2014.05.18 - 100.3 The X Rocks - Interview with DJ

Transcript:

Big J/Nic: Morning After with Nic and Big J live out here on Rock on the Range day number one, DJ Ashba from Guns N' Roses and SIXX:AM hanging out with us and hey, thanks for giving us some time, we appreciate it man. Are you excited about getting out there and headline and be number one of this thing today?

DJ: Of course.

BJ/N: Yeah?

DJ: It's going to be a lot of fun. You know, it's Danny Wimmer, it's his festival and he used to manage me years ago.

BJ/N: Okay?

DJ: And just a great guy, can't wait. I've always wanted to play Rock on the Range and now we're here.

BJ/N: It is built up to a full three day festival now.

DJ: It's insane. It's great. So proud of him.

BJ/N: Yeah, you know, Danny, great guy, we've been there since day one. He's helped us out as well so I mean, you know, it's always nice to see good guys do well and this is one of those things where, you know, you can see they're doing a festival right. It's the right way both backstage and with the fans. It's got to be a good experience for you as an artist?

DJ: It's an amazing experience, yeah. Yeah, I just went out and spent over two hours signing and meeting people and everybody's so cool and just in good spirits out here, so.

BJ/N: You know, you work so hard to get in a band that people actually care about and fall around, and you're lucky enough to be in two, man.

[laughter]

BJ/N: With two legends [?]

DJ: [sarcastically] "Lucky me!"

[laughter]

BJ/N: It keeps you pretty busy.

DJ: What was I thinking? No, yeah, it does keep me super busy. We had about a week off, we got home from South America with Guns N' Roses, we had about a week off, so I had to fly into LA, go up to Nikki's house, we did a cover song for the new album, that was a last song we recorded, and next two days did a photo shoot for the album, flew right back out here, spent less than 12 hours with my wife and flew here and then I gotta fly back, yeah, it's crazy.

BJ/N: Fun being a newlywed, right?

DJ: Yeah, it's cool, yeah, she's out here somewhere.

[laughter]

BJ/N: Joined the show. You know, I mean, you are for the most part been the spokesperson right now for Guns N' Roses for the most part.

DJ: Pretty much.

BJ/N: But what's that like, because there's a lot of, I guess you would say misconceptions and things like that?

DJ: It's a lot of extra work [laughter].

BJ/N: Right.

DJ: It's cool, you know, I wake up every day, I'm very blessed to be in the shoes I am and, you know, I don't take it for granted, you know, any day you could wake up and it could all be gone and so you just, you know, ride this crazy roller coaster called life and, you know, that's kind of what I'm doing. Just enjoying every loop and twist and turn in it.

BJ/N: It's gonna be exciting and of course you had mentioned the new SIXX:AM album. Any additional details about that? Do you know what the drummer-

DJ: Yeah, it sucks!

[laughter]

DJ: Do not buy it, it's horrible. God do we suck! Fuck! I thought the last one was good, no, last one sucked too.

BJ/N: Oh man, it's good to know.

DJ: Don't buy it, no matter what you do.

BJ/N: I'm not gonna believe you, man.

DJ: It's horrible.

BJ/N: You've got my money already. I'm in.

DJ: Save your money, buy a coffee.

[laughter]

BJ/N: But you guys have a lot of work to do, I imagine, to get that thing out and going, are you guys planning on doing any touring this time around or is that-

DJ: We are planning on doing some really cool new stuff, like something really super special for the fans. We're talking about touring, you know, but not anytime soon so instead we're gonna do something that I think fans are going to really loved.

BJ/N: What's it like, you know, growing up a fan, I'm sure you grew up a fan of Guns N' Roses-

DJ: Still a fan of music.

BJ/N: Yeah, of Guns N' Roses.

DJ: -Of course.

BJ/N: But then you go out and you're playing on stage and you're doing Guns N' Roses stuff.

DJ: I'm still a fan of Guns, I always will be, and that's the only reason I'm in this band is because, you know, I felt really connected to the band. You know, I grew up cutting my teeth on, you know, the guitar style and this so for me it was like putting on a glove, it felt natural so, you know, I turned down quite a few big gigs and this is one that I just couldn't turn down, I felt like I had something I could offer, you know, and as a songwriter, producer, you know, I feel like i can honestly bring something cool to the table for the future of this band, so that's why I'm here. Not so much to play guitar.

BJ/N: Awesome man. Well, we're looking forward to checking you out tonight, you're headlining in the main stage, you're a Rock on the Range date number one, DJ Ashba, thanks for popping, we appreciate it.

DJ: No problem.

BJ/N: Morning After with Nic and Big J.

Excerpts from Blabbermouth:
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Nic and Big J of the Boise, Idaho radio station 100.3 The X Rocks conducted an interview with Guns N' Roses and Sixx: A.M. guitarist Daren Jay "DJ" Ashba at this year's Rock On The Range festival, which was held May 16-18 at the Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. You can now watch the chat below.

On handling most of the Guns N' Roses interviews these days since Axl Rose is not speaking to the press:

Ashba: "It's a lot of extra work. [laughs] It's cool, you know. I wake up every day and I'm blessed to be in the shoes I am. I don't take it for granted, you know. Any day you could wake up and it could all be gone. So you just ride this crazy roller coaster called life, and that's kind of what I'm doing — just enjoying every loop and twist and turn in it."

On what it feels like playing with Guns N' Roses after being a fan of the band growing up:

Ashba: "I'm still a fan of Guns — I always will be — and that's the only reason I'm in this band. I felt really connected to the band — I grew up cutting my teeth on the guitar style — so, for me, it was like putting on a glove; it felt natural. I turned down quite a few big gigs, and this is one that I just couldn't turn down. I felt like I had something I could offer. As a songwriter and producer, I feel like I can honestly bring something cool to the table for the future of this band. So that's why I'm here; not so much to play guitar."

On whether Sixx: A.M. will tour following the release of the band's forthcoming third album:

Ashba: "We're planning on doing some really cool new stuff — like something really super-special for the fans. We're talking about touring, but not anytime soon, so instead, we're gonna do something that I think fans are gonna really love."

https://blabbermouth.net/news/dj-ashba-why-i-couldnt-turn-down-guns-n-roses-guitarist-gig