Falling in Reverse’s Ronnie Radke Talks Upcoming Tour With Escape the Fate, Mix Tape + More

The year 2013 has been a big one for Falling in Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke and the singer is wrapping it all up with some big news. He and his former bandmates in Escape the Fate have put aside past differences, allowing for FIR and ETF to co-headline the 'Bury the Hatchet' tour in early 2014. In addition, Radke revealed that he's recruited some of the top vocalists in the scene to join him on a new mix tape he's planning to release around the holidays.

Radke spoke with Loudwire recently about how the tour came about and during the conversation he spilled a few more details on the mix tape project as well as his brand new clothing line he's putting together. Check out our interview with Falling in Reverse's Ronnie Radke below:

So the big news is the Falling in Reverse / Escape the Fate tour. Can you tell me how it came about?

I just woke up one day and thought what better philosophy could there be than offering them a tour, so they agreed and we're all set to do it on Jan. 15. It's all for the fans. I know they'll be so excited, so I just can't imagine.

Obviously there's a lot of history, and relationships have to be better for this to happen. Was there a turning point in terms of getting past the old wounds?

Well basically when I just realized how much fun the kids would have if I just put my differences aside to do this. I couldn't imagine if I was a kid, I would be so excited that something like this is happening. That, for me, was what my perspective was. It was from a fan's eyes.

Everyone's a bit older now and time has passed. How do you see this tour going? Will it be like old times or is there a new dynamic there with the Escape the Fate guys?

There's a lot of respect there, so there's no worry of bad stuff happening. It's been great and everybody's on the same page. It's like old times, cause I've hung out with the guys and it's all cool.

Even though this is known as the 'Bury the Hatchet' tour, is there still some competitive spirit in terms of who will bring the best show?

Nah. (laughs) I'm not worried about that at all. It'll just be a good time.

I know you put max effort into your shows. It may be too early, but is there some idea as to what to expect from this tour? Will it be more performance based or will you be adding some extra production elements?

There will probably be some special production, but at this point I haven't really looked that far ahead. That's not a big thing yet, but soon I'll be thinking about the stage show for sure.

Falling in Reverse have done well over the last couple of years and you personally have enjoyed a nice rebound. Can you talk about the band that you've surrounded yourself with and what they bring to the band?

They bring a consistency to the live show. Everyone's just so professional when we get up onstage and the camaraderie is there now. And I love it when people tell me that we're a good live band. We really work on that and there are so many bands that are not good live. I don't want to be one of those. It's funny, even if people don't like me, I never hear anyone say we suck live and personally I don't want to hear that. We work so hard to make sure that we're a great live band, you know.

Speaking of being good live, you've got great stage presence. Is there anyone you saw growing up that kind of influenced how you present yourself to audiences?

Motley Crue, that was a big production and it's not only how good you perform but there's also all the visuals and they make things a little overly dramatic. That's something cool that you might see in the future.

With your new album, 'Fashionably Late,' there's an expansion of your sound to include some rap influences. Can you talk about having the freedom to grow your sound and the risks you took with this record?

It's very invigorating now, but at first it wasn't cause I was kind of scared until we played our first show. The crowd started singing along and that's when I was stoked. I was so thrilled to see people liking the rap and having a good time.

Having seeing that side embraced, do you see continuing to pursue that direction or even taking things somewhere else?

Well, I'm doing a mix tape right now with everybody on the scene that's doing well. Danny [Worsnop] from Asking Alexandria, Andy [Biersack] from Black Veil Brides is singing on it. It's all rap, but they're singing all the choruses on it. There's Jacoby [Shaddix] from Papa Roach. There's Deuce, and we've got Craig Mabbitt [from Escape the Fate] singing on it. There's more too, but every track is going to be someone.

That's awesome. Did any of the guys you lined up kind of surprise you with what they brought to this?

Danny, for sure. I nearly teared up because I wanted it to be emotional and I think people are going to blown away when they hear it. It's crazy.

When might we see that mix tape?

I'm giving it away for free to the fans. I just wanted to do something different in our scene that nobody's ever done. Nobody's ever done anything like that. I never realized how many people respected me until I asked and saw how many people wanted to do it. It made me really happy. I couldn't believe that so many people came around and sang on it and rapped on it. It's pretty crazy. But it may be about Christmas when it comes out.

Is there someone that was the biggest surprise "get" for this mix tape?

Jacoby. I didn't even ask him. He called and asked me. I mean this is Jacoby from Papa Roach. I was very shocked. He was just the nicest person I've ever talked to and everyone I've talked to about him says the same thing. He's just very true and real and genuine. He just called me and I was like, 'Dude, you've been doing this for a very long time and you're very respected and sold a lot of records and I would be honored. Thank you,' and he told me I reminded him of seeing David Lee Roth and it made me feel good. So that was crazy.

Speaking of the live performance, what's it like for you to be up onstage and having the audience give it right back to you?

It's the greatest thing. They say that the band controls the audience, but there are times when the audience can control the band. It feels really good when you get offstage and feel like the audience gave everything they have.

Music has been a big part of your upbringing and now having a new addition to your family this past year, can you talk about what you would like to pass on to your kid as she gets older?

I just want to pass on the do's and don'ts and hopefully she has intuition like I have. I'm sure she will. I think she might be a singer though. She's like five months old and she's already singing so we'll see. It's pretty crazy. I just want to pass on the talent, because none of my family have the musical background that I have.

Anything else on the horizon?

Well I'm releasing that mix tape and then I'm releasing a clothing line as well. That's the only thing I'm doing for the holidays and from there, we'll see actually.

Can you tell me about your involvement in the clothing line?

I've got a line called Head's Up that's street wear slash rock wear, rock and roll. Kind of a little blend of a line within a line that's very high fashion. We're in the manufacturing stage, the approval or test stage right now and we're hoping to have it ready by around Christmas time.

With the clothing line, the mix tape, the band, you've got your hand in a lot of things. Are you someone that has to be continually challenged creatively?

I just like to brand myself. I want to be self-made and leave a mark. Especially starting from nowhere. I started from ground zero … twice, you know. You start from ground zero and then you go to prison and then after prison you're starting from ground zero again. I just feel that I need to set my kid's future as best as I can and my family's future and my friends' future as well.

Our thanks to Falling in Reverse's Ronnie Radke for the interview. The band is promoting their 'Fashionably Late' album, which can be purchased at this location. As for the 'Bury the Hatchet' tour, click the button below to see the dates for the trek.