SKID ROW's SCOTTI HILL Rules Out Reunion With SEBASTIAN BACH: 'I Don't Wanna Be In The Room With Somebody That I Don't Like'

In a new interview with the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast, SKID ROW guitarist Scotti Hill spoke about the band's search for a new singer following the recent exit of Erik Grönwall. Erik, who was SKID ROW's fourth frontman since Sebastian Bach's departure, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021. As a result, he is immunocompromised, which made touring difficult.

Scotti said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We are looking at some people. We've got a nice list of people that we're gonna sit down with. And we're continuing to look. But it's not like SMASHING PUMPKINS and we're just inviting the whole world in to throw their tapes on our desk. That's a little over the top."

Asked if singers have reached out to him and his SKID ROW bandmates about trying out of for the group or if they are actively seeking out potential vocalists, Scotti said: "Lots of people have reached out. I understand why. But I'm not the guy to get in touch with. I love SKID ROW. SKID ROW is my family, it's my life, but when I'm not with SKID ROW, I'm in here [at my home] doing stuff. So I kind of keep my fingers out of that whole thing. But a lot of people are getting in touch with us and some of them are really good. Some of them are not really good. But with YouTube and Instagram and such, you can go out and find people quite easily. It wasn't like the old days where you had to put an ad in every music paper in the country and word of mouth and all that stuff, pre-Internet. It's much easier now."

As for whether there is a preference of whether it's a "name" singer or not, Scotti said: "No. It doesn't even have to be a guy. Look at Lzzy [Hale of HALESTORM who played four shows with SKID ROW in late May and early June as a guest vocalist]. I mean, she came and rocked it. It could be a woman."

Hill also once again addressed some fans' incessant calls for a reunion with Sebastian Bach, who was the singer during the band's most commercially successful period. He said: "Well, they're never gonna stop asking [about a reunion]. But for me, and I think I can speak for the other guys, it's just a simple quality-of-life issue. People are, like, 'Just put your differences aside and do it.' Well, I don't wanna do it. There are no differences. I don't wanna do it. I don't wanna be in the room with somebody that I don't like.

"We did great things in the past, but this is about way more than a band or music," Scotti explained. "'Do it for the fans.' No, no. I'm not going to put my good life and well-being and peace, I'm not gonna sacrifice that for the fans. That's not what I do. And anybody that calls himself a fan wouldn't ask the band to put themselves through something they don't wanna do. But people just want what they want. They just want what they want. They want that band back with that guy. They still want Bon Scott back in AC/DC. I mean, come on."

Pressed about whether there is a specific "personality trait" that makes a SKID ROW reunion with Bach impossible, Hill said: "I don't wanna have food poisoning every day of the week. That's all. It's toxic. There's no specific thing. I mean, there's a lot of specific things. There's a lot of specific things. And we've always been really tight-lipped about that. And maybe someday we'll just start talking about it. There's a lot to talk about. Let's put the focus somewhere else.

"If you don't like SKID ROW without that singer, you don't have to listen," he added. "And on the flipside of that, if you love that singer, if you love both of us, then go see him, go see him. We're talking about Sebastian Bach. Go see him. I'll tell you what. You know what I'll give him, is the guy puts it out there, man. He puts it out there. He is 100 percent rock and roll all the time, and he puts it out there. So if you go see him, you're gonna get a rock show. But I don't need that in my life. I'm not gonna put myself through whatever. I just don't want it."

This past May, SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo also ruled out a reunion with Bach telling The Hook Rocks podcast: "It's not gonna happen. And I say the same thing every time. I'm thankful that people have such an interest in wanting to see that happen, but I also have to reiterate that this is about being happy in the situation that you're in. So I'll speak for myself personally.

"First of all, I do need to say something too, is that the reason that this isn't happening is because there's three of us — myself, Scotti and Rachel [Bolan, SKID ROW bassist] — who've had conversations about this, and we've all been on the same page that we don't wanna go down that road again. We just — we don't.

"Rachel has taken a beating over this through the years," Sabo continued. "He's the one who's been blamed for this. 'Oh, it's Rachel's ego.' 'It's this and that.' No, that's a load of bullshit. That is not true. And I feel bad because he's really, really had to shoulder that blame and has never said anything derogatory or anything like that. But you know what? The truth of the matter is that Rachel, Scotti and myself have continually felt the same way, that we enjoy being happy in this band and we're really happy.

"It's been such a great experience for the last however, 35 years, everything, all the ups, all the downs, everything, but we just don't wanna revisit that particular aspect of our history," he explained. "I love the songs, [I] love a lot of the memories, [I am] not fond of some of the memories, but just as individuals and as a collective, that's just how we feel. So this is not on Rachel. And this has nothing to do with anyone's ego or anything like that. So that's just gotta be clear. Again, for anyone to sit there and make assumptions that this is Rachel Bolan saying 'nope,' it's not. It's the three of us, and we've all collectively sat there and just said that we don't wanna do it. We just don't wanna do it. And we wish everybody all the best."

Snake added: "We've been just ripped apart by ex-members of the band and stuff — ripped apart. Some really shitty stuff [has been] said about all of us. And we just choose not to [respond]. It's not who I am. It's not who we are. We won't go down that road. We just wanna play music and be happy. This has really never been about a monetary aspect of things because it's known that we've been offered a good amount of money to do shows together and to reunite [with Sebastian] and whatever, but it's just never been about the money, man. I choose my happiness, my willingness to continue to be a really good friend to my best friends and a really good husband and a really good dad and bandmate and person. And I don't wanna endanger that in any way. So the people that we choose to play with, those choices are made in order to keep those particular things in line for all of us."

Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY. In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of bassist Rachel Bolan, guitarists Dave "Snake" Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger. SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing ex-TNT vocalist Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart, who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I. Theart was fired from SKID ROW in February 2022 and was replaced by Grönwall, who was previously a member of the Swedish hard rock band H.E.A.T.

Four years ago, Bolan confirmed that he and his bandmates "were entertaining the idea" of reuniting with Bach following Harnell's departure. But Rachel shot down the possibility of a rekindling of his friendship with Sebastian, explaining: "Well… Here's the soundbite for Blabbermouth. I wouldn't say we were friends [when we were in a band together]. We were bandmates. You know what I mean? We're two very different people." Bolan added that he hadn't seen Bach "in years."

Five years ago, Bach was asked by Rolling Stone what it would take for SKID ROW to be reunited. He responded: "It would take those guys to realize that I have a lifetime manager. His name is Rick Sales. I've been with him since 2006. They don't want to deal with a guy like that. They want to give some singer who doesn't have a manager $700 to $800 bucks a week. I've got a team that's worked with me and don't allow me to get fucked around. I didn't have that team when I was 19 years old."

In response to Bach's statements about the earnings of SKID ROW's singer, Sabo told Rolling Stone in an e-mail: "I guess fact-checking isn't in his skill set… The five of us go on that stage as a band and we all get paid equally. We're in this together. There's no egos."

Sebastian went on to say that SKID ROW was "close to reuniting, but then it didn't happen. The fact that it didn't happen obviously makes me somewhat bitter, because life is only getting shorter, as the song says," he added.

"I wouldn't say 'came close,'" Bolan told Rolling Stone in an e-mail response to Bach's account of the reunion talks. "We entertained the idea. Snake and I went as far as talking with agents and promoters about money. But we quickly learned after a few text conversations, why we fired him in the first place. Nothing is worth your happiness and peace of mind."

Sabo added: "It was already a miserable experience, and we didn't even get on the phone."