Sebastian Bach says that “there is no reason” why a reunion of SKID ROW‘s classic lineup shouldn’t materialize.
Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY.
In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of bassist Rachel Bolan, guitarists Dave “Snake” Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger.
SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing ex-TNT vocalist Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart, who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I.
Asked in a new interview with Florida’s 98.7 The Gater radio station if he can see himself ever reuniting with SKID ROW, Bach said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, there’s no reason not to — there’s none. When those guys [in SKID ROW] try to say [about me], ‘He’s difficult to work with,’ let me just say this one more time. We have not been in the same room together since the year 1996. Shut the eff up about you thinking you know what I’m like. You don’t know anything about what I’m like. And the ‘Gilmore Girls’ think I’m okay to work with; Broadway thinks I’m okay to work with; the ‘Trailer Park Boys’ think I’m okay; GUNS N’ ROSES think I’m pretty cool. We’re not getting any younger.”
Sebastian went on to say that a SKID ROW reunion “should” happen “for the fans. And we are absolutely running out of bands — bands that can play in sheds,” he said. “The fact that we are all still alive and we are all in our 50s — some closer to 60 than others — but that, to me, is selfish that we’re not together.
“I can play with anyone. I do play with everyone [laughs] — except for them.”
As previously reported, Bach will celebrate the 30th anniversary of SKID ROW‘s classic second album, “Slave To The Grind”, on a U.S. tour this fall. He will perform the LP in its entirety at all shows on the trek, which will kick off in October.
Bach previously performed “Slave To The Grind” in its entirety in October 2019 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. Earlier that fall, he completed a U.S. tour during which he celebrated the 30th anniversary of SKID ROW‘s self-titled debut album.
In June 2019, Bach issued an “open invitation” to the other members of SKID ROW‘s classic lineup to “get onstage and jam” during the vocalist’s last tour. A few days later, during an interview with Finland’s Kaaos TV, guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo confirmed that he would not accept Bach‘s overture. “I’m working with my band,” he said. “This is SKID ROW, and this is what I do.”
Drummer Rob Affuso — who left SKID ROW in 1998 and claims to be “the only former member that keeps in contact with all former SKID ROW bandmates and is still good friends with them all” — subsequently joined Bach in September 2019 at Sony Hall in New York City to play the band’s classic song “Makin’ A Mess”.
Asked by Rolling Stone if he thinks his former bandmates are offended that he put his invitation out there publicly, Bach said: “No. I think it’s an ego thing. They don’t like when I get attention, and they don’t get attention. It’s always been like that. I can already see them getting mad, because I’m selling out shows, and they’re not part of the show, and blah, blah, blah.”
In February 2019, Sabo told “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that SKID ROW came “pretty close” to reuniting with Bach after Harnell‘s exit from the band. But then he clarified: “I said ‘pretty close,’ and that’s actually not true. Because we didn’t get beyond text messaging each other, to be quite honest. The same old stuff just seemed to exist where there was this confrontational sort of demeanor going back and forth between myself and Sebastian.
“I’m so proud of what we were able to create throughout the entire history of this band, and that will never change,” he continued. “But some things just don’t work anymore and people go their separate ways and you can’t get that back together. And I’m fine with that.
“I play music to be happy,” Sabo added. “I don’t play music for a paycheck. It’s great to get paid to do what you love. But I’ve never done it for the money. It’s always been about my love of music, and that’s what it still is. At my old crusty age, it’s still because I love the guitar and I love creating. And I love the response. I love being able to connect in some way with an audience. That’s why I started playing music — because I didn’t know how to communicate, so it came out through music, through songs.
“Playing with [ZP] in the band has brought a real joyousness back to our lives. You can see it — it’s not faked or phony. You can see it when we play. And that’s what I live for — I live for those moments of just absolute joy.
“A reunion [with Sebastian] would have been great for a lot of other people who have wanted to see that happen,” Snake said. “But for us, it would not have been pleasurable, to be quite honest.”
