In a recent “Come On Over” podcast interview, Sebastian Bach discussed the physical toll of his high-energy live shows.
“Well, I’ve gotta dial it back physically, to be honest with you,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “That headbanging bulls**t, I cannot do that anymore. And I have this thing where I get on stage and my brain says, ‘Don’t be a p*ssy. F**king kick their a*s, you motherf**ker. You f**king go.’
“When I’m onstage, I don’t know why, but I don’t feel any pain up there,” he continued. “I laugh when I’m on stage, I go, ‘Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Oh, my ankle hurts.’ And I say to myself, ‘Nobody’s here to see your f**king ankle! Nobody cares about your ankle!’ That’s the voice in my head. ‘Nobody cares about your shoulder, dude! Nobody cares!’
“So, I don’t know why I’m like that, but when I get off stage, my shoulder goes, ‘Hey, man, f**k you. Hey, you don’t care about your shoulder, huh? You don’t care about your back, you don’t care about your neck. Well, guess what? You’re gonna be caring about it tonight, and when you wake up tomorrow, your neck is gonna be [stiff] like this.”
In a 2013 interview with Blinded By Sound, Sebastian Bach hinted that his high-energy stage persona might not be sustainable as he approached his late 50s.
“Well, you know, Tom Araya from SLAYER is one the the greatest frontmen of all time and he injured his neck and back from headbanging in that figure-eight motion that I do all the time,” Bach said at the time. “He destroyed his back and had to get surgery and is not physically able to headbang anymore because of the damage he’s done. I’m not at that point yet or anything, but when you’re banging your head as hard as you can, I kind of wonder what’s happening to my brain as it’s bashing into the wall of my skull. I look at footage of myself and think, ‘Maybe that’s not so good for you.’ [Laughs] I don’t see most people banging their heads like trying to snap their craniums off their necks. Basically, the reason I’m telling you and the world is that it’s more impressive to me, artistically, to be more accurate and good than be a cheeerleader.”
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