The Bahamas-born Canadian rocker, whose real name is Sebastian Philip Bierk, was only 17 when he released his first album, Kid Wikkid, in 1985. Two years later when Bach was noticed by Skid Row, who sang at weddings (not kidding :)) while hanging out with the band. Recording a demo called Basement Tapes in 1988, the band released their hit album "Skid Row" in 1989. Thanks to Dave Sabo, who is a childhood friend with Jon Bon Jovi, the group constantly gets support from Bon Jovi, and they go to their first concerts as Bon Jovi's front group. Consisting of Sebastian Bach on vocals, Dave Sabo on lead guitar, Scotti Hill on rhythm guitar, Rachel Bolan on bass and Rob Affuso on drums, the band reached the 6th rank on Billboard charts with their debut album, selling close to 6 million copies worldwide. The group, which won 5 Platinums, has hits such as “18 And Life”, “I Remember You”, “Youth Gone Wild”.
While their second album "Slave To The Grind", which was released in 1991, hit the top of the charts, Skid Row presents go songs such as "Slave To The Grind", "Monkey Business" and "Wasted Time" to rock music. The band, which went into decline with the album "Subhuman Race" they released in 1995, entered a period of silence that lasted for seven years with the departure of Sebastian Bach in 1996.
SKID ROW, AFTER SEPARATION
The story of Bach's departure from the group is just as interesting. When offered to be the lead group on Kiss's tour that year in 1996, all the members except Bach turned down the offer, claiming that they were too big to be the lead group. Bach, who is a fan of Kiss, leaves the group by leaving a message on Bolat's answering machine saying "You can never be a bigger group than Kiss" (according to some other sources, he is fired). The interesting thing is that 4 years later, Kiss Farewell Tour will take place as a subgroup of Skid Row. The band, which used the name Ozone Monday for naming rights after Bach left, took the name Skid Row back a few years later. Johny Sollinger is in the band in the albums "Thickskin" released in 2003 and "Revolutions Per Minute" three years later. Sollinger, whose voice is very similar to Bach, does not go well and the decline continues for the group.
SEBASTIAN BACH, AFTER SEPARATION
After Bach left the band, he continued his career as a solo. His debut solo album "Bring 'Em Bach Alive!", released in 1999, features 5 new songs as well as concert versions of old Skid Row songs. The album "Bach 2: Basics", released in 2001, is a cover album consisting of Bach's favorite songs (mostly Kiss, Ozzy, ACDC). In 2002, Bach aspires to be the vocalist of the newly formed Velvet Revolver, but the band's founder, Slash, decides to continue with Scott Weiland. “It smells too much of Skid Roses,” Slash sums up his trial recordings with Bach. Bach, when he's not in the tour, spent his time on TV series sets. Bach, who took part in Reality Show series such as Supergroup, Gone Country, Celebrity Fit Club, apart from Gilmore Girls, exploded his solo career in 2007 with the album "Angel Down". In the album, which includes hits such as "Angel Down", "You Don't Understand", "American Metalhead", "By Your Side" and "Falling Into You", Axl Rose (Guns'n Roses) accompanies him in three songs. Bach released an EP with 3 songs titled "Finding My Way" in 2009 and released the album "Kicking And Screaming" in 2011. Although the album received a passing grade from the critics mainly thanks to songs such as "Kicking And Screaming", "Tunnel Vision", "I'm Alive", it did not become as successful as "Angel Down"
PERSONAL LIFE
Bach separated from Maria, to whom he has been married for a long time. The artist's father, David Bierk, who has two sons named Paris and London, is also a famous graphic artist. He also designed the cover designs of Slave To The Grind and Angel Down albums. Bach, who lives in New Jersey, was badly damaged by Hurricane Irene in 2011. Despite losing many albums and original recordings, which he had been saving and keeping meticulously for years, he would have described the trouble he experienced at that time by saying, "My ex-wife took much more from me than the hurricane."
STILL QUIET
He released last album in 2014 "Give 'Em Hell" with Duff McKagan (Guns'n Roses) is on the bass, Devin Bronson (Avril Lavigne, David Cook) on guitar and Bobby Jarzombek (Halford, Riot) on drums. The album consists of 12 songs, including 11 new covers (Rock'n Roll Is A Vicious Game – April Wine).
Bach, who fell into a long silence after the critically acclaimed album, is still quiet.
(This article published in Headbang Magazine May-June 2014)