SEBASTIAN BACH Blasts 'Vocal Experts' Who Criticize His Live Performances: 'You Have No Clue What The Hell It Is That I Do'

In a recent interview with Australia's Spotlight Report, former SKID ROW frontman Sebastian Bach unleashed a hilarious, no-holds-barred rant over self-proclaimed "vocal experts" and "vocal instructors" on YouTube who have criticized his live performances, as captured in various videos on the platform. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "YouTube is so hilarious. I see videos of guys that call themselves vocal experts or vocal instructors or whatever, and these idiots watch a video of me on stage, like at Wembley Stadium, running around with no shirt on in hundred-degree weathers. And I'll do a note in my concert footage, and they'll sit in their chair and go, 'Ah, ah,' sitting in their chair, watching it on YouTube, thinking that's the same fucking thing as me running around on stage in the summertime. And I don't get to sit down and watch and go, 'See, I can do that.'"

Addressing his critics directly, Sebastian continued: "You can't do shit. And another thing is you don't just do one note of the song. The challenge is to sing the whole song 'I Remember You'. And then at the end there's a scream, and you'd better be ready for that. So spare me sitting there like this, going, 'Oh, see, I can do that.' No, you have no clue what the hell it is that I do. Sing the whole fucking song — then hit the scream at the end in a hundred-degree weather, on no sleep, jet lagged."

Bach added: "It just makes me laugh. It's just so funny that people think that they know how to get on a stage and rock for an hour and a half or two hours. It's a dying art, and you can't sit in your living room, in your air conditioning, watching it on YouTube, thinking you have a fucking clue about what it is to get up on that stage and do it every single night. It's not physically or mentally easy to do. And there's so many of these so-called vocal experts that I could kick 'em right in the balls. Because don't even think you know what it is that a guy like me does. I'm not saying this to you — I'm saying this to all the experts in their basement, in their air conditioning. It's really hilarious."

Sebastian previously blasted critics of his live performances this past January during an appearance on an episode of "The Jasta Show", the podcast hosted by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta. He said at the time: "The Internet is so hilarious. You can relate to this. When you're doing show after show, night after night, some nights better than others. That's just the way it is. Unless you wanna use tapes — that's your only option to do everything perfect. We're human beings. So if you don't sing exactly like the record, you might read a comment like, 'Oh, he doesn't sound like the record.' And I'm, like, there's a difference between not being able to sound like the record and not giving a shit. I hate to break it to you, but if you're at some dumpy club on a Tuesday night in the middle of nowhere, and you're just not feeling it, you might not give your ultimate performance of your fucking life that night. Maybe you will, but maybe you fucking won't, because you're not inspired. Human beings are emotional people, and sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't."

Referencing JOURNEY frontman Arnel Pineda, who was panned for his performance with the band at the 2024 edition of Rock In Rio festival in in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Sebastian added: "Did you watch [Arnel's 2012] movie, 'Don't Stop Believin'', which details his rise? Well, there's a hilarious part in there where he does his first show with JOURNEY and he's running around like a madman and he's going crazy, jumping, and he comes on stage and they're all looking at him. They were, like, 'Dude, what the fuck was that?' That's the story of my life. And I'll tell you why. There's a saying, when you're making a record, you're playing for your audience. When you're doing a show, your audience is playing you. That is the most spot-on…

"I was thinking about this last night," he continued. "My job is to be as excited as I can be at the same time as being as calm as I can. How the fuck is that [possible]? Because if I'm too excited, I suck. I have to remember what I'm doing, because when I look at Arnel, he's just caught up in the crowd. He's in front of a hundred thousand people and he's in the pit, and he's, like, 'Look at this shit.' He's not making a record. He's jumping in the pit with the security guards.

"When you're making a record, you're standing in an air-conditioned room, and you can try it as many times as you feel like it and get it perfect," Bach explained. "That is not what a rock concert is. A rock concert is like going to battle. Well, to me — I don't know why it's like that, but I feel like it's a fight, it's like a fucking boxing match."

Sebastian Bach's latest album, "Child Within The Man", came out in May 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music. The LP was recorded in Orlando, Florida; produced and mixed by Michael "Elvis" Baskette; engineered by Jef Moll, assistant engineered by Josh Saldate; and mastered by Robert Ludwig of Gateway Mastering. Bach wrote or co-wrote all the album's 11 tracks and sang all lead and backing vocals. "Child Within The Man" features guest appearances from John 5, Steve Stevens and Orianthi — who all co-wrote their respective tracks with Bach — and two tracks co-written with Myles Kennedy ("What Do I Got to Lose?" and "To Live Again"); Devin Bronson on guitars, Todd Kerns (bass) and Jeremy Coulson (drums) round out the players on the album.

"Child Within The Man" has yielded several singles/videos, all of which have impacted the rock charts: "Freedom", "What Do I Got To Lose?", "Everybody Bleeds", "(Hold On) To The Dream" and "Future Of Youth".