2007.07.08 - Time Off - Velvet Revolver: Armed To The Teeth (Duff)

ARMED TO THE TEETH
VELVET REVOLVER

By DAN CONDON

GUNS N’ ROSES were once the biggest band on the planet, but their recently concluded Australian tour has all but proven that it just isn’t the same anymore. Velvet Revolver, on the other hand, are perhaps the more reputable Gunners offshoot.

The band are currently at full pelt, having just released Libertad - the follow up to their massively successful 2004 debut Contraband. A very affable Duff McKagan, bassist, explains that while Contraband was an aggressive, venomous record, Libertad sees the band expanding musically.

“By the time we came in to write Libertad we really started to float out into areas that maybe we’ve never been into before, and this record is a lot more musical as a result,” he explains. “There are still the hard moments that will remind you that yes, we can rock better than anybody, but there’s also very musical moments that will surprise our fans.”

He attributes the record’s feel to co-producer Brendan O’Brien.

“There are five very strong personalities in the band and very strong egos,” he admits. “We’re very proud of the songs we write and what we do, and he really understood that and just did an amazing job of putting us in our place and making a really awesome rock’n’roll record.”

But don’t think that McKagan felt pressured to make Libertad a success.

“Think of my career - how can I ever feel any pressure?” he says bluntly. “I might feel pressured if I’d never had any success, but that’s just not the case.

“I heard stuff like, ‘Are you afraid of your sophomore record?’. I don’t think anyone understands that we really don’t give a shit. What we give a shit about is making a good record that’s true to what we are and what we feel.”

Formerly of legendary Seattle punks The Fastbacks and The Fartz, McKagan has since played with punk legends Iggy Pop and Steve Jones.

“I got to play with Johnny Thunders too, but now I’m just bragging,” he laughs.

It could be argued that his punk style was what prompted him to pick up bass and join Guns N’ Roses in the first place.

“When I moved to LA I was a guitar player,” he explains. “It was all this Yngwie Malmsteen and Eddie Van Halen kind of stuff, and I was a Johnny Thunders-style player. Slash put an ad in the paper because he needed a bass player and I was like, ‘Yeah, okay’.”

What does the former bassist think about Chinese Democracy, Axl Rose’s Guns N’ Roses record that’s been in production for over a decade?

“Honestly,” he deadpans, “you probably know more about it than I do - I’d bet money that you do. That was the record we started working on in 1994, but that band was so splintered at that point that nothing got started.”

“It [Guns N’ Roses] was too big. I think that’s what happened - we got too big and imploded. That’s what’s great about Velvet Revolver - we have success but it’s not too big. It’s manageable.”

McKagan is certain the band will make it to Australia soon, offering a meteorological hint as to when they may appear.

“We wait until it’s winter here until we even consider coming to Australia.”

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