Sebastian Bach, Las Vegas Sun, April 2, 2000

Q&A: Bach to Basics Lisa Ferguson Sunday, April 2, 2000 | 9:39 a.m. Ancient history. That's how Sebastian Bach likes to think of the years he spent as front man of the '80s rock band Skid Row. But Bach -- who performs with his new band, Sebastian Bach & Friends, Saturday at the Mandalay Bay's House of Blues -- isn't making it easy to forget. Although he was tossed from the band's lineup in December 1996, Bach did include 10 of Skid Row's songs on his most recent solo release, "Bring 'Em Bach Alive" -- among them, "Youth Gone Wild," "18 and Life" and the power ballad "I Remember You." (The disc also includes five new songs penned by Bach and his "friends.") And, in a time when teenage pop stars -- not aging rockers -- are dominating the music charts, the 31-year-old (he celebrates a birthday Monday) maintains his party-hearty attitude and flowing blond locks. These could be troublesome things if it weren't for the fact that Bach, a father of two, is also still packing in crowds at the venues where he has performed on this tour. His website, www.sebastianbach.com, boasts of several sold-out shows around the country and overseas. "I'm like the Willie Nelson of rock," Bach said in a recent telephone interview during a tour stop in Alaska. "I've got long hair, I've got a tour bus, I've got a microphone, I go on the road and I play every single night." Old habits, it seem, die hard. Las Vegas Sun: What exactly happened with Skid Row? Sebastian Bach: That's old news -- 1996 was the last time I was with those guys. Basically we were together from like '86 to '96, which is 10 years, and that's a long time for a rock band. We just basically grew in different directions as to what kind of music we all liked. Sun: Several of the songs on your CD are Skid Row songs. So, you still perform them? SB: Yeah. That's any musician's dream, to record a song that somebody actually likes. Not many musicians can say they have done that. Elvis was singing "Heartbreak Hotel" when he was 55 (Presley was actually 42 when he died in 1977); I'm going to be singing "I Remember You" when I'm 55. That was like the No. 1 (high school) prom song of 1990 ... so I'm stuck with that one, baby. Sun: "Counterpunch," one of the new songs you wrote for the CD, is that your reply to Skid Row? SB: I tried not to write that song too literal, but it says, "When nothing's all there is, you've hit the skids." You could say that if you're a teacher and you got laid off, or if you're a car salesman or if you're in Skid Row (laughs). So I tried to write it for everyone, but you can only write about what you go through in life and that is what I went through, so I guess the answer is yes. Sun: The comic strip on the "Bring 'Em Bach Alive" CD sleeve shows your obvious distaste for the current music scene. How do you feel about the pop invasion that music is experiencing now? SB: It's funny because when I first came on the scene in '89 with Skid Row the biggest band around then was New Kids on the Block, and now it's the Backstreet Boys. To me, I can't really tell the difference. I'm very fortunate that most of my shows are completely sold out, like a good 90 percent of them, and back then when I started out it was the same kind of excitement. ... I get onstage and it's all exciting and I say to the crowd, "Could you please tell me what year it is, '89 or '99?" Sun: So you're not a fan of the boy bands? SB: Aww, come on. I write my own songs, I scream my (expletive) off. I don't need a stylist to tell me what kind of pants to wear. Sun: But can you dance? SB: No, I can't. That's why I'm in a rock band. Sun: You were a huge proponent of legalizing marijuana. Are you still behind that? SB: Sure. I was on the cover of High Times magazine in July of 1993. I believe that if alcohol is legal then marijuana is far more copacetic, as far as I'm concerned, (because of its) healing nature. When you drink whiskey or something you go out and get into a fight and (could possibly) lose your life. But when you smoke too much pot, you might watch "The Sopranos" and eat a bag of salt and vinegar (potato) chips and fall asleep too early. ... To me alcohol makes you violent and makes you throw up and pot makes you eat too much pizza and fall asleep too quick. I just say what everybody knows. I'm not the only one who does it. I mean, Willie Nelson, he makes me look like a Girl Scout as far as activism goes. Sun: You're a big fan of the Internet also. You maintain your own website? SB: With my Internet site, sebastianbach.com, it's like my own rock magazine, TV station, radio station, poster shop, T-shirt stand -- it's everything rolled into one. ... I can put on there, "Sebastian Bach live at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. Click here to buy a ticket," and it goes to Ticketmaster. Back when I first came out (on the music scene), you really needed MTV and that kind of thing, but now with the Internet, you don't have to be a rock star or anything. Any band can have their own site and get right into everybody's living room, which to me is awesome. Sun: You mentioned MTV. VH1 featured you in an episode of "Before They Were Rock Stars." How did that make you feel? SB: It was cool. They got (footage of) me when I was 11 years old with a shovel (mimicking) "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick. I really love that channel because they play so much rock 'n' roll. I'm just about to do that show "The List" for them. "Before They Were Rock Stars" was really cool because I had all these (home) videos (taken) since '83 or whatever and I was waiting for the proper place to show them, and VH1 called me up and I was like, "Yeah, this is perfect," because they really treated me nice and with respect and they just did a great job with that piece. Sun: How's fatherhood? SB: You know, people ask, "How has life changed now that you're a father?" I had a kid before I ever put out the first Skid Row record. So, if you liked me then, there's no difference." archive