1991.05.25 - MTV - Interview with Axl

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TRANSCRIPTION:
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[Footage showing Axl signing autographs after the show]
 
[Unedited footage - conversation before the interview]:
 
Axl: You know, and people wanting to see a show and they can [cut]
...............
Axl: ...mean!
 
Kurt Loder: They’re from a L.A?
 
Axl: It’s got a line in it and it’s just that she has a clit as big as a dick or something.
 
(Someone in the room laughs)
 
Axl: They’re really heavy. In the middle of their show... I guess they’re all really scary-looking, but in the middle of the show or something they stop and they go, “Excuse me, are those Lip Service jeans you’re wearing?” (mimics heavy sound and moves)
 
(Loder and other people in the room laugh)
 
Axl: Their stuff is like Black Sabbath stuff but it’s just really heavy (chuckles).
 
Loder: Ha! They’re from L.A.?
 
Axl: Yeah, I think so.
 
Loder: Jesus!
 
Axl: They have this t-shirt and it’s, like, this scary woman in garters and just got, like, some rope around a guy’s head or something. He is between her legs and it says, “Smell the magic”.
 
Loder: (Laughs) This is a band for one of MTV shows, I’m sure. What’s that thing on Sundays at midnight?
 
Someone in the room: (?)
 
Loder: Oh yeah.
 
TV crew guy: Are you ready?
 
TV Crew guy: We’re rolling.
 
Loder: Only three people have ever seen it.
 
[A crew guy sets up Loder’s mic]
 
Loder: (?) Revolutionary change...
 
TV crew guy: Okay, Kurt.
 
Loder: Okay. Are we going?
 
TV crew guy: (?)
 
TV crew guy: Yep.
 
Loder: Okay.
 
(Note: Axl was referring to the band L7)
 
[Interview]:
 
Loder: How does it feel to be back on stage?
 
Axl: It feels great, it feels great. I mean, we’ve been planning this for ever since we started. We’ve been aiming at, you know, being... We wanted, on our second major album, we wanted a headlining tour and to do it right. And it feels great. You know, we think we’ve got all the pieces in the right place and the morale is really high.
 
Loder: Yeah...
 
Axl: And, actually, now that we’re starting a tour everybody’s gonna be starting to get in more shape while we’re playing and stuff. We brought a trainer and everything and are just into doing our job that we’ve set out to do our whole lives.
 
Loder: (Laughs) Is there a fundamental difference in what’s going on in the band now that you have, you know, a completely new drummer and a keyboard player too? Does it change the music at all or just the scope of the sound?
 
Axl: Well, Matt’s really solid, you know, and you can... Everybody in the band can rely on Matt’s playing...
 
Loder: Yeah.
 
Axl: You know, the drums are, like, your anchor and he’s definitely the strongest anchor we’ve ever had. And one of the best drummers that there are, I think, in the world. And, you know, cuz every show I’m more amazed by... I mean, the record is...
 
(Lights are turned out)
 
TV crew guy: (?)
 
Loder: (?) Someone turned that light out on you.
 
(A TV crew guy fixes the problem)
 
Loder: But they apologize.
 
Axl: The record’s, like, Guns N’ Roses...
 
TV crew guy: We’re rolling in.
 
Loder: Okay. So the records are really coming out, right? They’ll definitely be upon us soon.
 
Axl: (Nods) I’m actually gonna be recording some stuff here to finish it up.
 
Loder: In Wisconsin?
 
Axl: Recording on the road, yeah.
 
Loder: Uh-huh.
 
Axl: Finishing up what we went through mastering of, like, 25 of the songs right before we left. And we went through all the approval of lyrics and all that stuff and how it works all coming together and... Yeah, it’s definitely coming out.
 
Loder: Alright, good. Why did you decide to put it out as two separate records when, of course, it could have been a double gatefold spread, a single album?
 
Axl: Well, on album form, on the wax, it’s four albums, because we wanted to have the deepest grooves and stuff for... Since vinyl is somewhat going out, we wanted to be one the last bands doing the best job we could for audiophiles and stuff. You know, the deepest grooves and a minimal amount of time on each side. And figuring out the sequencing was really harder than anything else, to start each side and end each side with a cool song, so that it sounded like it began and ended right, resolved properly. And the CDs and the tapes being two separate things, we’re echoing well a lot of kids. A lot of people, when they go to buy a record, they go to buy one and they won’t be able to... It’s like, if there’s a choice, “Well, I’d like to get Guns N’ Roses, but it’s $29.95 and there’s this other band’s album, well I’ll get that one.” You know, we were like, maybe we can get passed that a little bit.
 
Loder: (Laughs) (?)
 
Axl: And they’ll buy one or the other.
 
Loder: Where does it sound better, on CD or on vinyl?
 
Axl: I’m sure it will sound better on CD. We worked to make it sound stronger on CD, but we’re gonna definitely work on the mastering to get the best sound we can on the vinyl. Everything gets as much attention as anything else. Every single song has got as much attention as anyone’s song. Every little part. You know, we’re kind of perfectionists and you never quite get it right, but... (chuckles)
 
Loder: (Laughs) Well... Is there some sort of different concept for each of these records? I mean, is there a different mood for each one or...?
 
Axl: Well, I’d say, the first half of the first CD is more in line with Appetite, no new songs. And the second half of the first CD has Coma, November Rain, and The Garden... So some really experimental numbers for us. And then I’d say that the first half of the second one is “the south will rise again” (laughs). We didn’t plan on that, but there’s, like, Heaven’s Door, and Civil War, and the song Yesterdays and a song called Breakdown that definitely have a bit of a southern rock feel.
 
Loder: Wow. 
 
Axl: Like, I’d say, Paradise City - in the chorus - kind of has that. And Sweet Child kind of has that. And it ended up the best sequencing to make the record flow all the way through. We didn’t plan on putting all those songs in that vein together, but to make the record flow all the way through, so if you wanted to listen to all of it, that’s the best way.
 
Loder: Hmm.
 
Axl: And there’ll be a version of Don’t Cry on both records, one on the first one and one on the second. The one on the first one is the newly recorded version of the original lyrics. And then the second one is the newly recorded version of alternative lyrics; they’re kinda like ’91 updates, got different words and melody in the verses. It just kind of happened while I was recording the other one. We were like (surprised face expression). I mean, that’s the song, you know, basically is one of the reasons we got signed. People in L.A. that had been our fans since we started playing clubs were always bummed we never put it on record, and we were kind of trying to save what we considered one of our ace cards, cuz we didn’t know if we’d sell five records or what.
 
Loder: Have the lyrics changed, like, radically or are they more upbeat now or...?
 
Axl: I don’t know that, if it’s more upbeat or anything. It’s just kind of where my head is at with that song now, you know, rather than making a nostalgia piece.  When we do the new one, I hear it. And a lot of people that liked the original and it was their favorite song – they have license plates that say “Don’t Cry” or whatever - heard the new one and kind of flipped out, like, “How did you do that?” I don’t know! But, you know, when we were in the studio, I was like, “I don’t know what’s happening, Mike, but let’s just let me go with it." And it worked out really nice. And my friend, Shannon Hoon - he's in a band, Blind Melon - he’s from Indiana and they were doing Don’t Cry back there. They got a bootleg demo tape in Lafayette.
 
Loder: Jesus...
 
Axl: And I didn’t even know him, I might have known his sister, but he has a really gorgeous voice, so we do, like, kind of a duet on the songs.
 
Loder: Oh wow.
 
Axl: He sings on four songs. He sings on The Garden, and sings on You Ain’t The First...
 
Loder:  There’s a lot of other vocal (?). I mean, Izzy’s singing songs and...
 
Axl: Yeah. I mean, I worked on bringing the other people out with what they did and I thought what they did best. You know, we still haven’t worked it out on stage, how we do it, yet, but... (chuckles)
 
Loder: (Laughs) Is there gonna be a point where you’re gonna be able to play, like, all this material on stage? Could you really perform it all on stage?
 
Axl: You know, a dream I have is to get to where I can do a three-hour show. And right now we don’t use a setlist. We just pick song to song on how it feels and what we think we can perform best; and, when I think vocally, [what] I can do best, because it’s still warming up. I figure, you know, we’re gonna go out and give as much as we can every time. But I figure a real Guns N’ Roses show, what we’re shooting for, hopefully I might have in six months. I mean, that thing... As I told you last time, it’s like, Jagger was working on getting that stage thing together for a really long time; and I learned a lot from him. So we’re hoping in six months we can actually have different set of orders and things, and have it planned out so it’s a lot more dramatic. You know, there will be additions to the stage setup and the lighting and things like that, that we didn’t use right now. Because of my heel, we’re not using a lot of the stage setup that we have. We have extra ramps and ramps coming out in the middle fully lighted and we’re not using any of that at this particular time.
 
Loder: Dizzy said he’s hoping that there’ll be some sort of, like, sign language, so that he’ll know what the song is and the rest of the guys.
 
Axl: Yeah (laughs). We’re working it out, you know. Little by little. We’re trying.
 
Loder: What exactly happened, how did you do this to your foot?
 
Axl: I’ve just had a chronic history of bruising my heel and messing up the ligament, but never... I couldn’t afford it at the time when it happened, when I was, like, in junior high and stuff, to figure out what was wrong. And then, about a week ago, we played the Ritz in New York and I got really excited, I was just jumping off everything. You know, there’s a lot of photos with me like ten feet in the air and stuff. And I came down really hard on my heel when I was jumping - not even on stage – off the stage and landed on my heel on a cement floor with no cushioning in my boots. And it just messed up the ligament and stuff. But the doctors seem to think it’ll be fine. We had, like, all the top doctors from the Brewers and the Packers and New Balance Shoes all working on designing me something so I could run around. Cuz yesterday, without this, it’s definitely limping. But we didn’t want to call off the show, you know.
 
Loder: So none of them tried to tell you that you should really take six months off and just stay off your foot?
 
Axl: Well, we wasted Slash on. Slash came in yesterday, they’d put a test cast, and they’re putting this cast on me, all the plaster going and everything. And we bring Slash in and there’s three doctors all over me. The guy looks at Slash and he’s like, “Yeah, it’s gonna be six weeks off and there’s a good chance there’ll be surgery, it will be twelve weeks.” The man stopped breathing. He was just staring. I let it go five minutes before I just broke it on him that it was crap, you know, because I thought he was gonna fall over. (does impression of someone having apoplexy) (laughs)
 
Loder: (Laughs) Well, Slash says he’s in good shape now. You know, he’s not totally a health being, but everything is going good...
 
Axl: Yeah, yeah. And everybody will get in better shape once we, like, get some form of regimentation down and stuff, and realize what we are again and what we’re doing and we’re doing every day. Cuz we wanna take this for the long haul, as long as that can be. It’d be nice if we could go for a year-and-a-half to two years, because there’ll be... After this comes out, there’ll be an EP of six punk rock songs coming out and we’ll be working... We’re already starting to work on new material now with an 8-track on the road, and hopefully we can fire something out by the end of this, rather than wait forever.
 
Loder: (Laughs) I think it’s kind of touching that you’re putting out this punk rock tribute EP, you know, now that the band is expanding its, sort of, horizons and moving on to different kinds of material, but remain true to your roots.
 
Axl: Well, yeah, and also because I’ve watched, like... You know, I’ve got made fun of for liking The Ramones. And then, you know, eight years go by and then everybody that was making fun of me is sitting around watching Rock ‘N’ Roll High School - and loving it. And I want a lot of these people to hear songs that they didn’t hear. I mean, there’s selected cuts that you can’t really find the original recordings that they’re on, and B-sides and stuff of songs we think really rocked and way, way influenced us. And we also do a tribute to Steve Bators. We did Ain’t It Fun with Mike Monroe, and it was really strange because when we did it, you know, both of us in certain places, without even trying I ended up sounding a bit like Steve, you know. Candles would flicker and bells would ring for no reason, and we’re like, “Steve’s here.” (Chuckles)
 
Loder: (Laughs) God... And Johnny Thunders died. It has been a bad year for those guys.
 
Axl: Yeah...
 
Loder: We were talking to a lot of fans out for, like, hours out front and I instantly told Slash it’s amazing, given the amount of material that has actually come from Guns N’ Roses – not a lot for, like, a major band. But there’s really this connection between the fans and the group. I mean, it’s just incredible. Do you still get to talk to people and get feedback from them? Can you do that, can you go out and, like,  just meet...?
 
Axl: Um, yeah. I mean, I have to usually somewhat keep it a bit controlled and stuff, so things don’t get crazy. But, you know, I was out signing autographs and talking with a lot of people tonight. And we all, like, keep in touch with somebody who does have a really good ear to the street and stuff, you know, so I can keep up with what’s going on out there, and keep aware and keep up-to-date and stuff, even if I’m busy and have to stay home and work on my record. (pretends crying and laughs)
 
Loder: Do you think this is because of the state of music at the moment - that’s, like, this kind of whatever the stuff is on the charts – I mean you should be, like, the only guys...
 
Axl: Yeah, I’m not bagging on anybody else, but there’s a lot of people that are just worried about being rock stars or individual rock stars in bands. And there’s a lot of... With Guns N’ Roses fans there’s a lot of “Axl!” you know. But it’s like, this a band and I wouldn’t be able to do what I do the way I do it, and I wouldn’t be able to get the recognition, if I didn’t have the band I have being supportive and playing the music they play that makes me run around and stuff, you know. We all pretty much get off on each other a lot, so it’s definitely a band thing. It’s weird, cuz it’s like, The Doors movie isn’t really about The Doors (chuckles). But, I mean, you knew that was gonna happen and stuff. But it was... There wouldn’t have been, you know, the place for him to do what he did if he didn’t have that band.
 
Loder: Yeah, right. Precisely. You met Arnold Schwarzenegger too, I gather (?)
 
Axl: Arnold was great. Arnold’s really nice.
 
Loder: How did this happen?
 
Axl: He apparently is a Guns N’ Roses fan.
 
Loder: (Laughs)
 
Axl: And he was working on his movie and he said that he was talking with Jim Cameron, the director who did The Abyss and he was saying he wanted to get (does a Schwarzenegger impression) “some good music, some hard music, some Guns N’ Roses”...
 
Loder: Some really strong stuff.
 
Axl: ...for a very long time and finally, like, in the last month, all of a sudden he was like, “I think you’re right” and Arnold was like, “It’s a little late”. But it worked out really cool because we wanted to put out a version of the song You Could Be Mine. And also with Don’t Cry we had a rocker and a ballad. And we let them listen to a lot of material and the song they picked was You Could Be Mine. So it worked out good for both of us and we shot a video for it, we filmed the show in the Ritz and then, you know, I guess Arnold was flying back from Congress and going, (does Schwarzenegger impression) “I want to be in the video”. So Arnold got all his people and put together a video so we’ll have yet to see what it’s like.
 
Loder: Have you seen the movie?
 
Axl: I saw the movie. I liked it. It’s Terminator meets The Abyss. It’s real high-tech. I don’t want to give anything away about it.
 
Loder: Does your song crop up in a particularly moving part of the movie?
 
Axl: The song pops up in a way that the kids go like, “YEAH!” And I love it and that’s a lot of fun because I remember being like that when I was a kid, you know, I just cranked my rock ‘n’ roll. And so it works really good that way and it’s pretty energetic.
 
Loder: Yeah... Was Skid Row the first band that came into your mind when you said “We need an opening act, who should we get?” You said that it’s gotta be them?
 
Axl: Well, we just figured we wanted really high energy, we wanted to give the people something they really wanted, more than other acts at the time and something on a hard rock vein. And, you know, Skid Row was doing really great and people wanted them, and then Sebastian and I get along great.
 
Loder: Yeah.
 
Axl: You know we’re hoping to work together some, and it just...
 
Loder: Like record together?
 
Axl: Yeah. I’d told you last time that we wanted to do a version of Amazing Grace but we haven’t got to it yet.
 
Loder: Alright.
 
Axl: But I just thought it would be a good package, cuz it will only be for a while, you know, and then they’re gonna go with a couple of other bands and then hopefully go to headlining themselves, and so... You know, when you’re a kid you’re always going, “It’d be a great show, it’s like, to see this band, and this band, and this band...” And we just knew that that would be one of the shows that if we didn’t do, people would be talking, “what about it, what would that be like, the two things together?” So it’s something we thought we had to do. I mean... I was gonna say, like, almost even if we hated it – we don’t – we were gonna know that we gotta do this because it’ll be a lot of fun. And the fact that we get along so well and that they’re really into what they do and it’s high energy - I mean, they got the crowd all worked up for when we come out there. And it’s definitely a... Now it’s a really large audience cross, you know, and they have a lot of people that haven’t seen us. There’s a lot of Skid Row fans that are more into Skid Row than Guns N’ Roses, there’s Guns N’ Roses fans that are more into us than Skid Row, and it brings us to all of them. And I really like that.
 
Loder: Do you think the music business understands what Guns N’ Roses is by this point or they just see it as, like, well, these are the latest hit makers?
 
Axl: I don’t know. I think the music business is starting to get well.
 
Loder: (Laughs)
 
Axl: They’re not making a whole lot of mistakes so... we just go with it. And if it’s fun for everybody it’d be cool, and we’re trying to make things nice for everybody that’s involved. And it’s really fun for me, you know, because getting a reputation of such a brat, it’s good to turn it around (laughs).
 
Loder: (Laughs) Jesus...
 
Axl: I feel like a brat when I’m up there running around. I feel like a little kid.
 
Loder: Are you conscientiously trying to keep the business from taking over the music? I mean, you know, everybody turn up in suit style meetings about the future of the band and stuff?
 
Axl: We don’t really have that. You know, we’ve really have a lot of control over everything we do and we have the full support of Geffen Records. There’s not a whole lot of getting in the way, and if somebody is really getting in the way we figure out a way to remove them (chuckles). So it’s going really nice and that’s the advantage of selling, you know, 12 million records or whatever, that we sold of Appetite. There’s a reason for the power. And there’s a lot of people that are going, “Well, if I was Axl I would do this with the finance”. And it’s like, yeah, but we’re just starting this tour and people have no idea what I wanna do with my position and where I’m at, you know? I’m trying to find the right organizations I want to get involved with things for child abuse and sexual abuse for children, but I don’t know exactly where to place... You know?
 
Loder: You must get hit by a lot of people, I would imagine.  
 
Axl: Yeah, you know, you got Bill Cosby sending you things to donate $5,000 to a library or something. But at the same time I’m going, Bill would hate my record, so... (laughs)
 
Loder: (Laughs) Oh God... So the next two years you will be doing this, right? You don’t have any side projects, you’re not gonna be starring in a movie or anything like that? This is strictly the band...?
 
Axl: I mean, if there’s any room and time off, because, you know, I’d like to do a bit part, something small. And if we have two weeks off and the filming is really quick that would be really nice, that’s the right thing.
 
Loder: Maybe an Arnold movie or something.
 
Axl: Yeah, we talked a little...
 
Loder: (Laughs) Terminator 3.
 
Axl: Yeah. Arnold’s great, Arnold’s great. It was really wild to find out he was into Guns N’ Roses. 
 
Loder: (Laughs) Let’s imagine what else he might be into. A more adventurous man than we’d have guessed.
 
Axl: Just imagine that he hangs with Kennedys. That’s really wild.
 
Loder: You had mentioned at one point, the last time we talked, actually you said you might... that it would be really cool to do something with somebody like Public Enemy and maybe (?) with them. Would you still...
 
Axl: Yeah, I really would. I’m really into LL Cool J. And we just... We have no idea who we’re going to be playing with on any other legs of the tour. We have nothing really set up with that. Um, like to do some stuff with Lenny Kravitz, I’m really into NWA, and... We just wanna make sure the audience doesn’t hurt each other with their racial violence towards each other, you know? If we’re showing we’re getting along and rocking out to different types of music and styles but with attitude, we don’t want the audience thrashing each other. That’s a big responsibility and something hard to figure out. I mean, cuz we are the band that the Ku Klux Klan was supposed to be showing up at shows to pass up things. And it’s like, when a Ku Klux Klan guy is met, it’s like, “Out of here!” (points with his hand).  
 
Loder: Have you encountered these guys, have you seen these guys showing up at your shows?
 
Axl: I’m assuming for these first shows. So I don’t know.
 
Loder: Has this ever happened?
 
Axl: Well, they said they were going to and we were going to sue the Ku Klux Klan because they were trying to say we were supporting racism. And it’s like, they had a Grand Wizard and stuff. And it’s like, I fired off letters from the lawyers right away. I figure out, don’t even think about it, you know. You misinterpreted something I said. Don’t even think about it.  
 
Loder: Did you see the Unplugged show that MTV did with the rap guys backed up by a band? You got to see this.
 
Axl: I haven’t got to see any episodes of Unplugged and I’m hoping I can get tapes from you guys.
 
Loder (talks over) Unbelievable. Well they got...
 
Axl: Because I hear about all these great shows.
 
Loder: They had LL Cool J on there...
 
Axl: They had?
 
Loder: And they had this band, like an acoustic band backing up and doing all the, like, scratch things, like scraping on the guitars. They were brilliant. It’s unbelievable. (?)
 
Axl: That sounds amazing. I’m really into the song I’m That Type of Guy.
 
Loder: Yeah (laughs).
 
Axl: That’s awesome. That’s really awesome. And Mama Said Knock you Out, really an amazing song. I think I’ve got an LL Cool J poster somewhere here on the tour.
 
Loder: Did Spin Magazine... I just read a copy of the contract you guys were putting out at one time, which people might be thinking, “Well, what is it with these guys, are they trying to control everything?” And do you think you’re misrepresented when stuff like that comes in the press?
 
Axl: Well, in regards to Spin Magazine, I read a review of that piece somewhere else and it was like, kudos to Spin Magazine for not bowing and scraping for an interview, when the facts are that that’s basically what they’ve been doing for a really long time. And since they couldn’t get it, they decided to be hostile. And that was a test contract basically because of certain situations we’ve had with the English press that we tested in Rio. And the most outrage that we really got was from the magazines that we were having problems with to begin with, you know. And because we weren’t going to talk to them anyway, then they saw that and went running with it. But no, we’re not trying to control everything. We just want what we said or anything we say to be in the proper context, to be something that we really said. And we’ve had certain things that may not hit the world on a big scale, but dealing with smaller magazines and stuff, where they’ve run all kinds of interviews we never did and where they said I said things. Like, I may have said something hostile towards a member of another band, but they’ve turned it around and said I said all kinds of things I didn’t say. And it’s like, the things I said were even meaner (chuckles) - but I knew what limb I was going out on, and then somebody cuts down the tree underneath me. And it’s like, it’s not really fair, because I do take the time to try to answer the questions and talk about things as honestly as I can; and then I have someone distort that, you know? And if a magazine has a... maybe they have a subscription rate of 50,000 or 70,000 but, you know, this was a 40,000 people show tonight. 40,000 people were here, you know, and that hits that many people with a different impression of us and that kind of hurts. So we’re just trying to make sure that doesn’t happen. You know, if we don’t have a real big problem and if we get along with people we don’t even ask about contracts. You know, it’s like, if we know everything’s gonna be okay and it’s gonna be honest, then it’s fine. The contracts are kind of... I laugh, you know, when they make such a big deal, because it’s really kind of like a deterrent for people that want to cause problems. They see that and they know they won’t be able to get in to cause that problem.
 
Loder: That’s a deterrent. I mean it’s also deterrent for, like, the New York Times too, I mean if you’re doing (?)
 
Axl: Yeah, um, I guess there was a guy that wasn’t really into us but he wrote a really nice review in the show in New York. And that was kind of a surprise and it was really nice. I think when people get to know a bit more about us, they might find a few more things they like and probably find a lot more things they dislike. But I think with all the hype and everybody waiting for so long to see what’s this been about and everybody talking, a lot of it’s just been, you know, just snowballed. Someone said this, someone said that, and they just keep hearing all these stories. And now they can, you know, see reality.
 
Loder: Yeah. How is your voice holding up now that you’re back on the road doing all this stuff? Do you have to, like, get into training and...?
 
Axl: It seems to be doing good. And I’m finally, for the first time, into doing my warm-downs after a show and I’m bringing my voice teacher up so he can see some shows and see what it is I do, because this man works opera and he has no idea what it is I do except that he...
 
Loder: He’s probably shocked, right? (laughs)
 
Axl: I had him at one show in L.A, so he’s getting the idea. And then, you know, I’m taking the steps so that I can ensure the people a good show and I’m up to my best.  
 
Loder: So you go on the road for, like, a year-and-a-half, two years. Is everybody in the band just putting their personal lives on hold and, like, you’re just gonna live out of suitcases and...?
 
Axl: Well, we’ve kind of, most of us have figured out how to integrate our personal lives into what we do; where we tried it before and it wasn’t really working or we weren’t with the right people. And it isn’t that now. Things are kind of going together, and this is our personal life. We’ve wanted to live on the road and enjoy it, and everything is so nice, (?) on such a big scale it’s really nice. I hate to go down the tubes and be back to a van going to the clubs, but I think I...
 
Loder: (?) danger of having that happen real soon (laughs).
 
Axl: I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t take it for granted.
 
Loder: Well, I’m sure you’ve got some money stocked away in the bank, right?  And you just keep that savings account going?
 
Axl: Well, the more money you make, the bigger the sharks you meet.
 
Loder: Yeah, oh... That’s good for me, is that good for you, dude?
 
Crew guy: Yeah. Pretty good.
 
Loder: Thank you very much.
 
Axl: No problem.
 
[Unedited footage - conversation after the interview]:
 
Loder: You should, um... There’s a guy that writes, like, hard-boiled detective novels, and the bad guys are all child molesters. And in real life this guy is an attorney. And he only handles, like, child abuse cases and he’s totally into putting these guys away. It’s like a crusade with him. He wears an eyepatch, you know, leather. Really intense, wild.
 
Axl: But is he good?
 
Loder: Really good.
 
Axl: Is he serious, with good connections?
 
Loder: It’s his life. This is [cut]

Transcription added.

Blackstar wrote:Loder: Are you conscientiously trying to keep the business from taking over the music? I mean, you know, everybody turn up in suit style meetings about the future of the band and stuff?
 
Axl: We don’t really have that. You know, we’ve really have a lot of control over everything we do and we have the full support of Geffen Records. There’s not a whole lot of getting in the way, and if somebody is really getting in the way we figure out a way to remove them (chuckles). So it’s going really nice and that’s the advantage of selling, you know, 12 million records or whatever, that we sold of Appetite. There’s a reason for the power. And there’s a lot of people that are going, “Well, if I was Axl I would do this with the finance”. And it’s like, yeah, but we’re just starting this tour and people have no idea what I wanna do with my position and where I’m at, you know? I’m trying to find the right organizations I want to get involved with things for child abuse and sexual abuse for children, but I don’t know exactly where to place... You know?
 
Loder: You must get hit by a lot of people, I would imagine.  
 
Axl: Yeah, you know, you got Bill Cosby sending you things to donate $5,000 to a library or something. But at the same time I’m going, Bill would hate my record, so... (laughs)
 
Loder: (Laughs) Oh God... So the next two years you will be doing this, right? You don’t have any side projects, you’re not gonna be starring in a movie or anything like that? This is strictly the band...?

Curious about the Cosby reference here. Is Axl suggesting Cosby asked him to donate money to a library (or something)?

Soulmonster wrote:Curious about the Cosby reference here. Is Axl suggesting Cosby asked him to donate money to a library (or something)?

Yes, I think he was just saying that Bill Cosby had sent him letters asking him to donate to charities.