2005.01.07 - Music Mania Magazine - Interview with Steven

Steven Adler

I had a chance to catch up with original Guns N' Roses drummer and friend Steven Adler up in Manchester, NH while he was on tour with his new band Adler's Appetite. We had a little chat about his glory days in the world most dangerous band and what he has been up to.

Brandon Marshall: Hey Steve, how’s it going?

S.A: I am doing good, just hanging with my buddy.

BM: So, you’re back out in tour for the first time in 14 years.

S.A: Well no, remember we hung out last time?

BM:  Yeah, but before that.

S.A: Yeah. 14 years.

BM: How does it feel to be back out on the road?

S.A: I am having such a good time you know, hanging with people like you.

BM: So, you are coming out with a new record with a new band. Why don’t you tell us a little about that.

S.A: Well, the band is called Adler’s appetite and it’s with Kerri Kelly, Robbie Crane, Jizzy Pearl and Brent Muscat. So far, Robbie, Kerri and I have ten songs and we are very pleased. I never realized aside from hearing from the fans how much I was a part on Guns N’ Roses and now I’m recording again. I was scared shitless because I didn't know if I could write songs again. It’s been a long time. Robbie, Kerri, and I went into the studio. We where done in seven hours and we had three songs. The style is Aerosmith, Stones, Guns N’ Roses.

BM: Now, Kerri was in Slash’s band. Is that how you guys got hooked up?

S.A: No. That’s how small of a world it is. I didn’t even know he was in Slash’s band until he told me.

BM: When is the album due out?

S.A: I would like for it to be out on my birthday January 22nd but that’s looking a little bleak. I want to do 20-25 songs just to have a few more to pick from. With Guns N’ Roses, pretty much Appetite and Lies was like that. I would like to put out an E.P just as a teaser.

BM: You could do a soundtrack or a compilation too.

S.A: That would be cool.

BM: So, what have you been doing with yourself for the past 14 years? The world has missed Steven Adler and we are glad that you are back.

S.A: I wish I could say better things. Pretty much getting high, trying to kill myself. That didn’t work after 10 years, so god has better things in store for me. I should have been dead so many times.

BM: Now, how many drugs would you do, in lets say, 1988?

S.A: I have always been a big bud puffer and I like having a few drinks. Not to the point where the room spins, but I like to have a few drinks. I have always been a pot head. But the heroin I did was with Slash and Izzy. The first time I did it, I was 17 or 18 and I got so sick from it. I was like “what are you guys messing around with this crap for?” I got so sick. A year later I did it again, not remembering how sick I got the first time from it. So now I just smoke my pot and drink me beer and I’m fine. When they kicked me out of the band that’s when thing’s got heavy.

BM: Really? They made it look like you did too many drugs at that time.

S.A: That’s what they said.

BM: What was the actual story?

S.A: When I took them to court, and I took them to court cause they told me I was signing one thing but it was another thing. They wanted to give me $2,000 and they where like fuck you, get the fuck out.

BM: You got $3,000,000 from them.

S.A: Yup. They wanted to take away all my royalties.

BM: The entire band or just Axl?

S.A: The entire band, management and everyone. That’s why I sued them. When we where in court and my lawyer said to them, “Slash, Duff, Izzy how many times have you overdosed?” When you in court you have to tell the truth. They said “20-25 times” and they said I was the one with the drug problem.

BM: So how did you decide to pick up your life again?

S.A: I would not die. This one time, I was so depressed I took 100 valiums, drank a big bottle of Jager and shot up ¾ grams of heroin. I woke up 8 hours later and I had the best sleep of my life. After that, I though that there had to be something really good and exciting for my future. It took a couple of years, but that’s not really too much considering that I have been around for 39 years. The beginning of 2000 started off slow and the same with 2001, but the last two years have been amazing.

BM: Well keep it going. We don’t want to see you back in hibernation and trying to kill yourself. The world needs Steven Adler.

S.A: It wasn’t like I wanted to hide out and disappear. I just got thrown into it. When Axl went on MTV and said I was a heroin addict, I was fucked up and couldn’t play drums anymore. I could not get a gig if I paid someone. No one wanted to play with me and that’s when the depression really kicked in. That’s when I had nothing to live for. What was I going to do, go back to the garage and put together another band? I already did that. When I got to the top, my best friend Slash kicked me in the head and I was like, “what the hell am I going to do now?” They were like, “you’re getting too fucked up”, and at that time, I wasn’t fucked up from the drugs. It was from a drug the doctor gave me. The manager took me to the doctor and I was on an opiate blocker. If you do heroin, you don’t get high, but you can’t take the heroin if you take the blocker in your system. So, he gives me this and I couldn’t even get out of bed or eat. If I had to go to the bathroom I had to crawl. Slash calls me and says “we are going into the studio to finish Civil War” and said we could not waste the money. I can remember it like it was yesterday.

BM: What do you think of the new Guns N’ Roses?

S.A: There is no new Guns N’ Roses. There is just Axl Rose. He is just using the name because it is successful. I have my own band, Slash has his, Duff had his and Izzy has his. They all called it something different. Axl is just using the name.

BM: He is just dragging it though the mud. It must really suck being such a big part of it and seeing what is happening to it.

S.A: It’s such a shame.

BM: It was one of the best bands of all time. How do you forgive someone for something like that?

S.A: It was like what he did to me. Walk right up to me and kick me in the balls.

BM: He would literally kick you in the balls?

S.A: Out of nowhere.

BM: I saw that on the Guns N’ Roses A to Z on VH1.

S.A: Was it B for balls?

BM: Yeah.

S.A: I open up the door in the apartment we where all living in and I was like, “what the fuck is that for?” I still don’t know to this day.

BM: If he asked you to would you rejoin?

S.A: Of course. But he would have to sign a contract saying that if he doesn’t show up, or if he is late that just, he gets fined. That, or everyone in the crowd gets to kick him in the ass.

BM: How many times was he late?

S.A: I’ll tell you one and then you go from there. On our very first professional gig, I mean we played clubs before but our first professional show was opening for Alice Cooper in Santa Barbara California. We all are in the van getting ready to drive down and he was standing there with this girl and he says “ I am going to go with her” and he never showed up. We did a 45 minute blues jam. Our first professionals show for Alice cooper and he never shows up.

BM: What’s wrong with that guy?

S.A: I wish I knew, cause I would knock it right out of him. The only thing I can think of is that he is very insecure. Like when he jumps in the crowd because some one takes a picture of him. In his sicko head, he is thinking it’s gonna be a bad picture and some one would put it out. He would throw down the microphone thinking he sounds like shit. Very low self-esteem.

BM: Your not like that cause when you play you love to play you look so happy and have so much fun.

S.A: I love to play. I just get the feedback from the crowd. Wanting to play but not doing it for such a longtime I appreciate doing it now. The time used to go by slow. It’s not like that anymore. As you get older you appreciate things.

BM: I think that will do it.

S.A: Thanks Brandon.

BM: Anytime. Any last words?

S.A: I love meeting and talking and playing for everyone that’s been down to the shows and I wanna keep doing it. I hope everyone is enjoying it, and thank you for being there for me.

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