Former Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach

The House of Shred recently caught Sebastian Bach's rockin' show in Hartford, CT. Baz's voice was in top shape as he screamed and wailed his way through an awesome set that featured some Skid Row classics like "Slave to the Grind," "Eighteen & Life," and "Youth Gone Wild"; some obscure Skid tunes like "Mudkicker" and "Livin' on a Chain Gang"; and new rockers like "(I'll Never Turn My Back on) Rock N' Roll." Bach's lineup of Paul Crook and Richie Scarlet on guitar, Larry on Bass, and Bam-Bam McConnell on drums was equally impressive giving the old Skid Row tunes a new-found heaviness. All in all, it was a great night with Baz screaming, strutting, and wailing to his unique brand of Melodic Arena Rock while the audience of about 700 (great for a Tuesday night) people went wild from beginning to end. (If only for that night) we were the Youth Gone Wild!

We caught up with Baz over the phone a few days later to chat about, among other things, his latest release Bring 'Em Bach Alive. It went something like this:

MetalGod: How ya doin' Baz? Man, last time I talked to you was when we did that video interview at Toad's Place last year. Remember? Rachel Bolan was talking shit...
Sebastian Bach: Oh yeah, I do remember that, I got all fired up... I was fuckin' livid. You guys made me so pissed off...

MG: Nah dude, I was just telling you. We actually were on your side.
BAZ: No, not you, Rachel. What a fucking liar.

MG: I think he said that all you did was sing, or something like that...
BAZ: Yeah, that's right. That's why I'm playing fuckin' 104 shows a year and he's fuckin' playing a restaurant. (Laughs)

MG: (Laughs) A restaurant...
BAZ: That's were they play, they play a fuckin' restaurant...

MG: No way, really?
BAZ: Whatever...(Laughs)

MG: WOW... (Laughs)
BAZ: (Laughs)

MG: All-righty then (Poor Jim Carrey imitation)…First question! How's the tour going?
BAZ: It's going great man! Paul Crook (Guitar) adds a real heavy edge to all the songs like Monkey Business and (I'll Never Turn My back On) Rock N' Roll. He really adds a really cool sound to everything.

MG: Yeah?
BAZ: Yeah, I really like playing with him. And all the gigs, you know, you came to the one on Tuesday night, but other than that they've been all sold out. L'Amour's in Brooklyn, we've been playing to like a couple of thousand people a night in some cities so it's going real good.

MG: That's great man! Now, Paul Crook adds some backing vocals too, which by the way, sounded pretty mint.
BAZ: Yeah, I love playing with him. My 1st tour last year with Jimmy Flemion was more of a glam show, you know? 'Cause I wanted to make a statement coming out on my first solo tour and now, I've kind of gone back to the black leather and the real heavy rock, 'cause that's just the kind of mood I'm in right now.

MG: Gotcha. You guys were rockin'...
BAZ: I'm in the mood to SHRED! (Laughs)

MG: Well you've certainly come to the right place. (Laughs)
BAZ: Well there you go... (Laughs)

MG: Well, I'll ask you the quintessential question. In a nutshell...
BAZ: Tell me about the Van Halen rumors...

MG: No...
BAZ: OK. Good...

MG: But that is one of my questions, if you want to tackle it.
BAZ: I'm not in Van Halen, my band is better.

MG: I agree, at least vocally. I was hoping that would be your answer.
BAZ: We're fired up! We're cranking on all cylinders.

MG: But if they asked you...
BAZ: If they asked me, I would say Yes... I would...

MG: So they haven't asked you yet.
BAZ: No! It's like so stupid that every interview I do, Howard Stern, USA Today, it's like all over the world and there's no truth to it.

MG: Well, the original question was, What happened with Skid Row? For the record...
BAZ: It's old news man...

MG: I know, but just for the record...
BAZ: It was a long time ago, but basically, to put it in a nutshell, their idea of what a really great rock band is and my idea of what a really great rock band is became two different things. And they wanted to change the direction and follow trends, and I fucking HATE trends. Trends can suck my dick! (Laughs) I'm a rocker, I'm not a fucking businessman, you know? I'll rock 'till the day I die, I'm like the Willie Nelson of Rock. I just get in my bus, I go to a city, I play a show, I get back on the bus and I do it all over again. But that's... It's fucking simple, you know?

MG: Yup
BAZ: I'm not in this like to plan what DI-rection I'm going in or all this fucking garbage.

MG: (Laughs)
BAZ: I'm in this to scream my balls off and make kick-ass CD's. That's it!! Take it or leave it...

MG: Cool...
BAZ: And they left it... (Laughs)

MG: Yeah, I know, I guess... I could never understand why... Having one of the best singers, hands-down...
BAZ: Oh, thanks man...

MG: I mean, there's no way they can top that. You know, the stuff they did with you. I could never figure that one out.
BAZ: Well, you should ask them. They ended it, not me.

MG: They seemed to have lost their singer, you know? He decided to concentrate on Mars Needs… Talent.
BAZ: Ha! Great (Laughs Out Loud)... I must have said that to you before...(Laughs)

MG: Yes you did...(Laughs)
BAZ: (Laughs) Oh God...

MG: (Laughs) That's pretty sad in my book, that a NOBODY would prefer to focus on his unsuccessful, unknown and not to mention Shitty band instead of playing with the mighty Skid Row. So, what are your feelings on that?
BAZ: What is there to have a feeling on? There's like nothing. It's like not even real, you know? I mean, I'll give you 104 concerts a year, brand new CD's. You know, they just talk about it, I fuckin' do it.

MG: That's right...
BAZ: You know, like, just give me a break. What is there to have an opinion on? The only thing I got an opinion on is their name. Fuckin' like... something to do with Mondays. And all I can say is that I've always hated Mondays. (Laughs)

MG: Me too, man (Laughs)
BAZ: If they would have called it something Friday Nights, that would have been hip with me. Fuck Mondays! Who the hell is gonna go put their fists up in the air and go Mon-Day! Mon-Day! Mon-Day! Fuck Mondays!! (Laughs)

MG: (Laughs) It's actually Ozone Monday or something like that...
BAZ: Is that what it is?

MG: Yeah...
BAZ: Gee, great name. (Laughs)

MG: (Laughs) OK, the last question about the subject. Would you ever go back to Skid Row?
BAZ: Probably not, man. I mean, never say never, but my band kicks the shit out of those guys.

MG: And I agree with you.
BAZ: I got no problem saying that, 'cause it's true.

MG: Richie Scarlet is so much better, and he brings so much to your music.
BAZ: Yeah, and he's a classy player, and Paul Crook... oh, forget it. And Bam-Bam on the drums?

MG: He's amazing...
BAZ: He's the best drummer I've ever played with.

MG: Can you tackle some rumors about you working with John Sykes and George Lynch? What was up with that?
BAZ: It never... With both those guys it's the same thing. I have to have music, you know? John Sykes, I kept asking him, send me a tape, send me a tape, I never got no fuckin' tape, you know? George Lynch called me and he said, you know, John Kalodner will sign you and me together. And I was like, don't we have to have like a song? (Laughs) Like doesn't that have anything to do with this? You know, my band we sit down, we write a song, we record it, it's like a real band. So, you know, I've got nothing against those guys, but I can't sign a record deal with no songs. I don't care, you know... I don't care about John Kalodner, he fuckin', he's a retro... He's just trying to rehash old shit, I'm trying to create new shit. I'm not into the retro scene. I mean, I love doing my old songs, but I gotta do new songs, you know?

MG: Yeah, and George Lynch is doing rap now, so...
BAZ: Well... Count me out!!! (Laughs). I can't rap, man, if you thought Vanilla Ice was white (laughs)...

MG: (Laughs) That's all right dude, you don't need to... I could do without that... trust me. Now, as a singer and songwriter, what inspires you?
BAZ: Umm... Being honest, that's what inspires me. Someone who doesn't bullshit you and you know what you're gonna get when you come to my show or put my CD on. I'm gonna give you 100% of my emotion, that's what inspires me.

MG: Who are your main influences?
BAZ: The original KISS, in makeup, and I'd say like Rob Halford vocally, and you know, Diamond Dave, and the first Van Halen tour. And, you know, anybody good.

MG: I see that on the new Bring 'Em Bach Alive, which by the way is great, you worked with Wolf Hoffmann (Accept) on the song "Rock N' Roll." How did that come about?
BAZ: Yeah, well Michael Wagener, my producer was actually the first guitar player of Accept back in like '79. So he hooked me up with Wolf and I'm gonna be writing more songs with Wolf too. I like the combo of me and him.

MG: Yeah, I thought it sounded great. It's like the best thing you've done in years, that song.
BAZ: Thank you man, it's so uplifting and fuckin' positive. And that middle part (starts humming the riff), that is like the bad-ass riff of the year. (Laughs)

MG: That's right. And also, the way you sing it live, you just scream your ass off. It was amazing.
BAZ: I know, I do all the high notes, you listen to the CD and think there's no way you're gonna do this live, and then I do right in your fuckin' face! (Laughs) I didn't know that I could either dude, because it's so high, you know? But I can pull it off, so I'm pretty proud of that.

MG: Who would you like to work with in the future?
BAZ: Well, in a perfect world, if Skid Row were really nice to me and got their shit together, I'd love to do another Skid Row album but, this ain't no perfect world. (Laughs) Umm... basically, the guys I'm workin' with right now, that's who I wanna work with.

MG: Cool. I saw some rumors on your website about bringing a past member back to jam with you. Was it Rob Affuso?
BAZ: Yeah, you know, can I tell you this? You're the first person I told this to.

MG: OK...
BAZ: Rob Affuso called my house like two months ago, being really nice and everything, and I had my manager call him back and I said, "Do you wanna come on stage with us and play some Skid Row shit and blow everybody away?" And he's like "Yes I do!!" I said "OK, that sounds great but you gotta come practice with us." And he goes, "Practice???" cause Skid Row never liked to practice and I practice all the time. And I never heard from him again.

MG: Oh man...(Laughs)
BAZ: Can you believe that??

MG: That sucks man.
BAZ: So that's what happened. He didn't wanna practice so, whatever... I don't understand, I don't get it. But actually, at The Chance in Poughkeepsie and The Birch Hill coming up in a couple of days we're gonna have 2 drummers playing live. Anton Fig from the Letterman show, and Bam-Bam, both together, side by side, it's going to be insane.

MG: That's awesome man, Anton is amazing. So I hear you're writing a book...
BAZ: Yes. But now that I have a solo record deal I'm gonna be doing CD's, you know? So, the book is on the back burner right now. But I definitely will write it someday, 100%.

MG: What, ten years?
BAZ: Yeah, well you know, now that I got a solo record deal for four albums, my whole focus is gonna be on making CD's.

MG: Cool, that's great to hear. 'Cause you were gone for a little bit man...
BAZ: Well, I had to wait around for those... guys in my old band. And I don't have to wait around no more, so get used to it.

MG: What's your favorite song to sing?
BAZ: Right now, "Rock N' Roll," the one you just said. That is so much fun to do on stage, it puts me in an awesome mood up there. That's my favorite one. I also love to sing "The Most Powerful Man in the World."

MG: That's a beautiful song, and I cannot understand why that's not a hit.
BAZ: Yeah, well, you know, if it's a hit to you dude, that's good enough for me. (Laughs)

MG: It's a beautiful song, and actually in my review of the Japanese version of Bring 'em Bach, that was my pick for the best song on the album.
BAZ: Thanks, man. The lyrics on that song really are incredible.

MG: I think it was like written for you to sing.
BAZ: Yeah, I definitely feel it when I sing it. Great lyrics.

MG: Yeah, that's a cool thing. I also wanted to thank you for bringing back "Wasted Time" to the set.
BAZ: Oh... People freak when we do that!

MG: That is awesome.
BAZ: Well, Rachel… your boy Rachel always hated that fuckin' song. He never wanted to do it and whenever we did do it, he would sit down on the drum riser with a pout on his face to like, let everybody know that he did not like it. But now it's MY show, I can do whatever I want. (Laughs)

MG: (Laughs) For the record, he is NOT my boy. (Laughs)
BAZ: Well... no... (Laughs)

MG: What can we find in your CD player these days?
BAZ: Rose Tattoo, and this old band from the 70's they got a song called "Rock N' Roll Outlaw."

MG: Yup. Angry Anderson.
BAZ: Yup. Before every show I crank the hell outta that tune.

MG: Funny you mention that, I was listening to that song about 2 days ago.
BAZ: Seriously?

MG: Angry Anderson rocks, yeah.
BAZ: Oh my God. That's shredding rock right there. It's great!

MG: Yeah, it's cool. How long is the tour gonna go on?
BAZ: Well, we just booked February. We got like 25 shows in February or some fuckin' crazy amount like that. I'm gonna be doing 100 shows in this tour, at least.

MG: Wow.
BAZ: I never stop dude. And I never will. Unless you know, somebody kicks me in the throat or something like that. (Laughs)

MG: Nah, nah, nah. I think you'll kick their ass (Laughs).
BAZ: That's right (Laughs).

MG: Are you hooking up with Pantera or somebody like that, maybe a package tour?
BAZ: Not at the moment, no, but if they ask me to I'll definitely do it. Those guys are awesome.

MG: OK, one last question, if you were stranded on a desert island and could only have 5 CD's to listen to, which would they be?
BAZ: I would have KISS - Alive, I would have Bring 'Em Bach Alive because it's just got great memories for me. I would have Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East, Van Halen - Women and Children First, and the Essential Jimi Hendrix - Volume 1.

MG: Excellent. All right. Thanks, Baz!
BAZ: Thanks, buddy!

The House of Shred would like to thank Sebastian Bach for taking the time to talk to us, and for schooling us in Rock N' Roll 101.

Also, very special thanks go out to Mark @ Chipster Entertainment for setting up the interview.

Visit Sebastian Bach's website http://www.sebastianweb.com

Check out our review of Sebastian Bach and Friends - Bring 'em Bach Alive