In a recent interview with Larry Mac of 96.1 KLPX, WARRANT vocalist Robert Mason opened up about whether the band plans to release new music following their 2017 album, Louder Harder Faster.
“‘Louder Harder Faster’ came out at the back end of ’17, and we toured on that for a while,” Mason explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “And it’s fun to do a record — believe me, I love doing new material, and it satisfies my soul a little bit and probably ego too, like, ‘Ooh, I wrote these songs’ or whatever.”
However, instead of heading straight back into the studio, WARRANT shifted focus toward commemorating milestone anniversaries.
“But then we came upon that thing — if you’ve been a band for long enough, you celebrate anniversary tours,” Mason said. “And we’re, like, ‘Ooh, 30th anniversary of Dirty Rotten [Filthy Stinking Rich]‘ in 2019. So then you spend a year doing that… fans want it, and you do merch and everything.”
The 2020 pandemic put plans on pause. “Everybody sat home for 16 months,” Mason noted. “I like to call it a year and a half without a Santa Claus — the COVID thing.”
As live performances resumed in 2021, the band pivoted to belatedly celebrating the 30th anniversary of Cherry Pie. From there, they rolled into honoring Dog Eat Dog.
“I said, ‘Guys, we’re running out of 30th anniversaries to celebrate. We should probably try to figure out what to do.'”
New Music Isn’t Off the Table, But It’s Not a Priority
When asked if WARRANT has plans to release new tracks, Mason confirmed discussions are ongoing behind the scenes.
“[WARRANT bassist Jerry] Dixon and I have been talking very recently,” he revealed. “I’m always writing. I have ideas that fall out of my head… They’re recorded in my home studio. Jerry does the same. Everybody’s got that mindset, but we just haven’t had the structure or the impetus to put a whole record together.”
Mason admitted that the band’s nostalgia-driven fanbase has partly shifted focus away from producing a new album.
“We’re loving playing these songs. There’s a huge nostalgia component to the band, and I recognize that. And it’s so much fun to do that that maybe it took a little of that focus away from music, ‘Oh, I have to do a record.'”
Is the Traditional Album Format Dead?
Another major factor delaying new material is the changing landscape of the music industry. With streaming, short-form content, and digital exclusives on the rise, the band is reconsidering how to approach releasing music.
“What’s a record now?” Mason questioned. “Shouldn’t it just be like three bonus songs, or three songs with a bonus song… some sort of promotional thing to reach fans?”
He continued, “But then, ‘Ooh, what if we redid this from back in the day? Or what if there’s a live version of this?’ So the extremely long answer is we’re talking about all that stuff.”
