XX. Notes

Adler's Appetite Singer Quits

Singer Sheldon Tarsha has left Adler's Appetite, the band led by original Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler.

Commented Tarsha in a statement: "I'm deeply appreciative for all the time I spent singing for Adler's Appetite. It was a great experience to reunite with Steven and [bassist] Chip [Z'nuff [also of Enuff Z'Nuff] and complete this last U.S. tour together.

"20 shows in 21 days, performing 'Appetite for Destruction', night after night. What a blast! Everyone treated us like gold and the support we got from the people that came to see us was amazing!

"Steven is in the best health and spirits I've seen him in since I've known him.

"It's time now for me to follow my heart and continue working with my original band.

"I wish Steven, Chip, and the band much happiness and continued success."

Adler's Appetite Joined By Ladyjack Vocalist

Adler's Appetite, the band led by original Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler, has recruited vocalist Rick Stitch (pictured below) of the Los Angeles-based group Ladyjack for a handful of upcoming shows that kick off this weekend at the The Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, California.

Rick has been recording with former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, and his song "Make It Right" recently appeared in the feature film "The Grind", starring Danny Trejo and Tom Sizemore.

Adler's Appetite tour dates:

Apr. 17 - The Galaxy Theater - Santa Ana, CA
Apr. 18 - 4th & B Theater - San Diego, CA
May 08 - Manifesto Rock Bar - Sao Paulo, Brazil
May 09 - El Teatro - Buenos Aires, Argentina
May 10 - Teatro Broadway - Rosario, Argentina
May 21 - House Of Blues - Houston, Texas
May 22 - South Texas Rock Fest - San Antonio, TX
May 23 - [to be announced] - Dallas, TX
Jun. 27 - The Dam Rally - Monroe City, Missouri
Aug. 15 - Storm Stadium "Rock Fest" - Lake Elsinore, CA

Singer Sheldon Tarsha announced his departure from Adler's Appetite earlier in the week, saying it was "time now for me to follow my heart and continue working with my original band."

Adler's Appetite's current lineup is rounded out by Alex Grossi (Hookers N' Blow, ex-Quiet Riot) on guitar and Michael Thomas (Faster Pussycat) on guitar.

Adler is featured in "Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House", an eight-episode, one hour series that premiered on January 15 on VH1.

Guns N' Roses, White Lion, L.A. Guns Members Launch Empty V

A new live TV station will launch in Los Angeles at the Dragonfly on June 3 for Totally Wayback Wednesdays with Empty V, the new trip down memory lane featuring Dizzy Reed (Guns N' Roses), Troy Patrick Farrell (White Lion, Pretty Boy Floyd), Scotty Griffin (L.A. Guns), and Eric Dover (Sextus, Jellyfish). The band will perform the first songs played on MTV (Music Television), mainly focusing on the songs from the early '80s. Special guest themes will include Max Headroom and the VJs of the past in some form or another.

According to a press release, "This is not your normal tribute or cover band. This is something special, time travel to a safe place we once loved, and now it's back.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/emptyvtheband.

DFR, the band featuring Dizzy Reed and Richard Fortus (Guns N' Roses), Mike Duda and Mike Dupke (W.A.S.P.) and Todd Youth (Danzig, D-Generation, The Chelsea Smiles), will perform this Saturday, September 26 at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood, California. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Ages are 15 and up. Tickets are $18.00 in advance. Tickets will be $22.00 at the door. Also appearing on the bill is Vains Of Jenna.

What are your favorite records that you've made?

Well, this is why I'm one of the worst judges of my own music. Because my favorite record of all the records I've made was this album called Animal Rights that I made in 1996. No one else likes it. Of all the ones I've made, that's probably the only one I really go back to and listen to. And it sold nothing. And it got terrible reviews—I think Rolling Stone gave it one out of ten stars. But you know, it had three fans, and they were the weirdest—Terence Trent D'Arby wrote me a fan letter to say that he loved it, on Terence Trent D'Arby stationary. Bono, in a bar, told me that he liked it as much as the first Clash album. And Axl Rose told me that he listened to it on repeat. So the three of them liked it, and no one else! And the tour for that was the most depressing tour I've ever done, because the first part of the tour I was opening up for Soundgarden, and Soundgarden's audience just had no interest in me. And then I did my own tour, and my own audience had no interest in me. And we were playing tiny shows—averaging fifty to a hundred people a night. And the people who would show up—I remember we played at this place in Paris, this punk rock club-collective, the Balaklava? No, it was called the Arapajo—I forget. Maybe seventy-five people showed up, and by the end of the show there were twenty-five people there. It was just depressing. And it wasn't like I was twenty-one years old; I was thirty-two, thirty-three years old, thinking, "Really? I don't have a career." If it wasn't for Daniel Miller, I'd be working at Kinkos. Not that there's anything wrong with working at Kinkos; I'm all for—potheads need to have a job too.

Head Violent Femme Gordon Gano Heads Under the Sun

Gordon Gano, frontman of perennial misfit post-punksters the Violent Femmes, will be linking arms and guitars with brothers Billy and Brendan Ryan for Under the Sun, their forthcoming LP just announced for a September release.

Inspired by their jam sessions in the cafés of New York's West Village, Gano and the brothers Ryan promise an album of "music of a mature band, a band made of men not boys, men who have supplanted wonder for angst, controlled passion for reckless abandon." Of course, lest they throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater there'll be plenty of Gano's trademark exuberance, with lyrics like "I was a-crappin' and a-nappin'."

Frank Ferrer of Guns 'N Roses fame joined the group on drums during recording sessions, and Lonnie Hiller of Maggie's Dream added her bass guitar to a few songs as well. Under the Sun is out Sept. 15 on Yep Roc.

'Axl's fans have given up on him'

By JAMES PUGH

Motley Crue's Vince Neil has blasted erratic Guns N' Roses rocker Axl Rose for letting his fans down.

Outspoken Neil's scathing attack on the November Rain star comes after his latest album Chinese Democracy, the band's first since 1993's The Spaghetti Incident, failed to live up to the hype its 10 years in the making generated.

The veteran singer believes GNR's loyal fans have finally grown sick of the band, thanks chiefly to Rose's failure to turn up to rehearsals and perform live shows.

He told The Sun: "For it to fail was pretty crazy after so many years of being recorded. Then the tour got cancelled.

"A buddy of mine went to go play guitar for him. They rehearsed for three months and Axl never once turned up. Rule number one: show up!

"He's been doing that for many years. Finally I think the fans just went, 'F*** it - can't do this anymore.'

"You can't be a fan when you can't see the band."

The LP, estimated to have cost around £8 million, had to settle for third place behind Kanye West and Taylor Swift in the US albums chart when it was released in November last year.

Neil added: "I heard one track and then it just disappeared off the radio. It was never talked about again."

Meanwhile, Neil has invited Paris Hilton back to his bedroom to give her tips on how to make a decent sex tape.

The rocker, who described the ditzy socialite's legendary X-rated video with ex Rick Salomon as "pretty bad", says he'd be willing to "teach her a few things".

Neil also lashed out at the US entertainment culture, blaming low-rent reality TV shows for making the likes of Hilton and Kim Kardashian so unjustifiably popular.

He ranted: "It's happening all the time - in the States it's terrible.

"They'll give anybody a TV show and make them look like idiots and then they think they're stars, I don't f****** get it.

"It's like, 'What have you ever done? What have you ever brought to mankind?'"

Where Courtney Love meets John Momot: Slash concert a true variety show

By John Katsilometes

The allure of these rollicking Slash & Friends concerts brings to mind the imperious message from old late-night TV pitchmen: “How do we do it? Volume, volume, volume!”

Quality, quantity, high spirits and jacked-up amperage made for a late-night carnival at Bare Pool Lounge at The Mirage late last night, a showcase that spilled into the morning with an after-party at Jet. The all-star rock ’n’ roll exercise hosted by the former lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses summoned the old (dueling iconic guitarists Rick Nielsen and Joe Perry), bold (Courtney Love, tossing aside typical stage protocol to read lyrics to the gender-unspecific “20th Century Boy”) and beautiful (the wholly captivating Nicole Scherzinger, the leather-and-lace encased frontwoman for Pussycat Dolls).

The show was part of The Mirage’s lengthy 20th anniversary celebration, a point in time that will be marked officially on Nov. 22 and will be trumpeted in earnest on that weekend. I am led to believe there will be cake and punch.

As for the latest SlashFest, it hardly mattered that over the past few weeks, the event’s lineup experienced more drops than Terrell Owens during last Sunday’s Bills-Saints game (Rob Zombie, Jason Bonham, Tommy Lee and announced emcee Kiefer Sutherland were among the fall-out boys). The show drew ample star power anyway, and of course the requisite oddities, such as an onstage visit from Slash’s wife, Perla. The stormy spouse and Slash’s apparent voice of reason strode onstage in a beaded black corset adorned with long tassels over each side of her chest, snug black shorts and lace stockings. All dolled up, in other words. She then quoted a dead woman, Anna Nicole Smith, by asking, “How do you like my BAH-dee?”

We like it just enough! But not so much to offend Slash, the evening’s BFF.

Following are more “hooky” riffs from a crisp and loud evening in VegasVille:

*The vocalist for much of the evening was Las Vegas native Franky Perez, whose look has matured to the point where he looks like the father of the guy who released the promising “Poor Man’s Son” in 2003. The last time I’d seen Perez perform was that year when he opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd at The Orleans Arena. He roared through “Whipping Post” that night, and again last night, along with AC/DC's “Highway to Hell” and Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” Dressed entirely in black, shedding the shades and jacket in favor of a tank top late in the show, Perez obviously relished performing with the high-level stars like Perry, Nielsen, Slash, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan, who swapped spots on the stage over the two-hour show. At one point, he asked if anyone was from Las Vegas (a few among the crowd of about 650 cheered) and then he gave a call-out to his alma mater, Bonanza High School. Not your typical rock-show moment, eh? In the late stages, Perez also wore what appeared to be an old red-and-blue Las Vegas Stars hat from about 20 years ago.

It was fun watching Perez work it out onstage again. There was a time when he was at least as promising an artist as The Killers. It’ll be interesting to see if he can, as we say, parlay this fortuitous gig into something he can sustain.

*The Joe Perry Project opened the show and performed a song Aerosmith ignored during its visit to the MGM Grand Garden Arena a couple of months ago, a reggae version of “Dream On.” Perry said that version of the song was requested by an individual who booked the band to perform during a cruise, and Perry’s response was something like, “Forget you, cruise boy,” but it was a pretty cool rendition.

*Jot down Scherzinger’s name on that list of performers you don’t want to follow. She’s an exotically beautiful, easy-on-the-eyes, hard-on-the-ears performer able to share the stage with anyone (just in the past month, she’s appeared with both Gossy-Goss and Slash). By the time she finished with a full-force take on “Whole Lotta Love,” Love walked to the mic and said, “I just got my a** handed to me. I’ve gotta follow that?” Give Love credit for conveying that revelation, at least. She’s no dummy.

*Anyone clamoring for a meltdown by Love came away disappointed. She sipped from a glass filled with orange fluid and produced a lyric sheet to make it through “20th Century Boy,” a move I’d seen only once before, when Pink unfolded sheets of lyrics for “Rock and Roll” during the opening-night party at Empire Ballroom four years ago. But Love still has that haggard-sexy act pretty much perfected. She might not look or sound great each time out, but no one looks or sounds quite like her. At least, no one famous.

*Notable jams: Nielsen, who should be our next mayor, played on the full-group effort of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender.” Perry returned for “Toys in the Attic.” Sen Dog of Cypress Hill joined Perez on a blistering “Walk This Way.” McKagan and Sorum (who seemed to be in full, stroppy revelry by the time he hit the stage late in the show) joined Slash in a mini-Guns ’N Roses reunion for “It’s So Easy” (which I’ve always felt would make a great ballad) and an everyone-in-the-pool “Paradise City” to finish the show.

*Captured in the audience: Famed Vegas real estate magnates Jim and Glynda Rhodes, the embattled but unfailingly spirited couple who have had a rough year, laden with a bankruptcy filing and a scuffle with Nevada Cancer Institute over donations promised but not delivered. But the two looked fine last night, tanned and trimmed and chatty. They’ve been to Wimbledon and the Australian Open this year, and rock fan Glynda has seen Kid Rock four times in 12 months. Also spotted, Jeff Beacher (who is bringing a version of “Madhouse” to The Mirage in January) and prominent Las Vegas attorney John Momot, who defended Sandra Murphy in the Ted Binion murder trial, among many notorious Vegas cases.

The night ended with Momot, actually, as we happened to be walking out of the hotel together. I loudly asked, “What have you been up to, John?” and he said, “I cannot hear you!” Understood. I’ll catch him later, post-ringing.

Rihanna has revealed the full track list for her upcoming album Rated R, out November 23rd. Will.i.am and Young Jeezy guest on the LP, along with Slash, who contributes guitar to the appropriately titled “ROCKSTAR 101.”

Duff McKagan's Loaded Drummer Quits; Replacement Announced

Drummer Geoff Reading has left Duff McKagan's Loaded, the band led by Velvet Revolver/ex-Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan. He says in a statement, "The pressures of being in the 'Duff from Guns N' Roses' spotlight, while thrilling, have left me unable to get back to the performer I was pre-cancer, and unable properly provide for my family. This combination has plagued my mental recovery, and I need to take time now to focus on these things.

"The fellas have hired the great Isaac Carpenter [Loudermilk, Gosling, Ours, The Exies] to fill in for the U.K. tour, with a warm-up show at the Chop Suey in Seattle on October 3. I wouldn't miss this show for anything. Isaac is an AMAZING drummer and I, for one, will be right there in front of the stage, with all you Capitol Hill hipsters, arms folded, judging them.

"Thank you all for the love and support you've shown me and Loaded."

Justin Timberlake Restrains Axl's Sloppy Seconds
Pop superstar gets restraining order against woman who has a history of musician worship

Now here's a woman Justin Timberlake is definitely not into.

The Grammy winner obtained a restraining order today against one Karen McNeil, who Timberlake's camp says has been treating herself to cab rides to his front door, E! News confirmed.

She showed up Thursday and wouldn't leave, resulting in her arrest when J.T.'s staff called the cops. In a declaration also filed Friday, security guard Ray Alvarez stated that the trunk of the cab McNeil rode in was full of clothing and other personal items.

Looks like someone was ready to move in...

"Ms. McNeil, who appeared to me to be disheveled, stated in an irrational rambling manner, some bizarre story involving herself, Mr. Timberlake and alleged mutual friends," Alvarez said.

Authorities brought the alleged "mentally unstable celebrity stalker" to a local hospital to get checked out, with doctors determining that McNeil did not qualify for a 5150 (danger to herself or others) psychiatric hold. She was released from custody today.

But this isn't the first time McNeil has let her fan flag fly way too high: The L.A. District Attorney's Office confirmed to E! News that she pleaded no contest to two counts of disobeying a court order in 1997. Reports from that time say she violated an order of protection granted to Axl Rose.

The next hearing in the Timberlake case has been set for Nov. 9.

Metallica Fears Timberlake Suspect

Sad but true ... the woman accused of stalking Justin Timberlake has already been banned from getting anywhere close to the boys from Metallica -- the rockers got a restraining order against her back in March.

The docs were filed in L.A. County Superior Court by drummer Lars Ulrich, who requested Karen Jane McNeil stay at least 150 yards away from all of the members of the band, their families and the people who run the Metallica fan club.

Timberlake was granted a restraining order against McNeil last week after claiming she had been coming to his home, entering through the gate and refusing to leave.

Axl Rose also had issues with McNeil beginning in 1995 -- she was eventually sentenced to a year in prison for violating a court order to stay away from the G 'N' R frontman.

While Weiland compared reuniting with STP with coming home, there's not as much hope of reconciliation riding on the Velvet Revolver front. A much publicized rift between Weiland and certain members of VR not only left the group searching for a new vocalist, but left Weiland having to defend himself against accusations of being a difficult frontman.

"I'm not a difficult frontman at all," said Weiland. "No. I actually was in the band with those guys and we had a great time until the end when we didn't have a great time, then I knew it was time to bail out. I heard a lot of stories about a certain singer who everyone knows about and sometimes I wonder if all those stories are all true or maybe there's another point of view."

Interview with Julianna Sedbrook

Exclusively for DailyBetter Group she tells her days with GN'R, and Axl’s son who never was. December 2009

[...]

DB: How and when did you meet the band?

Julianna Sedbrook: I met them at clubs at 1st, then me and my best friend Lisa Abbate moved to LA and we moved across the street from one of GN’Rs hangouts. It was the NY (New York) boys house where Del James and West Arkeen (the co-writer for It’s So Easy) and Axl’s side band “Smith&Wesson” all lived, Billy (who designed Axls cross tattoo and the 2nd cover to Appetite) lived there also with Reed, and a couple others, everyone used to get together and play under the name “The Drunk Fux”, Slash would play, Duff, sometimes Axl, Del James, Todd Crew (RIP who was in Jet Boy), it was great mostly cover songs, all the girls would get on stage and dance and sing back up vocals. A lot of parties were held there, I have some funny photos from there! Steven was homeless, so we asked him if he wanted to move in a spare “washroom” we had it was big enough for his bed and TV had a private entrance and rent was only $100.00 a month, he moved in right away! Then I met Adriana, they were dating and all the band and friends of theirs were always there, we used to have their “band meetings” there as well.

DB: How did you do to be the girl in WTTJ Video? Did it influence or made any difference in your personal life?

JS: I was actually sick at the time and got a phone call from Steven saying, Axl didn’t like the girls Geffen had sent down to do the video and he wanted me to do it, so sick, I went down “for the band” lol and we filmed ALL night. After the video was done, Axl came back to my house and spent the night, it was our 1st time together and it was amazing. It has made a difference in my life in many ways, just being seen on tv is strange for me, I remember when they had their 1st tour to England, me and Lisa went too- I saw the welcome video on TV at the hotel, it was surreal! Then at the show, people wanted my autograph, it was a lot of fun, I had some great pics Robert John took of me and Axl before a The Cult show, I would love to get copies of, they were really nice just of me and him. The video connects me to them forever and he used it again in the “Patience” video, Axl’s sitting on the couch, looking like he’s thinking back on his life and he’s watching the “Welcome” video with the parts of me in it, it’s sweet.

DB: What can you tell us about the recording of Appetite For Destruction and the recording of the WTTJ video?

JS: I know it took awhile, Axl had about 4 different producers, he’s a perfectionist and wanted it just right, he sure did it too- that album is one of the best ever! I remember how excited Steven was, I have a picture of him and Ronnie the roadman in his “room” in our house holding the Original cover album in his hand, finally it was out and the rest was history! They just blew up world wide! The video was just like making any video although I can say that the scene where Axl is in the electric chair with the metal band around his head, he was shaking around so violently he cut up his forehead.

DB: You have the luck to be in some tours, in shows, etc, How was the band backstage? Any story or tale that you remember?

JS: Well the early shows were always fun, they were soooo crazy. But I think my favorite was when they went on tour w/ the cult we all went to the LA show, and I spent the night in Axls room with him, Adriana Smith called up and wanted to sleep with us, she seemed to be there in a lot of my sexual experiences hahahaha, not a part of it, just there : ) then the next night they played in San Diego and we drove down there and when we got there he said to me “you’re a sight for sore eyes” he gave me a rose ”which I still have“ and after the show, grabbed me by the hand and led me to the bus so we could have some “private time “. It was a sweet couple days.

DB: What kind of relationship did you have with the members of the band or If you had one in particular with one of them? Any memory with each of them that can you share?

JS: I had a great friendship with Steven, he’s such a sweet person with such a good heart!, his addiction started getting bad while he was living with me, it was sad, but it was nothing compared to how bad it ended up. Slash used to come over to mine and Adriana Smiths house when we lived together; we had some fun times there. Mostly, it was always Axl, my favorite time, and it was the last time I saw him. We met up at the coconut teazer I think ?? but drove back to his place in his “favorite” black BMW, we spent about 3 days together, just doing normal things ,watching movies, eating frozen pizzas, he would go to interviews I went to work, I was dancing then too, and would go back over to his house after work. We had a BEAUTIFUL time together. He was so romantic and gentle with me, he would wash me with a warm wash cloth, etc. just the really amazing Axl that I love. He played piano which will bring tears to your eyes and chills to your arms, it’s so pretty!

He ended up having a depressive episode and I told him I would always love him (he had locked himself in the bathroom) and always be there for him no matter what and I left….. sad ending to one of my best memories, besides having my kids : ) but my love when I love someone is unconditional and it never ends… I miss him so much and it would mean so much to me to be able to be in contact with him or have him in my life, now that I’m back in LA, Cali again.

DB: Why and when did you get away from the band?

JS: Well I never have EVER revealed this to anyone before! After the 3 days me and Axl spent together, I turned up pregnant, I had a miscarriage as I was partying like a mad women, we all were, but it killed me losing our baby (he doesn’t even know this!) I know Axl has always wanted kids and the women he has dated that had them, he has always gotten very close to. I started dating another talented musician named Giovanni and we moved into together, I was still dancing, and I got pregnant with my GORGEOUS daughter Angelina, and dropped out of the “LA” scene. That’s what made it so hard for Marc Canter to find me for his book, or anyone else I was close to as well. I went through some serious downs in my life and have in the past 9 years made it great again, I have had another baby girl who is now 2 her name is Lilianna, and is Amazing and so beautiful! She’s made my life worth living when at times I thought it wasn’t worth it anymore.

DB: When you found out about your pregnancy, did you try to contact Axl?

JS: No, I told no-one, it broke my heart, even though I don’t think having a child with him at that time would have been good for either of us, I was devastated as I loved him so much but I never told anyone, until now, i figure enough time has passed, I have healed emotionally enough to make it public, and I am curious to know how he would feel about it, but I may never get an answer to that. I never told him, because I lost it before I had a chance to, so I never really got a chance to make a choice if I/we wanted to keep it, so I never said anything.

DB: Are you still in touch with any of them? When and how was the last time did you see one of them?

JS: Yes I’m in contact with Steven, and so happy to be talking with him again and know his life is on track and he’s happy has a great wife. He deserves the best!. I haven’t talked with the rest of them in a very long time and just in the past year started putting myself back out there to be able to be found and would love to get back in contact with them.

DB: How was you relationship with Axl? Any fun, crazy or amazing memory that you still remember of him or private time that want to share?

JS: As I said my relationship with Axl was special, amazing and strange all at the same time, fun, crazy, and sweet. I previously told my favorite story of him and me together, of all I miss him the most because what we shared in private was something special between just him and me. I also miss Steven, we had a great friendship, he’s so funny.

DB: In the times that you spent with Axl, how was he at personal level with family and friends?

JS: Very different then with the public, he was different with different people though, I have heard he threw girls out of his house naked and told them basically to F__K off.. but I never experienced that side of him, I have seen him cause a lot of throwing bottles etc. in clubs but he was crazy at times. He had a lot of issues with his family I really don’t want to get into though it is his personal deamons.

DB: Did you meet Erin Everly? Do you remember how was the relationship between Axl and Erin?

JS: Yes I met Erin several times, she didn’t like me for obvious reasons, I always thought she was his (Axl) true love, but they had a STRANGE relationship and volatile as well. Yet very loving too, they had many physical fights etc, but she was a lot younger than him (so was I), but I do know they loved each other.

DB: What can you tell us about this triangles? Adriana, Steve and Axl?

JS: The making of Rocket Queen with Adriana's background part did cause a lot of waves for all 3 of them. Adriana is a free spirit and did and I’m sure still does do what she wants at the moment, and lives for today, as I do now myself!! Barbi however gets very little credit for the song and it was written for her, Adrianna just did “backups” but it has given her a huge amount of attention. She is a sweetheart and we had some really great times together and I always wish her the best too! It is a great song and the end lyrics are so sweet.

DB: Did you meet those people? And if you did what can you tell us about them?

Vicky Hamilton: I don’t recall meeting her, but of course heard a lot about her, I got my copy of the video and album from Geffen, I’m not sure if it was her personally, but she helped them get off the ground!

Paul Tobias: I never met that I recall. It was a long time ago.LOL

The girl in Axl’s tattoo: The girl in Axl’s tattoo I have heard many stories around that and the one thing I do know, it’s a beautiful song!!!!!

DB: Tell us about you, your life, your daugther and your family! How are you today? How has been your life since then?

JS: Both my daughters are great my oldest Angelina is in college with a 4.0 average : ) I’m a proud mama .. my littlest Lilianna is amazing she’s ½ Dominican so at 2 she speaks both English and Spanish. And she’s so beautiful, both are!, my life is good now, I love animals, we have 2 dogs and a cat which is a small amount, I usually have a Zoo hahahaha.. They are my family, I don’t have contact with my other family, I have a brother in Seattle, who’s very kool! And my biological father died when I was 12 years old.

DB: What did it make you come back to LA, California?

JS: I came back to LA, Cali from NY because I grew up here and have family here, a better place to raise my baby

DB: What do you feel when you see the video these days? What memories come up to your head?

JS: So many, sometimes I cry, others I smile and laugh, I miss those days, but you can’t live in the past, you have to live for the day! So I try to do that and know I have had a life many would have loved to have had!

DB: Looking back how do you remember those years?

JS: The best in my life! They really were, I had more fun then, than anytime I can remember.

DB: What do you think about CHINESE DEMOCRACY and Guns N’ Roses nowadays?

JS:It’s very different then the old GN’R but I think Axl has what he wants – it his way, I actually haven’t even listened to to CD yet, I will but I’m just happy all of them continue to do what they love and what they are so good at~ making GREAT Rock n Roll!!!!

Thank you so much for hearing my input in the making of GN’Rs beginning; there are so many people who were there. I feel privileged to have been apart of it. Thanks again and much love to all the members of GN’R… I love you always~ Julie “The Welcome To The Jungle Girl”

Thanks Julie, DailyBetter Group sends you our warmest greetings and we really appreciate your confidence and choice of providing this great interview, We’re sorry about the pictures. Thanks to you we know a little more about the history of Guns N 'Roses, we hopefully that Axl give you a chance to see he someday. We communicate to Rose this interview and data have been provided with the deepest respect that we have him for the sole purpose of being able to help put together a nice history with a happy ending.

Dizzy Reed To Be Joined By Richard Fortus For Stockholm Rock Out Performance

Dizzy Reed's lineup for his April 30 performance the inaugural edition of the Stockholm Rock Out festival in Alvik, Sweden will include fellow Guns N' Roses member Richard Fortus (guitar). The setlist will showcase many of the fans' favorite GN'R songs along with covers of other rock classics, according to the event organizers.

Stockholm Rock Out will take place April 30 - May 1, 2010 at Gamla Tryckeriet in Alvik, Sweden.

Dizzy and Richard to Play Stockholm Rock Out Festival

Stockholm Rock Out Festival is proud to announce that Dizzy Reed’s lineup for his April 30th performance will include fellow Guns N Roses’ band mate guitarist Richard Fortus.

Originally from St Louis, Missouri Richard Fortus joined Guns N Roses in 2001. Axl Rose is very pleased with Richard's work and has said, "He's an amazing lead player and very technically skilled. Basically, Richard's the guy that we always were looking for."

Keyboardist Dizzy Reed joined Guns N Roses in 1990 and is the longest lasting member of Guns N Roses who recently surpassed the 20 year mark as a member of band.

Dizzy Reed’s performance now featuring TWO current members of Guns N Roses will showcase many of your favorite Guns N Roses songs along with other classic rock favorites. Regarding his shows Dizzy says “You never know what is going to happen and that’s what makes it so fun”.

Source: Altsounds.com

Lonn Friend, former editor of RIP magazine, speaks about Chinese Democracy and Axl Rose - July 14

Lonn Friend, former editor of RIP magazine, was a guest on the July 14, 2009 episode of the "Used Bin Radio" show. Lonn, a longtime friend and acquaintance of the "Used Bin" hosts Brad Hirsch and Joe Carona, talked about his new book, his past with RIP magazine and what it was like in the heyday of the late '80s and early '90s in Los Angeles. He also discussed Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose's longtime grudge against him and his attempts to remedy the situation with Mr. Rose without success. Here's a transcript from the Axl Rose part:

Lonn Friend: And at that moment in time, there was this little band called Guns N' Roses releasing -- this is the fall of '87 -- their début, Appetite for Destruction. And half the staff, who became the original RIP staff, was hanging out with these guys in Hollywood! So it was almost a divine intervention that we started with GNR, and then it just took off, because you couldn't script what happened with Appetite. And when we put them on our first cover in June of 1988 and then in April of 89 the first Axl Rose interview where he's wearing the RIP t-shirt and a rifle in his hand, on the cover. Then it was all over after that and I think it was probably the spring of 89 where I had a sense that we were gonna have a really good run, but, you know, the story of my life is that I never plan anything, I didn't plan the MTV The Headbanger's Ball thing, I didn't plan doing syndicated radio with (?). I didn't really plan anything, I just kinda followed (?), and that is sorta the truth about how things happened back then, it was really a great time.

[Talk about other things]

Interviewer: Let us bounce back to Guns N' Roses just for a second. Chinese Democracy, you like it? Hate it? Thumbs up? Thumbs down?

Lonn Friend: I've spun it in my car a few times and...I'm so (?) to do any critique, number one I've never been a rock critique and I'd rather write long form about music and the stories around, the making of these records, and I think it's unfair for somebody who listens to a record once or twice to go public in a public form and either alaud (?) or destroy somebody's art without really spending time with it. I respect the process that that record went through to purge 15 years of whatever peaks and valleys, shadows and light, that Axl went through to finally make that record, I have great respect. There are several songs, Better and uhm, I mean, that I think are cool tracks. But, you know, to me and overall having been part of the early Guns N' Roses train (?) it didn't feel as much like a GNR record.

Interviewer: Let me ask you, 'cause I think I saw you, the last time I actually ran into you was at the ampitheatre when Guns N' Roses played. I remember walking out of there and thinking 'man, that may have sorta been Guns N' Roses, but it just had no soul". It got sucked out somewhere along the line. The soul got sucked out of that band, I mean, I get a little emotional over it because I thought that band was our Led Zeppelin at one point, they made one of the most important record in rock music in Appetite for Destruction and somewhere along the line it got screwed up and I get so bitter now when I hear these, these, pathetic rambling from Axl on that fan website where he won't let anybody interview him and it feels like he's a perpetual victim and it really drives me crazy.

Lonn Friend:  Well, Axl had a pathological aversion to the press. We reap the benefit of that, eh, of that illness, because he only trusted Del (James),and I hired (him) to be senior editor of RIP not long after he got here from New York, he was hanging out with Axl. But there's something to be said about that trust between a writer and a rocker, however it has been taken to almost pathological extremes with Axl because he really was so overly paranoid about how he was perceived. Kim Neely (?) did some fantastic stuff with him in Rolling Stone's, but when you think about it, man, Axl in 20 years has probably talked to three or four journalists and that is an astounding fact.

Interviewer: Being that he has done, three or four interviews, Axl, why, has it ever occured to you to go in there and get this real interview with him  because he obviously trusts you, and maybe do like this big thing for Rolling Stone or for whatever bloated magazine is out there now?

Lonn Friend: Okay, I will give you two facts, and this impacts that whole scenario. First fact is that Axl was angry with me for a line I said in the VH1 Behind the Scenes on Metallica in 1998. I said something to the effect that what Guns N' Roses is in radio and media has been erased from memory and Metallica to rule the world. That was trying to speak in context, that they hadn't found their classic rock format yet, this is 11 years ago. But he got really angry with me, he told his whole scene to cut off all ties to me and that was that. And the second point, which is pertinent, is, I wrote a letter to Axl at the behest of Jimmie Iovine (?) in 1999 when Jimmie was trying to figure out how to get the Guns N' Roses record out through Geffen. That was the only time I spent three hours with Jimmie Iovine and we talked about Axl.[Long digression on the Jimmie guy]. But I wrote a long letter to him and it was delivered to him and I never really got much of a response. I tried to explain myself, I though that that was an adequate explanation for that moment. I am also all about forgiveness too.

Interviewer: Sure. And that really goes to my point. It is just. He really is holding a grudge from 11 years ago for one line in a VH1 Behind the Music?

Lonn Friend: This gets better. The show that you guys attended, at the Universal Amphitheatre, I was taken to that show by, uhm, the junkman from KMNC.com (?). He said 'I wanna take you to the show', I said 'I don't think I will feel comfortable there', he said 'no man, you're going there as my guest, we've got second row seats right behind the (?) and we're gonna have a great time, you'll see lots of people you know', so we went. And I really kinda felt like...to me it was like Las Vegas Guns N' Roses and there were parts of it that I really enjoyed, but afterwards, we were waiting to see if Axl's gonna show and stuff and Del comes up to me and he goes, I swear, 'don't let him see you', and I go 'what?', and he goes 'Axl, he's still (?)', 'Del, you gotta be kidding?' and he 'no, man, he's got a loooong memory'.

Interviewer: We have a segment on this show called "Axl is an asshole" and we run it every few weeks whenever there is a good Axl-being-an-asshold story in the news, which, you know, comes up fairly often this days. But that just prooves my point, it cements everything that I've thought in teh last few years about this guy.

Lonn Friend: I have this way of looking at life now, it's somewhat buddhist, and that you must be compassionet to all who you meet because each person is involved in a great struggle. So we don't know what's going on inside somebody else and we judge. And that is why I've always pulled back from being overly judgmental of anyone. I think that there's just a lot of dysfunction there and a lot of skeletons, and a lot of demons. But this is what really affirms such comments, he puts out this record that is a culmination of his life and blood for the last 15 years and he chooses not to tour!

Interviewers: Absolutely. Absolutely right. Just a bizzare decision on his part.

Lonn Friend: You know, Blackie Lawless once told me, he said 'Axl Rose suffers from one of the most genuine forms of acute stage-fright that anybody, of any rock star ever in history'. And to what point? and he said 'to the point where he is absolutely terrified to go on stage', and there was this moment once, in Philadelphia, where he left 18,000 people in there, and that si really...you know, the promoter and everyone went crazy. But, you know what, dude, there's something to be said about eccentricity, it's hard to forgive, it's hard to understand if you are of normal mind, or a coherent mind, but you still have to give somebody props for being true (?)

Interviewers: Absolutely, I get all that and, you know, a very good friend  of mine who you know well, who passed away a couple of years ago, once told me that' no one person is higher than another'. And the problem with Axl is that Axl is convinced that he is on such a different level than all of us. That he is so much better and different and that the weight of the entire world lays squarely upon his shoulders and I find it to be a croc of shit.I mean, come on, make a fucking record, go out and tour, do some press, talk to some people, and let's be a rock star again! Dude, you're just a rock star. That's all you are, a rock star, at the end of the day you're just a rock star.

Lonn Friend: Yeah, maybe there should be some philantrophy involved and maybe he should follow Bono's lead a little bit...that would eradicate some of his darkness. Again, we don't walk in those boots...

Interviewers: I get it. That's very true. Well, some of that philantrophy happened when Guns N' Roses played the RIP party, and this was, what, they did, 1988? annual anniversary party which was a huge deal, and this was like, every year this was the big event, we all looked forward to the RIP party for people who weren't in LA...

Lonn Friend: We made history, Joe, and that particular party, I was just looking at 25 minutes footage from that jam, well, that party was before they played before the Stone's shows. I was at the Plaza hotel (?)

Interviewers: You're talking about the?

Lonn Friend: Live footage from that show. I have some B-roll (?), interview stuff, 'cause I'm putting all this together for my website for lonnfriend.com, which is launching at the end of August. what was really Axl's greatest, that was an amazing moment the fact that they played, and don't forget everyone of these bands played for free, you could go down the list of bands: "Pantera, Bon Jovi, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains,  Motorhead, Faith No More, Megadeath, dude, they all paid for free (...)

Lonn Friend: Isn’t it funny how history has almost erased Guns N’ Roses? One of the great frontmen in the past twenty years disappeared. Yet Metallica continues to play anywhere in the world in front of any mass of people, comes out with a new record which will always go platinum, they are the Led Zeppelin of this generation.

Stephen 'Haggis' Harris - The Four Horsemen - Interview Exclusive

Written by Dom Daley

[...]

How did you get to fill in for Duff in Guns N' Roses? Not many people have held the position of bass player in GNR but you have?

Well, when they played the Marquee we (The Cult) were rehearsing and we met up and later we hooked up on The Cult tour after 'Appetite' came out. Duff got married and they asked me to step in for him rather than cancel the show. It was like sure, of course.

Was it just the one date?

Yeah, isn't that hilarious? Yeah yeah I know people say to me man you played in Guns N' Roses and yes, it's true, I did play with them on the 'Appetite' tour, once! Man that gig sucked. I was really crap! It was in the Saddle Dome in Calgary in Canada and I presumed we were going to rehearse because I didn't know what they were going to do and they like gave me a cassette and for at least half the song I didn't have a clue - I swear on half the songs I fucked up completely but there you go. It was a good laugh! I would say I probably saw Guns play over a 100 shows on the 'Appetite' tour and that was when they were on top of the world and they were absolutely ferocious. I remember the first night of The Cult tour and I ran up the ramp to catch them and it was like "Holy fuck, this is the real deal" - it was amazing but none of the other members of The Cult gave a shit or watched them but I thought they were amazing every night, they were really hungry and they wanted it.

Certainly a different Guns to the one that finished the tour then and went on to eventually record 'Use Your Illusion'?

'Abuse Your Protrusion' as we were calling those albums, ha ha ha! After Izzy and Steven left the heart and soul had gone. I think they might as well have just got a drum machine - the feel went with Steven. He was so loose but it worked and that was the magic.

On the big-name collaborations: Slash is one of my favorite guitar players. He's a great guitar player, and he plays the right kind of guitar. He was a great pleasure to work with. The Guns 'N Roses sessions were great fun. With Axl we had some magical moments, doing that cover of the Dead Boys song "Ain't It Fun," and Little Steven. I think the best songs I've written for my solo stuff have been with [him], like "Dead, Jail or Rock 'n' Roll" [featuring Axl Rose]. He's a true rocker.

Cheetah Chrome - Dead Boys/Batusis Interview Exclusive

Written by Dom Daley

[...]

Did you think Guns N' Roses did a good version of 'Ain't It Fun' - it certainly opened up your music to a whole new audience.

I think they did a great version, it struck me how close they kept it to the original. That's a tough song to sing, you need to have been through a bit to pull it off, and they pulled it off!

Q: You feuded with Axl Rose after you formed Velvet Revolver with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates. Now that you've left that group less than amicably, do you want to trade war stories with Axl?

A: We came close to getting together one time. I had wondered if he was the center of all their problems or if it was a mixed bag—and it was definitely the latter. When Velvet Revolver first got together it was great. I got to know the guys before: Met Duff at the gym, because he loves to work out and I was obsessed with running. I was in rehab with Matt. I'd only met Slash twice—he's not the most social person. We had all been through the same experiences, and it felt like a gang. But everyone was a rock star. There were petty jealousies. Then the wives got involved with the business of the band, and that was the beginning of the downfall.

[...]

Q: Matt has also launched a clothing line. Do you ever drop in to his store and check out the competition?

A: God, no. We're doing totally different things. Mine is London, his is L.A. Let's just say there's a lot of leather and jewelry.

Although the ill-fated Velvet Revolver provided a distraction for five and a half of the intervening years since Stone Temple Pilots’ initial parting of ways in 2003, a subsequent stint in rehab and announcement of an STP reunion on the eve of an Australian tour brought about the eventual collapse of his union with Axl Rose’s former compatriots in 2008, which the singer unceremoniously announced onstage in Glasgow during their last tour.

Today, Weiland is tactful and reticent in discussing the acrimonious – and very public – fallout. “I look back on it fondly and it’s a shame that it ended the way it did,” he recalls. “STP wasn’t meant to get in the way of another Velvet Revolver record. Slash and I were always straight with each other, and if it looked like there was going to be a reunion with Guns N’ Roses to do festivals that summer, it wouldn’t have bothered me. I always thought that would have been a good idea.”

Almost a quarter century ago when Jane's Addiction and Guns 'N' Roses ruled different sides of the L.A. scene, there was a natural rivalry between the two. But there was always a begrudging respect that eventually turned into friendship, and now the two bands have finally joined parts with Duff McKagan stepping in as bassist for Jane's next studio album, due in 2011. And Jane's frontman Perry Farrell tells Spinner the pairing is a perfect one.

"We came up together. We had the exact experience in the same city, being in a rock band that was breaking big," Farrell says. "We came up through that, all the seediness and the debauchery, so it's all there. I couldn't have asked for a better partner, I'll tell you that right now."

McKagan brings a lot to the table, through his experience with Guns and Velvet Revolver, as well as frontman experience of his own with Loaded, but with everybody having been friends for years there are no egos involved. "He writes, he's cool, he's considerate, he's respectful, he gives space, he's positive, he's intelligent," Farrell says. "He's a star."

With Jane's enjoying their honeymoon phase with a new member, the new album is coming together great. "We've got maybe seven great songs and they just keep coming," Farrell says. [...]

As always, there's lots of drama in the Jane's Addiction camp, huh?

"It's par for the course, really. The tour we did last year was a big success. We played great and everything felt really good. But Eric's [Avery, bassist] decision is Eric's decision. I can't speak for him, but I guess this is something that's been on his mind for a while."

By that you mean his leaving the band once again?

"Yeah. I can't say we were surprised - it takes a lot to surprise us anymore. But now Duff has come into our lives and it's wonderful. Of course, we've known Duff for quite a while, even going back to his GN'R days. We never viewed Guns N' Roses as competition or anything. Back in the day, Jane's was always hanging out with the Chili Peppers and Fishbone and bands like that, whereas GN'R were a bit more on the Sunset Strip."

[...]

When Eric sat down and said to you guys, "I'm not into this. I'm leaving," did you try to talk to him about what would make him stay? Or did you accept his decision at face value?

[...] "It was time for us to move in a different way. We have to evolve, you know? We discussed a few different bass players, but suddenly Duff came into our lives. It was almost like synchronicity. We had a jam or two and it felt great, so we found ourselves all saying, 'OK, why don't we do this?'

"The idea of having Duff in the band struck us as fucking cool. He's a great guy. He plays in his own way. I think it's an interesting hybrid. I don't like to use the word 'flashy,' but Dave and I are inspired by a lot of notes, whereas Duff comes from more of a straightforward punk-rock school of playing. It's a cool clash of styles, I think. We feel really together now as a band, very unified, and there's a lot of fresh energy."

You say that Duff came in and jammed with you guys, but how exactly did that come to be? What was the process of getting him involved?

"A lot of things contributed to the process. Dave and Duff have done a lot of shows with Camp Freddy [the side project led by Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum], and they got on well. Last year, I participated in an instructional DVD about how drummers and bass players interact. For some cosmic reason, Duff and I chose each other and we sat in front of the camera and did a couple of things. At the same time, Perry started hanging out with Duff. So like I said, it was synchronicity; it all fell into place without us trying to make it happen. Rather than us looking around for a bass player or taking out ads or something, the obvious choice was right there."

How does this work with Duff living in Seattle? Is he around enough to be a part of the band?

"Oh yeah. He travels back and forth. The work ethic has been fantastic. He's definitely here for us when we need him, no question. He gets in the room with us and works out songs, then he takes tapes home - he's there. He's been a nice shot of vitamin B."

As you said, you have a certain style of playing - it's kind of elastic and very groove-oriented - and Duff definitely comes from a different school of thought. How have you two meshed so far?

"It's been really cool and a lot of fun. Yeah, I'm more of a spastic kind of Keith Moon-type player, and Duff is very rough and tough. There's less notes but he plays with authority. It's like sandpaper on sandpaper, but it's working out fine. He's got great ears and he knows how to hook in with me. We're finding ourselves again, and it's exciting. Even playing older songs like Mountain Song, it feels new again. Duff approaches it more like a rhythm guitar player. It's going to sound different to a lot of people, but maybe they'll appreciate it on a new level. I know we are."

What kind of commitment has Duff offered you guys? There hasn't been any kind of formal announcement from Velvet Revolver as to him 'leaving' per se.

"Well, Duff knows how fragile bands are. But he's in for the ride, I know that."

But has he told you that he's out of Velvet Revolver and he's with Jane's Addiction fully?

"I think he might be getting ready to say something in the column he writes for the Seattle Weekly. I know he's with us. He's one of us. Jane's Addiction is now the four of us: Perry, Dave, Duff and myself. Duff's a full-time member and he's ready to bite off as much as we are. What that ultimately means for the future of Velvet Revolver, I don't know."

Last question: Why not form one giant supergroup? You could call it Jane's Revolver or Velvet Addiction.

"Why not? That's a good question. Yeah, why not?" [laughs]

I mean, you've got the singer, and they've been looking for a front man for two years now.

"Hey, a tour that involves 15 cool musicians or whatever, a celebration of the West Coast…champagne and chandeliers…I like it. I'll talk to William Morris."

Well, just remember where the idea came from!

"No, it was your idea, man. It's documented."

Soulmonster wrote:

You know, Blackie Lawless once told me, he said 'Axl Rose suffers from one of the most genuine forms of acute stage-fright that anybody, of any rock star ever in history'. And to what point? and he said 'to the point where he is absolutely terrified to go on stage', and there was this moment once, in Philadelphia, where he left 18,000 people in there, and that si really...you know, the promoter and everyone went crazy. But, you know what, dude, there's something to be said about eccentricity, it's hard to forgive, it's hard to understand if you are of normal mind, or a coherent mind, but you still have to give somebody props for being true (?)

Used Bin Radio Show, July 14, 2009

How would Blackie Lawless know much about Axl's stage fright? They might have played with WASP back in the beginning but that is hardly relevant to Axl in later years. He could have grown out of whatever fright he had when he was new to it. Maybe Lawless heard about the stage fright from musicians who were closer to Axl? But then it is just chatter and a secondary source. We've heard about Axl's stage fright from other sources too, like Arlett Vereecke, which I find a lot more trustworthy so I am not denying what Lawless says, just that I don't understand why Lawless should be an expert on the topic.

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:

You know, Blackie Lawless once told me, he said 'Axl Rose suffers from one of the most genuine forms of acute stage-fright that anybody, of any rock star ever in history'. And to what point? and he said 'to the point where he is absolutely terrified to go on stage', and there was this moment once, in Philadelphia, where he left 18,000 people in there, and that si really...you know, the promoter and everyone went crazy. But, you know what, dude, there's something to be said about eccentricity, it's hard to forgive, it's hard to understand if you are of normal mind, or a coherent mind, but you still have to give somebody props for being true (?)

Used Bin Radio Show, July 14, 2009

How would Blackie Lawless know much about Axl's stage fright? They might have played with WASP back in the beginning but that is hardly relevant to Axl in later years. He could have grown out of whatever fright he had when he was new to it. Maybe Lawless heard about the stage fright from musicians who were closer to Axl? But then it is just chatter and a secondary source. We've heard about Axl's stage fright from other sources too, like Arlett Vereecke, which I find a lot more trustworthy so I am not denying what Lawless says, just that I don't understand why Lawless should be an expert on the topic.

Axl had mentioned meeting WASP in New York with Izzy "during the making of Use Your Illusions" in the 2006 Eddie Trunk interview, but that must not have been during a tour.

So enough about the weather, (laughing)...let's talk about how Tracii Guns got to be, well...Tracii Guns! There is an enormous amount of bio info out there about you but not a lot about how you started in the business from the get go. You started LA Guns in 1983 and haven't stopped since - can you give us a bit of a look back into how you got into the LA scene to begin with?

Well, I've been playing guitar my whole life, actually since I was six years old.. that was when I started taking it seriously. As I was living in LA, by the time I was in my early teens I was doing studio work - my family had friends in the rock and roll business....no one really big or anything but I was working really young and you know I have been really fortunate , the LA scene kinda came to me...I was in a band in high school and junior high school...and my high school band eventually turned into LA Guns when I was 16 or 17. I always worked with a lot of people and becoming a part of the LA scene was just a natural progression, because that's where you played. Places like the Troubador, The Roxy and The Whiskey and you meet everybody. It was great and really healthy and everybody was into rock because rock was really progressing, it was turning into..kind of like going from Journey and Aerosmith and Black Sabbath into a more refined heavy kind of melodic rock.

I always liked the kind of dirtier stuff. When I was 12 years old, that's when punk rock started happening. That was when the Sex Pistols started coming out - there was a big Huntington Beach scene here with The Germs and The Weirdos and all of these bands and I really liked Devo as much as I liked Ozzy and the Scorpions, and I kind of liked everything. But what I didn't like was the stuff that was over produced. I didn't like certain things...like REO Speedwagon and Journey that I just felt would have been better off had they left it a little less slick. So when I started having to write songs, and got a record deal when I was 20 with Polygram, I really didn't want to jump on with everyone else...because at the time more than Motley Crue and Ratt..bands like Bon Jovi were starting, again the more melodic stuff was starting to happen again but I really wanted to stay clear of that really big power sound.

I really dug what David Lee Roth was doing then with Steve Vai. I started thinking, wow a cross between that band, early Motley Crue and the NY Dolls would be so cool! And that was after Guns N' Roses.....with Guns N' Roses we went for a real heavy Aerosmith sound...but when I got back to LA Guns it was more about trying to incorporate a real street kinda dirty image with some catchy tunes...without leaving out the fact that people like really good songs; they don't just like shredding guitar and big drums..that's what musicians like! There was a lot of chemistry going into it based on what I had learned through the years...

[...]

LA Guns is often considered one of the bands to really jump start the glam scene, did you and the band have any idea that you were ushering in a new vibe or was it more organic?

You know, I think when Axl was in LA Guns before he did Guns N' Roses that was a defining moment for both of us personally. It was like we were two guys who had a vision, he had grown up with Izzy and I had lived with Izzy for about a year when he joined LA Guns, now Izzy Stradlin was a real visionary in terms of what should be next. What is cool, what is not cool, what is going to last, what is not going to last, and we both we got this kind of education from Izzy's attitude..so at that point Axl and I would talk about not sounding like anyone else but drawing from our influences...but making it our own and if we had a part in a song that sounded like anybody else we would change it immediately! 'Cause we both knew we had what it took to change things and get it sounding as original as possible.

By the time we got into Guns N' Roses, we decided we wanted to be a heavy Aerosmith..we're going to have a funky swagger, with big giant distorted guitars and a higher octave lead vocal..that was ground breaking at that point. Led Zeppelin had a lot of the same qualities but they didn't have a punk rock attitude that we were trying to inject..by the time I got to LA Guns again and got up with Mick Cripps, who was the other guitar player in LA Guns, he was also a real music visionary, wanting to do things over the top and in a campy way and not a cheesy way. Meaning that ok if what is happening right now is a glam, look we have to do something more evil with it. We have to wear more leather and be dirtier and make sure nothing looks store bought and our makeup has to be all over our face and not pretty, you know what I mean?

There was a lot of discussion about doing things that other people were doing but doing it better and different. So umm..there was every intention in my mind since working with Axl of always trying to break the status quo. We could be another Aerosmith or Stones, we could do that but then you're just a copy cat. How do you not be a copy cat? Especially when everything that was cool had almost already been done. So there was always a little bit more thought behind it...you spend an extra ten minutes in writing, an extra ten minutes in a photo shoot so that you don't look like every other rocker who has worked with that photographer..and you present yourself differently and hope that in terms of what you are pioneering that people respect you. It's a lot like the Ramones, they didn't sell the most records in the world but they were pioneering and they really made their mark and everyone knows who they are and that's a good way to be.

Agreed..may not musically be the best in everyone's opinion but they knew how to market themselves.

Right! And you know what is kind of smart and lucky at the same time is Slash. This guy created a character that he lives and breathes that is the most original thing a human being has become - he's almost like a super hero, he's so identifiable....like Superman. Umm, leaps and bounds above his ability as a musician, I mean he's a great musician, but the way he naturally marketed himself was outstanding! And a real commitment, he's made such a commitment to his image that it's just mind boggling and amazing and one of the most clever and cool things that I believe has ever happened to rock..he's like a Little Richard!

Ugly Phil of Australia's long-running rock station Triple M spoke to L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns about the recent antics of Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose, a former bandmate of Tracii's in the pre-GN'R outfit Hollywood Rose and the very early days of Guns N' Roses.

"I kind of equate Axl almost to a Jim Morrison type — almost," Tracii said. "[But] they're obviously very different.

"The thing about [Axl] is that he wants to do it his own way," added Tracii. "He goes by his gut and he has a weird spiritual thing with psychics. In his mind, he's expanded to a higher level."

He continued, "I think if [Axl] had a solid partner — music partner — in his life that not only that he listened to but somebody that he truly respected musically and somebody that he had a great time with and somebody he believed in, I think that it could go more the way of the rock that the fan base would prefer, I think. But you can't do it on your own and a lot of people in Axl's position think they can do it on their own. And that's the only thing I can criticize about him is that he doesn't have that great partner. Elton John's got a partner, McCartney's got a partner, Lady Gaga's got a partner, everybody's got a partner. I've got Jizzy [Pearl, L.A. Guns singer] and Jizzy's got me. And that's the only thing missing from Axl's life — a great partner."

Former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach was interviewed on the August 31, 2010 edition of "The Danny Bonaduce Show" on the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania radio station 94 WYSP. The chat is now available for streaming using the audio player below.

During the interview, Sebastian spoke briefly about how Guns N' Roses singer — and Bach's close friend and frequent tourmate — Axl Rose is often being portrayed unfavorably by the media. "Nobody has helped me more in the music industry than Axl Rose," Sebastian said.

"Everybody has all these theories as to why he acts the way he acts," Bach continued. "And there's no big mystery. He tells me the source of all of the insanity — it's his voice. It's his job to sing like that, and sometimes that sound is hard for him. And a lot of singers, you know... To sing in that range is just not an easy thing to do. And he does what he can, and if it takes him forty-five more minutes to warm up his pipes so he can sing 'Sweet Child O' Mine'... I mean, you drive around in your car and put on Guns N' Roses and just go for it. [Laughs]"

Bach will support Guns N' Roses on a U.K. tour in October.

Regarding the rumor that he almost joined Guns N' Roses, Navarro stated, "When Izzy left the band, Axl called me to be a member of Guns. There are a number of reasons that it didn't work out. If I could pick one, it would be my own heroin addiction. We have always had a great respect for one another."

But also, you can only Monday morning quarterback after the fact. For example, I was driving around town three days ago and I was listening to Jack FM, and they played "She Sells Sanctuary" back to back with "Sweet Child O' Mine." I'm like, fuck, those songs sound so similar, and I was reading your bio and I realized why; because a relatively unknown Guns N' Roses actually toured with you guys. But only in retrospect do you get a sense of the progression of music.

Except that they'd probably written it before they toured with us. But I'm sure they heard "She Sells Sanctuary." They were all pretty turned on guys. But when they toured with us, they'd already released Appetite for Destruction, and it had only sold 50,000 copies. It subsequently went on to sell a hundred and something million. But at the time they toured with us, it was in '87, we were promoting Electric.

I mean there's an element of truth and there's an element of cross-pollination there, which is natural and organic between musicians and has always happened. You're obviously bright and have read rock history; Rock & roll, R & B, country, blue grass - it all blends, and ideas get borrowed, stolen, developed and moved on. And similarly, we came to make what for us was quite a departure from "She Sells Sanctuary." We were promoting the Electric album, which was a completely different sound. We were produced by Rick Rubin. It was really stripped down, kind of AC/DC-ish. It was a complete departure. And those guys had arrived where they were at doing Appetite for Destruction. I mean that album was done, "Welcome to the Jungle" was released.

But I think "She Sells Sanctuary" came out in '85 and Appetite for Destruction was released in '87.

Yeah. But it was recorded in '86. We'd never met them. They had a buzz on them. Ian tried to get me to go see them in London. They did two nights at the Marquee Club. They were sold out and I actually couldn't get in. They just wouldn't let me in, the typical London thing. I remember, it was like a real buzz on them, and that was before they toured with us.

Ian was the guy that found them. Ian uses the phrase cultural savant. We could sense a return to blues/organic rock. Suddenly people were whispering Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, and finally the vacuum created by punk, enough time had passed that people were daring to mention the unmentionable, and that kind of blew up a little bit. Rock got massive again for about 5 or 6 years until grunge really. I mean, Guns N' Roses got bigger than The Stones almost.

Even Danko Jones has only nice words to say about Axl Rose, with whom he toured for three weeks in Canada earlier this year as a warm-up band.

- People would rather believe the worst than the best. He is the best I have toured with, and is a nice guy, he says and knows that many will hardly believe him.

- Axl does not give interviews, so most of it is about speculation and what people think they have heard. But it also gives him his own aura of mystery, and that can be a good thing for a musician. Jimi Hendrix neither tweeted nor blogged, and all we have are some green, grainy images. It increases the mystery. To me, Axl Rose is in that category. And that is why people want to see and hear him, because he is who he is, says Danko to NTB.