KAOS2000 Magazine interview with Sebastian Bach



Sebastian Bach - ex-Skid Row / ex-Madam X

On the phone with Philip Anderson - Summer 2000

Rising up from Skid Row, Sebastian Bach has been a mainstay in the hard rock annals. His voice is unmistakable as is his 6' + lanky frame that bounces around the stage. After a somewhat rocky rocky depart from his former bandmates Sebastian is back louder than ever. And not to worry, he still performs the most popular Skid Row tunes live.

We recently spoke with Sebastian in the middle of his current tour, which is winding it's way towards the West Coast about now, and got some info about his background and where the band is heading. Of course, in this modern day and age, we had to discuss the power of the Internet and it's effects on a rock icon. It just goes to show that to be in a band these days, you can't just play music and party all day and night, you've got to be "Tech Savvy", and Sebastian is not one to be left out of the loop. The chat opens with us talking about his new Mac laptop that he just recently purchased.

K2K: Since we're already talking about the Net, let's start with that. Are you on the Net yourself?
SB: Oh yeah! I've got a website, www.sebastianbach.com. We get about a thousand hits per day, which isn't as much as a porno site, but I've got my clothes on. It's pretty good for me. It's too easy to do your own site to not have one these days. I guess everyone has one. (laughs) Yeah, it's nuts. Everyone has one these days.

K2K: Do you have chat room capabilities and all that?
SB: Yes! I use this chat form provider called Delphi. I've got the Sebastian Bach and Friends Forum and Chat and all that stuff on there. See? It's really easy to do. I use Netscape Communicator. It's with a flick of a button, any tour date or song idea, any interview I do on RealAudio, I just have it on the Net. It's great.

K2K: Is that what you're using to make your web pages with too?
SB: Yeah, yeah. I use Netscape Communicator 4.7 Composer. It's so easy. It's the only thing that I've ever used, because it comes with it and you just press Publish in the Files menu and it's right on the Net.

K2K: So, are you a Mac or PC guy?
SB: (Most assuredly) I'm a Mac guy! I can't believe that you're talking to me about this computer stuff. I just bought a G3 and I'm just freaking out.

K2K: A G3 or a G4?
SB: No, no. A G3. I'm on the road. I can't be lugging around a desktop computer. It's the PowerBook G3.

K2K: So you got a PowerBook. Why not the new iBook? You like the business look?
SB: No, no. This is a serious - I could fly to the moon with this thing.

K2K: You didn't want to have the "lunch box" look with you.
SB: I needed something that was really quick. This thing is really bad! It's got a big huge screen. I could plug it right into the back of my giant sized TV screen, which is really cool. Right out of the back into the giant TV. It's incredible. If I wasn't traveling all the time, I'd get the bigger desktop. Dude, you get one of these G3 laptops and it's tiny and so light.

K2K: It has a decent sized screen on it?
SB: Oh, it's huge. It's like 14.1".

K2K: So, how do you like being solo now?
SB: I love it. I've been solo since 1996, so I've been doing it for a while now. I've got a brand new CD called "Bring 'Em Bach Alive".

K2K: Yeah, I've listened to it, but everyone else around me keeps yapping, so I have yet to give it a "proper" listening.
SB: Put it on in your car and crank it. You'll find that the bass vibrates your butt cheeks.

(We got to talking about the latest tour dates)

K2K: You're just doing club dates our here?
SB: We did a full tour in 1998, of California. We did 104 shows in 1998 - at least 12 shows in California. We did the Edge in Palo Alto, CA the last time, which was a killer show.

K2K: Do you miss doing Skid Row?
SB: I do Skid Row every night.

K2K: I mean, do you miss playing in the band.
SB: No. Definitely not. Those guys, we just don't get along.

K2K: What happened to the band?
SB: I got kicked out in '96 and the drummer got kicked out after that.

K2K: You got kicked out?
SB: Yes I did. It's a long story. There were some really involved side projects and that was pissing me off. Basically, I got a little too pissed off and left some messages on their machine and it's just an old story. We were together for 10 years, which is as long as the Beatles were around. It's a long time for a rock band to be around.

K2K: Ten days is a long time in this day and age.
SB: (laughing) Exactly. Up until '96, it's a long history.

K2K: Any chance that you'll ever do a reunion with them?
SB: No, man. Nope! They don't have the edge that I need. I'm not interested in reliving 1988. That holds no appeal to me. I've got to make brand new music that kicks my ass. That's the reason that I do this.

K2K: In talking about reliving the past and stuff, don't you find that a lot of people who listen to your style of music, a lot of the crowd kind of dwells in the past? A lot of metalheads are stuck in the same rote of bands from back then - not even the current materials sometimes.
SB: Not really. I can't really analyze it like that. I'm from a different angle.

K2K: Don't you find that a lot of people dwell too much on a lot of older songs?
SB: Maybe, yeah, but I think that's not just the case with heavy metal. Obviously Alanis Morissette will never top "You Ought To Know". KISS will never top "Rock 'N' Roll All Nite". Every band has these humongous songs. I'm sure that Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones loves "Satisfaction" but there's no way that a song of the latest album is going to get that kind of response. Every single band in the world has these gigantic songs that people are obsessed with. For me, it's "I Remember You," "18 & Life" and "Youth Gone Wild." That is like, if you could even have one song that people still sing even 10 years after you put it out, you've won the game. I've got more than one. I don't think that it's just metal. There's old Stones fans. To think that when they come out with these gigantic songs, it's pretty tough to top them, you know. I not going try to spend the rest of my life trying to top "I Remember You" because it was such a gigantic hit.

K2K: That's true. You've got to make that "next hit."
SB: I don't think that's possible. I don't think that I will ever have another number one single on Billboard Magazine. I never knew that that one would go number one either.

K2K: Did you ever play in cover bands?
SB: My first band, Kid Wicked, we did half covers and half originals.

K2K: The reason that I ask is because I had had a big discussion once with a great studio musician who felt that doing other people's music is where all the money was at and it was guaranteed income. I feel that it's not worth the time. I'd rather write that one "Stairway To Heaven" that gets remembered 20 years later.
SB: Being a cover artist is not like being a real artist. That's just copying what someone else did. What's the point of that? If I want to see KISS, I'll go see KISS. I'm not going to see a KISS tribute band. I think that's silly. I'm waiting for the tribute to the tribute bands. Like the tribute to Cold Gin, what would that be? (laughing) A tribute to the Atomic Punks. I guess that's the next wave.

K2K: You might have hit on a new idea there. What would it be then? A spoof band?
SB: I don't know. I don't see how you can go to bed at night, after doing that, and think "Oh yeah! I kicked ass tonight! I was Peter Criss." (laughing) What the fuck. I don't get it. If I wanted to make money, I would not be in rock 'n' roll. That would not be the business that I would choose.

K2K: How are you doing with this album by the way?
SB: I'm doing fine. I'm saying that if a cover band guy says, "I'm going to make money. I'm going to make it in a cover band." I don't see where the logic is there. You know? I don't see where that is. There's way easier ways to make money. Selling drugs. (laughs) You can make money doing that. There's way easier ways to make money, let's just put it that way.

K2K: Don't play in a cover band, sell drugs.
SB: There you go.

K2K: When you first started in Skid Row, was it really Bon Jovi who "discovered" you?
SB: Well, you'd have to define the word "discover." Snake, the guitar player, and Bon Jovi went to school together, elementary school. They grew up together and were best friends. I was from Toronto, Canada. They hired me from Toronto, Canada in 1987. I didn't know Bon Jovi before 1987. Once we got together, we opened up for him in 1987. The first time we went on tour in arenas was with him.

K2K: Oh, just to get this out of the way - the "bottle" incident, does that still haunt you today?
SB: Sure! (laughs) I wish they would stop playing it on MTV.

K2K: Are you serious? They still play that?
SB: Oh my God, they play it all the time. I guess I watch more MTV than you do. I'm a junkie for it. I'm a TV junkie. I'm always flipping through channels. They have this new show called "MTV Uncensored." It's the behind the scenes from all their years of footage. Kurt Loeder and the president of MTV had a big discussion about the bottle incident and then they show it. They're like, "He said that he didn't throw it and we have the footage." and they have to show it. I'm like "My God. It's eleven years ago." (shouting to the heavens) ELEVEN YEARS! 1989 that happened. It's the year 2000. It's enough. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. They keep fucking playing it and it drives me nuts.

K2K: What about Zakk Wylde [of Ozzy Osbourne] saying to the audience, "After the show, go out and kick some faggot's ass."?
SB: Oh, that's pleasant. (laughs)

K2K: Was it you or him who wore the T-shirt "AIDS Kills Fags Dead"?
SB: Uh, I can't remember. I plead the Fifth. (snickers)

K2K: Have you mellowed with age?
SB: Umm, yeah. I don't drink like I used to, so I would have to say yes.

K2K: I guess when we grow up we find new ways to entertain ourselves.
SB: I can't drink whiskey like I used to back then, that's for sure.

K2K: Have you ever tried Rebel Yell whiskey?
SB: Yeah, that's like gut rot.

K2K: You think so? I thought it was pretty smooth.
SB: If you're talking about whiskey, that's like saying that one form of battery acid is smoother than the other.

K2K: How have the shows been going with the new album out?
SB: Incredible. We've got Paul Crook from Anthrax on guitar now. We did 13 shows in 16 nights in December. They were insane, crammed gigs. We sold out a couple of places that I never sold out with Skid Row, like The Chance in Poughkeepsie. A couple of nights we played with two drummers.

K2K: Anton Fig?
SB: Yeah, of the David Letterman show. That was an amazing experience with two drummers.

K2K: What was it like playing with Anton Fig?
SB: I just have to pinch myself. When I first got the first Ace Frehley solo record, I just could not believe his drumming on that record. He's on a ton of albums. That's him on the new studio stuff on "Bring 'Em Bach Alive."

K2K: Who's playing now live?
SB: Mark "Bam Bam" McConnell, who is just a powerhouse.

K2K: Your old band was Madam X, right? That's not the same one who recorded, is it?
SB: Yeah. It's the same band that recorded but I wasn't in the band then.

K2K: They were the band with the two-tone black and white haired singer?
SB: I replaced him.

K2K: That was them? Wow. I saw them years ago. I was holding Roxy of Vixen like a baby in my arms for a photo.
SB: Cool! Godzilla, the bass player too. I'm not on the tape.

(Starts singing selections from "We Reserve The Right To Rock" and "You're High In High School")

K2K: What happened to that band?
SB: Chris "Godzilla" Doliber owns a rock bar up in the peninsula in Michigan, called the Tumble Inn. It's a good name.

K2K: He's not playing anymore?
SB: He jams with a local band I think.

K2K: What happened to the rest of them. I was a huge fan of them.
SB: Well, I didn't get along with those guys near the end either. We didn't get along.

K2K: Do you burn your bridges a lot?
SB: Well, you know.... I guess you're right. Whatever. It's rock 'n' roll.

K2K: How long is this band going to last before they boot you?
SB: Yeah, I'm going to get booted out of my own band. That would be funny.

K2K: Well, they could just put an "Ex-" in front of the name.
SB: Maybe one day I can have a reunion with myself. (laughs)

K2K: I had to ask about Madam X. We all used to totally love that band and crank the tape everywhere.
SB: Unbelievable. My favorite one was (singing/screeching) "She's Hot Tonight". I can't remember the rest of it.

K2K: What happened to the guitarist? Is she playing?
SB: Maxinne Petrucci. She's cool. I don't think so.

K2K: I remember seeing you at the San Jose Events Center.
SB: The Slave To The Grind tour. I remember that.

K2K: You seemed kind of stiff in movement that night.
SB: Well, you know, if you do 200 shows a year, they're not all going to be like Castle Donnington.

K2K: Who's in your current band touring?
SB: Paul Crook from Anthrax. Ritchie Scarlett from Frehley's Comet on guitar. Larry on bass and Mark "Bam Bam" McConnell on drums.

K2K: Who's the guy who wears the wings?
SB: He's not in the band right now. He's from a band called The Frogs. They've been around since 1979. The last tour we did in 1998, he did with us, but I was flying him in and out of shows. We did some shows as a four piece. I just decided to get Paul Crook for this.

K2K: Yeah, but how big are The Frogs though? Why doesn't he stay on the road with you?
SB: They're not big. He's in the band with his brother. You'd have to ask him that.

K2K: I have to ask, how did you get [Accept's] Wolf Hoffmann on guitar?
SB: Well, he's best friends with Michael Waggener who I co-produced the album with. They hang out in Nashville.

K2K: Wolf hangs out in Nashville?
SB: Yes. He's walking around playing on an acoustic guitar, "Balls To The Walls" and "Restless And Wild" and all this stuff. I was going "Dude. What have you been doing? Send me a cassette of your new stuff." He did. That's going to be a songwriting partnership that goes on in the future because I love that song that we did together. I want to do a bunch more.

K2K: He's not on the road with you?
SB: Not on the road, no. Just in the studio. The way I look at a solo project is, I create what I want with whoever I want. (laughs) That's why it's called Sebastian Bach. I mean, it's a permanent band, pretty much, but if I jam with other people, it just makes a better album, I think. It's whomever has the best musical ideas. That's what goes on the CD.

K2K: Do you play guitar?
SB: Not that much. No. I have onstage a couple of times.

K2K: How do you write your music?
SB: I've got a dictaphone and my computer. I write my lyrics into the computer and I hum my music into the dictaphone. That's how I wrote the song "Slave To The Grind." I just walked around and (demonstrates vocally). I walk into rehearsal and say "play this." That's how I write.

K2K: Wow. A lot of musical training in that. How many years of college did that take? (laughing)
SB: That took the school of hard knocks.

K2K: Do you happen to know if Accept is still together?
SB: They are not together. No. Go to SebastianBach.com and then scroll down. Wolf has a site and you can email him directly from my site. I think his is WolfHoffmann.com.

K2K: How long is your current tour supposed to go?
SB: Well, in 1998 we did 104 shows. Now I have a record label, so we should do even more. I'm looking at doing 120 or 130 shows.

K2K: Out of any of the bands that you've played in, what are some of the most memorable or wildest shows that you've played?
SB: Most memorable probably would be Iceland. The first two nights of the Slave To The Grind Tour we did in Reykjavik, Iceland in a big, huge arena. They were sold out. To hear a bunch of kids in Iceland sing the words to "Wasted Time", like 10,000 kids, that was very weird to me. I don't think that they had seen too many bands go up there, so that was pretty memorable.

K2K: The last question, what is the wildest story - other than the ones that MTV keeps circulating.
SB: Wildest story? Geez! (thinking)

K2K: The quick anecdote that you have saved for this type of question.
SB: The thing is that when I do an interview like this one, I try to have a new one every time. Hmmm... I don't know. I opened up for Guns 'N' Roses at that riot in St. Louis. We had to be evacuated out of the gig. We turned around and were surrounded by 50,000 people. We were smuggled out by the cops. It turns out that they found one of Izzy Stradlin's stacks at a bus stop, about 3 miles from the gig. Some kids jumped up on stage, a couple of kids lifted this Marshall stack to the bus stop. I guess they couldn't get it in the door of the bus, so they just left it right there at the stop. I don't know what is the wildest, but I cannot believe - there's not too many shows where a fan gets to leave not with a T-shirt, but with the guitar player's amp too. That was definitely a wild night.

And with that, Sebastian was heading off to do yet another interview (the bane of the popular musician world). Look for Sebastian Bach and his rough-and-ready band on tour all throughout this summer 2000.

Written by Philip Anderson

Philip Anderson is a musician, in addition to being a writer/photographer. He has performed as a guitarist/vocalist, as well as songwriter, in several bands over the past 20 years. As a writer and photographer, he has been published by several magazines and in several books, and had his works appear on television.

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