Rat Skates (born Lee Kundrat on May 17, 1961) is an American filmmaker, writer and musician. He is most widely known as a director of music documentaries and his contributions to the

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

genre as a founding member and the original drummer of Overkill.Ernst, Rick. ''Get Thrashed- The Story of Thrash Metal'' ASIN: B001AR4K6C Trunk, Eddie. Q104.3 ''Friday night Rocks'' (Sept. 08)
/ref>

Early life

Rat Skates grew up in a conservative middle-class household in

New Providence, New Jersey New Providence is a borough on the northwestern edge of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Passaic River, which forms the county boundary with Morris County bordering Chatham Township. As of the 2020 United S ...

, where he attended school, played sports and drew artwork. By age ten, he was listening to music daily from

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

during his ''

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John, first released on 5 October 1973 as a double LP. The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as John's magn ...

'' era.Lamadier, Laurent. ''Snakepit'' Issue #17, pages 63–68, Nov. 2008DeAngelis-Kundrat, Lori. ''Born in The Basement'', MVD Visual (2007) ASIN: B000RPKQES He achieved semi-professional status as a skateboarder and was sponsored by surf shops in

Seaside Heights, New Jersey Seaside Heights is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 2,887, At age 15, he studied jazz drumming techniques with instructor Jack Robertello, and taught himself to play the drum parts of songs performed by rock drummers Cliff Davies,

Joey Kramer Joseph Michael Kramer (born June 21, 1950) is an American musician best known as the drummer of the hard rock band Aerosmith, which was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Life and career Kramer was born in the Bronx, New ...

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove,J ...

and

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. Criss establi ...

. Skates met Carlo Verni (later known as D.D. Blaze, then D.D. Verni) in

New Providence High School New Providence High School is a comprehensive public high school in the borough of New Providence, in Union County, United States, operating as the lone secondary school in the New Providence School District, serving students in ninth throu ...

in 1976, and they formed a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

group known as The Lubricunts. Pierce, Ken. ''Piercing Metal'' (05-12-07)
/ref>
/ref> At age 17, they played the nightclubs

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

, Great Gildersleeves,

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decembe ...

, Trudy Heller's, Bottany Talk House, The Mudd Club and The Showplace. While he was working at his first post-high school job as a graphic artist and printing press operator at RC Graphics in Caldwell, New Jersey, Skates met the

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

founder/bassist

Jerry Only Gerald Caiafa Jr. (born April 21, 1959), better known by his stage name Jerry Only, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the Misfits and later the vocalist as well. He is the only member to appear in every Misfits lineup. Biog ...

while he was delivering printed materials to Pro Edge the knife blade factory owned by Only's father where Only also worked. Roth, Keith/ Kristi, Aimee. ''WRAT Electric Ballroom'' (03-16-08)
/ref> Only booked a recording session to have Skates play drums on a Misfits recording, but Skates could not use his mother's car to make it to the session. He worked as a stock boy in the Summit Food Market to re-pay his mother who loaned him money to purchase a Ludwig double bass drum kit. In 1980, the Lubricunts disbanded.

Professional career

Musician

Overkill

Skates placed an advertisement in ''

The Aquarian Weekly ''The Aquarian Weekly'' is a regional alternative weekly newspaper based in New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1969, its focus is rock music and related events in the New Jersey/New York City/Eastern Pennsylvania region. From 1986 to 1992, it ...

'' newspaper to locate new heavy metal musicians that was answered by guitarist Robert Pisarek (who became known as Riff Thunder), bringing with him bassist/vocalist Robert Ellsworth (who became known as Bobby Blitz) who were members of a cover rock group known as D.O.A. Van Horn, Ray Jr. ''The Metal Minute'' (12-08-07)
/ref> They temporarily named themselves ''Virgin Killer'', after the Scorpions’ record of the same name, and permanently changed their name to ''Overkill'' which Pisarek selected from the title of a Motörhead record of the same name. Skates and Verni envisioned and implemented a theatrical, horror-oriented theme for Overkill, using visual elements from

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include " We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with m ...

, and an unsigned club band from Pennsylvania named ''The Dead End Kids''.McKinney, Mark. ''Live 4 Metal'' (12-27-07)
/ref>Doe, Bernard. ''Metal Forces'' Issue #3/83, page 41 From 1981 to 1984, he participated in the underground

new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...

cassette tape-trading circuit that was shared between North America and Europe, that was the foundation for

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

to evolve into the genre known as

.Ciavarella, Liz. ''Metal Maniacs'', page 81, Spring 2008 Skates promoted Overkill by creating the components he deemed essential to the success of national recording acts that included: creating stage name banners made with slide projectors and magic markers, modifying ornaments from Halloween costumes into stage clothing and stage props, silk-screening T-shirts, a castle-dungeon stage design made of hand-textured

Styrofoam Styrofoam is a trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), commonly called "Blue Board", manufactured as foam continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and water barrie ...

walls and supported by milk crates, rubber stamping the Overkill logo on guitar picks and drum sticks for fan souvenirs, and advertising with rubber-stamped stickers placed on highway

toll booths A tollbooth (or toll booth) is an enclosure placed along a toll road that is used for the purpose of collecting a toll from passing traffic. A structure consisting of several tollbooths placed next to each other is called a toll plaza, tollgat ...

.Sakellariou, Markos. ''Metal Hammer'' Issue #282, page 72, June 2008 In March and September 1983, Skates co-composed five original songs for a

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

titled ''

Power in Black Power in Black is the first demo from American thrash metal band Overkill in 1983, although some songs had been recorded previously, such as "The Beast Within". Three of the songs from this demo ("Overkill", "There's No Tomorrow" and "Raise the D ...

''. He dubbed individual cassette-tape copies for selling and to solicit for a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

, used a Xerox

photocopier A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers u ...

in a library to create a two-sided cover, and

shrink wrap Shrink may refer to: Common meanings *Miniaturization *Shrink, a slang term for: ** a psychiatrist ** a psychoanalyst ** a psychologist Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shrink'' (album), album by German indie rock/electronica group The Notwist ...

ped copies using plastic film used to make fruit baskets and a hair dryer to include in their

press kit A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause and which is distributed to members of the media for pr ...

. This resulted in offers he accepted for Overkill to place songs on two compilation

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

s: ''

Metal Massacre V ''Metal Massacre'' is a series of compilation albums released through Metal Blade Records. It is famous for "shedding light" on bands such as The Obsessed, Trouble, Overkill, Metal Church, Metallica, Slayer, Virgin Steele, Hellhammer, Voivo ...

'', and ''New York Metal ‘84'' and accepted an offer from Azra/ Metalstorm Records to distribute a four-song EP record contingent upon his delivery of self-financed recordings and print-ready mechanical artwork. Skates established a relationship with Jon and Marsha Zazula in 1982 by mutual acquaintances of the ''Old Bridge Militia'', an assembly of heavy metal fans and

roadies Roadie refers to support personnel who travel with a band on tour. Roadie or roadies may also refer to: * ''Roadie'' (1980 film), a 1980 film starring Meat Loaf * ''Roadie'' (2011 film), a 2011 American comedy film * ''Roadies'' (TV series), an A ...

who were providing their home for musicians

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...

James Hetfield James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder and a main songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionall ...

Lars Ulrich Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician best known as the drummer and co-founder of American heavy metal band Metallica. The son and grandson respectively of tennis players Torben and Einer Ulrich, he played tennis in his ...

and

Cliff Burton Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was an American musician who was the bassist for heavy metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986. He performed on ''Kill 'Em All'' (1983), '' Ride the Lightning'' (1984 ...

to live. The Zazula’s were proprietors of ''Rock ‘n Roll Heaven'', an import specialty

record store A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were ...

located within the Route 18

Flea Market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

East Brunswick, New Jersey East Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York City metropolitan area and is located on the southern shore of the Raritan River, directly adjacent to the city ...

. Assisted by band photographer and merchandiser Lori DeAngelis, he sold one thousand ''Power In Black'' cassette tapes from Rock ‘n Roll Heaven on a consignment basis in eleven months.Moore, Dawn. ''The Metal Web''
/ref> In 1982, the Zazulas formed

Megaforce Records Megaforce Records is an American independent record label founded in 1982 by Jon Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula to release the first works of Metallica, and devoted primarily to hard rock and heavy metal. It has offices in New York City (w ...

, which debuted L.P. record albums from

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

, Exciter,

Manowar Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology and Greco-Roman mythology), as well as ...

and Talas. The Zazulas recognized the unit sales of Power in Black through Rock ‘n Roll Heaven and by Skates' international marketing, and they presented him with a four-album recording contract offer that Skates accepted and was signed by the members of Overkill on April 10, 1985. From 1985–1987 Skates arranged and co-wrote two full-length studio LP records: '' Feel the Fire'' (Megaforce) and '' Taking Over'' (Megaforce/ Atlantic), which debuted at number 191 on the

Billboard Top 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artis ...

on April 11, 1987. He implemented the song "Fuck You!" by The Subhumans that was embodied in a live/ studio EP of the same name. He toured for these records in North America, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Great Britain, Poland, France, Holland and Austria as thrash metal bands experienced exponential growth during these years. Skates became inundated with touring and recording commitments, and stated that the close-mindedness of some band members was suppressing Overkill’s success, and the inability to satisfy his work ethics resulted in deep depression, excessive sleeping and alcoholism. He refused to meet the commitments required by a

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

employed within the

recording industry A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

, and he announced his departure in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the fall of 1987 while completing a tour with Megadeth.

Legacy

Overkill’s early success has been attributed to Skates’ songwriting presence and creative efforts. He was voted one of the top-ten drummers of 1987 by the Japanese publication ''

Burrn! is a monthly Japanese magazine for fans of heavy metal music, published since September 1984. It is the major publication on heavy metal music in the country. As of 2013, it is published by Shinko Music Entertainment in Tokyo. The magazine's c ...

'', and his drumming on the songs "There's No Tomorrow" and "Feel the Fire" were the first recorded songs in the thrash metal genre to encompass non-continuous 16th note double bass drum patterns.Sakota, Far. ''Burrn'' Issue #7/88, page 62 The Overkill logo was drawn and colored lime green by Skates in 1981, and is recognized as one of the most famous heavy metal logos. He noted that when he removed the cross emblem from between the words in his original logo design, he never connected the two words "Over" and "Kill" together, and that is it was never resolved as being a one-word or two-word name, suggesting that

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...

from

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

would know the answer. Skates declined offers to join

M.O.D. M.O.D. (abbreviation for Method of Destruction) is an American crossover thrash band from New York City, fronted by Stormtroopers of Death vocalist Billy Milano. The band has been around for years (minus one hiatus from 1997 to 2001), and rele ...

and

Mind Funk Mind Funk (spelled Mindfunk on later releases) was an American rock band, containing members of Chemical Waste and several other bands. The band was originally known as "Mind Fuck" but were forced by Epic Records to change their name. They sig ...

; he never attempted to return to Overkill and stated that his only regret was "being naïve to trust".

Other

In 1988, Skates wrote ''Some Stuff I Recorded'', a ten-song demo of ideas to share with other musicians for a new project, where he played bass, drums, keyboards and vocals while intoxicated. Skates, Rat. ''Born in the Basement'': Music/ Film
/ref> This songwriting was recognized by Japan's ''Burrn!'' magazine, as three songs from this effort debuted as numbers 1, 2 and 3 on their top ten charts in July 1988. These compositions were re-recorded under the name ''Bone To Bone'' with guitarist Jules Asilo, bassist Kevin Drexler, saxophonist Jim Riccio, and former bandmate Bobby Blitz on vocals. Skates also recorded a country-pop project ''Ten Mile Road to Hell'' with Nashville-based composer/guitarist Eric Cook in 1989. From 1988 to 1996, Skates established a career as a percussion instructor through both private instruction and the ''New Jersey Percussion Center'' in

Rockaway, New Jersey Rockaway is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 6,438, During this period he performed in public drum clinics and studied

Gary Chester Gary Chester (born Cesario Gurciullo; October 27, 1924 – August 17, 1987) was an American studio drummer, author, and teacher. Beginning in the 1960s, he played on hundreds of records for bands such as The Coasters, The Monkees, and The Lovin ...

’s book ''The New Breed'' through private studies with rock and

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

drummer Karl Latham. In February 1990, Skates accepted an offer to join Bomb Squad, a rock/metal group of New Jersey musicians that was affiliated with The Old Bridge Militia. He states that Bomb Squad was the most enjoyable musical experience to-date, and the pinnacle of his songwriting and drumming. In 1993, a pending record contract between Bomb Squad and

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

collapsed. Vocalist John Poper and bassist Michael Bloomer departed, and Skates and guitarist John Crothers continued on briefly with vocalist Mario Lanuza before completely disbanding in 1993.

Filmmaker and writer

Skates freelanced for the ''Suburban Cablevision'' television network as an

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

, live mixer and

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmakin ...

from 1988 to 1992; departing due to creative conflicts. In 1999, he studied digital audio production and non-linear editing from Trish and Chris Meyer, Jay Rose, and Adam Wilt, and designed and wrote advertising media for television, radio, print publications, performing arts societies, Fortune 500 companies, record labels and recording artists. As an independent filmmaker, he co-produced, edited and animated designs for the documentary ''Get Thrashed'' (2008, Lightyear/

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Entertainment) and ''Born in the Basement'' (2007, MVD Entertainment Group), receiving twenty-one screenings in eight countries, winning six awards and pay-per-view broadcasting.Skates, Rat. ''Welcome to the Dream- The Rude Awakening of Rock Stardom''
/ref> Skates conceptualized ''Rock-Un-Rold'', a musician’s television talk show with colleague

David Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadin ...

(bassist, Megadeth), and filmed a demo shoot at ''The Studio'' in New York City on October 28, 2007. They moderated two discussion panels of six recording artists and pitched an edited version to a

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

representative who declined the concept due to the content being "too intelligent". In response, Skates began filming interviews in 2009 for the documentary film ''Welcome to the Dream- The Rude Awakening of Rock Stardom'' for release by the MVD Entertainment Group in 2012. The films preview teaser excerpts interviews from Grammy-award winning guitarist

Vernon Reid Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...

(

Living Colour Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish (who replaced Muzz Skillings in 1992). S ...

Mike Portnoy Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departur ...

(

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

Anvil An anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal (usually forged or cast steel), with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck (or "worked"). Anvils are as massive as practical, because the higher th ...

Jay Jay French Jay Jay French (born John French Segall, July 20, 1952) is an American guitarist, manager, record producer and founding member of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. He is a columnist, author and motivational speaker who oversees licensing and i ...

(

), Karl Wilcox ( Diamond Head), Dr. Patricia Basczcuk (Psychologist) and Robert J. Pisarek, Esq. (Attorney), and an excerpt from his commissioned work for

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

. It is sponsored by the

International Documentary Association International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmm ...

. Catricola, Mike. ''Heavy Metal Mayhem''-Talk Radio (12-05-10)
/ref>

Personal life

Skates cites writers/actors

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

and

Tim Allen Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) and Mike Baxter on the ABC/Fo ...

amongst his influences. He married photographer and merchandiser Lori DeAngelis whom he had dated in 1980; she is third cousin to director

Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...

. They are both Christian

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, parents to three boys and currently reside in Texas.

Discography

Filmography

Other appearances

Notes

References

# Top 200. ''Billboard'' magazine, Nielsen Media (04-11-87) [] # Van Horn, Ray Jr. ''The Metal Minute'' (12-08-07

# Barrett, Simon. BNN News Network (11-09-07

# McKinney, Mark. ''Heavy Metal Time Machine'' (11-26-07

# McKinney, Mark. ''Live 4 Metal'' (12-27-07

# Wiederhorn, Jon. MTV Headbangers Ball (05-24-07

# Pierce, Ken. ''Piercing Metal'' (05-12-07

# Fat Freddy. ''Heart of Metal'' (05-28-07

# Strigl, Mark. ''Talking Metal'' (09-10-07

# Bowar, Chad. About.com (06-07-07

# Dawson, Cherryl. ''The Movie Chicks'' (11-01-07

# Mooring, Matt. Metalreview.com (08-01-07

# Pierce, Ken. ''Sea of Tranquility'' (07-15-07

# Epstein, Dan. ''Revolver'' Issue# 56, page 62 (May 2007

# Milburn, Simon. ''The Metal Forge'' (07-20-07

# AKR. ''Talk Bass'' (05-23-07

# Christe, Ian. ''Bang Bang'' (05-03-07

# Ragman. The Right to Rock (12-03-07

# Mosqueda, Ruben. Pivotal Alliance (11-28-07

# Vinyl, Bob. Rock and Roll Nonsense (12-05-07

# Rhode Island Rock. Heavy Metal Addiction (12-24-07

# Moore, Dawn. The Metal We

# Forbes, Chris. ''Metal Core'' fanzin

# Degraffenreid, Joe. ''Metal Hell'' Issue #19, page 35–36, June 200

# Kee, Chris. ''Power Play'' Issue #91 page 66, Sept. 200

# Kee, Chris. ''Zero Tolerance'' Issue #120 page 107, Nov/Dec 200

# DeAngelis-Kundrat, Lori. ''Born in The Basement'', MVD Visual (2007) ASIN: B000RPKQES # Ciavarella, Liz. ''Metal Maniacs'', page 81, Spring 2008 # Lamadier, Laurent. ''Snakepit'' Issue #17, pages 63–68, Nov. 2008 # Sakellariou, Markos. ''Metal Hammer'' Issue #282, page 72, June 2008 # Fragos, Sakos. ''Rock Hard'' Issue #26, page 96, Nov. 2007 # Krushna, Hare. ''Metal Assault Radio'' (10-28-10

# Catricola, Mike. ''Heavy Metal Mayhem''-Talk Radio (12-05-10

# Trunk, Eddie. ''Q104.3 Friday night Rocks'' (Sept. 8

# Laszlo, David. Stygian Shadows Issue #13-14/08 pages 88–91 # Strattmann, Holger. ''Rock Hard'' Issue #17/86, page 7 # Lerch, Ewe. ''Rock Hard'' Issue #15/85, page 12 # Doe, Bernard. ''Metal Forces'' Issue #3/83, page 41 # Klemm, Oliver. ''Metal Hammer'' Issue #4/87, page 94 # Klemm, Oliver. ''Metal Hammer'' Issue #1/85, page 55 # Kuhnemund, Gotz. ''Metal Hammer'' Issue #12/86, page 32 # Doe, Bernard. ''Metal Forces'' Issue #20/86, page 52 # Gandolfi, Roberto. H.M. (4/87), page 28 # Kuhnemund, Gotz. Rock Power Issue #4/86, pages 24–25 # Kaye, Don. ''Rock Hard'' Issue #10, 3/85, page 19 # Secher, Andy. ''Hit Parader'' Issue #275, 8/87, page 10 # Cozze. Whiplash Issue #4/85, page 16 # Jiminez, Jean-Francois. Enfer Issue #10/84, page 11 # Rosner, Philipp. ''Crash'' Issue #4/87, page 18 # Giordano, Carmelo. ''Inferno Rock'' Issue #5/87, page 20 # Reynolds, Dave. ''Metal Forces'' Issue #11/85, page 8 # Sakota, Far. ''Burrn'' Issue #7/88, page 62 # Sakota, Far. ''Burrn'' Issue #7/88, page 150 # Zogbi, Marina. ''Metal Edge'' Issue #2/93, page 31 # Bienstock, Richard. ''Guitar World'', ASIN: B000RPKQES # Tollison, Robin. ''Drums and Drumming'', Issue #11/90, page 31 # Roth, Keith/ Kristi, Aimee. WRAT Electric Ballroom (03-16-08

# Skates, Rat. Welcome to the Dream- The Rude Awakening of Rock Stardo

# Skates, Rat. ''Born in the Basement'': Music/ Fil

# Skates, Rat. "Helping Artists to Survive the Collision of Art, Money, Ego Success and Fear

# Ernst, Rick. ''Get Thrashed- The Story of Thrash Metal'' ASIN: B001AR4K6C # Rogenmoser, Rich. ''Heard it on the X Radio Show'' (11-14-10

# Nesbitt, Eric. ''Nothing Shocking Podcast'' (06-24-22

External links

Rat Skates: Helping Artists to Survive the Collision of Art, Money, Ego Success and Fear

Welcome to the Dream- The Rude Awakening of Rock Stardom

IDA- The International Documentary Association
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skates, Rat 1961 births Living people American film producers American heavy metal drummers Musicians from New Jersey People from New Providence, New Jersey 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Overkill (band) members 20th-century American male musicians