What Sebastian Bach Learned From Jon Bon Jovi

When Sebastian Bach first entered the studio with Skid Row, he found it was a daunting task. Jon Bon Jovi was there with some key words of advice.

“Back when I first joined Skid Row in 1987, you know, I was just a little kid. I was fuckin’ wild as they come,” Bach tells UCR, pausing to exhale. “I wasn’t a great singer then.”

He did have a really good voice, but realized he was still learning the mechanics of how to use It. It was Bon Jovi, basking in the afterglow of the worldwide success his own band had enjoyed with their album Slippery When Wet, who gave the singer some specific guidance, as you’ll read in the conversation below.

In time, that initial period would feel like a distant memory as Skid Row quickly found themselves in arenas and stadiums, including a stint opening shows for Bon Jovi in the midst of the New Jersey tour. Thrown into the fire, Bach was well on his way to becoming one of rock’s most memorable frontmen.

Now 35 years removed from the release of Skid Row’s multi-platinum self-titled debut, Bach is hardly at rest, as he details, describing the grueling road work he still enjoys. Child Within the Man, his newest solo album, retains the fiery spirit of his earlier recordings — and he’s happy to point out why that is. In short, any conversation with the singer is never a dull moment. Start with a topic or two and hang on for the rocket ride of words that comes back your way in return.

We caught up with Bach as he was getting ready for the next leg of his tour, which began Friday (Oct. 4) in Portland, Oregon.

People have spent plenty of time talking smack about Sebastian Bach over the years. Historically, you’ve often been able to punch back with your own music. This time, the answer comes in the form of your latest album. 
It’s just so funny when I read, “Can he still sing? I’m like, “Nobody punched me in the throat! [Laughs] I have the same muscles. I understand that some guys — basically, Jon Bon Jovi — cannot sing anymore, but I don’t have that issue. There’s no problem for me singing. I just did 45 cities. Let me repeat that number. 45. I didn’t do four shows. I didn’t cancel half of the f–king shows. I actually did 45 shows in a row and I’m about to do another 45 cities. So the answer is yes, [I can still sing]. It’s like, you go f–kin’ do 45 cities in a row and get back to me and tell me how that went for you. Go for it. Go try and be number 10 in replacing Sebastian Bach. Go for it. Let’s see how that works out. You know, the proof is in the pudding. When I play almost 100 gigs in a row, I mean, physically and mentally, that’s like going to war. You can ask any singer that tried to replace me and failed, it’s really kind of a one-of-a-kind thing.

I’ve really got to say, I’ve got the greatest record company in the world. Because I am so f–kin’ happy right now to tell you, I’m about to shoot two more videos for my album. Two more. Everybody thinks we’re done promoting this now. Everybody is mistaken. We are about to film, not one more video, but two more videos in the next two weeks right before I leave on tour. We are planning on releasing two more songs to radio and video before the end of ‘24 and I could not thank my record company more. Because every other artist, every other album it seems, just gets promoted before the release of the record. And we did do four videos before the album came out.

One of them came out right as the record came out. But the fact now that we’re going to go back and film two more incredible videos with Jim Louvau, it’s just mind-blowing to me. Because I worked 10 years on this album and the fact that we’re still working it a year later after the release, I think that’s rare in the music industry. Who knows if it will be 10 years before I make another one? I don’t know? I don’t put out bullshit. This album stands with the other albums I’ve put out. I actually do have a couple new songs going, but I don’t have an album’s [worth] or anything. I’m very honored and grateful to Reigning Phoenix Music, for having my back a year after it comes out. We’re going into make two new videos and that’s what is happening right now.

Watch Sebastian Bach’s Video for ‘(Hold On) to the Dream’

Is that normal for you to already be writing? Do you write on a regular basis?
I write all of the time, but I don’t ever write. [Laughs] Let me explain what I mean. I’ve always been a guy who collects things. I collect riffs, I collect lyrics and I collect titles. But mainly riffs. I can make a riff into a song. A riff is a riff. I know [Bach chuckles] what a good riff is. I’ve met songwriters that say, “I’m going to write a song for Sebastian Bach.” They put all of this time, effort and emotion into it. They try to finish a whole song and give it to me. That rarely works. Because I need to feel it in my bones in order to sing it correctly. I’ve always written songs. You know, it’s so confusing to people. They say, “You didn’t write ‘I Remember You’.” Okay, let’s go down this logic. As I said, some people will try to write a full song and give it to me. But rarely does that happen. Sometimes it does! [Laughs] Rachel [Bolan] and Snake [Sabo] played me “I Remember You” and I’m going, “Okay, done. Next? This song’s done!”

READ MORE: Skid Row Fought ‘Tooth and Nail’ Before Recording ‘I Remember You’

If I’m going down this logic, “You didn’t write that!” Then I should go in there and say, “Okay, I’m going to change this just to get my f–kin’ name on it, because I’m a prick! [Laughs] I don’t work like that. A lot of people do. Names that I won’t say, they think, “I’m the songwriter, so I have to write a song!” I don’t ever think like that. If my next door neighbor has a kick ass riff, I don’t care that it’s my next door neighbor! Hey, let’s work on this! I’m into the content. I’m not into the form. I don’t give a f–k about the logo. I don’t care! It means nothing to me. I care about what’s inside the record. I care about the riff of “Monkey Business,” which I wrote with Snake, even though my name’s not on there. I crafted that riff with him. I’m into metal. I’m into heavy metal. Some fans say, “Why do Sebastian’s albums sound more like the early Skid Row records than Skid Row?” Which they do. I’m not bragging — they do! They just do! I have two ears! I can hear.

The reason for that, is that I was the guy in the studio for Slave to the Grind, with Michael Wagener, sitting next to him, picking the amp sounds, driving around town choosing Marshall amps that we liked. It was me, not anyone else. It was me and Michael Wagener, because we were fans of metal. Like Accept, which he produced. Malice, which he produced. We were the real heavy metal guys. Some of the guys in that band are into [Bruce] Springsteen and Southside Johnny and that’s what their scene is. Some guys are into the Ramones and punk. I brought the me-tal. I was the heavy metal fan of that band. When you listen to Angel Down or Child Within a Man, they fit with Slave to the Grind seamlessly. When I get involved in something, people will say, “He’s hard to work with.” Because nothing comes easily. Nothing. I’m not hard to work with when somebody says, “Do you like this song?” and the song is “I Remember You.” That’s the easiest fucking day there is, ever. [Laughs]

READ MORE: When Skid Row Came Back Heavier’ With ‘Slave to the Grind’

Oh, for sure.
But if it’s not to that standard, I’m not going to pretend that it is. I’m going to work on it until it is of a standard that we’re going to put out. I don’t see that as being difficult, I see that as, “Listen to the f–king album.” Listen to the [new] record. Elvis Baskette loves working with me. Robert Ludwig f–kin’ loves me! These guys are at the top of the music industry. Me and Elvis have already talked about doing another record together. I would love to do that, but I don’t have the songs at all, right now. So we’re working this. I’m just saying that I have a passion, for heavy metal, rock and roll, glam metal, all of this stuff. I’ll never lose that, because it’s a real love of rock. It’s always been who I am since I was nine f–king years old in the Kiss army. I’ve always been just a real fan of rock. I actually made a record that I’m a fan of. That’s something that nobody can take away from me — because all I have to do is press play. [Laughs]

How did you approach your craft as a singer after the work you did on Broadway? Because I’d imagine that would change your thought process.
Wow, well, I’ve got to give credit where credit is due here. Back when I first joined Skid Row in 1987, you know, I was just a little kid. I was f–kin’ wild as they come. [Bach pauses and exhales] I wasn’t a great singer then. I had a good sounding voice, but as far as doing a two hour show, I was so young that I didn’t really have the muscles for that. When I joined Skid Row, we’d rehearse all day, every day. My voice wasn’t ready [for that]. It was like a learning crash course of singing. Jon Bon Jovi just said, “Forget about everything in the world except the lyrics.” He said, “Just tell the story of what the lyrics are saying.” That was a completely different way of [thinking]. I was trying to be Rob Halford or James Neal, of Malice. I was trying to sing as high as I could. [Laughs] Back in the ‘80s, that seemed to be what all of the singers [were doing]. LIke Nitro, or f–kin’ Steelheart, it was like, let’s see how high you can sing. But [Jon] goes, “Just tell the story of the lyrics.” That changed my way of looking at being a singer. Because I had to be great right then. I just said, okay, “Ricky was a young boy/ He had a heart of stone.” I got into it, in a Broadway way, as you’re saying, even though I didn’t do that until years later. I just totally shifted my focus from trying to shatter glass, which I did once, in Baltimore. I shifted it from that to telling the story of the words and that’s been the way it’s been ever since. I get into telling the story.

But Broadway probably gave you some new tools, right?
Well, yes. Because I first did Broadway in the year 2000 and this was still coming out of the grunge/screamo era of music. In the mid to late ‘90s, I didn’t feel like anybody in the world wanted to hear good singing. What I mean by that is that there was even a genre called screamo at that time, where it was just [about] shredding your pipes. Just shred ‘em. The way I sing a song like “I Remember You” or “18 and Life” is not screamo. It’s more like Steve Perry of Journey, especially “I Remember You,” is exactly [that]. If you can sing “Don’t Stop Believin’” and the really high ‘70s Journey songs with Steve Perry and [songs like] “Still They Ride,” “Stone in Love,” the really high ones, that’s where I learned how to sing. Like, “I Remember You,” was copying Steve Perry. I used to lock myself in a room. You know, I did that with Halford albums and [Iron Maiden] albums with Bruce Dickinson and Malice. A bunch of singers. Van Halen, I used to do. Ozzy [Osbourne] — I can do Ozzy exactly.

READ MORE: Ranking All 81 Steve Perry Journey Songs

But talking about Broadway and what did that bring to my new record, well, here’s the point of what I’m trying to get to. When I did Broadway, I went back in my brain to good singing and what I mean by that is clean singing. Not shouting and yelling and screaming and dirty singing. Clean tones. Like, the beginning of “(Hold On) to the Dream” is just a purely clean vocal. What we’re getting to now is one of the videos that we’re shooting and I can’t even believe this. We’re shooting a video for the last song on the album, “To Live Again,” which is the only ballad on the album. You’re the first person that I’ve told this. We’re not even getting started yet with this album. [Laughs] Because we’re about to make a video for this ballad that is the Broadway discipline of vocals that you’re talking about that I have not even put out yet for this album. Every video has been metal. Everything. Because my label f–kin’ loves metal — and I do too, great!

But you know what’s even heavier than metal? Singing. [Bach repeats that point several times] I’m about to f–king throw the f–king hammer down on this video. You all are not ready for this. You’re all like, “Oh, that was a good album. Okay, maybe he’ll do another one.” Hold up, we’re not quite done yet. [Laughs] We’re about to take you all to school of vocals. We’re going to vocal school on this song. I once again have to thank my record company, because they are focused on metal and I love all of that. But they understand that Sebastian Bach fans, they love it when I sing in that style — and that’s a different style than “Freedom” or “(Hold On) to the Dream,” so I’m very excited. If you’re wondering what Broadway might have brought to this album, you will find out in the video for “To Live Again.”

Watch Sebastian Bach’s Video For ‘What Do I Got to Lose’