2021.05.25 - Sheldon Ang - Interview with Gilby

Excerpts from Ultimate Guitar:
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During a conversation with Sheldon Ang, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke talked about his new solo record "The Gospel Truth," his 1991-1994 tenure with Axl Rose and co., and more.

Asked about Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx's guest appearance on the "Tightwad" track from the new album, Gilby replied (transcribed by UG):

"On 'Tightwad,' Nikki Sixx played bass and Stephen Perkins from Jane's Addiction played drums. To me - what a combination."

Are they your personal friends?

"They're all friends - everybody that's on the record is a friend. Everybody is somebody I've had drinks with, they've been to my house.

"Look, we live in a wonderful place in Los Angeles, a lot of people that are wonderful musicians, we gravitate to each other. Some of the guys, we ride motorcycles together, some of them I see all the time at shows...

"We had a great jam night out here for years and years called Lucky Strike Jam, and then it became the Ultimate Jam where all of us are hanging out, just playing music together. It's just a really nice cesspool of musicians."

We have a lot of Motley Crue fans here. How's it like to work with Nikki Sixx?

"Well, once again, Nikki's a friend. I go out to dinner with Nikki, as a matter of fact, as we're talking right now, my wife is having lunch with Nikki's wife.

"So we've been friends for a long time, I knew Nikki before Motley Crue, so some of us have been around a long time, and like said, it's not just about music.

"Nikki and I never talk about music when we're hanging out, we're talking about other things. He lives in Wyoming and we're learning about Wyoming now."

I know you're not involved in this, but did it really take 30 days to make 'Use Your Illusion' 1 and 2 combined? Is that possible at all?

"Yeah, I don't know if that's really accurate. Look, when you're in the studio, like a studio that you're paying two to three thousand dollars a day, you do tend to work harder.

"When you're in one like mine, where I can record a couple of hours a day, it takes a little bit longer waiting on schedules.

"I honestly don't know if that's true but the guys were in town together. Every record is different, man, every record is different, just like every time you get COVID, it's different. That's just the way it is."

So how was it like to be playing in front of 100,000 people for one of the world's hottest bands at the time? Guns and Roses, of course...

"It feels great in the sense that... I didn't feel great in the sense that it felt like I accomplished something. I didn't.

"I felt good in the sense of this is what I love to do - to play guitar. I love to play great music whether it's mine or somebody else's music. It just felt good to be doing what I love to do and have people appreciate it.

"I mean, I'm not an idiot, I know that it's Slash and Axl - it's Guns N' Roses. But still, I'm doing my part. And my part was an important part too, it's not like I was the security guy. It was important to me but it felt good.

"There are moments on that tour like when I do my 'Wild Horses,' the thing I came out by myself, and start playing, where you take a moment you go, 'Ah, OK.' I did have those moments.

"But it's also because when I got the gig, I was 30 years old, I had already been through the winger man, I knew what it's like to play a shitty club in front of three people. So when I got that gig, I appreciated what was special and unique about that gig."

Are you still friends with Axl?

"I'll always be friends with Axl, absolutely. I haven't talked to him in a long time but he still sends notes every now and then."

So apparently, you did not get fired, the paycheck just did not arrive.

"We'll never know the answer to that question, there's only one person that knows [Axl]. Until we ask him, I have no idea what happened."

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/gnr_guitarist_speaks_on_how_motley_crue_star_behaved_during_collab_talks_relationship_with_axl_rose_after_he_basically_fired_him.html

Nice to know that Gilby and Axl are cool with each other.

Another excerpt:
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Ang: So apparently you did not get fired – the paycheck didn’t arrive.

Gilby: (Laughs) We’ll never know the answer to that question. There’s only one person that knows. Until we ask him, I have no idea what happened (laughs).

Ang: And that’ll be Axl.