{"id":13279,"date":"2013-04-08T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2013-04-08T00:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=13279"},"modified":"2015-06-16T00:01:30","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T00:01:30","slug":"feature-sebastian-bach-04-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-sebastian-bach-04-13\/","title":{"rendered":"SEBASTIAN BACH – Running And Screaming (April 2013) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEBASTIAN BACH – Running And Screaming<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nApril 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nVocalist Sebastian Bach \u2013 formerly of New Jersey-based metal outfit Skid Row \u2013 performed live at the Hellfest festival in Clisson, France on June 16th, 2012, fronting his very own solo endeavour. Sebastian\u2019s performance that day was included on March 2013\u2019s ABachalypse Now<\/em><\/a>, a DVD \/ two-CD set collecting audio and video footage from across three separate shows recorded during the summer of 2012. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was beautiful weather, and it had an incredible turnout,\u201d Sebastian recalls. \u201cIt was the first time that I had played France in over 15 years or something like that, so it was amazing to come back to France after all that time and have a stadium full of people ready to rock. There was a great, great turnout for the show.\u201d <\/p>\n

The ensemble\u2019s August 2nd concert at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California was originally broadcast on AXS TV in the United States. \u201cThat one was the gig where Nick Sterling couldn\u2019t play the show for business reasons,\u201d the frontman notes. \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t sign the release for the broadcast of that concert on television across the United States of America. Everybody signed the release so it could be on television but he refused to sign the release, so he wasn\u2019t able to be a part of the broadcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to scramble before the gig to get some guitar players. We got Jinxx from the Black Veil Brides, and Roy Z who produced my Angel Down<\/em><\/a> (November 2007) record. That was a very difficult show to do, but the show must go on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such comments suggest Nick Sterling wished to be paid more cash. \u201cAll I know is that he wouldn\u2019t sign the release, and so I wasn\u2019t able to have him be a part of it,\u201d Sebastian responds.<\/p>\n

A late March 2013 Facebook posting by the mainman acknowledged the fact that studio repairs were made to live audio recordings of the Hellfest and Club Nokia performances. \u201cI was making a CD of those two shows,\u201d he begins. \u201cAny time there was a note that wasn\u2019t pleasing to my ear, since it\u2019s going on a CD for the rest of my life I\u2019m going to make it sound as good as I can, so you can keep listening to this 20 years from now. I\u2019m not making a record to compete with clips on YouTube. I\u2019m making a record to compete with Kiss\u2019 Alive!<\/em> (September 1975), and Judas Priest\u2019s Unleashed In The East<\/em> (September 1979). There\u2019s as much overdubbing on there as there is on Unleashed In The East<\/em>, and Kiss\u2019 Alive!<\/em> There\u2019s about that much overdubbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not trying to make something that competes with things that you see on YouTube. I\u2019m trying to make something that bears repeated listenings, and the reason that you record a concert with 72 tracks is so that you can make those 72 tracks sound good. You don\u2019t pull in a truck with 72-track recording equipment, and then not do anything with those tracks (laughs). There\u2019s no point in recording the concert with 72 tracks if you don\u2019t plan on mixing the tracks, and making them sound good. That\u2019s the purpose of recording them with 72 tracks.\u201d <\/p>\n

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At both of the aforementioned live commitments, Sebastian proved he is a sprightly entertainer. \u201cWhen I\u2019ve done a show, it\u2019s always the same situation,\u201d he explains. \u201cEverybody expects me to party, drink, carouse, and talk as loud as I can, but nobody can understand why I am fuckin\u2019 beat to shit and exhausted. I can\u2019t move after the show; I can\u2019t breathe. It takes me at least an hour to get my breathing and my heart rate back to a normal rate after playing a gigantic show like Download, but people literally get mad at me if I don\u2019t get drunk with them, talk really loud, and go out to clubs. I\u2019m like \u2018I don\u2019t give a fuck about that shit. I am here to sing; I am here to put on a show.\u2019 I put a lot of energy into the show, and once the show stops I\u2019m pretty much exhausted (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

Musicians must maintain healthy fitness levels to produce. \u201cI\u2019m an avid runner,\u201d the composer discloses. \u201cI run as much as I can. If you follow me on Twitter, you would know that I am always running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastian\u2019s appearance at the Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium on June 24th, 2012 is included on ABachalypse Now<\/em>\u2019s DVD portion, but not on either of its two compact discs. \u201cIt was the earliest time I had ever been asked to go onstage,\u201d he remembers. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for a long time, so I was quite frustrated at the prospect of having to go onstage at like noon or 1pm. It ended up being a really good show, though. When I was going through all of the footage to put on the DVD, that show stuck out because it was more musically accurate than some of the shows where I was running back and forth across the stage like a football player. I learnt a lot, and understand what it means to be a frontman. I couldn\u2019t run around the stage, because it was raining. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s actually my favourite show to watch, because there are no overdubs or repairs in the studio for that show. It\u2019s a 100% live, and it\u2019s really fun to watch. I learnt that as I get older, maybe I\u2019m gonna stand still a little more on the stage when I sing, because to me it\u2019s more powerful. The music means more to me than how the musician jumps around, or does a spin and a pirouette. The music is more impressive to me now than moving around a lot. That\u2019s just my own personal tastes as a musician; as I get older, it\u2019s more to do with the music than the stage moves or the antics onstage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The singer\u2019s live set list draws upon material cut with Skid Row as well as material cut as a solo artist. \u201cIf I\u2019m doing a show like Download (on June 10th, 2012) where I have 40 minutes, 40 minutes is about seven songs or maybe six songs,\u201d he observes. \u201cThat isn\u2019t really a lot, so if somebody tells me \u2018Okay, Sebastian. You\u2019re playing Download today; you get to play for 40 minutes. You get to play six songs,\u2019 then you\u2019re gonna hear \u2018Youth Gone Wild\u2019 (from January 1989\u2019s Skid Row<\/em>), \u2018Monkey Business\u2019 (from June 1991\u2019s Slave To The Grind<\/em>), \u201818 & Life\u2019 (from Skid Row<\/em>), \u2018I Remember You\u2019 (from Skid Row<\/em>), \u2018Slave To The Grind\u2019 (from the album of the same name), and that\u2019s pretty much it (laughs). There\u2019s no time to do any other songs, when I only have six songs to play. If I play a headline show for two hours then I can do more songs, but I\u2019m not gonna go onstage at Download and have the whole crowd that is there for Black Sabbath in front of my face… It was completely packed for my show. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not gonna take \u2018I Remember You\u2019 out of the set; that is the set, and that\u2019s a really popular tune. I\u2019m pretty much the only male human being in the world that can sing it in the key that it\u2019s written in on the record, and I feel very blessed that I can still do that. When I say that I\u2019m the only man in the world who can sing that song in the correct key, that isn\u2019t a slight against anybody. It\u2019s not an opinion of mine, but that\u2019s a fact. It\u2019s a simple statement of fact; no male can sing that the way I sing it. I\u2019m talking about the actual note of the melody of the song, the way the song goes. I have not heard another male human being on the planet sing it the way it was written, and the way that it was sung on the first Skid Row album. The only other person I\u2019ve heard do it is Carrie Underwood; she does it amazing, perfectly, but she\u2019s a girl (laughs).<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf the public latches onto a solo song of mine in the same way that they latched onto \u2018I Remember You\u2019 though, then I\u2019ll put that into the set. It\u2019s not up to me what people wanna hear. I get paid to do a good concert, so I\u2019m not gonna walk onstage and say \u2018Hey… We just came up with this on the bus this afternoon. Fucking check it out everybody.\u2019 I\u2019m not gonna do that (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastian seemingly feels that other male vocalists lack the range to perform \u2018I Remember You\u2019 in its correct key. \u201cI guess so, yeah,\u201d he muses.<\/p>\n

ABachalypse Now<\/em>\u2019s front cover consists of a live photograph shot by Katarina Benzova at the vocalist\u2019s Hellfest date. \u201cEverything you see in your hand is by design,\u201d he underscores. \u201cKatarina Benzova is Guns N\u2019 Roses\u2019 photographer, and we were opening for Guns N\u2019 Roses at Hellfest. She is an incredible artist, and the pictures are beautiful. She really captured that day, with the clouds and the sky, and the motion. I just think of them as absolutely gorgeous photos, and Frontiers did a great job of making exactly what I wanted to make through the cropping and the placements, and what picture goes where. We\u2019re also doing an 180 gram vinyl album of ABachalypse Now<\/em> that\u2019s gonna open up in a gatefold sleeve with gigantic, amazing covers, and that\u2019s gonna be really cool. <\/p>\n

\u201cI miss album covers. If you go to the iTunes store, pretty much every single album cover is just a head shot of the artist with a logo on top, and that\u2019s really boring to me. I\u2019m very much into the artwork of everything; I think it\u2019s a part of the package. I used to collect Metal Forces<\/em> magazine back in 1983, so I\u2019m coming from the same world that you guys are. I like records, I like big packaging, and I like posters (laughs). ABachalypse Now<\/em> is gonna be on coloured vinyl with a gatefold sleeve, and I\u2019m very excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although a fan of long-play records, Sebastian prefers compact discs to MP3 files. \u201cI like WAV files,\u201d he tells. \u201cI like big files of music; I don\u2019t want tiny, little, compressed files, and I also like to own a hard copy of the music that I\u2019m purchasing. I don\u2019t want to just have something in the cloud; I want to be able to hold it in my hand (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff George was publicly announced as the frontman\u2019s new guitarist on September 28th, 2012. \u201cI met him through Danny (Worsnop, vocals) from Asking Alexandria, because Jeff plays in Danny\u2019s solo side project,\u201d he reveals. \u201cI met him, and he was really cool. He\u2019s come into the band with a lot of great musical ideas, some kick ass riffs. We\u2019re gonna make an amazing album together; that\u2019s what I\u2019m working on now. It\u2019s in the same vein as the first Skid Row album, Slave To The Grind<\/em>, Subhuman Race<\/em> (March 1995), Bring \u2019Em Bach Alive<\/em> (November 1999), Angel Down<\/em>, Kicking & Screaming<\/em><\/a> (September 2011), ABachalypse Now<\/em>, and Forever Wild<\/em> (June 2004). It\u2019s in the same vein as all of those releases. It\u2019s supposed to come out pretty soon; I have deadlines coming up. I\u2019m working on it with Bob Marlette, the same producer who did Kicking & Screaming<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, I\u2019m also working with John 5 from Rob Zombie\u2019s band, who I co-wrote the song \u2018TunnelVision\u2019 with (from Kicking & Screaming<\/em>). I met John 5 through Bob Marlette. John 5 is a huge Skid Row fan; John 5 was actually in the \u2018Piece Of Me\u2019 video from 1989 (and from Skid Row<\/em>) before he was John 5. He\u2019s in that video, where he jumps onstage and does a stage dive \u2013 that\u2019s John 5. I\u2019ve been working with John 5 since Kicking & Screaming<\/em>, but he\u2019s known me for over 20 years (laughs). I\u2019m working with Steve Stevens from Billy Idol\u2019s band too, who wants to make a real metal album, and Bobby Jarzombek on the drums. That\u2019s who I\u2019m working with right now on the new stuff, so that\u2019ll be cool.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bassist Rob De Luca parted ways with Sebastian\u2019s solo group because \u201che wanted more money,\u201d Sebastian asserts.<\/p>\n

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A former touring bassist for metal group Stone Sour, Jason Christopher\u2019s appointment surfaced on January 31st, 2013. \u201cI met Jason Christopher through Corey Taylor of Slipknot (also of Stone Sour),\u201d the mainman informs. \u201cThe first time I ever met Jason, I was standing there at the Rainbow and somebody was trying to pick-pocket my wallet out of the back pocket of my pants. My wallet was chained up to my belt loop, though. I turned around, and it was Jason trying to take my wallet (laughs). That\u2019s the first time I ever met him. He had played in Stone Sour, and he was a great bass player.\u201d<\/p>\n

November 2007 full-length Angel Down<\/em> was arguably a landmark opus for Sebastian. \u201cIt\u2019s just as important as Slave To The Grind<\/em>, and every record I have done,\u201d he scrutinises. \u201cI put all my energy and all my efforts into making as good an album as I can, and with every album that I make. I did the exact same thing as a singer on Angel Down<\/em> as I did on the first Skid Row album. For me, there\u2019s no difference other than the members of the band. I do the same thing with every album. The guys in Skid Row will tell you that I have a big ego and that I\u2019m hard to work with, but I think the music that I put out speaks for itself and the music that they put out speaks for itself. I think that Kicking & Screaming<\/em>… Any music fan would tell you that Kicking & Screaming<\/em> and Angel Down<\/em> are more along the lines of Slave To The Grind<\/em> or the first Skid Row album than anything that they\u2019ve put out without me. All you\u2019ve gotta is listen to the music, and there\u2019s no way you could come to any other conclusion (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

The songwriter has yet to listen to Skid Row\u2019s April 2013 EP United World Rebellion: Chapter One<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019ve seen the album cover on Blabbermouth, and I\u2019ve read the title,\u201d he shares. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason I\u2019m not in that band anymore (laughs). I\u2019ll just be totally honest with you right now. I wouldn\u2019t be part of an album called United World Rebellion: Chapter One<\/em>. To me, that\u2019s not a good title. It\u2019s very not good (laughs). I don\u2019t think it sounds good. I don\u2019t think it means anything, so right there we would not be getting along. I wouldn\u2019t put out an album with that title. You can say what you want about me; I just know what I like, and it\u2019s not a great title.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviewers frequently query Sebastian regarding Skid Row, a subject one would figure he finds tedious to discuss on such an everyday basis. \u201cI agree to do interviews,\u201d he ponders. \u201cI get asked a question, and I answer the question. I don\u2019t look at the music business or the entertainment business as being fed up with it. I consider myself very lucky to have sold 20 million records with the band Skid Row. There were three musicians signed to Atlantic Records as Skid Row \u2013 me and two other guys in the band. Not five guys, but three guys. I am one of them, so as a corporation and as a business I will always be a member of Skid Row. I am part owner of the corporation Skid Row, so I own part of the band. If I am a part of the corporation, I expect to be asked about it. It\u2019s a business; I still get royalty cheques from Atlantic Records for Skid Row. The current singer does not, so I am probably more qualified to talk about Skid Row \u2013 given that I own part of it \u2013 than he is (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

An inevitable question is whether the singer would ever wish to reunite with Skid Row. \u201cDo I want to?,\u201d he questions. \u201cDo I personally want to? No, I do not personally want to. Would I? Yes, I would. I don\u2019t do everything just because I want to. Some things can be for other people, like the fans. I would do that for the fans. I\u2019m in a rock band to make new music, and that\u2019s why I am a singer. I don\u2019t walk around, saying to myself \u2018Oh, I wish I could do a bunch of songs from 20 years ago tonight.\u2019 <\/p>\n

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\u201cI walk around, working on new CDs, on new songs. In order for me to get excited or to want to do something, it would have to involve making something new that I\u2019m proud of. Walking onstage and singing nothing but songs from 20 years ago is not something that makes me excited at all. It\u2019s a job, a business. I would do it for the fans, because they want it. If we were to make a new record then that would be exciting to me, but I don\u2019t think that creatively… What they think is a good record and what I think is a good record are two completely different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastian\u2019s overall sound arguably possesses more traditional qualities than latter day musicians. \u201cI think that my voice has a certain quality to it that is appealing when you listen to it,\u201d he submits. \u201cI\u2019m able to sing very cleanly and very high (laughs), so I have a unique voice. Whenever I turn to my high, screaming range, people respond to that. I think it\u2019s because not a lot of singers sing like that anymore. There are very few that I can think of, so I think it\u2019s a style of singing that you don\u2019t hear too much anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once gentlemen of the vocalist\u2019s ilk and generation eventually step aside altogether, whether fellow vocalists exist who will carry the torch left behind is a subject open to debate. \u201cVocally?,\u201d he wonders. \u201cI\u2019m trying to think… Not vocally, no. I can\u2019t think of anybody that\u2019s trying to sing like that. The last amazing vocalist that I heard was Jeff Buckley in the 90s, who died. If you\u2019re talking about vocals and singing, that guy was incredible. I don\u2019t hear anybody screaming. Maybe there\u2019s somebody that I\u2019m not thinking of, but I don\u2019t hear… The guy in Asking Alexandria \u2013 Danny \u2013 has an incredible voice, but it\u2019s more the screamo kind of thing. I don\u2019t really hear any singers who are doing both rock and ballads like I do. If they\u2019re out there somebody turn me onto them, because I would love to hear some great singing from 2013.\u201d<\/p>\n

ABachalypse Now<\/em> was released in Europe on March 22nd, 2013 and subsequently on the 26th in North America, all via Frontiers Music Srl.<\/p>\n

Interview published in April 2013. All live photographs by Katarina Benzova.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEBASTIAN BACH – Running And Screaming Anthony Morgan April 2013 Sebastian Bach, live at Hellfest on June 16th, 2012 Vocalist Sebastian Bach \u2013 formerly of New Jersey-based metal outfit Skid Row \u2013 performed live at the Hellfest festival in Clisson, France on June 16th, 2012, fronting his very own solo endeavour. Sebastian\u2019s performance that day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[393],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sebastian-bach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13279"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31337,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13279\/revisions\/31337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}