By Natalie Perez

Hard-rock veterans Skid Row has been around for almost 30 years, and they’re still going strong, having just launched a series of EPs with United World Rebellion Chapter 1. Guitarist and backing vocalist Dave “Snake” Sabo took some time to discuss the new release and just how much the band has meant to him through the years.

REVOLVER You guys have been a band for almost 30 years. What comes to mind when you look back on your career thus far?
SNAKE SABO 30 years? I had no clue in all honesty. When Rachel and I first started the band in 1986, we had always felt that we’d still be playing, writing, and be friends together for as long as possible, if not since the first time we could pick up a guitar and bass. It’s just been an incredible reaction and feeling. Hopefully, the fans will react well to the new songs as they have to the old ones. It’s been such a long time–24 years since our first album was released–I just look back at it all with such respect.

How did you guys come up with your band name?
In all honesty, it was one of the hardest things to come up with. At the time, we were driving down the road and trying to avoid an accident skidding the road, and I said, “Let’s call the band Skids or Skid Mark,” jokingly then I said, “Let’s call it Skid Row.” We were laughing at it, then knew 10 minutes later that was the name for the band.

What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
I think that a lot of what we approach and talk about is individuality and community. It’s not about the band, the barrier, and then the audience when we play shows. It’s more about community and being in concert with one another. We’ve always been underdogs as far as the band goes and we base our rep on our shows, so no matter the venue or where we’re playing, we always give it all we got to the audience. They have always sensed that about us and have adopted us as their band, so it’s very humble so all of our messages is positive and always will be.

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
I think we’re a pretty aggressive hard-rock band with some heavy metal involved. There have been so many influences brought in a lot of things in common as well, like KISS, Van Halen, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, The Ramones, even influenced by Motown, old R&B and Soul records. It goes all across the board for us.

Was your songwriting and recording process any different than usual for this EP?
Yeah, there was a lot less pressure and it was different for us to do. It was one of those things of where we took that pressure off and wanted to do an idea of having the music be a constant flow so, with these EPs, we’re able to keep someone’s attention span there because, in this day and age, it’s hard to do that. If we had gone into the studio to record a album with 12 to 14 songs on it, you’re stuck with that recording while you tour, so we had thought of releasing EPs instead with five to six songs, then tour, and go back into the studio, record, and release another one, and tour again. You’re keeping contact with the people out there, keeping their interest and making that attention span last a bit longer. So far, it has kept the price down on buying records and working in the studio, as well as give us a lot of flexibility. It seemed like the right thing to do and allow us to have a lot of different angles to work with.

This is of course the first chapter in this EP series, but how many EPs plan to be in this series? When the series is completed, do you plan to release everything together?
There are going to be three in this series. In five months, the second one will come out, and then in another five months or so, the third one. From there, we will see how far the series can go. Eventually, it’s open to a lot of different things: box set, vinyl, picture disc, who knows, maybe some DVD. It will be something special and different to go with the EPs.

How has the band’s sound evolved from Revolutions per Minute to United World Rebellion?
Oh my gosh! I think what happened was that we had taken that pressure off and reacted to each other in a natural way of tossing ideas around. So that essence of the band went back to how things were when we had done our Slaves to the Grind release.

What are your plans for this year?
We’re just going to be touring and recording just keeping our fan base interested in us and gain some new fans along the way as well so that’s pretty much it.

Anything else you’d like to say to your fans out there?
Just the fact that we’re very humble that people still come out to see us and sing along with the songs. I just can’t imagine a life without all of that support. Our first EP in this series is out now and we hope people enjoy it.

UPDATE: The poll is closed. For the results, click here.

On January 24, Revolver and Guitar World teamed up to host the 2nd Annual Rock & Roll Roast at the Grove in Anaheim, California.

The event honored Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, who withstood a barrage of barbs and one-liners from a slew of rockers and comedians, including former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, who roasted Snider with a Behind the Music spoof video made just for the occasion. You can check it out below.

There will be more videos coming your way, of course! Look for a new video from the Rock & Roll Roast of Dee Snider every day this week.

The event, which was presented by Peavey Electronics and sponsored by Epiphone and Monster Energy Drink, featured live roasts by Black Label Society guitarist Zakk Wylde (last year’s Roast honoree), Scott Ian of Anthrax, comedian Jim Norton, That Metal Show co-hosts Jim Florentine and Eddie Trunk, Lita Ford, comedian Craig Gass and Snider’s son, actor and comedian Shane Snider.

The event also included video roasts by Bach, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Alice Cooper, Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho, Donald Trump, Steel Panther, Playboy Playmate Brande Roderick and others.

On the night of the Roast, fans followed the action via Twitter (#DEEROAST) and watched the event live on AXS TV. Proceeds from the event benefit MusiCares, a nonprofit organization of The Recording Academy that provides financial assistance and addiction recovery resources to music people in need.

To read more about the Roast — and to see a red carpet photo gallery and video by Fuse — check out our day-after wrap-up story, which features some of the best one-liners from the event.

“I’m Alive” is taken from the singer’s latest album, last year’s Kicking & Screaming, which was produced by Bob Marlette (Black Sabbath, Atreyu, Filter.)

Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne): “Big BL get well wishes out to Lord Iommi!!!”

Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Black Country Communion): “Prayers please for my brother Tony Iommi… We all pray for a full, speedy recover from cancer…. Much love…”

David Draiman (Disturbed): “Everyone please send their prayers/good vibes/best wishes to Tony Iommi for a speedy recovery; he has been diagnosed [futureusgallerywith] lymphoma.”

Anthrax:: “This really does suck. GET WELL SOON TONY!”

Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD): “I absolutely insist that every single follower of mine, religious or not, send a prayer up for Tony Iommi. He has been diagnosed with lyphoma. It’s in its early stages—Sabbath is writing a new record, and they are continuing to. Iommi is the reason heavy metal exists. Pray for him. You pray to Crom, Odin, yourself—don’t care who. Just send up some positive vibes for Tony Iommi.

“This is terrible news for metal. I’ve toured with Iommi a coupla times. He is a gentleman and a living legend. Hopefully since it’s in early stages they can beat it pretty easily. But Iommi’s not a young man, so think good thoughts! It is no secret that I have donated both my time, energy, facial hair, and a fair amount of my money to cancer research. I’ve walked the walk (literally) as well as talked the talk. However, there’s nothing wrong with positive vibes.”

Sebastian Bach (Skid Row): “All hail the mighty Tony Iommi. & FUCK YOU, Cancer.”

Gus G. (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind): “I’m in shock to hear the news about Tony Iommi. Get well soon ‘Iron Man’!! Your biggest fan.”

Slash: “Best wishes for a full recovery to Tony Iommi.”

Frank Bello (Anthrax): “Get well soon Tony!!”

Chris Jericho (Fozzy): “Best wishes and prayers to Tony Iommi in these tough times. The MASTER of the riff will crush his cancer with the power of metal (and God)!!

Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth): “Just read the news, and it’s perplexing and shocking to say the least. On behalf of the band and, I’m confident to say, the whole population of rock music lovers in the world, we all wish for a swift recovery for Tony. Get well!”

Richie Faulkner (Judas Priest): “My thoughts go out to Tony Iommi and I wish him a fast and full recovery.”

Michael Amott (Arch Enemy, Carcass): “Here’s hoping for a solid and speedy recovery for my guitar hero Tony Iommi!”

Shawn Drover (Megadeth): “Tony Iommi – Please get well soon!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The event took place at the Key Club in Hollywood, California, with openers Kill Devil Hill—the supergroup featuring Dime’s former Pantera bandmate Rex Brown, Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell), Mark Zavon (Ratt, W.A.S.P.), and Jason “Dewey’ Bragg.

With all proceeds from the show going toward the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, last night was also a tribute to the former Heaven and Hell frontman who passed away, due to stomach cancer, last year. The set list duly reflected this, with songs performed including Pantera’s “Walk” and “Cemetery Gates,” as well as Dio staples like “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules.”

High-swinging ax
“The most important thing is don’t wear your guitar too high! It’s gotta be slung as low as it can, to the point where your arms have to be straight down when you’re hitting the strings. It looks far cooler that way.”

Rock your denim
“Stone-washed jeans are also a big no-no, for obvious reasons.”

Beware the white leather
“White leather is very dicey, too. You gotta be a special fucking kind of dude to pull off some white leather.”

Bark at the Moon
“Another offensive thing is the butt crack. I’ve had my pants too low, and I’ve gotten that plumber’s crack. It’s a fine line between hip-hugger and ‘crack kills.’”

Porky paint
“One thing that I find really disturbing is when a guy gets fat and he still wears makeup. That just looks weird. You gotta be skinny or in shape to pull off makeup. I could name names, but I’ll just say to those people, ‘Go for a run! It’s not working anymore! Just go run around the block once or twice then go back to worshiping the devil!’ I don’t run seven miles a day for fun. Fuck. I’m trying to rock the look!”

Photo by Clay Patrick McBride

REVOLVER Your new album was originally planned to come out this fall but was bumped to early next year. What happened?
LZZY HALE We’ve been on the road for, like, three-and-a-half years and so we have, like, tidbits of songs here and there, you know, whenever we could–we have a little rig that we travel with. And, you know, the blessing and the curse was, we started really, you know, digging into this and I ended up penning some of probably the most personal songs that I’ve ever written. And then people with the label called me up. They’re like “Hey, we didn’t know this about you! Uhh could you do more?” So we got really deep into it, and it’s good because now, like, we can see the record for what it is and it’s not gonna be this big, rush job to get it out, and then, you know, we might be disappointed with it later. We’re so excited right now about everything.

For you, writing this more personal material, was that hard for you to get out?
I think it was. It was difficult for me at first to figure out what I wanted to say on this record and considering it all really falls on my shoulders and the guys have to live with it. That happened last time with “I Get Off” and they’re like “Uhh, you sure you want to say this on the radio? And are we gonna have to do these backing vocals?” But it’s fine. They’ve been really good and just kind of said, “Hey, you know, whatever you’re feeling, go for it.” So I have. And that means, you know, no real holding back, which is either a good or a bad thing. The reason why we dragged it on a little longer is just because we wanted to see how far we could take it–or how far I could take it, at least. There’s always a line. There’s a line somewhere, right? We’ll find out. You’d think that we had crossed it already.

And a lot of the stuff has actually been inspired by, you know, our fans and their stories and, you know, I’m doing the advice column for Revolver and a lot of that is great fodder for new songs, just some of the craziest questions, which I’m totally happy to do, you know? Sometimes I start thinking, Well, why on earth would they want my advice? You know, I’m the last person in the world they should be asking this, but OK.

You mentioned “I Get Off,” and your first album also had “Dirty Work.” Both songs have plenty of sexual innuendo. Is that something we can expect more of on the new album?
You know, I think that’s just kind of a part of my personality. I mean, I room with a bunch of boys: You could say the sky is blue and they’d find some way to make it into a joke. And I’ve walked into it so much, where I’m not even thinking about it anymore, whereas usually one of the guys will be like, ”Well, if somebody wanted to take this in the other way, they probably could.” But, yeah, you can definitely, I mean, especially if you’re looking for it, I’m sure you can find it. And then there are some obviously on purpose because I just, you know, I fell in love with the whole twist of phrase thing.

Is there a sample lyric that particularly stands out?
On the lighter side, there’s a song that I wrote called “I Hate it When You See me Cry,” and it’s interesting because, when I wrote it, the guys were like, “You know what, you’re so right.” Because I used to, you know, hide a lot of stuff from them. I was kind of always keeping this camaraderie and this not really talking about or burdening anybody with some of my issues or some of the things that I’ve gone through. And so this time around, everyone’s kind of allowing me to do that, so I’m seeing the advantage of that.

I have some songs that are specifically for the breed of chicks that come to the rock show, not necessarily because their boyfriend dragged them there, or they didn’t have anything better to do that night, you know? We saw our first lady mosh pit the other day and it was brutal. It was seriously like Ladies’ Mosh Pit Time. Oh, my goodness. And, like, I was debating with the guys, I’m like, “I think that that was rougher than any of the male-dominated ones.” But, you know, how it is: Bitches be crazy. And I say that being a female.

You mentioned on Twitter that you thought Corey Taylor was the hottest dude in rock…
Well, here’s the thing: This is just the kind of girl that I am, but, you know, a lot of it is just because I got to know the guy and, I mean, he’s such an incredible sweetheart. I’m gonna totally ruin his hard-ass reputation right now, but, you know, there’s something that I’ve always liked about the scary-looking guy that will, you know, in the morning call me Darling. There’s just something about that.

But I don’t think that anyone has really ever given him the recognition for what an incredibly handsome smile he has. He never gets recognized for that. It’s the mask–it throws people completely off.

Recently you were Tweeting with Sebastian Bach and talking about doing a duet. Is that something you’d definitely like to do?
Absolutely, are you kidding me? I grew up on that stuff, thanks to my parents, you know? And so, it’s kind of just a crazy turnaround to have him be Tweeting me, you know? Like, Oh, my God, Sebastian Bach is following me on Twitter! But it’s great, man. We covered one of his songs on a covers EP that we released a few months ago. We covered [futureusgallerySkid Row's] “Slave to the Grind.” And shortly after we released it, he got in contact with us and, like, they put our version of it on the website. I mean, he’s been a complete sweetheart about it all and, yeah, he’s been telling me, “Hey, what would we sing if we ever got together?” I would love to make that happen. He’s a beautiful man, why would I not?

What’s your pick for the sexiest hard-rock or metal song?
Oh, sexiest hard rock song, let’s see… You know what, I’m gonna have to go with Slipknot’s “Gehenna.” It’s amazing. And the first time I ever heard it actually was the first time I was hanging out with Corey Taylor, right before—it’s on the All Hope Is Gone record—and right before they had released the record, he had kind of a rough of it and he’s like “I need to show you this song.” And it literally, I don’t know, it got me all tingly. And I was like, “When is this record coming out, because I’m going out to buy it.” But every time that song comes on, I still get chills, you know? I guess it’s the combination of the performance of Corey and just, you know, the words actually speak to me more so than anything else, you know, in my own battle of this weird kind of two-faced personality that I have.  It’s definitely a sexy song.

In his Facebook post explaining the destruction, Bach lamented the loss of bundles of recordings and memorabilia.

“Original Skid Row & KISS fans, I have bad news for you . Gone are irreplaceable items, such as my KISS Gargoyles from the 1979 tour. KISS pinball machine. Skid Row master tapes, video & audio, concerts, master tapes from Oh Say Can You Scream etc.

“We will salvage what we can of course. But how I wish there was a reason to do a box set or something before Hurricane Irene hit. Nobody cared. Now it’s too late. Don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone, indeed.”

Bach said that he now plans on permanently relocating to Los Angeles.

“New Jersey, thank you all so much for 25 years of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s all over now. Hello, Los Angeles. Hello, New Life. Here I Am. It’s time for a new start. Like I have a choice.”