2018.03.26 - Appetite For Distortion - Interview with Roberta Freeman

Transcript of GN'R parts:

Brando: But of course this is being a a Guns N' Roses podcast, so tell us how that came about? Because you already had clout from the get go, you could have just had Pink Floyd on your resume and that's it. But there are several other bands, you know, and and artists after that, you know before GN'R, right, it wasn't like GN'R was the second one. So how did how did Guns N' Roses find you or was it, I don't know if management or Axl or how that come about?

Roberta Freeman: It was a long time ago so, you know, my memory is a little fuzzy, but I was on tour with Cinderella. I don't know if everyone is familiar with Cinderella, it's like a hand metal band, you know, and I was on a Heartbreak Station Tour and Fred Curry was friends with Slash and when the tour was winding down he tells me that Guns N' Roses was thinking about having a background, or two background singers, for their upcoming tour. And he said he would talk to Slash for me and get me on the gig. And he asked if I wanted to do the gig and I said, "Well, sure," you know. So I was told to expect a call from Slash about it, which I didn't for a little while and I didn't think it was gonna happen. That's fine because I always think stuff is not gonna happen, you know [laughs].

Brando: I'm the same way. You know what? That's the Jew in us. That's what it is. We always think the negative.

RF: Yes, exactly.

Brando: Before we even get to that, I'm curious, like how aware - because you were a big Pink Floyd fan - what was your view of Guns N' Roses? You know, were you a fan? What was your impression of of Guns N' Roses before even getting an offer?

RF: My impression of Guns was... I had been seeing them a lot on TV and hearing them over, you know, the radio and Welcome To The Jungle was playing on everything. And it's funny because as I was watching the Pink Floyd videos on MTV [?] videos would come on, you know, and I thought that they were pretty cool. I kind of compared them a little bit with Led Zeppelin because of Axl's falsetto, you know. But I wasn't like a huge fan like I was with Pink Floyd I was like, "Oh my god! This is a dream come true!" you know, I knew that they were really big and I knew that it would be a really good opportunity, you know, because they were really hot at the time. So I wasn't a huge fan. I mean, I liked their music, but I wasn't like, you know.

Brando: Right. I was comparing it to, like you said Pink Floyd, I mean, you were listening to it every single night going to bed. So I guess you know, in comparison to that, okay.

RF: So you know, you know, Slash is just a great guitar player and you know, I like the band. Where was I? Let's see....

Brando: You were waiting for Slash.

RF: Right. So I was waiting for this Slash to call, and I was living in New York, and Slash called, and he invited me to do the gig, he said, "Are you available to do the big gig, you know?" That's my Slash impression.

Brando: It's very good. I couldn't tell. I thought he was on the phone with me.

RF: [laughs] So, I said, "Yeah," and then I think I spoke to him a couple more times and he said, "Well, can you get to LA?" And I said, "Oh yeah, yeah, I can get to LA." And so I actually moved to LA. I just picked up and moved to LA, because I knew that I was done with the the cold and I had a lot of friends moving to LA for music and I knew it was the place to be. And I took a chance and I was just like, "I'm moving to LA." So I did that and so the next time I talk to him I was already in LA. And he, you know, told me that this is, you know, basically, "Did you listen to the album?Just do the arrangements, all the vocal arrangements." Because I was asking him what he wanted done. Did Axl want to send me stuff? You know, the way it is now, like, you get the material and you learn it, and I learned the songs but there were no arrangements and there were not a lot of female vocals. You know, there weren't a lot of background. He said, "Just do what you think would sound good. And, oh yeah, we need another singer, too, can you get another singer?" So I was like kind of freaking out because all of that was on me, you know? But I'm like, "Okay, I'll do it." And so I got Tracey because I had worked with her in this band called Rise Robots Rise in New York. Great band, you should check them out.

Brando: I will.

RF: Yeah, very cool. Then, you know, Tracey came to LA once, you know, we started and I did all the vocal arrangements and we just did it, you know, we just showed up - I think it was SIR studio, you know, in LA. And Axl was always supposed to come to the rehearsals, there was always a rumor that he was gonna call, he was gonna show up. He never showed up. And I was, you know, that worried me, the Jew in me, right [=a reference to a joke the interviewer did earlier about Jews having a worrisome nature]. "Where's Axl? We need to work on this," you know. And, you know, I wanted to get a thumbs up on my arrangements. I knew that they sounded okay, but I wanted to make sure that he approved them because the longer he waited to approve them, the less time I had to prepare other arrangements. So I was nervous about him not showing up. I can't remember how long we were in the studio, maybe a week, maybe two weeks, I don't know. But we get through the first show and I still haven't even seen Axl, okay? Haven't met him.

Brando: Like the first show of the Illusion tour?

RF: Right. And I didn't know what to do. I talked to Doug Goldstein - who was the the tour manager and talked with the manager - [?] tour manager, and I said I need to talk to Axl. And I didn't know how guarded that whole camp was, you know, they didn't like people to go in and talk to him. It was not like, you know, any other gig, like with Cinderella, if I needed to talk to Tom [Keifer], I would just knock on his dressing room door and say, "Hey Tom, can you talk," you know, and it was cool. But it wasn't like that. It was another level, and I wasn't used to that, you know. And I was told that I could not talk to him and I was very persistent. And I said, "Look, you know we're going to go on stage here in a few minutes and I need Axl to share what I've done and Tracey needs to come in with me, we need to sing him the parts," you know, that's that. And so Doug finally gave me the okay and we went in and Axl was so cool and so sweet and not only did he give me an approval for everything I did but he was very kind and he was very complimentary, he's he said that what I had done was was really good and it sort of added so much to the sound. And that's exactly what they wanted. And he was just really, really sweet. And, you know, he gets a bum rap because, you know, he's doing his on stage persona, you know, people think he could be a jerk and everything - and I've seen him do some jerky things - but honestly, personally he has never said an unkind word to me. And you know, he's always been really, really nice. So that was my first impression of Axl, you know. And that was the first, you know, bunch of moments spent with GN'R and my impressions of them. So it was an interesting ride. It was never a dull moment with those guys ever.

Brando: I can't imagine. And I'll credit - because we got a lot of fan questions, I'll credit that one, she asked your first impressions of the band, to Carly on Facebook. And you did answer some of them. And it's funny, when I sent you this link to our friends over at mygnrforum and when I announced, you know, when you initially said yes to doing this interview and, you know, obviously you weren't torn, you had other stuff going on, this - I don't know his real name - this is his username [?], you'll know who you are on mygnrforum, because you're like, "Oh, if you have any questions send them to me beforehand so I can give you the best answer possible," so I'm like, "Well, I'll have my questions. I just want to know more about you. But just so you know, the fans love who you are. For example, here's this person," and it's like two pages of questions.

RF: [laughs] Yeah.

Brando: And [?] by the way, you almost - I'm always afraid - I think you almost scared off Roberta from doing this interview. I'm like, "Oh my God, I hope she doesn't think I'm gonna ask all these," like, "damning questions." So yeah, I was very afraid.

RF: Some of those questions were a little overboard.

Brando: Oh yeah. And even at the end he goes, "Okay, I got a little crazier, I didn't see the 3-4 hours flying by," so he spent three or four hours writing questions. But you know, he just wanted like to verify if it was Slash or Cinderella who found you and then you already covered it there. It's just interesting because he asked, "Did you have to harmonize with Axl?", "If you had like specific rehearsal time with him?" And the fact that you never met him until the first show, that's kind of a common thread - both are common threads here - because we interviewed Brain, drummer Brain of the Chinese Democracy era, and he did not rehearse with Axl until that first House of Blues show, Rock and Rio, who did it. But it all worked out and with-

RF: Well, I can imagine, like, the drummer, like the musicians, you know, doing it without Axl and Axl showing up, you know, even though that that's highly uncommon, you know, but for the lead singer not to get together with the background singers, not to have a vocal rehearsal, that's, you know, that's scary [laughs]. That's just plain, you know, rolling the dice, man, you know.

Brando: No, it is, it is. I mean, when you went in there, did you even - because at that point, like, it was what it was and you were focused on the show, did you ever say, "How come we never rehearsed"? You know, "Maybe we can make this even better," like, did that even come up?

RF: No, I mean, Axl is Axl. He just doesn't come to rehearsals. I learned that, you know, and I just, I was confident with my parts. I mean, I know that I came up with good parts and I know that my harmonies were tight and everything, but it's always really good to work out any bugs or any unforeseen problems, you know. And the fact that he wasn't showing up to rehearsal, I just wanted to make sure that Tracey and I was really tight. It all worked out, you know.

Brando: Yea. And the other comment thread thing too is the management kind of being this weird buffer between Axl and what his perception - I mentioned it before you came on - I had played a clip from Jimmy Fallon, comedian Jim Jefferies was on there and he told this very funny story about meeting Axl while high on mushrooms or whatever, and he wanted a picture with Axl  and management said like, "No, no," and Axl said, like, "No, no, it's fine, yeah, let's take a picture together." And that just seems also to be a common theme with the legend that is that Axl Rose or the legend of Axl Rose, probably I should phrase it like that.

RF: Well, Big FD Management, you know what "Big FD" stands for, right? [laughs}

Brando: Say that again?

RF: You know what "Big FD" stands for, right?

Brando: "Big FD"?

RF: Yeah.

Brando: "Big fucking deal"?

RF: Yes [laughs].

Brando: Oh, okay. [laughs]

RF: I don't really want to talk that about them, you know, but they weren't real nice to the girls a lot of the time, you know-

Brando: Well, they're not the management anymore, you know.

RF: Yeah, yeah. But still, you know, they were definitely the buffer between Axl and the rest of the world. And Axl was so cool with so many things, but they made it seem like he wasn't, you know. Like one thing in particular was that solo that I do on Heaven's Door, right, by the time the the tour was well underway, you know, I started with a little little tiny thing, you know, because I was afraid of stepping up too much because I didn't know if Axl was gonna approve of it, you know, and when I started doing that little solo it was really small and then I kind of indulged a bit more and more and more on it. So Doug took me aside one night and told me to cool it. He said, "Axl's not digging it and you need to cool it," and I was like, "Really? He said that?" and Doug said, "Yeah," and then - it couldn't be more perfect timing - Axl came out of his bedroom[?] and he said, "Oh, I just want to tell you that that bit that you do on Heaven's Door every night, man, I just stand on the side of the page while you're doing that and I just enjoy it so much, I'm really digging it, that's really cool, just keep it up." And I just looked like, "Mhm-mm" [laughs]

Brando: Wow.

RF: And that was kind of typical, you know.

Brando: You would think Doug Goldstein - being another one of the tribe - would be on your side. I'm just wondering, maybe in a future episode, you know, I can get Doug out of here because I'm just curious... because I spoke to Alan Niven, the manager before him, but just like to say the complete opposite, that's not even getting the message wrong. You know, maybe sometimes the message gets like misconstrued, you know, maybe like, "Oh, Axl wants-"

RF: -I'd like to think maybe Axl said something about my performance and maybe Doug misheard.

Brando: That's a real bad mistake. To think the complete opposite. I mean, I don't know.

RF: [?] But you know, whatever, you know, it's all water on the bridge, I don't care, you know. No, it doesn't matter, you know. I was a confident person, and if I hadn't been a confident person, I might have backed down from that kind of thing. And honestly, if Axl hadn't come out and said that to me I probably would have continued to do it until Axl said something to me himself, you know, because that's the person I am. But yeah, there were some weird things. They didn't want us on that gig. I think Axl was the only one that wanted the girls, you know, and everybody else was just like... We were kind of cramping their style and I kind of, I get it-

Brando: Like it was a boys club kind of thing?

RF: Yeah, it was totally a boys club. They were, you know, these hardcore, total, the real deal, "Rock'n'roll!", you know, and these chicks on the road were going to mess them up. They didn't want chicks on the road. We were gonna fuck everything up for them, right [laughs]. So, you know, I understand that. You know, I think they didn't want to be perceived as soft, you know? Like, Mötley Crüe were taking girls out at the time and I think that Mötley Crüe was perceived more as a glam band because of the girls or something. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe with the makeup, I don't know.

[laughs]

Brando: [?], I'm sure.

RF: But yeah, I didn't feel like there was a big, huge welcome mat for us, you know, because we were cramping their style, you know. And at the time I was a little upset about it. But I get it. I understand why they were not happy to see us, you know, but I think in the end, you know, we all got along and, you know, I think they were happy with us, at least performance wise, you know.

Brando: Right. Like the performance is the performance. But the cramp... you know, you can't cramp the style on stage, that is what it is, that's your job. But are they thinking... Were you hanging out with the band after and, like, where you couldn't cockblock them or were they worried about that? Like, what was the atmosphere?

RF: I don't think they should have worried about that because at the time they were the biggest band in the world besides the Stones. And if a groupie wanted to get to them, they would, you know, kill me to get to Slash or Axl or whatever, you know, I wasn't going to stop any groupie. I don't think that even has anything to do with it. I just think that our presence... It was a boys club and, you know, "No girls allowed," you know what I mean? So, you know, I just felt like, how to kind of prove myself all the time, you know, that I was a legit singer and, you know, I wasn't there to be a groupie. I think maybe that's what they were afraid of, that we were going to be like groupies, you know?

Brando: Yeah, you weren't a-

RF: You know, I wasn't especially, you know, a fan at the time, you know, I became more of a fan afterwards, after listening to the music night after night I was like, "Oh yeah, I like this song," "Oh yeah, I like this song, too," you know. But I wasn't ever a groupie and I wasn't ever like a crazy fan or anything like that. I was just doing my job. So I think that's maybe what they were afraid of, that they were gonna have a groupie situation on their hands with five girls, you know?

Brando: Yeah, there should have been so much more respect. I don't even want to demean, like, just to say, "if you were just a", I don't wanna, like, again, I'm just using it flippantly like, "just a backup dancer," or you were just part of it like how Mötley Crüe would - you know, speaking of them, would just have girls dance on stage. I can see maybe like a worry there. But you were a singer, you were part of the band. You were in Guns N' Roses for a time. So disappointing how some people viewed you like that. But if Axl was so, you know,  nice to you and complementary to you, well, what were some interactions with some of the other members of the band? Because I know you would go on to work with Gilby in the future.

RF: Oh yeah, Gilby was fantastic. I think I got on with Gilby, I think, the most out of everybody in the band, you know, we kept in contact afterwards and I went on to - it's funny because on my website it says that I just worked on my sixth album with him, but I think it's the seventh album-

Brando: Oh, okay.

RF: So he consistently calls me over the years to work with him and yeah it's been great. So I really loved working with him and I like hanging out with him, and Teddy was a blast. And I can remember many nights in the hotel lobby with Teddy playing the grand piano and we were jamming. We just had a lot of fun. And I loved Duff. Duff was so sweet. It's funny, I'm gonna put it on the record here, I think a lot of people thought I was doing Duff and I would not [laughs].

Brando: Okay.

RF: So yeah, I wanted to just make that known because people have accused me of that and I didn't appreciate it because I was trying to, you know, keep it utterly, completely professional. And I had no desire to go there with any other bands. You know, like I said, I did not want to be seen as a groupie. And, you know, I was kind of offended that anybody would think that I would make a groupie move like that, because I was just trying to do my job and be really good at doing my job and keeping focused on that and not messing around with any of that other nonsense.

Brando: They were just intimidated, that's all it was. They were intimidated by you because you were strong, confident and beautiful woman and they just didn't know how to handle it.

RF: Well, I was definitely confident and I did not want to to be messed with and I wasn't going to bend to intimidation, you know. Yeah, there were times where I was kind of fighting to prove myself, you know. But, you know, I think I made some nice friendships on that tour as well and the guys are really nice. I saw Slash a few years back and he was really sweet to me, you know, so I have nothing really bad to say about anybody, you know. Everybody was really sweet, Dizzy was really sweet, Matt and I got along okay [laughs].

Brando: Okay?

RF: But, you know, it's kind of like a family, too, you know, you see these people day in and day out every single day, and, you know, after a while, you know, it's like hanging out with your brother or your sister-

Brando: Sure.

RF: But sometimes you just don't want to deal with them and sometimes you have a great time, you know. You know, it's a family, you know. It was fun and I wouldn't say that for anything in the world. It was an amazing experience. I mean, I got to experience a real rock'n'roll band that, in a lot of ways it was more rock'n'roll than Pink Floyd ever could be, you know [laughs].

Brando: Pink Floyd, their a different kind of band than GN'R. We know about the, like, the rehearsals and not, you know, Axl not being there, but did you ever take part with the other members of the band like in a studio session? This is coming from our friend Luda Raikin[?], I mean, he spent three or four hours asking these questions, I figured I'll ask some of the, you know, the PG ones. Were you ever invited to record anything with them? Like a writing session or just a jam? And even after that tour, did you expect anything in the future with GN'R?

RF: As far as writing, no, as far as jamming, we did a lot of like super like loose kind of stuff. Mostly with like me and Gilby and Teddy. You know, like clubs or hotel lobbies or wherever we were hanging out, you know what I mean? We didn't do any studio stuff. The only recording that were done with all of us and me were the live recordings, like, this... What was it? The Paris pay-per-view and the Live Era '91 to whatever it was.

Brando: Yeah, the clip that I introduced you with.

RF: Yeah, yeah, stuff like that. So you know, here were a ton of live recordings and a lot of televised stuff, like the MTV Music Awards and, you know, those kind of shows. But yeah, I never, like, went into the studio and did the studio recording with them. I never expected to continue on with them because I think that the only, like I said, the only one who really wanted the girls and the sound was Axl, you know, it was an experiment for him.

Brando: Sure. Yeah, it certainly was an experiment cause a lot of.. you know, they changed, they weren't the Appetite 5 because they grew into a bigger band and, again, that's what I first fell in love with, you know, November Rain, that's still to this day my favorite song and your vocals on it and, you know, of course, the video... Could you actually talk about the November Rain video shoot?

RF: Oh, it was a looooong-

Brando: Okay, like the song?

RF: Yeah. I had done a lot of videos up to then and video shoots are usually long. It's a long day. You start early, you know, there's a big fuss about the hair and the makeup and the wardrobe and blah blah blah, you know. And then you sit around looking beautiful in your hair and your makeup and your wardrobe for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours. Waiting for your scene, you know, to shoot. And you do it a million times and then like 4:00 or 3:00 in the morning it's done, you know. But with that video, oh my god, there was so many people involved, there was a full orchestra. And so there was all of that to be shot. And that took forever. So forget about.... I mean, the hurry up and wait part was ridiculous. We were just hanging out. I think it was over a two or three days. It was a long shoot. The first day was with the orchestra, we're on stage and we get through that and that was a really long day. And then the second day was the baby shot, the wedding scene. And that was a really long day.

Brando: I hope they got good catering, at least.

RF: Catering was always good.

Brando: Okay.

[laughs]

RF: Yeah, so I remember doing my own hair makeup for that and I also brought my own wardrobe.

Brando: So was that your idea too? And I'm not trying to sound like a complete nerd about it... the pearls and the long gloves, right? That was all you?

RF: Yeah, yeah. For the wedding thing, that was my little suit that I was wearing, trying to look conservative. Yeah, I like doing that. And there were so many people getting their hair and makeup done, I just figured, "Let me do it, let me just do it," you know. And I had done so many videos that I knew how to do that by then. So yeah, I had fun with that. And yeah, but it was a really long, long, long day. And I think the third day was the shot, the wedding reception and the big party. And I opted out. I was like, "Guys," I think I had something else planned or something, I don't know, I don't remember because it was such a long time ago, but it was a three day shoot, which is really, really rare for a video, you know. So I think I had like scheduled something else to do that day as far as I remember, you know [laughs]. But, yeah, it was a three-day shoot, "I guess I won't show up in that scene," you know?

Brando: It's like, "Yeah, I gotta go clean my refrigerator that day."

RF: Oh, I'd probably scheduled something like work wise, you know?

Brando: Okay.

RF: Whatever the case was, it was too long and I wasn't a major player, so I didn't think I would be missed. You know, I don't think it would be such a big deal for me not to be in that last shot, you know, and it wasn't, you know, it was just a bunch of people running around in the rain, right. I'm okay with it. [laughs].

Brando: Yeah. I mean, you could have gotten like a stunt double to jump on the table or whatever. You're prominently featured in that video forever so you did do what you needed to do, and that's cool that you did your own makeup and wardrobe, that was your idea to do that. That's pretty cool.

RF: Yeah. There were so many people in that little makeup trailer, it was ridiculous, you know. So it was such a wait and I was so antsy by then with all the waiting that I, just, I wanted to do something, you know, so, you know, I did it myself. You know, I went in for touch ups, you know, but I just, I wanted to do it, I want to do something.

Brando: Sure, sure. Unless I'm missing something, because we could talk about GN'R forever and again, the amount of people you've worked with in your career, you know, I know you have a life to live and you have to eat and sleep at some point, so I can only keep you here for a certain amount of time. Is there any like a fun story on the Illusion tour? Anything fun and light? Anything you would think that would be cool for listeners to hear? Because you've already told us enough, but before we move on to your, you know, what's going on with you currently, I just wanna make sure I'm not missing anything.

RF: Umm... fun. I mean, there was a lot of fun every night. It was crazy, you know? There were always a lot of people. The after show, green room, was crazy, but I think my most fond memory with GN'R was when we played that Paris show and Lenny Kravitz was there. It was just amazing and we hung out in this club afterwards with Lenny and it was a very - I can't remember the name of the club, but it was one of those really hard to get into places, you know - and we were walked in and to the VIP section and Lenny was hanging out with us and it was just, it was really cool, you know. I had a lot of fun that night and, yeah, sipping champagne with Lenny Kravitz.

Brando: I guess one last GN'R... How did the the horn section, the 976 horn section, how did that name come about?

RF: You know what, I don't exactly know how it came about, but I'm pretty sure it had to do with the fact that there were a lot of male fans, and they would hold banners up alluding to us as, you know, background bitches and, you know, stuff like that. Really kind of sexist stuff. And so I think Lisa, Lisa Maxwell, came up with "the 976 horn section" [laughs], and she's like, "Well, if that's how they're going to treat us, that's what we're going to be," you know, the [?] our attitute.

Brando: Wow, that's awful.

RF: And I did not agree with that. I was super offended by it, you know, because I was like, "Look, I'm doing my job, I'm trying to do a job here and I have to deal with sexism every day from the fans, from management, from, you know, it's coming from all sides and I don't appreciate having to fight for that, you know, and so if you guys wanna be called the '976 horn section', go at it, but, you know, Tracey Roberta would be 'Tracy and Roberta'." However, a lot of those banners were talking about us, you know, me and Tracey when... I remember a couple of shows that banners were put up in front of Axl saying, you know, "Axl, can we fuck your background bitches?" you know, and I remember Axl saying something like, "Well, you gonna have to ask their boyfriends." [laughs] Something like that.

Brando: Good for him then. It's awful. And that's why, you know, I'm just so glad that now with this whole #metoo movement and, I mean, it's interesting in the rock world because you probably would not have had the hair metal era without some sexism. But I can't imagine, obviously, because I've never been, you know, I've never been a sexy woman, I've never been sexually harassed. I mean, you know, of course like antisemitic stuff and, you know, I'm physically disabled [?], I have a neurological disability, so, like, you know, of course handicap stuff. But you know, never to make uncomfortable like this, especially when you're at your job. Hopefully those GN'R fans have learned their lesson since then, because that's, I don't know, that makes me, well... you're so sweet and nice.

RF: [?] GN'R fans have grown up.

Brando: Hopefully. Like those guys that we're holding up those banners are older now and hopefully they've matured, you know, and they see maybe that it was hurtful, you know. But honestly, I look back at it now and I'm like, "Well, yeah, I guess I was kind of hot, so, right." [laughs]

Brando: That doesn't give him the right, yes, but it doesn't give him the right to do that, you know.

RF: Yeah, it doesn't and, you know, I don't think that would fly now, you know, with the whole #metoo movement. But I think I handled myself pretty well for, you know, being in a man's world because back then... rock'n'roll is still a man's world, I mean, it was really a man's world back then.

Brando: Sure.

RF: And I think I stood up for myself quite a bit, you know.

Brando: Sounds like it.

RF: Yeah, I'm no mouse, you know, so yeah, I mean, I learned a lot. I learned a lot. And I learned how to handle myself more like a man, you know. And yeah, don't fuck with Roberta.

[laughs]

Brando: That should be the name of your next album, your solo album. I love it. Yeah, that's so good.

Finished with this. I only did the GN'R parts.