1996.05.09 - GN'R Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 3

Thanks to the member k12 at mygnrforum for sharing this newsletter and allowing me to copy the pictures to A4D.

















Here is K12's accompanying comments:

k12 wrote:anyone a member? I am going through some old stuff and I came across this, I remember I signed up for it for 1 year and I am pretty sure I was supposed to get a Newsletter every 4 months and I got this 1 newsletter and I never heard back from them, kind of makes sense if you look at the timeline as this was dated from May 9, 1996 and Slash left in October and maybe the band went into a disarray and they stopped sending them and making them, anyone know if they made any after this Volume 1 issue 3? anyone have any of the previous 2 Newsletters? it is odd though I received this in May 1996, and looking at the "Language of Fear" thing it talks about a contest and the entries have to be received by February 1995 and the discography says compiled November 1994 and Sympathy for the Devil was released in December 94 so I am guessing they just sent me an old copy.

TRANSCRIPT:

LET'S GET TO THE POINT! Some say all good things come to those who wait. Anytime you want anything out of this of life you gotta kick a little ass; sometimes you gotta kick a lot of it!...

IT'S PAY BACK TIME! Starting now, the GN'R Fan club is going to be the most twisted sucker on the block 'cause you deserve nothing less. For the last year and a half we have trusted others to organize our fan club and, like you, we have been let down. Now we have taken back control and are piloting the rocket that is roaring your way. The killer designs are just about complete and you can be one of the first members in our truly depraved society known as The GN'R Family.

"What kind o' crap will I get," you ask? How about access to the exclusive fan club hotline with personal messages from the band, tour updates and all of the latest news, and gossip of and about GN'R. The privilege to buy preferred tickets to every GN'R contest; join exotic and erotic travel packages to see GN'R perform live all around the world, unf*#king believable contests, exclusive fan club only merchandise, a killer members only starter pack, a one yeas subscription to the exclusive Official GN'R fan club fanzine and who knows what other sick delectable delights our tweaked minds will come up with once this rocket takes off!

This is not a publicity thing, it's not a money thing, it's a respect thing. The time and faith you have invested is worth more than all the gold and platinum records and videos in the world. From this day on, things will never be the same.

Thanks for your patience and support. We've going to make this worth the wait.

GN'R and the fan club staff

Getting CELLULAR with Matt Sorum

Once again Rhian, roving inside reporter and close pal to GN'R, gets down and dirty with
another member of the band. This time around Rhian caught up with beat master Matt Sorum via cellular car phone. As Matt cruised the highways of Los Angeles, he talked with Rhian about his days with GN'R and about the upcoming album. He also gives some pointers to potential Conspiracy member drummers out there and talks about his musical influences. In a moment behind a wheel, not a drum kit, beating the pavement and not the skins, here's what Matt had to say via the cellular:

Let's go over a little history... How old were you when you first started playing?
I started playing drums at about the age of five.

Age at five?! What was your first drum kit like? It must have been tiny!
My first drum kit was from Sears and Roebuck and it was called the "Sears Tigger Tiger Drum Kit."

Do you still have it?
No, my two older brothers broke it cause they didn't like the way I played it.

You have two older brothers?
Uh huh, and one younger half brother.

Whit was your inspiration when you first started playing?
Well, I saw Ringo Starr on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Wow!
It was 1966—I was just turning six years old.

Have you ever gotten to play with Ringo?
No, but I have met him.

Is he your favorite drummer?
Some of my favorite drummers are probably John Bonham, Ian Place from Deep Purple and Bill Ward from Black Sabbath.

Is there anyone your would like in play with that you haven't played with yet?
I wouldn't mind jamming with Led Zeppelin. I've been lucky enough to play with Jeff Beck and Brian May of Queen and Elton John, too.

How about people that are dead?
Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Keith Moon was one of my favorite drummers.

Are there any up and coming bands that you really like now?
No, I can't think of one right now. I like a lot of different styles of music.

When did you join GN'R?
I joined GN'R in May of 1990. I mean I joined them in July 1990, but our first rehearsals were in May 1990.

Was that when you were still with the Cult?
Yeah, I was still in the Cult.

How did it happen?
Slash and Duff came down to see me play at the Universal Amphitheater. Then Slash called me
up. I was staying with my mom 'cause I didn't have a house and they asked me to join.

Your parents live here in LA.?
Actually my mom lives in Orange County.

Are you from there?
Yeah, I'm from Orange County.

Bringing us back to the present, you finished this two year tour with GN'R. What was that like?
It was crazy. A roller coaster ride.

Was it hard returning to a non-tour life?
Not being able to pick up the phone and order room service was a real drag.

That's the downside of it. What were the good points to returning home?
Being able to have a stable sort of existence was really hard to adjust to... I came home and there were a few people who wanted to get to know me a little bit better, maybe a few people who weren't exactly my friends, and I had to adjust to that as well.

Right now GN'R is looking towards writing and recording a new album. Do they have any ideas on what direction the band is going to take musically?
We are going to get back to being more simplistic, but then again we are going to be experimental as usual and kick some ass. We are headed in the vein of rocking a little harder.

What's your musical philosophy?
My musical philosophy is... Well, the original reason in the first place why I played music was to escape life as we know it. Music for me is an escape in my head. I am able to go to another place. I enjoy playing music because it seems to take me some place that makes me real happy and I don't worry about anything else except for what I am doing at that moment which is making the music.

Do you have any advice for any budding percussionists out there?
For people who are just starting to play, practice as much as possible and try to get with a band right away. I had my first band when I was in elementary school. I was in the sixth grade. Don't just sit in the bed-room by yourself, try to play with other musicians. If you can find a guitar player down the street jam with him. A group effort is way better than playing on your own. If you can't find anybody, don't give up up because it is a long hard road to find the right combination of people to play with. Stick with it. That's the main thing.

On a personal note, when is your birthday?
November 19th. I am a Scorpio.

What does being a Scorpio mean?
I'm the loooove sign.

How tall are you?
6'1"

And you have blond hair and blue eyes?
Yup. And I also want the fans to know that I am down to 185 lbs. I've been working out.

Every day?
About three to four days a week.

What's you favorite food?
Sushi!!!

Favorite color?
Black.

See now all the fans can send you birthday wishes and presents!! Do you have a favorite sports team?
The Lakers.

What's your favorite book?
Playboy.

I', not even going to put that in you male chauvinist pig!
Ha!! Ha!! (Matt laughing) Hey, can you hold on a sec?

(Oh the wonders ot call waiting...) What's your favorite movie?
Of all time?

Yes, of all lime?
Forrest Gump. No, Blue Velvet. I also really like A Clockwork Orange and any Fellini movie.

Fellini films are so weird!!
Hi Matt Sorum! Can I be in the interview, too? (This interruption was from super duper executive secretary, Alex!)

Hi Alex!

What was the young boy Matt Sorum like? In high school were you a head headbanger or a punker or a...
No, I was a surfer. I surfed all the way up until the tenth grade and then I gave up surfing to then be completely enthralled by rock.

Do you ever go surfing now?
I am going to start again this summer as soon as the weather gets better again.

(Unfortunately LA is experiencing a one and only cloudy day.) Well, before we end this do you have any deep dark secrets you'd like to share with us?
Well...

None that you are going to tell us?

(At this point in the interview Matt called up the fan club hotline and recorded a personal message. Call up 1(415) 597-6660 and check it out!)

A quick minute with Mike "Sacks" Fasano

We had the chance to grab a chat with the man behind the drums. Here's what the 23 year old drum tech for Matt Sorum had to say.

How long have you been working for Matt?
About three years.

How did you meet Matt?
Matt and I have been friends for about ten years.

How did you start working for him?
GN'R had just finished a tour and Timmy Doyle, Matt's tech who goes on the road with him moved into a new house in Austin and had just had a baby. Matt needed someone to work what was originally going to be a two day gig in the studio. The two days turned into a week and I have been working for him ever since.

What is your favorite memory of working with Matt?
My favorite memory is when Matt called me from England, from the Freddie Mercury Tribute show and he said to me "I was hanging out with all these stars; Liza Minelli, Liz Taylor, Elton John... Hey wait a minute, I guess I am a star too!" Sometimes Matt forgets that he too is a star.

What else makes Mike Fasano tick?
I have been playing for two years in my own band called "Dad's Porno Mag."

Describe them in one sentence.
Heavy Pop Punk Rock!!

What else can you tell the fans about working for and with Matt?
Weil, it started out with me just helping a friend out and I am so happy and lucky that things turned out the way they have. I totally appreciate all the support Matt has given me with my own band and so many doors of opportunity have opened through working with him. I have had the chance to go into the studio with Green Day and Rancid. Being a drummer I understand how music works, how to properly tune the drums and Matt respects that. This all happened because we were friends and we are good friends to this day.

@troccoli has some more of these here:
http://www.troccolitm.com/Other.html

"Truly depraved", "erotic travel packages", "tweaked minds"? What, was Dj Ashba working as an intern for the Fan Club back in 1994?

Regarding the date of this newsletter: One of the letters mentions meeting Slash at his Snakepit show in Cleveland, Ohio. That show happened on April 24, 1995, so the newsletter definitely came out after this.

Soulmonster wrote:Regarding the date of this newsletter: One of the letters mentions meeting Slash at his Snakepit show in Cleveland, Ohio. That show happened on April 24, 1995, so the newsletter definitely came out after this.

Another letter is dated August 17, 1995.

It's very confusing, because there is also a "Language of Fear" contest where it's mentioned that entries would be accepted until February 1995. Maybe it was a typo and they meant February 1996?

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:Regarding the date of this newsletter: One of the letters mentions meeting Slash at his Snakepit show in Cleveland, Ohio. That show happened on April 24, 1995, so the newsletter definitely came out after this.

Another letter is dated August 17, 1995.

It's very confusing, because there is also a "Language of Fear" contest where it's mentioned that entries would be accepted until February 1995. Maybe it was a typo and they meant February 1996?

My pet theory is that it was intended for earlier release, but then got delayed as so much else in the world of GN'R, and then edited a bit with new content, before being issued in late 1995.

Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:Regarding the date of this newsletter: One of the letters mentions meeting Slash at his Snakepit show in Cleveland, Ohio. That show happened on April 24, 1995, so the newsletter definitely came out after this.

Another letter is dated August 17, 1995.

It's very confusing, because there is also a "Language of Fear" contest where it's mentioned that entries would be accepted until February 1995. Maybe it was a typo and they meant February 1996?

My pet theory is that it was intended for earlier release, but then got delayed as so much else in the world of GN'R, and then edited a bit with new content, before being issued in late 1995.

Makes sense, considering that it was still "Volume 1" and it's safe to assume that a volume would include issues released during the same year.