Vocalist SEBASTIAN BACH (ex-SKID ROW) spoke with Angela Pacienza of the Canadian Press while in Toronto this past weekend. Canadian paper The National Post (www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/) has issued the following online report:

TORONTO (CP) - Sebastian Bach had all the ingredients necessary for success as the frontman for a heavy metal band: long blond hair, powerful vocals, tight-fitting pants and a personality large enough to fill stadiums.

After his hair-metal group Skid Row broke up in the early '90s and boy bands took over as the flavour of the day, Bach eventually found a welcoming home for his voice and his '80s image in Broadway musicals where he won good reviews for performances in Jekyll and Hyde, Rocky Horror Show and, most recently, Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Now Bach, who grew up in Peterborough, Ont., wants to return to the metal world despite being passed over last year for the job of singer for metal supergroup Velvet Revolver, which features the cast of Guns 'N Roses minus Axl Rose.

"I'm going to go to my grave trying to top the Slave to the Grind album," said a zealous Bach, in Toronto recently to sing the Canadian and American national anthems at a Blue Jays game.

Last month, the 36-year-old amiable singer, who has dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship, put out Forever Wild, a DVD which includes a 1998 concert, clips from his VH-1 show of the same name, and song commentary.

He's also back at work in the basement of his New Jersey home writing new material for a CD he hopes to release early next year with the help of metal producer Zeuss.

Bach says he gained new confidence on Broadway and thinks he's got a good shot of rekindling the glory days of the late '80s-early '90s even without the Velvet Revolver gig.

His Broadway shows, he notes with a cocky grin, were always well attended, usually filled with rock fanatics eager to see him on stage.

"(Broadway) took me out of the rock and roll scene for a while. I don't give a (expletive) where I fit in now in rock," he says. "Broadway musicals are incredible. You're naked up there singing . . . there's no technology with sound and endless amounts of effects."

Bach, born Sebastian Bierk, points to the current resurgence of hard rock with bands like Revolver and the Darkness finding a welcome place on radio.

"To have Velvet Revolver as the No. 1 album on Billboard is great for all rock 'n' rollers," he says. "That's saying rock is back."

The only place metal's not welcome, he says, is Canada.

"Canada's far from the heavy metal capital of the world. They're scared of the word 'heavy metal' here. That's why Sebastian Bach had to move," he said, referring to his departure in 1987 to join Skid Row. "I don't know why that is."

Bach's frustration with Canada was compounded during his days in Skid Row when Canadian content rules prohibited him from being considered for Junos or benefiting from radio-play programs.

It was 1995 and try as he might - he wrote his music, hired Canadians Bob Rock to produce and engineer Randy Staub, and used a Vancouver studio to record the band's last album, Subhuman Race - the record industry wouldn't classify his music as Canadian.

"I was so determined. This whole CanCon thing is a sham," said Bach. "They tell people like me and Bryan Adams that we're not Canadian. It's an insult. Just because I sold albums in America doesn't mean I'm not Canadian."

Bach's family - his father is the late painter David Bierk and his brother, former NHL goaltender Zac Bierk - immigrated to Canada in 1971 from the Bahamas. Bach was three years old.

In his teen years he pursued a singing career in Toronto. He jumped over to the U.S. in 1987 to join Skid Row.

On top of his plans to put out another solo album next year and revive his part-time character in the coming season of TV series Gilmore Girls, Bach will be touring this summer and hinted that fans will eventually hear the five songs he co-wrote and recorded with Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum when auditioning for Velvet Revolver.

"All I have to do is walk to my computer and press a button," he smirks. "You will hear it someday."