2002.MM.DD - Steven Adler Official Fan Site - Steven Adler Q N' A

STEVEN ADLER Q N'A

Renata from Brazil asks: "Hi, How are you, Mr. Best Drummer? I’m from Brazil, and one more time I try to write you, knowing that you are never going to answer me! I wanna see you answer me and post my question in the website QNA! You don’t know how the Brazilian fans are! Now, for my question: Today, so many bands are saying that they are “rockbands” but actually confuse real rock with “rap rock”. Today the music is so easy, being a rockstar is so easy, everybody is a rockstar, just like that! What do you think about these “bands”, are they just a fashion statement? Do you like them? And what do you think about pop music: NSync, Britney, etc...Thanx, God bless you! Answer me!!!! Please man!!! I’m Renata from Brazil!! I’m a girl!"

Well, thank you Darlin’.  I don’t know if these new bands are just fashionable, but like you said, “everybody can be a rockstar!”.  It used to be you could pick a rockstar out of a crowd, now it’s like the nerd, fuckin’ that dude that got  picked on in school is a rockstar! Anybody! A guy who’s sellin drugs on the corner and raps, they give him a big record contract! It used to be cool! Like it used to be cool to be a millionaire now you have to be a billionaire to be cool...(about pop music) I don’t think much about that at all. Except like good luck to them, I wish them well...only 60’s and 70’s music, that’s the only thing I listen to, that’s the only rock n’ roll. For the 80’s there’s only like only two other bands that were rock n’ roll bands besides Guns N’ Roses!

Daniel S. from Belgium asks: "I was wondering what really happened with Davey Vain and Roadcrew, and why you guys broke up?"

Dude, my friend Brook, obviously the man who runs this site, gave me a video of Roadcrew.  If you can get this thing, this bootleg -I was watching this video - it’s just straight hard fuckin’ rock n roll, you guys gotta hear these fuckin’ songs. If you guys know Davey Vain’s website, tell him that you fuckin’ want to hear Roadcrews’ demo tapes. I want to put those tapes out. Goddamn, Davey Vain’s a kick ass songwriter and this band Roadcrew that we had kicked ass, and you guys will love these songs. I think they could be classics. But I fucked the whole thing up. We were rehearsing, we played 4 or 5 shows, I think it was Atlantic or Electra, they liked it. They came to our rehearsal, loved the band, loved the look and  how we sounded, then they wanted to go back to my pad.  This chick comes over out of the blue, comes drivin’ up and hands me an empty cigarette box full of heroin, and it was over right then and there. It fucked everything up. All I know is that drugs have nothing but fucked up my life up. But besides that, I’d really like to put that stuff out,  I  guarantee you that music brings a lot of happiness and good times. We defintely recorded an albums’ worth of material.  
 
Sage asks: "Why don't you and Izzy, Slash and Duff put the band back together minus Axl? All the spectacular elements would be in place. You guys would be on top immediately. The original Gunners were the greatest!".

Well, thank you. I think that would be totally great, too, but it's not the same. It's like the Stones without Mick Jagger. But, I would love to do a record with those guys and like have Eric Dover, who was on Slash's solo record, fuckin' sing. But without Axl - you need to hear the voice, it's like Queen without Freddie!

Evert asks : "A few months ago there was there was this rumour (at least on the internet) that you died. Did you hear about that, and if so, what did you think about it?”

Yes! I heard about that and about three other ones in the last few years. It's great, because it's gonna be so fucking amazingly funny when I really do die, nobody's gonna fucking believe it! People will be going, "Steven Adler died" - "No he didn't! Stop saying that!" and I really did but nobody will believe that and it will be all "Oh, Steven Adler was seen over here, this and that".  That's just great.

Christy from Pennsylvania asks: " I was wondering what you would do if you were walking down the street and came across Axl? What would you say to him?"  

Hey sexy lady from Pennsylvania, (?!) No! I'm not saying that to Axl! - I originally met Axl walking down the street! Sunset Blvd. from Tower Records walking over to Izzy's place 'cause I just met Izzy and I was walking down Palm Street and Axl was leaving this chicks apartment where we would hang out and party, walking over to Izzy's apartment, and if I ran into him today I’d probably say the same thing I said then, when I first met him - "Hey dude, aren't you that fuckin' guy that played last night and was a kick ass fucking singer? I got a great guitar player and a kick ass bass player, if you and your other guitar player want to get together, I think we would have a kick ass rock band. AND - with that as a joke, of course,  I would hug him and say, "I love ya, miss you bro".  
 
Nunk asks:  "I wanted to ask Steven if he heard about Slash being turned away in Vegas at the Guns N Roses show and what he thought about it?"

Yeah, I heard! That's so fucking sad that he (Axl) has to be that insecure. That he can't even let a partner in life, 'cause it's not just a band, there's millions of Rock and Roll bands, but Guns N' Roses was the people's fuckin' band. What they did to me as a personal member was bad enough, but that's so wrong not to let him in, let him onstage. Not even let him play! I'm pissed that he didn't give me a call! I sent him a letter.  I'd love to talk to him, it's only been 12 years. I have nothing against him, whatever he said, whatever happened in the past, happened, it's old.  It was just fuckin' news, it's fuckin' over. We were young. We know how to rock, obviously. You don't need all these issues. But, I have to say, Axl was the greatest frontman ever, period.

Brian & Cathy ask: "Steven, have you seen any of the other original members lately, and what was that like?"

Yeah, I saw Izzy and Duff last year! It was great! They were at Rumbo, where we did "Appetite." That's where Izzy was doing his new record , and Duff was playing on a song.  I rode down with the dog,  Shadow, and Carolina. We talked, we hugged, and I sat down behind the drums and the drummer says, "Dude, I really love you, you were my idol",  this and that, and I say "Hey" to McBob, Duff's bass tech who was there. I started playing the beat to "Rocket Queen" and me and Duff just started playing. It was fun. Quick and fun. Then me and Izzy went out to lunch - twice. I mean, maybe that's a start.

Daniel Johnson asks:  "How did you get the nickname "Popcorn?"

Oh man, every night when Axl would introduce the band he would always introduce me as Steven "Indigo Buds" Adler 'cause I was always sayin' I just live for the "Three P's - Pot, Pussy and Percussion." And one night, just because we were on MTV, at the Ritz, because he was so pissed , he was threatening not to go on until he found his scarf.  So I think he was really trying to fuck with me, instead of calling me Steven "Indigo Buds" Adler,  and he said later that it was because of the way I play, I jump up and down with my hair bouncing so he called me "Popcorn." It's cool. Funny and cool.

Kilrill from Denver asks:  "Have you ever met Matt Sorum personally, and if you have, what kind of relationship you guys have or had?"

I met him a couple times, and he's totally a nice guy, but he knows that I'm the man. He got to sit in the seat that the real man started. He says "I'm better then you, I play more than you" and the live album he's all, "I play on all the songs" and I say, yeah, but I helped write all those songs! So it was always back and forth like who was better than who, but it's ridiculous. He's a nice fella, I want the best for him. He's a great timepiece.

https://web.archive.org/web/20021007204520/http://members.aol.com/stevenadlersite/page2.html

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Vinnie C. says: "The new GNR sucks ass! You've been my idol since I was seven! What did you think of the GNR performance at the 2002 VMA’s?"

(laughs) Thank you... I was expecting to be impressed...just watch the '88 performance, that was a real band...

Sherri from Winsconsin asks: "When you guys recorded “Civil War” did you record any other songs during those sessions? Was there really problems with you and the recording of "Civil War"?"

We rehearsed all the Illusions songs! We had studio time in Chicago for three months. On like the last day, Axl shows up and all he wanted to work on was “November Rain”. So that set back the recording process. As for “Civil War” I had to play it like 25 times until it was useable. My timing was so up and down because I was so weak. The whole time I kept telling the guys, “I don’t feel good, I’m really down” and they kept saying “You're just fucked up”, “I’m not fucked up!” I was sick from an opiate blocker I got from a doctor that Doug Goldstein took me too. I think he knew what effect it would have on me...I wanted to wait another week or so before we went in to the studio to record. Slash says that we couldn’t waste the money, and we had to do it that day. They all knew I was sick....it’s a great song, it came out great, but I’m sure had I not been in the position that they put me in I would have nailed it in one take. Slash called me on a Thursday, knowing that I was sick, and said “We’re going in the studio this weekend” I said “dude, you know I can’t go, I’m sick from this bullshit medication”. He said we can’t waste the money, an I said don’t even tell me about wasting money, we know somebody who wasted plenty of fucking money! If one of them was sick, it would have been postponed! We just weren't a team anymore.

https://web.archive.org/web/20071121205849/http://members.aol.com/stevenadlersite/QNAARCHIVES.html

The Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) hasn't captured updates of the Q&A page on Steven's site after October 2, 2002.

Some later answers from Steven, reposted in Blabbermouth on October 16, 2002:

Former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler was "expecting to be impressed" by Axl Rose and co.'s performance at this year's MTV Video Music Awards, but found the group's eight-minute appearance on the show to be decidedly underwhelming. Responding to a fan question on The Official Steve Adler Fan Site, Adler said: "I was expecting to be impressed [by GN'R at the VMAs]... Just watch the '88 performance, that was a real band..."

In response to another fan question on the same site, Adler recounted the experience of rehearsing and recording the Use Your Illusion material with the rest of the band before he was unceremoniously booted from the group and replaced with former THE CULT drummer Matt Sorum. "We rehearsed all the Illusion songs [together]," Steven said. "We had studio time in Chicago for three months. On like the last day, Axl shows up and all he wanted to work on was 'November Rain'. So that set back the recording process. As for 'Civil War', I had to play it like 25 times until it was useable. My timing was so up and down because I was so weak. The whole time I kept telling the guys, 'I don't feel good, I'm really down,' and they kept saying, 'You're just fucked up.' [I said], 'I'm not fucked up,' I was sick from an opiate blocker I got from a doctor that [manager] Doug Goldstein took me to. I think he knew what effect it would have on me...I wanted to wait another week or so before we went in to the studio to record. Slash says that we couldn't waste the money, and we had to do it that day. They all knew I was sick... It's a great song, it came out great, but I'm sure had I not been in the position that they put me in I would have nailed it in one take. Slash called me on a Thursday, knowing that I was sick, and said, 'We're going in the studio this weekend.' I said, 'Dude, you know I can't go, I'm sick from this bullshit medication.' He said, 'We can't waste the money,' and I said, 'Don't even tell me about wasting money, we know somebody who wasted plenty of fucking money!' If one of them was sick, it would have been postponed! We just weren't a team anymore."

https://archive.blabbermouth.net/news/steven-adler-on-guns-n-roses-vma-performance-i-was-expecting-to-be-impressed/

I found the page with the two questions that were reposted by Blabbermouth. I added them in the OP.