SEBASTIAN BACH: I've Never Urged Fans To Put Their Cellphones Away

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has denied having ever urged his fans to put their cellphones away while attending one of his concerts, explaining that he is "just offering [his] opinion on the subject."

In a recent interview with SiouxCityJournal.com, Bach lamented the fact that so many people attending shows nowadays are filming low-quality video clips of the performance and later uploading them to YouTube. He said: "Be in the moment. You're distracted and it's distracting to the performer as well. Like, put your fuckin' cellphone away, dammit! You're never even going to watch that footage."

He continued: "If I go to a wedding and sing a song, it's on Blabbermouth the next day and everybody analyzes it. It's a really backwards way to watch a band. It's a drag sometimes when I go up there and the first thing I see is everybody getting their phones out and holding them toward my face. It makes you feel intimidated."

Bach has since clarified his stance on the topic of fans taping his shows, saying that live performers should be given the same respect as films in movie theaters, which have a long-standing policy requiring audiences to silence their phones and putting away any recording devices during showings. The singer told KNAC.COM in a new interview: "Blabbermouth is a site that I actually like. I don't read the comments, I just read the stories, like every other musician. What they'll do is take a sentence I've said and turn it into a headline. The headline was; 'Sebastian Bach To Fans: 'Put Your Fuckin' Cellphones Away!' I've never urged any fans ever! I never did that! I was talking to a guy [during an interview]."

He continued: "Here's my point: When I go to a fucking movie like 'The Avengers', right?!? There's a big fucking sign: 'Please Be Kind And Put Away Your Cellphones,' and if anybody's on a fucking cellphone, I want to fuckin' smack em'! In the movie theater, there's not even anyone on stage! We're watching the playback of a tape! So, for live performances, you don't give the same respect?!? You can't go to a movie and have your cellphone on, but when you have actual live human beings, it's fucking okay? That's fucking bullshit! It's not appropriate in our society to stand up in a theater and film the fucking movie, but it's totally acceptable to do that at a concert? I've done four fucking Broadway shows and you can't pull out your fucking cellphone or you'll get kicked out! Do you know why? Because it's distracting. It's just not the way to watch and enjoy a show."

Bach went on to say: "I've toured with the best of the best. I've filmed shit on my cellphone from the side of the stage watching Axl [Rose] and everybody. Guess how many times I've watched that shit? Zero. I look at it and go, 'That sucks! Delete.' It sounds like shit and it looks like shit. I think it takes the mystery out of rock and roll.

"With the KISS album 'Alive', they've admitted that they overdubbed shit — and that's what everybody loves. If you listened to 'Alive', then went to one of the 'Alive' shows, would you enjoy it as much? No, you wouldn't. That's my point.

"We used to control what got released, which created an element of mystery and implemented quality control. Just because you film it doesn't mean you have to share it with everybody. [Laughs] "

Sebastian added: "When I was in SKID ROW, there were times when we spent entire days doing photo shoots. I mean like eight hours of posing with all the lights and shit. When we would get the photo session back, we would end up with like seven hundred pictures and then we'd pick two and that's what everybody would see. People didn't get to see every fucking picture! We'd pick the best ones. That shit doesn't exist anymore!

"Having said all that… I don't give a fuck. Film whatever you want. I don't care. I'm just offering an opinion, not telling anybody what to do or urging anyone to do or not do anything. I'm just offering my opinion on the subject."

Bach is continuing to tour in support of his latest solo album, "Give 'Em Hell", which was released on April 22, 2014 via Frontiers Records.

As previously reported, Dey Street Books (formerly It Books),an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, has set a January 19, 2016 release date for Bach's much-anticipated autobiography, "18 And Life On Skid Row".