Dave 'Snake' Sabo (Skid Row) Interview
In 1999 Sabo, Bolan and Hill decided to reform the band. They hired Texas singer Johnny Solinger to be the new lead vocalist and longtime friend Phil Varone to be the band's drummer. In 2000 the newly reformed Skid Row landed the coveted opening slot on the Kiss "Farewell Tour". The band has been touring ever since, and will release their latest album and the first with Solinger as the lead singer, Thickskin, on August 5th. A DVD chronicling the making of the new album, called Under The Skin - The Making of Thickskin will be released in July.
Skid Row is currently on tour with Poison and Vince Neil, and I recently spoke with Dave "Snake" Sabo as the band was headed on its bus to Columbus, Nebraska.
Chad Bowar: How is the summer tour with Poison and Vince Neil going so far?
Dave "Snake" Sabo: It's been better than I ever could have expected. Everybody gets along great, people have been coming out in droves, between 6000 and 10,000 people a night. We all get along great and hang out together, it's a great camaraderie out here, no egos, no bullshit.
What is your setlist like on this tour?
We get 40 minutes, which is nine songs, so we play seven old songs and two new ones.
What can fans expect from your upcoming CD Thickskin?
It's kinda tough to be objective, although we were given the opportunity to be objective on this record because we recorded it once, went out on tour, and then were able to sit and live with it and realize that wasn't exactly where we wanted to be. So having that objectivity, we were able to go back and make the necessary changes that we wanted. Now we have the record that we want. It's who we are in the year 2003. We still are who we are, but if you haven't grown and kept your ear to the ground, then you become redundant, and we're not interested in that.
The thing for us is not about nostalgia, but about the next chapter in the band's career. It's about moving forward while still maintaining the integrity of who we are. Rachel and I still write the bulk of the material, so it's still going to be Skid Row, but now we have Johnny Solinger singing, and he puts his stamp on it and makes it his own. It's very exciting for us because it's a new band in a sense. It's like starting over, but with a wealth of knowledge.
Skid Row has always been a bit harder edged then your contemporaries. Is that still the case on this CD?
Without a doubt. There is a lot of heavy stuff on the record, but it is a well rounded record. The record makes sense as a whole. We run the gamut, show all sides.
Why are you releasing Thickskin on your own label?
We signed licensing deals all over the world, but it's our own label. We decided that we were going to take every matter regarding this band into our own hands, so we cleaned house. We manage ourselves, we do everything on our own when it comes to our records. We do all the artwork in-house, we do all the T-shirts in-house and do all the licensing deals ourselves. We're in complete control of every aspect of our careers, and at this point in our lives if we don't know what we're doing in regard to our own career we never will.
In this day and age the music business is different. We had a great relationship with Atlantic Records, but the new regime comes in and all the people that were so supportive of you have moved on to other places, and the new people are more interested in working other people's records instead of yours. I'm too proud of this record to have its sit on a shelf somewhere, so we decided to undertake it ourselves. It's an uphill battle, but it's something that we relish because our band has always been the underdog anyway. We've always had to fight uphill and it makes us that much stronger, hence the title of the record, Thickskin.
How are fans reacting to Johnny as the lead singer?
They've been great. He's not the new guy anymore, he's been in the band since 2000, so it's been over three years now. He's taken it upon himself to lead us, and he does an amazing job of it.
How did you decide to remake "I Remember You" on the new CD?
We decided to see how it extreme we could take that. It started off as a joke, something we wanted to do for fun. It started raising eyebrows and piquing people's interest, so we said let's take this one step further and start playing it live and then record it. Then we said "what the hell", and put it on the record. The inspiration came from when Queen did "We Will Rock You", the live version was a heavy-assed version of a stadium anthem. It started out at first as a joke, like I said, but it became more and more apparent to us that it was something we should do. Number one, it's going to create some controversy, and that's always good. But it's fun, and we enjoy doing it. It's not to discredit our past, because we're very proud of our past. We still play the original "I Remember You" in concert. You've got to give people what they want, because they spend their hard earned money and they want to hear that song.
Was there less tension making this record than during the Sebastian Bach days?
Totally. We haven't had one ugly thing since we put the band back together, not one argument. I've never been in a situation like this where everybody has a great respect for one another. This friendship we have is truly amazing. We spend every day with each other, go to dinner with each other, we're planning vacations together when we have a break. That just never occurred before. Never.
The past three years, for me personally, has been the happiest I've ever been. You can't replace happiness with money. Just to be able to wake up every day and say I'm happy I'm here right now, that just says volumes. I wouldn't trade that for anything. We've been so fortunate in the successes that we've had in the past, and I have always look at those things as a blessing. I've never felt that it was my rite of birth or anything like that. With that way of thinking, I'm fine with whatever comes our way, as long as we maintain our integrity through it all and keep moving forward.
What are your tour plans?
We take this tour into the middle of September, and then we are going to hop on another tour in the states or go out on our own for a little while. Then we head to Europe, and then in the new year to Japan and Korea and we're trying to secure South America. We're going to work this record until it can't be worked anymore.
What music are you currently listening to?
We have a traveling bar that we bring with us that has booze, strobe lights, a disco ball and a stereo, so we listen to stuff every day. We just got turned on to the new Anthrax record, which I think is really good. I like the new Black Label Society. Zakk is just an amazing guitar player and a good friend. I like the Dragpipe record and the Evanescence record.
You also have a DVD called Under The Skin - The Making of Thickskin coming out about a month before the new CD. What can we expect to see on the DVD?
It's basically everything it took to make this record. All the idiocy, all the drunkenness. It shows you every aspect of us while we've been making this record.
Is there anything else you'd like to mention?
The new record comes out Aug. 5th and I promise that you will not be disappointed. Come out and see our shows because it's something that shouldn't be missed. Thank you to everybody who's been so supportive of us for the long haul.
Skid Row is currently on tour with Poison and Vince Neil. Visit their official site for tour dates and information on the upcoming CD and DVD: http://www.skidrow.com
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