2007.02.24 - GnRsource - Interview with Richard

Richard Fortus interview

February 24, 2007. Written by Jan, GnRsource.com

Recently we asked Richard Fortus if he could answer some questions for us. He didn't feel comfortable answering questions about GnR, but in the following, he talks about how he met Frank Ferrer, Chris Pitman's status in the band, and how playing with Izzy was, among other things.

The questions were mostly put together by me, but with contributions from the other admins at the Source: Mango and jazjme. The interview happened thanks to jazjme, so on my behalf: thanks for that.

Most GnR fans may not know you all that well, but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing this acoustic Love Spit Love video back in the mid 90s on MTV Europe, and I think it must've gotten quite high rotation as well. I realised this while listening to that Love Spit Love album, and I have to say it's a pretty cool album. How was it to record that album with Richard Butler? And how did Frank Ferrer get involved with that?

Richard: I actually did 2 records with Love Spit Love. Richard Butler had asked me to help him write a "solo" record after we finished a Furs tour. We began writing and after a while he decided that it wouldn't really be fair to call it a Richard Butler album, since the 2 of us had written everything together and it had more of a band feeling. After all of the songs were written we signed a record deal and started auditioning drummers. We auditioned loads of drummers in NY.

I was walking down St. Marks and ran in to Frank as he was closing up a shoe shop. I remembered him from his old band the Beautiful. They had opened for my old band (Pale Divine). His band had just broken up, so I invited him down to audition and he got the gig. So we did the first LSL record and then toured to support it. After that, we switched record labels and signed with Maverick/Warner. That label was really hot at that time, but they really dropped the ball on our record. I thought that was a great record, but we toured and then Richard, Frank and I got together with John Ahston and Tim Butler and did a few more Psychedelic Furs tours.

Actually, right after the last LSL tour, Frank and I had been playing with a couple of friends from the East Village in NY in a band called Honky Toast. There was a huge buzz around that band in NYC. We ended up in this huge bidding war. All the majors were trying to sign that band. It was a band we were just doing for fun. We ended up signing this big deal with Epic and doing a record. We did a little touring, but we terrible management and we weren't a very healthy bunch at that time. After that, Frank and I did some more stuff with the Furs. Frank is a natural talent. He's one of the best rock drummers i have ever had the pleasure of playing with. We've played together so much, we know what the other is going to do before it happens. A sort of telepathic communication.

You also played in Pale Divine prior to joining Love Spit Love.

Richard: Pale Divine was my first band. We toured and became very popular in the midwest and eventually signed with Atlantic records. We toured with the Furs and during that tour the Furs asked me to join them onstage everynight after our set. I worked with Butler for the next 12 years. When I moved to NY, i began doing sessions. I did loads of different types of sessions. Movie scores, tv ads, pop records, hip hop, country, zydeco, etc... I love to play different styles of music. I love music and i love the challenge of playing styles I'm not as well versed in. I worked with loads of different types of artists. I just love to make music and I'm still amazed that I can make a living doing it. I feel incredibly fortunate.

You've also played with people like Britney, N'Sync and more recently Nena. How do you compare working with artists like these to playing with GnR, Pale Divine, Love Spit Love or any other of your own bands.

Richard: It's a very different experience when you go in to do a session. It's great to be able to take someone else's song and add something to it. it's very different than when it is your song. I enjoy them both equally.

Could you confirm that Chris Pitman is an official member?

Richard: I honestly don't know.

I saw you live with Izzy this summer and you two really seemed to hit it off live. Izzy wrote several of the songs you're playing, so from your view, how does it feel to have him walk into the band now, and how is playing with Izzy?

Richard: I really love Izzy. He's a real talent and it's easy to see where a good 90% of the song riffs on Appetite came from after having played with him. I had the oppourtunity of getting to know him while we were in Europe, and he's probably become one of my favorite people. He's very genuine. We have a lot in common and he is someone that i can really relate to. It's an honor to call him a friend.

Anything else you're currently up to that you'd like to share?

Richard: Recently, I've been working on the new Spiderman 3 video game score, writing and recording with Puddle of Mudd for their new record, i just played on a record by a new artist on Def Jam called Kerli, I'm doing some music for Apple, Red Bull and various commercials and hopefully i will have time to do some more recording with Crystal Method for their next record.

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