SEBASTIAN BACH: 'I Want To Keep Making Music Until I'm Not Able To Anymore'

Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal of Metal Assault recently conducted an interview with former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Assault: Your new solo DVD+CD, "ABachalypse Now", came out recently. It has three shows from last year, the Graspop and Hellfest festivals, and the show at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. While doing those shows, did you know that they were going to be released on the DVD?
Bach: No, except for the Nokia show. The other two we did not plan on releasing, or even filming them. But the record company asked me if I wanted to do a DVD, so I went through all of the footage. Those festivals were filmed by the people running the festival themselves, so they were available.

Metal Assault: At that Graspop show you played, you shared the stage with bands like GUNS N' ROSES, MOTÖRHEAD, MACHINE HEAD, EUROPE and all that. That's a pretty killer lineup. What was that experience like?

Bach: Well, it was the earliest set time I was ever brought on stage at. There was a torrential downpour and I was forced to stand in a puddle of water and scream. I didn't know if I was going to get electrocuted [laughs] because I was standing there with all these wires, microphones and electrical equipment. So it was kind of crazy. It ended up being a really good show, though, and I loved playing it because it was very early in the morning. It was like going to war. [laughs] It's kind of interesting to watch.

Metal Assault: Coming back to this live album, I think it sounds really good, but in your opinion does it retain all the qualities of the live sound that you have on stage?

Bach: The sound on the DVD is such that you'll want to listen to it in ten years' time, and I'm not just trying to put out a YouTube clip, you know. My idea of a great live album is something you could watch or listen to for life. So while retaining the "live" feel, we polished up the audio from the Hellfest and Nokia shows. But we were not able to polish up Graspop at all, so it's a totally live concert. Having said that, we made every effort to make sure it sounds as good as it possibly could.

Metal Assault: I've seen you play songs like "Youth Gone Wild" at every single show of yours, and you've put in the same amount of energy every time which I find amazing. How are you able to enjoy playing a song like that, even after playing it all your life?

Bach: I just love music, it makes me feel good and there's nothing like it in this world. So I've always really been into it. I want to keep making music until I'm not able to anymore. When you talk about the energy I put into running around on stage, I might run around a little less as the years go on, and sing standing still a little more. [laughs] But I don't know if that'll even happen, because when I get up there, the music takes me over and I just explode with energy. So it's hard to control.

Metal Assault: If you do end up running around less, do you think that would affect your singing?

Bach: Yeah, I'm sure it will. When I watch the Graspop show, for example, I was just standing there because it's just so rainy. But it's fascinating for me because I like the way I sing in that show. So I learned a lot making this DVD. I learned that I should stand still a little more. [laughs]

Read the entire interview at Metal Assault.