SKID ROW's DAVE 'SNAKE' SABO: 'We're The Closest We've Been As A Band For A Long Time'

The Rockpit recently conducted an interview with SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Rockpit: It certainly seems like you are a happy band these days. Everyone seems to be getting on so well, and to see you guys playing out there, live, so much, it really rubs off on the audiences and the crowds.

Snake: Yeah, and it's genuine. You can't fake that stuff; it's impossible! I think we're the closest we've been as a band for a long time. I think one of the thing that has really come to the forefront of our consciousness is that everyone really appreciates the fact that, and we are humbled by the fact that, we are able to do this for a living, and able to make music for a living and that does not get lost on us any way whatsoever. I get up every day, and to be honest with you, it's very much part of my consciousness, no matter if it's a shitty day or whatever, I still get to go up on stage and make music for a living. It's a pretty incredible thing, I think a lot of people don't recognize that in us, and certainly with us it is an amazing gift. What we do is not a birthright, it's a privilege, and we treat it with that respect. To know that people are making a conscious effort to go out and buy a ticket to come and see the band is pretty awesome, and that's our mindset when we go out on stage, that we have a responsibility to that audience to perform to the best of our abilities. I kid you not, it is really humbling.

The Rockpit: [The new SKID ROW EP, "Rise Of The Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two"], there is some wonderful songs on there. The overwhelming vibe that we get from it, is that it has that classic SKID ROW sound, it's the sound of the first two albums, songs like "We Are The Damned", and "Give It The Gun" has a slightly more AEROSMITH feel to it.

Snake: Oh, I love that you said that!! Thank you, that's a great compliment!! When we started working on the record, Rachel [Bolan, bass] and I always get together and have a conversation about life. We've known each other for twenty eight years now, and we probably know each other better than we know anybody else in our lives, and that's including family members. We talk every day and hang out every day. So we sat down to write this, and just started talking about things that were important to us and one of the first things we said was, "Why do we do this? What propelled us in the first place to do this?" And it forced us in to going back to being that 15- or 16-year-old kid, standing in front of the mirror, pretending to be Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons or Joe Perry or whoever, and that was our form of expression. We were socially awkward, we didn't fit into a certain group of people and we didn't know how to express ourselves, and all of a sudden music came along, and we found our voice, and we found the release valve, and the lightswitch went on. So, we got back to that, and you realize that, and while things that you may experience at a young age, or in your teens, they may seem mundane now, being an adult, but the impact of them is still the same. At 16, some of those problems mean the world, they can be potentially soul-crushing, and earth-shattering, even though you may look back and go, "Oh, my god," but at that point in your life they are, they're impactful, so music was the way to express ourselves and release our inner emotions, and realize that it's the same thing today. I mean, the problems may be different, but the impact is still the same. You peel back the layers of life and you get back to that bare essence again. It's like a lightswitch went on and the gates opened, and we kept that same space throughout the writing and the recording of the EP, and I think that's carried in to the whole touring process. We have a really , really good grasp of how fortunate we are to be able to do this.

The Rockpit: So, hence, the cover versions that are appearing on there as bonus tracks as well? Presumably they are the bands that really meant that much to you guys when you were growing up, like QUEEN, AEROSMITH, JUDAS PRIEST on the previous EP, is that fair to say?

Snake: Yeah, absolutely! That was the hardest part of doing the EP, finding those couple of songs to cover, because we didn't really argue over the songs that we were writing, but the whole back and forth was a bit frustrating for everybody because we just couldn't figure out which two songs we were going to do! Everybody has their favorite song, so it's difficult sometimes, but after trial and error, we finally got there, and I love both of them. Not that I don't love the two on the first EP, they're a reflection of who we are and what influences us, and what has influenced us, and I know we did them with tremendous respect, and I hope that comes across.

Read the entire interview at The Rockpit.