by Shaun Borgas

Since leaving Skid Row in the mid ’90s, vocalist Sebastian Bach has branched out into many fields of the entertainment industry. From performing in the stage musicals Jeykll & Hyde and Jesus Christ Superstar, to starring in numerous reality TV shows such as SuperGroup and Celebrity Rap Stars, to even hosting his own show Forever Wild, having a recurring role in The Gilmore Girls and singing in a few side projects, The Last Hard Men and Frameshift, he’s almost done it all.

Despite all this, Bach remains a heavy metal crooner with a burning desire to etch out his own piece of history as a solo artist. Following the release of a new album, Angel Down, Bach is returning to headline his first full tour as a solo artist in Australia.

“Third time back in Australia in two years. I guess Australia is becoming one of the heavy metal capitals of the planet earth for sure,” Bach enthusiastically beams down the phone.

So it’s pretty important to build your market in Australia?

“Well I’ve never looked at it like markets and stuff like that. All I know is that since the first Skid Rowalbum came out in 1989, Australia’s always been one of the greatest places for me to play. Always. When we first headlined there in 1990 it seemed like a totally exotic place to tour and not a lot of bands toured way back in 1990 but for some reason I’ve always had a great rapport with Australian rockers. So that’s awesome.”

Tell us about your latest album, Angel Down. What sort of album were you hoping to make?

“Well I just want to add to my catalogue of what I’ve put out so far. You know, 18 And Life, Monkey Business, I Remember You and Youth Gone Wild – they’re all classic songs, so I definitely have my work cut out for me. But at the same time, once it’s done, it’s done. So when I had 13 original songs that were completed, I think, really good songs then I knew it was time to put the CD out... I’m already thinking about the next record.”

Really?

“I’ve got five months of touring to do and then we’ll be going into the studio again and starting the next album.”

Angel Down features a number of modern metal tracks on it. Where did the inspiration come from for these tunes?

“Well I’ve been very fortunate over the last seven years to play with many different musicians in my solo band. A good song is a good song. So if I would meet somebody along the way [and] we would write a song together I wouldn’t forget about it. You know a song like Angel Down… I love that riff how it starts off. It just feels like I’m getting crushed! I just always want to start my CD out with a pulverising track.”

At the opposite ends of the spectrum, the last song on the album, Falling Into You, highlights your stage musical influences.

“Yeah. There’s actually a lot of ear candy, like things you’ll hear on headphones. There’s horns in there and trumpets, strings and piano – there’s lots of stuff going on in there. Me and Roy [Z the album’s producer] had a great time making the music for that song and the whole album. But Falling Into You is the first piano ballad I’ve ever done on a record. Broadway theatre in New York always has a piano going and I remember being on Broadway and going, ‘I gotta do a piano song on an album some day’. So that’ll probably be the first of many that I do.”

Skid Row’s Slave To The Grind is a monster of an album. It was the first ever heavy metal album to debut at number one on the US Billboard charts. You once said that every album you make will be compared to Slave To The Grind. How does Angel Down compare?

“I think this album is definitely the next logical successor to Slave To The Grind and it’s sounds to me - to me anyway -the next logical album to come after that.

“It took a long time,” Sebastian then laughs ironically at the thought of taking 16 years to produce a worthy follow-up to Slave To The Grind.

Moving to your live shows - when you come to Adelaide can we expect to hear more songs from Angel Down this time around?

“I hope so. I would assume so, yes. But we actually did quite a few like last year on the road in 2007. We did (Love Is) A Bitchslap, Stuck Inside, By Your Side and You Don’t Understand”

You also did American Metalhead changing it to Australian Metalhead.

“And so that’s half the new album almost right there!”

There would be a certain element of fans at your shows who are solely there to hear your older material. How does this sit with you?

“You know that’s all I’ve been thinking about lately, really, and it’s so strange the position a guy like me gets into. Man, its so weird to talk about it too. It’s like I’m very lucky to have songs that have defined a generation and that the people love, but I mean my heart is into the new songs obviously. It’s like Chuck Berry doing Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll or Johnny B Goode. I mean, if I go see Chuck I wanna hear him do Johnny B Goode! But everybody’s different too you know. A guy like Neil Youn,g he’ll come out and he’ll do nothing but the new songs for the whole set. And part of me thinks that’s the coolest thing in the world. So I’m just wrestling with this whole question of new songs versus old songs. It’s a good question.

“No matter what, the shows going to be great, because all songs are great. So, part of me just says just do all brand new songs but then again if people are paying money to hear me sing, I know they wanna hear 18 And Life because I’m not stupid. So I don’t know, it’s a very interesting question. The only way I can answer it for you, is for you to come to the show and listen.”

Sebastian Bach plays HQ on Thu May 29. Angel Down is out now via EMI.