SEBASTIAN BACH: 'I Will Always Be The Singer Of SKID ROW, No Matter What'

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach was interviewed on this past Friday's (Novermber 23) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On his claim in a Twitter posting that he was in the studio recording with a "top-secret project that will revolutionize popular music as we know it":

Bach: "You know what's so hilarious? We've entered this new form of media where web sites make articles about tweets. I tweet all day and I mess with people. I sit there like this bored. I'm like this. [Makes snoring sound]

"I'm working on something. 'Cause I am working on two projects that I'm not allowed to tell you what they are yet, which really stinks. We have to wait until this week; they're gonna announce 'em … They're both my things… adding to my catalog. But one thing is a totally new thing. I can't tell you [what it is]; it sucks [that I am not allowed to talk about it]. I asked my manager, 'Can I announce this?' And they're, like, 'No.' They've very big, big, big, big projects. But I'm in the recording studio.

"And I'm just sitting there bored [and tweeting], 'I'm working on a project that will change the course of music history.' And, to me, every time I sing, that's changing the course of history. And then it's like, every web site [picks up the story]… 'Sebastian Bach…' And then I read in the comments, 'Oh, he's recording with Steven Spielberg on the new 'Star Wars' project.' [laughs] And I'll get in a spat with my girl, Minnie [Bach's model girlfriend Minnie Gupta], who I love with all my heart. And I'll say, 'We broke up,' and then every web site [will post an article], 'They broke up,' and then the next day we're back together. [And then they'll write] 'Oh, they're back together.' It's like, you can't make news articles out of every single tweet. I'm just tweeting."

On what he is working on now:

Bach: "This week I am announcing two gigantic projects. And I have a record deal on the table from Frontiers. [They just told me], 'Just turn it in whenever you’ve got 13 songs that you love.' But for me, I'm super-critical of what I put my name on, and it all has to sound really amazing to me."

"My next record will definitely be another solo record.

"[Bach's last solo album] 'Kicking & Screaming' did really good; everybody loved it. The video for the title track's got a million plays on YouTube. I mean, a million plays is a million plays."

On sobriety:

Bach: "[I've been sober] 17 [days] in a row. I had one slip-up, and before that slip-up, I was 10 days. So it's like [I've been sober] 27 days with one slip-up.

"I've been partying my whole life, and a couple of things happened that shocked me. Two things, specifically. My drummer of my solo band, Mark 'Bam Bam' McConnell, died at the age of… He wasn't [even] 50. He was my best drinking buddy in my life.

"I joined the band MADAM X when I was 17, and he was five years older than me.

"When I was in MADAM X, I came from a band in Toronto called KID WIKKID. I was a beer-drinker then. I'd drink beers after… just like normal. Then I joined MADAM X, and hanging out with Mark, it was just our routine after every single rehearsal, or after every single show, or at the end of every day, we would drink a ton of beer. And it was fun. And everybody was doing it. We're talking about 1985, '86. And that was just the scene; that's what we did. And I was very young. And I kind of never knew any other way; I didn't know wnay other way to live. We'd do a show, get hammered, drive to the next town, wake up, and just do that for years. And, of course, SKID ROW, we toured with PANTERA — we were out with them on their first tour — and GUNS N' ROSES we toured with, and MÖTLEY CRÜE and AEROSMITH and BON JOVI, and all of those bands know how to party.

"I played with Mark for years and I had to not play with him, because he was taking things too far.

"I've never done a show drunk; I've never had a sip of alcohol before I go on stage. I'm always straight as an arrow because it means everything to me and I wanna be the best I can be. But afterwards, I'll make up for it.

"So he was always sad that we stopped playing together. He was on my Facebook page, saying, 'Hey, Baz, I heard you were trying to quit drinking. I know it's tough. But hang in there. You can do it.' And then I get a call that he's in the hospital out of nowhere. So I go, 'He's sick in the hospital? What?' And he went to the hospital and the doctor said, 'You've only got a couple of days to live. Your organs are failing,' and all this stuff. And then two days later, he's dead.

"[Rock and roll] supposed to be fun. And there are so many [artists] that have died — like Shannon Hoon, Amy Winehouse, Jani Lane… just from drinking. And I just wanna live and be happy and rock.

"Even more heavy to me than other musicians and stuff, I've got this girl that I'm so into… I'm six-foot-four — I'm a big dude — and she's like, 'Sebastian, you can't drink anymore.' I'm like, 'Why?' She goes, ''Cause you're so big, you're scary. You're in my face, spitting in my face, and your arms are all over the place and you're loud and I think you're gonna get in a fight or get hurt or get in a car crash or go to jail.' And she's like, 'You can either keep doing that, or you can be with me and not do that.' And I totally chose the latter."

On why a reunion of SKID ROW's classic lineup hasn't happened yet:

Bach: "There's one dude out of five that doesn't wanna do it; it's so simple. That's what's happening.

"I will always be the singer of SKID ROW, no matter what. There's no other guy. It's like… John Corabi [who was briefly in MÖTLEY CRÜE as Vince Neil's replacement in the mid-1990s], I love ya — it's great — but where's Vince? I mean, that's the way it is. Walk down the street with me and count how many times [people scream out], 'Youth Gone Wild! SKID ROW!' It's like people shout out of the cars.

"Dude, if a promoter comes to me with a legitimate business offer, it's very easy for me to walk on the stage and stand behind a mic and sing my own songs that I've been doing for 25 years.

"If one dude wants to make all the fans that put us where we are happy… I mean, we all talk about KISS all the time. KISS makes the fans the boss. I mean, I think it's kind of crazy. It's like you take your football and you go home and the game is over, 'cause it's your football. It's like, 'Can I borrow your football? 'Cause we've got a game going here.'"