1993.11.DD - Okej - Interview with Duff

[Translated from Swedish]

Duff's solo-debut "Believe In Me"

To keep self-possession when the circus Guns N' Roses started spinning faster and faster and numbers of audiences, millions of dollars and record-sells that earlier had been inconceivable had become ordinary life, Duff McKagan decided to go in therapy. The result became his very autobiographic solo album "Believe In Me".

It wasn't any problem for the multi- instrumentalist Duff McKagan or the one-man orchestra as he also have been called. Drums, bass, acoustic- and electric guitar - soon had he on his own recorded "The Majority", one of many songs he had recorded as demos at home. Later that night Lenny Kravitz came, a friend that had heard the demo a lot of times before, and offered himself to do the vocals. The idea behind doing a solorecord started to take form in Duff's head. He should write and play the most, with certain friends invited as guest-artists. The only problem was time, Guns were urged by the record-company to release some new material. And then came the world's longest rock-tour on 28 months, i.e. 192 concerts in 28 countries.

Duff solved the problem by spending as good as every time off by writing songs at hotel-rooms or recording in studios in Los Angeles, London, Dallas, Seattle and Denver.

-When I'm in a hotel I can't go anywhere, since I'm surrounded by thousands of fans. The recordings have taken part in lonely places, hard places, after gigs, anywhere and anytime.

The uncertaincy had a certain charm that made the record cool and real, Duff thinks. He considers that "Believe In Me" that the soloalbum's called is very different from what Guns does.

-You can't compare my record with any of that Guns N' Roses and pretend that they are from the same source.

To campare with Guns slow way of recording many of Duff's songs were in one day, for example the title-song, and even in one take, as "(Fucked Up) Beyond Belief".

-Because I was forced to. And also that I could. I didn't need to hire someone else. I didn't need to wait for any singer. It was only for me to do it.

You can easily notice that Duff is beginning to grow tired of Guns N' Roses way to circumstantial way of doing records, and that he therefore prefers the spontanous way that his own record were made in.

-I didn't do this record to boast with what I can play. I love the early Prince-albums were he played everything by himself. I didn't do it to surprise people either - although it would be nice if they were.

One of the most unexpected elements on "Believe In Me" is the song "Fuck You", a furious combination of rap and rock.

-I have many friends that are rappers, Duff tells. The Guys that were in NWA, like Ice Cube, and the guys in Body Count. We used to barberque with each other.

The raw attitude on "Believe In Me" reflects a period of Duff's life with very much loneliness, pain and longing.

-When there's no one special and you're alone and everything a person of the other sex wants from you is money and stardom, where do you go then? The record is about my feelings, what I've gone thru during a very self-centred period . It's nothing made up, it's the truth. But it's not a depressing album. In spite of everything I've kept on the positive side. Every song ends in an optimistic intonation where I say "I'm okay, so fuck you!"

- I'm happy that I can carry all these feelings and getting rid of them in this way. Otherwise I might have becomed like Ted Bundy. He's from Seattle just like I am. I knew him when we grew up. Some people's thougths drive them to kill, others write poetry, I rock!"

And not just on record, but on his own tour. After a short vacation in Hawaii he formed the band DUFF, where Teddy Andreadis, Guns N' Roses second keyboardist, the guitarist Joie Mastrokalos ("One of my best friends for 12 years, says Duff) and the drummer Aaron Brooks from the LA-band Circle Of Soul are members. The tour started the first of October in Europe and reaches Stockhom the 19th this month, when DUFF are opening for Scorpions in the Globe Arena.

This interview must be from November 1993. I updated the title.