SKID ROW Guitarist On New Album: 'We're Stirring Up People's Emotions One Way Or The Other'

Ryan Sparks of Classic Rock Revisited recently conducted an interview with SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Classic Rock Revisited: What has the response been like to the new record "Revolutions Per Minute"?

Snake: The response has been great. Most of the people who have reviewed it have said it's great but there have been a couple of really, really negative reviews also. I don't mind that so much and we were just talking about this earlier, no one is in the middle on this, most of them love it and some of them hate it. I think that's good though because you're causing a stir of emotions in people one way or the other and I think it's one of those records that take more than one listen to grasp on to it. After it was done it took me two or three listens to go, "Man this is a fuckin' great record." Those have always been the best records for me and the ones that stick with you the longest. If we're having people react in such a powerful way, whether it is extremely positive or negative or whatever then I'm fine with that. We're stirring up people's emotions one way or the other and I always think that's a good thing.

Classic Rock Revisited: Why do you think there is no middle of the road with this record?

Snake: Because I think it's a very different record for us. I think that there are a lot of different expressions that are touched upon in the different songs. Another thing as well, with every record we've done ballads and such and with this one we didn't. We shied away from it and just did a straight ahead, pure rock record.

Classic Rock Revisited: Compared to past projects did you knock this album off pretty quickly?

Snake: Yeah absolutely. It wasn't as drawn out a process as it may have been in the past and I just think that's because of a few things, familiarity with Michael and the studio and having a great amount of pre-production.

Classic Rock Revisited: And maybe not working with a certain singer as well?

Snake: Oh exactly. Having Johnny [Solinger] do this now is so much easier for all of us. The band is so much tighter in every aspect than we were in the past because everyone has a great mutual respect for one another. There's no arguing or anything, we discuss things like fuckin' adults you know? It's not a case of ego taking over any aspect of the songwriting or recording process. It really comes down to being respectful of each other and really trying to be objective for what's best for the song or the record. Johnny is always wide open to all ideas and takes direction extremely well and he's just happy to be in a band as we all are.

Classic Rock Revisited: Have you ever crossed paths with Sebastian [Bach]?

Snake: You know I haven't. I've maybe seen him twice in eight years. I don't wish ill will on anybody and I wish everybody success. He's got a family and people to feed and stuff like that so I wish him success. It worked for a little while then it stopped working with us and I'm fine with that man. I'm a happy guy and I'm in a really good place, the band is in a really good place and I wish him the best. We had our time together and it was wonderful to a certain degree and then like I said, it fell apart and imploded as it often does with bands. I'm glad that we were able to pick ourselves up, put this thing back together and be able to go out and still make a living doing it.

Classic Rock Revisited: Did you see any of the reality TV show ["SuperGroup"] that he did?

Snake: Yeah I saw some of them [laughing].

Classic Rock Revisited: Any comments on that?

Snake: I think that what people saw on that show was a fairly good indicator of who that person is.

Classic Rock Revisited: Rumor had it that when you guys were doing the KISS shows back in 2000 that you got Ace [Frehley] in some trouble and that you were a bit of a negative influence?

Snake: [laughing] Without a doubt and you can blame that one on me. He wasn't supposed to be drinking but once we got on the road and started getting into it, he saw that we were having parties every night and stuff like that. He started coming in to our dressing room and the next thing you know he's emptying out his can of soda and throwing vodka in it and bringing it up onstage and shit like that. The way I look at it, you're a big boy and you can make your own decisions but it came back to haunt him. God bless him, I hear he's two years sober now and looks and sounds great. I'm happy for him, I love the guy. I think he's awesome.

Read the entire interview at www.classicrockrevisited.com.