Singer, songwriter, author, Broadway star, and actor Sebastian Bach is getting ready to release his eagerly anticipated forthcoming album Child Within The Man on May 10th via Reigning Phoenix Music. The album marks the artist’s first new music in ten years.
Speaking about the release Sebastian said: “The whole focus is on my album in 2024. That’s all I’ve been concentrating on. And it comes out on May 10th, and it’s called Child Within The Man. And we have already put out two videos. And we’re about to shoot two more videos this next week. We put out the first video last November. And now here we are in April, and it’s still climbing the charts and radio here in America, which is mind-blowing to me. I didn’t know that was still possible, yet, but it is. I’m very happy about that.”
The message behind the album title is twofold. “Well, to me, the title is about two things. Number one, it’s the whole myth or reality, that rock and roll keeps you young and for me being a rock and roll fan, and a rock and roll collector, there’s no doubt it has kept me like a permanent 14-year-old. Because rock and roll, just the energy of it, I don’t know what it is, but it just makes me feel like a little kid when it’s really good rock and roll. And it makes me feel like the first time I ever heard it. And there’s no other art form I can think of that does that,” explains Sebastian. “If I watch an old movie, I enjoy it. And I really appreciate it, but it doesn’t make me feel the way an old song makes me feel, it transports me right back to where I was the first time, I ever heard it. So that’s what child within the man refers to when I hear a kick-ass rock and roll song, it makes me feel like a child. And then another thing is also the artwork goes along with that theme. And then also, I didn’t even realise that Jesus is on the cover going up into heaven. And he is also a child within the man. So, a lot is going on, on that cover.”
The artwork on the cover of the album was created by Sebastian’s father, noted visual artist David Bierk. His previous paintings graced the covers of Skid Row’s Slave To The Grind, Subhuman Race and Sebastian’s Angel Down album. The sentimental cover gives the artist continuity throughout his body of work. “Iron Maiden having Eddie on the front of all their album covers ties in all their catalogue visually. And my dad was a very prolific artist. And he died in 2002. So, to bring back artwork that he did, and he’s no longer around is very emotional for me as a father and a son,” he says. “And the cover was started in 1978. And that’s me running in the field in Canada next to that Cadillac. And then the other picture is from 1990, where he did a painting of me on stage at Giant Stadium when Skid Row opened for Bon Jovi. It was a centrefold in a magazine called Circus Magazine. And my dad couldn’t believe that I was in a centrefold of a magazine. So, he painted that. Then my song Everybody Bleeds, has this line in it, child within the man, that kept sticking in my head. And I looked at these two paintings, and one is a child, and one is a young man. And I said, just like peanut butter and chocolate; I put them together.”
Seb’s latest offering features a whole raft of guest collaborators including John 5, Steve Stevens and Orianthi to name but a few. “I collaborated with John 5, who’s now in Motley Crue. This is our third album in a row collaborating together. And he’s one of the ultimate guitar players in the world. So, he’s always sending me riff ideas. And this song we have here called Freedom is kick-ass rock’n’roll,” said Bach. “Steve Stevens, this is our second album in a row collaborating. He has three songs on my last record, Give ‘Em Hell. So, me and Steve have been working together for a long time. And I’ve been a fan of Steve Stevens, since Billy Idol videos when I was 12 years old, and he would shoot that space gun lead guitar.”
For his latest offering, Sebastian co-wrote the song What Do I Got To Lose with Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy. But how did this collaboration come to fruition?
“The producer of the record Michael Elvis Baskette produces Alter Bridge and Myles’ solo records, Slash records and Wolfgang Van Halen records. And he really had the vision for my record. And for him to put me in the category with all these unbelievable musicians is really incredible. And Myles Kennedy paid me back in the most incredible way. I can only imagine that Myles Kennedy was a young teenager rocking out to Youth Gone Wild, 18 And Life, and Monkey Business. And for him to say to Elvis – Hey, would Sebastian want to hear some of my ideas and work on them with me? I go, of course, I would love that. And for him to do that is the ultimate payback. There are a lot of musicians who will tell you oh, I grew up listening to Skid Row, and Sebastian that was one of my favourite bands as a kid, but they don’t write songs with me on my album. That’s taking it to another level.”
Sebastian recently appeared on the hit US TV show The Masked Singer. Speaking about the experience, Seb said: “Singing in the Masked Singer wearing that costume is like singing in bondage. It’s like singing if you’re tied up, that’s the way it feels. Because I don’t know about the other costumes, but my costume was massive. I’m six foot four. And when I put on that Tiki costume, that’s seven feet, it’s a foot taller than me. And then they put on the little palm tree leaf coming out of my head, that’s another foot. I was like a giant. Inside the costume, there are seat belts. And you’re strapped in, and all I could move was my hands coming out of the sides of the costume like Tyrannosaurus Rex. I couldn’t move anything else other than my hands. So, it was very claustrophobic, and you’re isolated in there the whole time. So, it was very strange at first, but I got used to it. It’s also very hot.”
With a new album under his belt, are there any plans for UK tour dates on the horizon? “I’m happy to say that we’re playing the Wacken Festival in Germany in August. And I have never played Germany without playing the UK. So, if we fly over to play Germany and then fly home, that will be the first time I’ve ever done that. So, I am assuming that whoever booked me in Germany is going to book us in the UK, because that’s usually how it works. So, I’m assuming that will be there in August, I’m assuming, but maybe not. But I think so,” concludes Sebastian.
Child Within The Man, the new album from Sebastian Bach will be released on May 10th via Reigning Phoenix Music.
Interview by Adam Kennedy
Photo Credit: Jim Louvau
