Metal Anarchy

During a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk,” Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row) discussed his new role as Twisted Sister’s frontman. According to him, he received singer Dee Snider’s “full blessing” to perform with group.

Bach said the following:

“Well, I have tears in my eyes right now. I am SMF Number Two. I was named that by Dee Snider. And I just have to say, I just got off the phone with Dee Snider. We talked for about 45 minutes, and we were both kind of getting teary eyed.

I just put out a [solo] record called ‘Child Within The Man’, and one of my favorite all-time bands is TWISTED SISTER. And the music of TWISTED SISTER makes me feel like a child within the man. This is what I was talking about on my new record, how rock and roll music, it has a life of its own. You’re talking to a guy here — I used to go to school and I used to paint the TWISTED SISTER logo on the back of my jacket in liquid paper thinking that looked cool [laughs] — whiteout. [Laughs] So I am a real fan — I am a fan of this music, and that is really, number one, why I’m doing it. And also to honor the legacy of these songs. And I look at it like when Paul Rodgers came in [to sing] for QUEEN, or when [GUNS N’ ROSES frontman] Axl [Rose] came in for Brian Johnson [in AC/DC]. I am a fan of TWISTED SISTER and I always have been, and I love this music. I love it. I love ‘Tear it Loose’. I love ‘Destroyer’. I love ‘The Price’. I mean, you talk about [classic SKID ROW songs like] ’18 And Life’ and ‘I Remember You’. Well, you know what? I locked myself in a room rehearsing to ‘The Price’. And these songs are how I learned how to rock.”

Guitarist Jay Jay French also commented:

“Eddie Trunk, for people who don’t know it, you stand in the crossroads of our history in such an interesting way, because you brought us back from the dead once before in 2001 when we played the New York Steel show. The band had not played since 1988, and, as you know, the crisis in New York for 9-11 led you to call up and say, ‘Man, if you guys could headline that benefit, that would be great.’ And, of course, that benefit, the word got out the band’s back together, which then led to a 17-year career of headlining festivals and brought the band back to a life and a level worldwide that we had never been before. As much as people think ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ and ‘I Wanna Rock’ was the high point of our life, it didn’t even come close to what happened after we came back, after 2003, especially in the European market. We wound up playing 40 countries around the world, and the acceptance was amazing. And it wouldn’t have happened without Eddie Trunk. And here again, Eddie, you were at the crossroads. That’s so important to me. So I want to historically just state that for a fact.

The other thing that’s fascinating is that we’ve known Sebastian for years. Going back, [SKID ROW] were Atlantic Records band when we were an Atlantic Records band, and in 2001, when [American music industry executive] Jason Flom was being honored in New York City, Sebastian and we wound up doing a surprise one-off gig for Jason at the Tavern On The Green. If anyone ever said when would TWISTED ever get back together, it’d be in the kitchen of Tavern On The Green restaurant in Central Park. And Sebastian came out and did that. And then shortly after that, TWISTED SISTER had a tribute album, which you remember a lot of artists played on that record. MOTÖRHEAD played on it. Well, here’s the thing — Sebastian recorded ‘You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll’. So if you go online and you wanna hear how great Sebastian is gonna be, just put in ‘You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll’ and Sebastian Bach. And that’s TWISTED SISTER backing Sebastian Bach 20 years ago, which is actually mind blowing to think about the fact that you were our lead singer for a day 20 years ago, my friend. So then, of course, we played a whole bunch of other things together. We’ve been together, we’ve been connected in so many ways. We’re great friends, and he’s a great fan.

But Eddie Trunk, you were on the money, because we did a secret rehearsal just to see if it was gonna be okay, if this could work or not. And you know what? Sebastian came in and just… I was skeptical. I said to myself, and [TWISTED SISTER guitarist] Eddie Ojeda and I spoke about this, and I bring Eddie Ojeda in here because Eddie and I go back to high school. And we made TWISTED SISTER what it is today. We played together and it was, like, ‘Wow. Do you think we could do it? Who could do it?’ And Eddie Trunk, you were dead-on right. Exactly dead-on right. Sebastian came in and just nailed it. And again, to all the skeptics out there who wanna know what it’s like to have Sebastian on vocals for TWISTED, go online right now. Go to Spotify right now. Put in ‘You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll’ [and] Sebastian Bach, and you will hear TWISTED SISTER backing Sebastian Bach.”

He continued when asked how many shows are planned:

“The dates that we had [originally] booked in Europe [for] this summer are gone. We’re not doing those. Baz is coming in September and we will be honoring the six shows that will be coming up on the web site. We’ll show you the shows, but it’s important for Sebastian Bach fans to know that all solo shows that Sebastian has booked are still in effect. I wanna make sure everybody understands that he’s gonna be doing our shows with us, and he’s gonna be interspersing those with his solo shows. So none of those shows are being canceled. We are just going to fulfill obligations that we had set up as we were heading into this thing towards the end of the summer. So all the summer dates that TWISTED had listed on the web site, they’re gone. But I do believe that Alaska, that stayed up there, is gonna happen. And we’re gonna be doing about five or six shows from that point on, and Baz will be doing his solo shows. So understand when you see the setup, it’s going to be shows — I think we’re doing five in the U.S. and we’re doing one in Canada. And that is what we are doing so far. And then, of course, we will talk after that and see what’s happening. But Baz is coming in to do these shows for us, and we really couldn’t be happier, I swear.”

Bach also shared more details on his call with Snider:

“I said, ‘I’m calling you in 10 minutes.’ He goes, ‘Okay.’ And I called him and he goes, ‘SMF Number Two.’ ‘Cause he’s always called me that. I’m a sick motherfucker. I’m a sick motherfucking fan of TWISTED SISTER. And he’s always called me Number Two. Of course, he’s number one. And so I go, ‘Well, I guess I really am SMF Number Two.’ And then I asked him, what did the doctor say to him? And he’s, like, ‘No problem. I’ll tell you.’ He says that he has arthritis, that his knees are going out, and he has bone on bone. And the doctor said that he should not be jumping around. And he goes, ‘Well, that’s not an option,’ ’cause he wants to do the full show moving around and stuff, and the doctor said, ‘You can’t do it.’ So he said, ‘You have my full blessing.’ He goes, ‘I love you.’ I told him I loved him, and we were, like, teary eyed. And he told me that his family was crying when he said he couldn’t do the tour. I asked him, ‘Hey, you wanna come out and jam with us?’ He goes, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘Yeah.’ So maybe he’ll be at some of these gigs on stage with us. Who knows? I don’t know if that’s gonna happen or not. But it’s tough getting older — it’s tough for everybody getting older, and I’m a lot younger. [Laughs]”

He went on to say he needed Snider’s approval:

“That’s a sign of respect. I respect Dee Snider, I respect Jay Jay French, I respect Eddie Ojeda, I respect [former TWISTED SISTER members] A.J. Pero, Mark Mendoza, the whole team. And I’ve always been a serious fan — like, really serious. I don’t just like the hits of TWISTED SISTER. I like ‘Like A Knife In The Back’. I like the heavy TWISTED SISTER. And I love ‘I Wanna Rock’. I love ‘The Price’. ‘The Price’ is one of my favorite TWISTED SISTER songs. I love ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’. But the album ‘You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll’, I would probably say, is my favorite one.”

French added:

“In the 53-year history of the band, we’ve had 20 people who’ve been in and out of TWISTED SISTER. We’ve had five singers, we’ve had three bass players, we’ve had four guitar players and we’ve had nine drummers. Half of them are dead. It’s a very tough business to be a drummer with TWISTED SISTER. But we had an amazing history of the band, and this is just a continuation of the history. And the thing is the music always survives. They said Steve Perry could never have been replaced in JOURNEY. And he was. That Freddie Mercury could never be replaced [in QUEEN]. And he was. And guess what? Baz is gonna be an unbelievable replacement.

So it’s me, Eddie Ojeda and Baz. Joe Franco had signed on for the summer, and he wasn’t available in the fall. And so Joey Cassata is gonna be on drums filling in for Joe, but if Joe Franco can make it, he definitely will. And Russ Pzütto, who has been our bass tech and has filled in for Mark in the past, will be playing bass. So Russ has been with the organization for years and years and years. He also played on Dee’s solo projects. So that’s basically the lineup.”

Ojeda also discussed the possibility of more shows:

“We’re gonna see how it goes, and if it feels right and we’re up to it, and Sebastian’s up to it, we’ll see what happens. I think we’re gonna have a blast, and I think people are gonna really enjoy it. And then we’ll take it from there. One thing at a time.”

[via Blabbermouth]