Sebastian Bach knew he had a job to do.

The former Skid Row singer recently embarked on a three-month U.S. tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of his old band’s seminal sophomore album, Slave to the Grind. After contracting COVID-19 over the summer, Bach wanted to mitigate risk on this trek as much as possible. So he’s been doing his civic duty by encouraging his nearly half-million Twitter followers to get vaccinated — and swatting away anti-vaxxers and science deniers.

"I was stuck in my house, and I had to get the fuck out of my house," Bach tells UCR. “I was like, 'What can I do to get out of my house?' I was like, 'Holy shit, I have a half a million people that follow me here on Twitter, and that's quite a big amount of people.' So I just put out really controversial tweets, like 'two plus two equals four,' or 'the sky is blue.' [And people responded,] 'Oh, no it's not! This is some bullshit!'"

Bach has been vocal on social media about his burning desire to get back on the road since the coronavirus pandemic started. While he likens his current trek to "touring in space," his safety precautions — such as temporarily suspending meet and greets — appear to be paying off so far. "I actually do listen to what doctors say," he insists, holding his Ace Frehley face mask up to the camera for effect. "I check the news every morning, and lately, the news has been that the COVID cases seem to be going down, and we might actually be turning a corner in the fight to get back to normal. And if it keeps going like that, we're on tour at a really good time."

The singer can't fathom why people would resist getting the COVID vaccine when it’s one of the easiest ways to protect themselves as live music returns. "I don't understand why somebody would take a vaccine for polio, but they won’t take a vaccine for COVID," he says. "What's the fucking difference? You don't like this disease, but you're okay with this disease? I don't get it."

Listen to Skid Row's 'Slave to the Grind'

He also has no patience for the more, um, conservative musicians who think President Joe Biden is to blame for America's ongoing COVID woes. "I just think for any meathead, ignorant musician that wants to get their crowd chanting, 'Fuck Joe Biden,' okay, anybody who wants to do that, I can say, 'Fuck you and your band, and fuck the guy that came before Joe Biden,' [who] I don't need to speak about anymore," Bach says. "Joe Biden is an old man who has nothing but good intentions for the country, and there's nothing to not like about him. He's trying his hardest to get us back to normal, instead of the shit show that took away rock 'n' roll from us in 2020, and our kids' school, and everything that we know about America. Joe Biden has made America great again, and he's constantly under attack for no reason."

Bach knows what he’s doing by interpolating Donald Trump's campaign slogan, but it's the closest he comes to mentioning the disgraced ex-president. "As soon as Joe Biden was elected president, I never mentioned the other guy ever again," he says. "If you look at my Twitter, I flicked the switch. I go, 'I'm fucking done with that shit.' Because that's not who I am. I'm not out to be having political headlines with my face next to them all the time. But when you hit [science deniers] with hardcore shit like 'two plus two equals four,' those are fighting words to some people. If you hit 'em with shit like math, look out — you're crossing a line, man."

If this attitude gets Bach branded a self-righteous liberal, so be it. He couldn't care less if his conservative ex-fans never listen to their Skid Row albums again. "You're allowed to do whatever the fuck you want with it! I got paid!" he says with a laugh. "Enjoy your paperweight. Knock yourself out. Buy another one. Go for it, then you’ll have two."

Despite the onslaught of social media trolls he has to endure, Bach is grateful that he has a platform to get the word out about the Slave to the Grind 30th-anniversary tour as life slowly returns to some semblance of normalcy. "I use the internet for my own purposes, as far as promoting my band," he says. "You know, I had to get out of the house. I needed a president that believed in math and science and all those radical ideas. And so I just went to work on my Twitter. And it worked. Thank you."

Watch an Excerpt of UCR's Interview With Sebastian Bach

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