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Health & Fitness

Sebastian Bach Gives 'Em Hell

Former longtime Lincroft resident Sebastian Bach returns to his home turf on Friday, April 25, with a gig at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville. Bach is celebrating the release of his new solo album, Give ‘Em Hell, which will be released Tuesday, April 22, on Frontiers Records. The disc features former Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan on about half of the album’s 12 tracks. We rang Bach at his home in California to talk about the new album and more. 

Q: How do you feel about Give ‘Em Hell?
A:  I absolutely love the record. I can’t wait until this interview is done so I can go on a 7-mile run and crank it. I worked so hard on it. I tortured myself. The process is pretty funny. I’m in the worst mood for a year when we’re making it and then I hear what I want to hear at the end and I’m the happiest, most humorous guy in the world. I think it sounds timeless. There’s certain singers that can still sound the same as they get older, like Steven Tyler, and I’m very lucky that I can do that as well, but I don’t know how I pulled it off! It’s also my best sounding record. I’m a total audiophile as far as wanting a clear, clean sound and no separation between the instruments. 

Q: Do you feel it’s unfortunate that, given how much effort you put into making Give ‘Em Hell, a great sounding album, that many people will listen to in a compressed format.
A: I’m fascinated when people say, “I’m listening to your record.” It’s like, “what do you mean? How are you listening to it? Is it spotify, a podcast?” The reality is we’ve invented these devices where people can put music in their phone and have every recorded note in their pocket. It’s my job to come up with more files to put in your phone and I love to do it.   

Q: How did Duff McKagan end up on the album?
A:  I was in this band with Duff called Kings of Chaos. We were playing in Sydney about a year ago and I said to him, “I’ve got to turn in a new record, do you want to collaborate.” He said, “where and when.” Give ‘Em Hell also has John 5 (Rob Zombie), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol) and Devin Bronson (Avril Lavigne, Pink) on guitar and Bobby Jarzombek (Halford) on drums. Musically we have a lot of depth. 

Q: Who will be playing with you at the Starland Show?
A: I’ve got Johnny Chromatic on guitar, Will Hunt from Evanescence on drums and Jason Christopher on bass. My new second guitarist is Devin Bronson. He’s played with Avril Lavigne and Pink, but don’t let that worry you, metalheads! 

Q: This year is the 25th anniversary of the first Skid Row record. Any thoughts on that period of your life?
A: Fans still ask, “are you going to get back with the old band?” If I was to do that there would be no new records and that’s what I love to do. It would just be a retro thing. I need more than that in my life. But I think it’s insane that we don’t celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first record with a remastered version with unreleased songs or a box set or something. I don't understand why some of the other guys in that band have such an adverse reaction to doing something like that. That’s puzzling to me.   

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