The first couple of months that we were out those guys were actually still doing drugs. Tyler was pretty wasted. But they cleaned up during that tour. I kind of saw both sides.
 
I saw the Aerosmith/Motley Crue perform this fall. They were amazing. I want to say it was one of the best tours that I have ever seen. Steven looked great, and his voice was really strong. Would you say that Steven Tyler was one of your major influences as a performer?
Yes, absolutely, he still is. He is unbelievably great. God put him on this earth to sing and rock and roll. 
 Would you say the Aerosmith tour was the highlight of your career?
I would have to say that time period was pretty big because, I was just struggling all of my life. No money, playing clubs, it was pretty tough. All in one year to get signed to Geffen Records, you have money; you’re touring with Aerosmith. That year 1984 was huge for me. That whole year was a highlight.
 
Now Tommy Thayer is in Kiss. What are your thoughts on that?
He is doing Ace Frehley's part. I went and saw him. It was kind of a funny moment. Kiss was up there playing, and I didn't have a seat, I just had an all access pass, so I was just walking around. I was standing in the aisle way, where everybody is seated. I was just standing there, and Tommy saw me and he is shaking my hand, while he was onstage at Kiss. Somebody said, "Hey that is the two Black N' Blue guys there." I think he does a great job.
 
Now how did you actually get signed to Geffen Records? Did you do a demo with Don Dokken, and was Don instrumental in getting Black N' Blue a record deal?
Don, use to really love the band. Don wasn't signed yet here either. He had some European deal. He thought we were really good. He use to pull up in a White Rolls Royce. It was kind of beat up, but he still had one. Don loved the band, and he hooked us up with Michael Wagner, and put us in the studio. His demo got us signed. I will always be grateful to Don for that. Don is a good guy. He is a good egg.
 
Yes, Don is a very good friend of mine and amazing singer. Actually Don just bought another Rolls Royce. He is really into vintage cars. Any chance of a Black N' Blue reunion, now that you are in Warrant, and Tommy is in Kiss?
Well Gene Simmons pretty much has Tommy locked up, I think. I don't believe he can do much of anything. I am free to do what I want. I really don't have any interest in doing a tour with Black N’ 'Blue, unless we can get a new record out, which is halfway done. There is one in the works. Even than, it would be a limited thing. My priority is with Warrant now. That is the way it is. That is my band. I owe them, my time and my creativity. But Black N' Blue, if I have spare time, we will finish that record eventually. It could happen in a limited space.
 
Warrant is going to be releasing a DVD in March. Can you tell me about that?
It is pretty cool; we were watching the AC/DC DVD, where they had all the old stuff like Highway to Hell, and Bon Scott. They had all this footage, and just kind of set up and did these videos. I thought it so cool that they did that, because if they didn't we wouldn't have any of that. So we decided we ought to do that. Basically it started for us to set up and record all of the tunes live, just so we had a memory of it. In case we needed it down the road. Then we just started them into full-blown videos. All twelve songs have a video. They are a little different. Some of the performance footage is the same, but we cut other stuff into it. There is a lot of cool live stuff, us goofing around. It shows in the studio making "Born Again." I think any Warrant fan will find it real interesting. We did for the fans out there, which really want it.
 
What has your favorite gig been with Warrant so far?
The first year I was with Warrant, I was kind of trying to get use to the songs. I did have a great show that year at Foxfest. There were 50,000 people. That was huge. I wasn't at my best that first year. I had to learn 20 songs, and that is really hard for a vocalist. It took me a little time in. It took me almost a year to really sink into it. Now is it part of me.
 
Is there anything else that you would like to say to the fans about the rebirth of Warrant and "Born Again"?
Just come on out and see the band. You might be surprised. Also go to www.warrantrocks.com if you want to know what the band is doing and for the tour schedule. I am proud as hell to be in this band because we fuckin rock! www.jaimestjames.com
 
Thanks Jaime! I really enjoyed the Warrant show at The Mohegan. Keep up the great work!