1. There’s a lot of new stuff going on in your career these days, most
notably a new band, the Bach Tight 5. What made you want to put
a band
together again and tour, and how did you happen to get together with
these four guys who are from different parts of the country?
WELL I AM ALWAYS WORKING ON NEW MUSIC & LOOKING TO GO ON TOUR
, BUT MY CAREER DEFINATELY TOOK SOMETHING OF A SIDETRACK IN THE YEAR 2000
. THAT IS WHEN I PLAYED THE LEAD ROLE IN BROADWAY'S "JEKYLL & HYDE
: THE MUSICAL". THEN IN OCTOBER 2001, I PLAYED "RIFF RAFF" IN BROADWAY'S
"THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW LIVE" . THEN I HAD MY OWN TELEVISION SHOW CALLED
"FOREVER WILD" ON VH1 FOR 5 MONTHS IN EARLY 2002 . AFTER THAT, IN OCTOBER
2002, I BEGAN MY THIRD BROADWAY MUSICAL WHERE I PLAYED "JESUS CHRIST" IN
"JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR " . THAT BROADWAY SHOW STARTED IN CALIFORNIA &
WENT ACROSS THE USA , I DID 8 SHOWS A WEEK FOR 6 MONTHS & NEVER MISSED
A SHOW ! SO WITH ALL OF THAT GOING ON I DID NOT HAVE PROPER TIME TO CONCENTRATE
ON NEW SONGS , BUT ALL OF THE SUMMER OF 2003 I HAVE BEEN DOING NOTHING
BUT WRITING MATERIAL FOR MY 2ND SOLO CD . I POSTED AN "AD" ON MY WEBSITE
looking for potential musicians for my band & I ended up auditioning
many talented players. I ended up choosing Randal X Rawlings & Adam
Albright on guitars , Cheeze on bass, & Mark "BamBam" McConnell on
drums for the live band . I am also writing songs with an incredible songwriter
named Mike Dover . Randall, Cheeze, & Mike are from a Memphis TN band
called Dead Tight 5 , Adam Albright is from the bands Dopesick & Skinlab
, & BamBam is known to my fans as the drummer for Sebastian Bach &
Friends .
2. You’re touring now with the band; how much new material do you have
worked into your live set, and what are your plans to lay down a new
record? How did you get the opportunity to book some shows with
Twister
Sister, who you’ve called one of your favorites?
sb: The fans will decide how much brand new stuff will be in the set
according to their reaction to the material . All I can say is that there
will definately be some new fresh tones blasting out of the PA but I am
a fan of rock myself & sometimes I don't want to go to see a band to
go learn new material but I want to hear my favorites by that particular
artist & stick my fist in the air & scream out all the words to
the songs , so this set will be a kick-ass mixture of both the old &
new.
3. Speaking of Twister Sister, what do you make of the trend over the
past few years of all of these metal bands from the 80s getting together
and putting on tours, and those musicians whose bands are no longer
together, trying to form new units and hitting the road? Does
it seem
strange to you that these bands clearly have an audience out there
who
want to hear their music, yet there don’t seem to be new acts (or record
labels) making music to grab that audience?
sb : What other bands do with their careers really has no influence
on what I do with mine . I look at music as a form of self-expression &
everyone is different in their own way, so I myself have turned down many
of those kind of "'80's package" tours because they seem focused on nostalgia
& I myself have absolutley no interest in nostalgia . Of couse people
who don't know any better might label Twisted Sister & BT5 an "80'S
tour " but those people have no idea of the power, majesty, musical profficiency
, & absolute rock'n'roll exerience that is TWISTED FUCKING SISTER.
Together we will annihilate the stage & completely crush anyone who
has the balls to buy a ticket to this Metal extravaganza !!!!!!!!!!! As
far as record labels go , I am totally fortunate & excited to be signed
to Spitfire Records , who released my first solo CD "BRING 'EM BACH ALIVE!"
, & who will be releasing my 2nd solo CD as soon as it is done .
4. You’ve been working for a little while on the planned release of
a
new DVD, “Forever Wild”. It is fair to say that it’s going to
be a
retrospective of your career, including concert footage, clips from
“Jekyll &Hyde” and footage from your show on VH1? Want to
give readers
your best sales pitch for the DVD, and let us know when you think it’ll
be available and fans can get their hands on it?
sb : the first ever Sebastian Bach DVD "FOREVER WILD" will be in stores
soon ! It will consist of clips from my Tv show "FOREVER WILD " along with
a SB&F concert from 'ninety-eight recorded at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in
Hollywood CA. I have been trying to get clearance to put some Jekyll&Hyde
footage on the DVD as well but due to all the unions involved with Broadway
productions , that has turned out to be a little more difficult to do than
I thought it would be . But the DVD will be in stores in early 2004 &
I can't wait for you to check it out !
5. Speaking of VH1, you’ve had a good working relationship with that
network, most recently doing some interviews for their “I Love the
70s”
series. Can you give us an idea of how those shows are put together?
Do they just sit you down for a while and talk, and pick out good
material? Do they give you a selection of topics to be discussed
beforehand and let you know what they’re looking for, or it is more
freewheeling?
sb: you can see me on their brand-new show "I Love the Eighties
Strikes Back" which premieres October 20 '03. Other shows I have recently
filmed for them but have not yet aired are "When Metal Ruled The World"
& "50 Most Shocking Moments In Rock". They basically sit me down for
an hour or 4 , & pick my brain about whatever they feel like ! I love
the channel & think they have alot to do with keeing Rock alive &
well in the USA !
6. A few years ago, you joined the theatre world with a very successful
run on Broadway in “Jekyll &Hyde”, which you’ve followed-up with
a few
other roles. Was theatre something you had always wanted to do,
or was
that just an opportunity that presented itself and you went for?
Would
you be interested in returning to the stage, and how actively do you
pursue roles?
SB : I never in a million years envisioned myself as a Broadway Leading
man , let alone starring in 3 Broadway musicals. The chance to star in
J&H was given to me by Jason Flom at Atlantic Records , who also put
out J&H cast CD'S . The success of J&H lead to Rocky Horror
& Jesus Christ Superstar . I have been offered another Broadway show
called The Exonerated , but I really just want to put out another CD right
now & ROCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. Screaming in front of a metal band, and working a Broadway schedule
are probably two of the more difficult vocal tasks a singer can
undertake, and you’ve been doing both for years. Do you have
any tricks
or rituals for keeping your voice in shape, and do you do any regular
training or exercises to maintain your pipes? Have you found
that your
voice has changed over the years, and certain things becomes easier
or
more difficult?
sb - I warm up vocally more than any other singer I have ever
met in my life . I am very fortunate to have a voice which gets stronger
the more I use it , not the other way around . That is the only way I could
have done eight shows a week for 6 months in JCS & never missed a show.
The one thing I use that has made singing alot easier for my are inner-ear
monitors , which when they came out in 1995 improved my pitch immeasurably.
Also doing the 3 Broadway shows have made me realize that it is possible
to push the voice & body to more extremes than I had previously thought.
8. Is it easier performing in front of a rock crowd, where the audience
is moving and screaming along with you or on stage where the audience
is
silent and concentrating on the performance? While every good
musician
spends time doing sound checks preparing for a gig, it is a different
experience when you’re singing in a room designed for superior acoustics
and a few hundred people are hanging on your every note?
It is absolutlely more challenging to sing on a Broadway stage than
a rock stage , due obviously to the lack of amplification . Broadway only
uses supplemental microphones used only to enhance the projection of the
voice, not alter or change it in any way . Also the lack of a rock band
playing at the volume of the Concorde Jet means that the voice is alot
more naked on the Broadway stage.
9. Your last two back-to-back shows at the Pony last year were sold-out
smashes, and a lot of people are looking forward to your return this
month. What stands out in your mind about those shows,
and what can fans expect when they come by for the evenings this time
around? Will you be performing your new material, stuff from
your solo
albums, old Skid Row tunes?
sb - YES to all the questions in the last sentence ! I have been playing
the Stone Pony since eighty-seven & it is a very special place to me
& my fans & friends & family alike !!! I am looking forward
to kicking ass at the pony like i have been for 16 years now !!!!!!
(wow!)
10. You’ve got about a month of live shows booked at this point.
What’s
going to be next in your career? Do you plan to work on developing
the
band into a full-time recording and performing endeavor, or will it
be
one of other things you’ll be doing. Has this group replaced
your doing
any new “solo” material? Anything else you’re working on with
VH1,
theatre, or other areas that you can share, or at least hint at, right
now?
sb - I am working hard on my 2nd solo CD with these guys & hope
to put it out in spring '04 ! Then I will be hitting the road & "Sebastian
Bach & The Bach Tight 5" will be LIVE across the planet & we will
never come home ! Looking forward to seeing you at the pony this month
& introducing you to BT5 cya soon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks ! sebastian