SEBASTIAN BACH Takes 'First Step' Toward Beginning Work On New Solo Album

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has told Ultimate Classic Rock in a new interview that he is beginning to think about a follow-up to his 2024 solo LP "Child Within The Man".

"I'm starting to get the itch to do a new studio album," he said. "My last one, 'Child Within The Man', came out in 2024 and I've made the first step, which is creating a Dropbox folder for Bruiser [Brody DeRozie], my guitar player; Fede [Delfino], my bass player; and Paris [Bach], my drummer, who's my son."

As for possible songwriting collaborators for his next effort, Bach said: "I'm going to be working with Devin Bronson again. I'm going to reach out to Myles Kennedy [ALTER BRIDGE, Slash], who co-wrote two songs on my last album, [including] probably, without a doubt, my favorite solo song I ever recorded, 'What Do I Got to Lose', which is such a fucking kick-ass tune. I just I love it. That was co-written with Myles Kennedy. Thank you, Myles Kennedy."

"So, I've made the first step. We've got the Dropbox folder," Sebastian added. "It's working. It's called 'New Ideas 2026'. So here we go. That's how I do it. I make a folder, I go and put it on my phone. I listen to it constantly and after a period of time, that folder becomes my new album. And I just make it as everything I want it to be. I'm pretty controlling about the sound that I want."

This past March, Bach told the Iron City Rocks podcast about his insistence on making new music and performing his latest solo music live instead of relying completely on the catalog of his previous band: "Well, we do 'What Do I Got To Lose?' and 'Freedom' and 'Future Of Youth' [from 'Child Within The Man'], we do those every show, and we do '(Hold On) To The Dream' 99% of the shows. So those are four tunes that are in the set. And my audience makes no distinction between — it just fits right in."

Referencing other artists who focus almost exclusively on performing their hits, Bach said: "I understand that way of thinking, but that would be so boring to me, to not have any new songs. I would be bored out of my mind. I'm not into this to be bored.

"I'm always gonna be putting out new stuff, 'cause that's what I enjoy doing," he explained. "But I should preface that by saying, don't really hold your breath for the next one, because we had the total odd occurrence of the pandemic, which allowed me and the musicians to just concentrate on nothing except for that album. And rock and roll's always reinventing itself and nowadays people are just clamoring to come to shows. And I think it's because we all spend so much time on our phones and our computers and staring at screens that we all are, like, 'Enough. Oh my God. Let's go rock out and have fun with our friends and our family and sing songs that we love and be together with other people instead of just staring at a screen.' That's really the way I feel."

This past January, Bach told This Day In Metal that he wanted to make "a Christmas record" at some point in his life. "I love Christmas music, and I know exactly the kind of Christmas record I would make," he said. "It's not gonna be 'Jingle Bells' with electric guitars. It's gonna be a traditional piano, organ-based record of vocals of songs that I did in the church when I was in Peterborough, Ontario at Anglican Church — All Saints, I think it was called. So that's what I want. I need to do that at some point."

"Child Within The Man" was well received, with Associated Press saying "…it shows a fierce performer in prime fighting form…his vocals remain sharp and his songwriting talents as cunning as ever," while Ultimate Classic Rock noted: "Bach's voice has lost none of its rage or range, even in the highest registers…" In addition, the album's "(Hold On) To The Dream" track was included in Consequence's "30 Best Metal & Hard Rock Songs Of 2024" which described the song as "...a late-career masterpiece from the former SKID ROW singer. Baz hits some of the highest notes of his career on the sweeping ballad, an inspiring anthem about perseverance."

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

"Child Within The Man" 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 (MÖTLEY CRÜE, ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON),Steve Stevens (BILLY IDOL) and Orianthi (ALICE COOPER, MICHAEL JACKSON) — who all co-wrote their respective tracks with Bach — and two tracks co-written with ALTER BRIDGE's Myles Kennedy ("What Do I Got to Lose?" and "To Live Again"). Devin Bronson (guitars),Todd Kerns (bass) and Jeremy Colson (drums) round out the players on the album.

Prior to "Child Within The Man"'s arrival, Bach hadn't released a full-length disc since "Give 'Em Hell", which came out in March 2014.

Image credit: Melvin Zoopers