1993.09.27 - Rockline - Interview with Duff

Bill Riles - Duff McKagan, welcome back to Rockline.

Duff - Thanks, man.

Bill Riles - And listen, you got a guy with you there. We gotta mention your guitar player and long time friend, Joie Mastrokalos. Joie, welcome to the show as well.

Joie - Thanks, man

Bill Riles - All right, man. We got that out of the way. Duff, congratulations, new solo album out, and also on the marriage. Double congratulations.

Duff - Thank you.

Bill Riles - A lot of "thank you"'s here.

Duff - The gig last night was great, man, you know. It broke the ice and… We're off to Europe for two and a half months. And basically I've had no rest, but I love it, man.

Bill Riles - You gotta love it, you're up front. That feels pretty good, huh?

Duff - Yeah, you know, it's a whole different trip.

Bill Riles - Listen, you were out there with Guns N' Roses on what has turned out to be the longest rock tour in the history of rock music. 28 months, 28 countries, 192 shows. Seems like the most inopportune time to record your debut solo album. But you found time to do it. How on earth did you, Duff?

Duff - Well, I wouldn't, you know, suggest to record this way to, you know, other people. But for me it was a way to kind of keep my feet on the ground. And it was also… you know, we were playing to lots of people. You know, the smallest crowds was like 50,000. You know, that was the smallest. And… umm, so, it's pretty intense… I'm a very simple guy and… So, after… I mean, things got hectic I would go into a recording studio, wherever we were at, and kind of just turn off the lights and light candles and roll tape. And… you know, I started before the tour, and it was written like, after the Appetite tour and… There was reasons why I wrote it and here it is. It's out.

Bill Riles - A lot of emotional songs on this. The first up is called "Believe In Me". If you'd do us a favour of setting that song up and telling us what it's all about, I'd really appreciate it.

Duff - Well, ok. Umm… at the risk of sounding redundant here, umm. Basically, when we've gone off tour, you know, I got a credit card and… Which, I never even knew how to use a credit card and… They said: "buy house", so I bought this nice, big house and got furniture and all that. And… And… And moved it all in and the doors shut and I was like: "Wow, what am I gonna do now?" It was the first time off I'd had in years and years and years. And so… I started to go down to clubs in Hollywood, just to meet people. And all of a sudden, you know, these people that wouldn't give me the time of the day before, were like: "Wow, this guy…". You know, they were coming up to me, and girls and all that. And I just thought to myself: "Wow, I must be holding myself better, I must have more self-confidence or something". And… And… You know, I'm really not naive, but I really was when it came to that. And after about two or three months of this, after kind of getting stomped on a bit, I went: "To hell with this!". And went back up to this big house and I had a 8-track recorder and a drum machine, and just wrote like… Songs just poured out, like 50 tunes, so "Believe In Me" was just about... I had to believe in myself, and I think that's… If you got that, you don't need anything else.

"Believe In Me" is played.

Bill Riles - London, Ohio is our first stop. Let's talk to Ron, a listener of QFM96 in Columbus. Ron, you're on with Duff.

Ron - Hey Duff, how's it going?

Duff - How you doing Ron?

Ron - Man, I'm doing great. Listen, I've seen the Guns a half a dozen times, I'll see 'em a half a dozen more. Man, I love you guys and I can't wait to see you solo. I gotta ask you, I know you're gonna be touring with the Scorpions. But I was wondering, are you gonna do any smaller club dates in support of this album, and can we look forward to seeing you doing 'em soon?

Duff - Umm… Ron, here's the deal. We're doing the Scorpions two and a half months in Europe, starting Wednesday, and then we're gonna come back and do the States and… Yes, you can look forward to seeing us in clubs, or small theaters or… Who know, maybe big theaters?

Bill Riles - Duff might be anywhere.

Duff - Or maybe even bowling alleys, you know. [everybody laughs]

Bill Riles - If we're lucky. Calgary, Alberta is our next stop. Let's talk to Tammy, a listener of CJ up there.

Tammy - Hey Duff, how's it going?

Duff - How you doing?

Tammy - Oh, I'm just great. I saw you for the first time ever in March of this year, in Edmonton. It was the best concert I've ever been to, and what my question is, I wondered, since now you've taken a step to doing an album on your own, has that inspired you perhaps to do some songs… Uuh, to write some songs… to produce some stuff for other people?

Duff - Uuh… I've always kind of been involved in… in other things, you know. It's not a main… priority, I guess, of mine. But, you know, if you click with somebody, you know… I've done things and… Umm… It's not like I'm going to become… umm…

Joie - Phil Spector.

Duff - Phil Spector, yeah. [laughs] Our bass player is from Winnipeg, by the way. He lived in Calgary for a long time. But anyhow... umm, this is just a thing that I wanted to do and I did it and there it is. I... That's that.

Bill Riles - You certainly got a lot of great names who played with you here. Jeff Beck, of course, is on some tunes, a lot of pals from GN'R... Lenny Kravitz, lots of others we'll talk about coming up later. So, you owe some favors out there. Maybe will be producing some stuff. Tammy, thanks for the call. Let's go to St. Louis and talk to Tabitha now, listener of KC 95. Tabitha, you're on with Duff.

Tabitha - Hi Duff.

Duff - Hi, how you doing?

Tabitha - I'm fine. I was just wondering...

Duff - Is it Tabitha?

Tabitha - Yeah...

Duff - Ok, St. Louis. I'm banned from that town.

Tabitha - I know, I heard. Umm, do you know who else is gonna be on your album? Except for Guns N' Roses.

Duff - Do I know who else is gonna be on my album? I hope so, it's coming out tomorrow. Umm... no, Tabitha, I've already... I've been done... umm, recording, producing it for about five, four months. How do I answer that?

Bill Riles - Well, I think she just wants to know some of the people I just kind of answered before... Jeff Beck, Lenny Kravitz, Sebastian and Snake of Skid Row... Some of those people that played on the album.

Duff - And Joie.

Bill Riles - And Joie, of course. You wanna tell us the rest of the band here? Who else is in the band? Who else is touring with you?

Duff - Ok... Thanks Tabitha for the call. Umm, Joie Mastrokalos is and old-time friend of mine, playing lead guitar. Aaron Brooks is playing drums, and Richard Dugay, the canuck in the band, plays bass. All old friends of mine. And Teddy "zigzag bigbag" Andreadis is playing keyboards and... just being bad. And he was in GN'R when we had the horns and stuff, and he's just... He's a bad blues man.

Bill Riles - Allrighty, well...

Duff - It's a very type-brotherhood, this band. It's very cool.

Bill Riles - Great. Lenny Kravitz, of course, does appear, and he appears on this very next song. It's a song called "The Majority". Let's hear Duff McKagan and Lenny Kravitz doing it on Rockline.

"The Majority" is played

Bill Riles - ... we gotta talk to Robin, guys. She's from Newport, Virginia, listening to FM 99 in Norfolk. Robin, you're on with us.

Robin - Hi, Duff. I was wondering.

Duff - Hi Robin.

Robin - ... several videos now, umm... might you do any acting on your own?

Duff - Acting? Umm... No. [laughs] No, I wouldn't know how to do it.

Bill Riles - Weren't you in Clint Eastwood's movie? Weren't you in one of those Dirty Harry movies?

Duff - [laughs] I wasn't acting, though. Just a kind of cameo thing. Actually I got asked one time to play a kind of a lead-sort of cop-thing in this... this series that never actually happened. And I thought is was hilarious, and I went in and read for it. And I was horrible, you know! I just did it as a joke. You know, I can't act. That's for people with, you know, perfect bodies and... short hair, I don't know.

Bill Riles - Go for the Strasbourg Institute. Allright Robin, thank you for the call. Let's go to Astell, Georgia, and talk to Christine. It's girls night, Duff. 96 Rock is what she's listening to...

Duff - All right.

Bill Riles - Christine, you're on with us.

Christine - Hello!

Duff - Hello.

Christine - How's it going?

Duff - Who's this?

Christine - This is Christine.

Duff - Hi Christine. I'm doing fine, thank you.

Christine - I was wondering, what did you think of Izzy's solo work and did it inspire you to release a solo album?

Duff - Number one. Umm, what Izzy did was great, because he did it. Period, you know. And... and, you know, he's a great guy, you know, Izzy did it, you know. And... uuh, but it... Did it inspire me? No. No, it wasn't... It wasn't my answer to Izzy's record. This thing is not my answer to Izzy's record. I think it's great what he did, and I understand the question, but... umm...

Joie - For what it's worth... I mean, I've known Duff for twelve years and he always told me he wanted to do a solo album. So, that's how far that goes back.

Bill Riles - "The Majority" was the first song that you actually laid tracks down for, is that correct?

Duff - Right. Yes.

Bill Riles - Did you have in mind that you actually wanted to do a solo album, or did you just get bored one day and said: "Hell, I just wanna screw around the studio, it's open." Or did you have an idea you wanted to do this?

Duff - Well... umm, Joie was around the whole time, you know... The answer to that question was, no, I wasn't out to make a solo record. I just wanted to get these kind of things out of my system. These... these feelings, and these songs and... I financed it myself, you know. Until Geffen signed it... "Let's sign the kid", you know. Umm, you know, it was just something I wanted to do and... And friends came in and would listen at the studio and say: "Hey man, can I play on that?" You know, it was really gentle and that cool.

Bill Riles - Thirteen songs later, here we are, one called "Believe In Me". Guys, if we could get you to... you get those things tuned, play a little live music for us, we'd appreciate it. Live and nationwide here.

Duff - All right, umm... cool. This is a song called "10 Years" and... I wrote it basically about... I was invited to my ten-year reunion for high school. I never graduated and I was kinda the outcast in high school, but all of a sudden now, you know, people...

Joie - [inaudible]... outcast in society.

[everybody laughs]

Duff - But I kinda realized, I was like, "Wow, it's been ten years." So, I came about this tune. And here it goes.

"10 Years" is played live.

Commercial break

"Civil War" is played.

Bill Riles - We go to Houston, Texas, now guys. Michael is listening to 101 KLOL down there. Mike, you're on Rockline.

Mike - Hi Duff, what's up?

Duff - Hi! This is Mike?

Mike - Yeah. How's it hangin'?

Duff - How you doing?

Mike - I'm all right. I was wondering what's the inspiration behind writing "Civil War"?

Duff - Uuh... Well, basically it was a riff that we would do at soundchecks, and... umm, Axl came up with a couple of lines, at the beginning and... I went on peace march when I was a little kid with my mom. I was like four years old. For Martin Luther King, and that's when "Did you wear the black armband when they shot the man who said: "Peace would last forever"?". And it's just... true-life experiences, really. Joie's from Houston, by the way.

Joie - Hey, hey. What part of Houston are you from?

Mike - Memorial side.

Joie - Memorial. I lived North side. The Oilers are gonna rule.

Mike - Yeah, I know.

Bill Riles - Thank you Mike for the call. Now, I gotta ask you Duff. How did the guys... Did the people from the "Nobody's Child"-project come to you guys and ask for a particular song, or did you guys know which one to give 'em when they did?

Duff - Umm, yeah. Yeah, we did... It was something that, at that point, we were really excited about playing. We just kinda, put it together. It was before we recorded, you know, the "Illusions". A long time before we recorded. And so we said: "Yeah, let's do "Civil War."" Because we had just, you know, learned it and wrote it and all that, so... And it kinda seemed somewhat appropriate for... you know, something that has meaning.

Bill Riles - You bet. Ended up on the Romanian Angel Appeal charity album called "Nobody's Child". Also on "Use Your Illusion II". Let's move to Kara in Toronto, listening to Q107. Kara, you're on.

Kara - Good evening Duff. How are you?

Duff - How you doing? I was just there.

Kara - Oh, not too bad. Did you have...

Duff - I was just in Toronto. A few days ago.

Kara - Oh jeez, I happened to miss you. [laughs] The question I wanna ask you is, who was you're biggest influence in doing this album?

Duff - Umm, actually I can answer that. Umm... When I was 15... When I was 15, I... I played drums, I played guitar, I played bass, and this guy named Prince came out with this record. He played everything on it. And I went: "Wow" and somebody turned me onto it. And since then I'm a huge Prince fan. But, that's what, kind of first made me think: "Oh well, I can do it?"

Bill Riles - Well, you certainly play a lot of different instruments. You're playing rhythm guitar in the band right now. Play drums, bass, all these instruments that you've played before. Keyboard. Now, I gotta ask you, you were doing a Prince song right now, I just... We talked about this off the air before the show, can we talk about it on the air? Playing the song in concert right now.

Duff - Yeah, we are.

Bill Riles - One of his earlier songs, "Bambi".

Duff - It's off his first record, yeah.

Bill Riles - All right, so it all fits together somehow. All right, let's do another one from "Believe In Me", here's one called simply "Trouble".

"Trouble" is played.

Commercial break.

Bill Riles - Rahana of Salem, Wisconsin, listening to Laser 103 in Milwaukee. Rahana, talk to us.

Rahana - Hey Duff, how you doing?

Duff - Hi, Rahana.

Rahana - Hey, I just wanna say that Guns N' Roses are my all-time favorite group, and you guys always will be.

Duff - Thank you.

Rahana - You're welcome. And I can't wait to listen to you're new album.

Duff - Thank you.

Rahana - You're welcome.

Duff - So, how's Wisconsin treatin' you?

Rahana - Good.

Duff - Yeah? We've been to Alpine Valley plenty of times.

Rahana - Yeah.

Bill Riles - What's on your mind?

Rahana - What did Axl and Gilby and Matt and like, all the band say when you told them that you were thinking about doing a solo project?

Duff - They love it. They're like the biggest fans of the record. They all came to the gig last night in New York City.

Bill Riles - All right, most of them are on the record as well, Rahana. So check it out in your record store tomorrow. Tulsa is out next stop.

Duff - Thanks Rahana.

Bill Riles - Thank you Rahana once again. Erica is waiting for us in Tulsa. 97.5 KMOD is what she is listening to. Erica, you're on.

Erica - Hi Duff.

Duff - Hi Erica.

Erica - How you doing?

Duff - Ok.

Erica - Ok. My question is, last year when we saw Guns N' Roses in Dallas, it was with Metallica. Umm, we went to a heavy metal bar, and a band called Tangled Web gone on stage and they said...

Duff - Yeah, I know Gary.

Erica - Huh?

Duff - I know Gary from that band.

Erica - Oh. Well, they said that they had just signed a deal with Uzi Suicide and that you were gonna produce their album. Did you ever do that? Did anything ever become of that?

Duff - I don't... I don't know Gary that well. [laughs] No, umm... I... No. The... Uuh, I think they were just pulling your leg a little bit.

Bill Riles - I think Duff's busy enough as it is here, Erica. But, give 'em a few years here. Let him settle down...

Joie - They were trying to get free drinks.

Duff - Yeah, that's probably what it was.

Bill Riles - Nothing wrong with a little scam once in a while. Thank you Erica. Let's move on to...

Duff - I've never done it in my life.

Bill Riles - No, of course not.

Duff - Nah.

Bill Riles - No, no, no. Going to North Carolina, Brian is waiting for us. A listener of WRDU 106 in Raleigh. Brian, hello.

Brian - Hey, what's up Duff?

Duff - How you doing bro?

Brian - Yeah, I'm... I got a different question for you man. I was wondering what kind of effects pedal you use for your bass. Like, whenever you record and during... on tour.

Duff - Ok, I use the exact same thing on both. Uuh, SPX 90 is all I use. You know... chorus set to... uuh, it's called "the Duff sound". 'Cause, you know, you can program the name across what certain sound you want. And I just play through a GK 800 RB and one... 15... uuh... ED 400 watt speakers, what I record through and... I really don't use that much gear, bass-wise.

Bill Riles - Brian's moving fast with that pencil back there. Always glad to get the musicians calling.

Duff - Yeah, I... I dig that, yeah.

Bill Riles - Kinda like a little quiz thing for the big rock stars. Duff McKagan with us. Thank you, Brian. Tip City, Ohio. Let's talk to Tip City. Here's Sam, a listener of their 104.7 WTUE. Excuse me Sam, in Dayton, Ohio. Hi there.

Sam - How are you doing Duff?

Duff - How you doing?

Sam - Pretty good. I just wondering if it was a difficult transition for you to make, from being a bass player in a band to move on to be... now a frontman and a guitar player.

Duff - Well, uuh... It's a fair and honest question and I can dig it, but I always... GN'R is the first band I was ever the bass player in. Really, you know. Always been very versatile as far as being open-minded, and I've fronted bands before. And yeah, it's a different trip, you know, on this kind of scale. And I do get extremely nervous, you know, uuh... before we go on and play. But, it's just... you know, you gotta keep moving and... and experience other things in life and... If you don't then life is gonna get a little bit boring.

Bill Riles - You don't seem like the kind of guy that's afraid to take a chance, Mr. Duff so... Thank you Sam for the call. And if you take another chance with your man Joie there and play us a live song, we'd all appreciate it. Everybody's standing by waiting back here. Nationwide, everybody's waiting. Duff McKagan everybody.

Duff - ... and I just dedicate it to my wife.

"Could It Be You" is played

Bill Riles - Let's go to Michelle in Toledo now, guys. We continue live and nationwide on Rockline. FM 104 WIOT is what Michelle's checking out tonight. Michelle, you're on.

Michelle - Hi, hi, hi!

Duff - Hi Michelle.

Michelle - I love you. Oh my god! All right, I wanna know if you've made any videos yet, or for your album or if you're planning on...

Duff - Well, as a matter of fact, as we sit here, we're just gonna finishing up the video for "Believe In Me". We... taped all weekend long, the gig and, just kind of walking around and... you know, in the city and... and... and doing like, Rockline. And we did MTV Headbanger's Ball today. We played , the whole band live and... Yeah, so, that's a good question. Yes, we are and it'll be out... when it comes out. [laughs]

Bill Riles - Look for it Michelle. Let's go to San Diego. Thank you so much for the call, first of all Michelle. San Diego, it's Donny, listener of Rock 102.1 down there. Hi Donny.

Donny - Hey, what's up?

Duff - Hi Donny.

Donny - How's it going?

Duff - How you doing?

Donny - All right. My question was, did you offer up any of these songs for Guns N' Roses to do?

Duff - Uuh... Did I offer any of the tunes?

Donny - Yeah.

Duff - Uuhm... Well, it doesn't really work that way with the band. We all co-write everything. These songs are really kind of personal for me to, you know... This is something I had to get out myself. And also, it... Even if it came to that, which it wouldn't, you know, it wouldn't be fair for me to, umm... to ask Axl to sing the personal things that are coming from my heart, you know. 'Cause he wouldn't be honest.

Bill Riles - As emotional as these songs are, as personal as they are, does it really... I mean, do you have an extra amount of anticipation for tomorrow, the release date of this album? Are you really, really a little bit nervous about how people will perceive you after hearing these songs?

Duff - Well, it's not really... umm, you know, the album was made and... without really, like I said, not really wanting to... It was an album I made to myself. Now it's coming out and... expectations, you know... umm, I don't really... That's not the point of the record. Umm... you know, I'm not a great drummer, or a great guitar player, or a great singer, by any means. Umm, so, if somebody will criticize it for: "Well, it's kinda under-produced and not..." you know, Steve Vai record. I love Steve Vai, but you know what I'm saying. Umm, if they wanna criticize it like that, this is my heart and soul on a plat, or a CD, I guess, now. So, if you wanna criticize my heart and soul, get in line, you know!

Joie - Let's go.

Bill Riles - Thank you so much Donny for the call. Let's go to Hernando, Michigan. Cathy is listening to Rock 103. In Memphis, Tennessee. Cathy, talk to us.

Cathy - Hey Duff, how you doing?

Duff - How you doing?

Cathy - I'm doing pretty good. I just wanted to tell you that I've been a big... a hug fan of yours since about 8th grade, and I'm in college now. So, I just keep...

Duff - Wow. Have we been around that long?

Cathy - Yeah. I wanna ask you about "So Fine". Who is Johnny Thunders and why did you dedicate that song to him?

Duff - Umm... Uuh, Johnny Thunders is... kind of... He was in a band called New York Dolls back in the early seventies. And then he did his solo thing... And his style and his coolness and... Just his whole thing was a big influence of mine and I know a lot of people... umm, you know, Joe Perry from Aerosmith emulated Johnny Thunders, you know. And we became friends and he just died recently. So, that's what that's about.

Bill Riles - All right Cathy. Thanks for getting through. Cathy from Hernando, Michigan. Thanks for calling Rockline.

"So Fine" is played.

Commercial break.

Bill Riles - We gotta go back to the phones, guys. It's… [inaudible] Lake, and that's in Michigan near Traverse City, I'm assuming. Jason is up there listening to 97.5 KLT in beautiful Traverse City. Jason, you're on.

Jason - Duff, I understand you guys in GN'R are Ramones fans. I was wondering if you're gonna do any of their songs on your punk EP?

Duff - Umm, we are... especially myself... No, we all are, I guess. Huge Ramones fans. We didn't do a Ramones song however. For what reason I'm not sure really. It just kinda wasn't...

Joie - Too many good ones to pick from.

Duff - Yeah, there was too much stuff to pick from. [laughs] It's not all punk rock songs we did, you know. The punk rock songs are basically everybody kind of pillaging my record collection, you know. [laughs] Umm, but, you know, we did like, "Hair Of The Dog" by Nazareth, and "Buick Makane" by T-Rex and... and... you know, old Iggy Pop & the Stooges, which was way before punk rock.

Joie - The bebop song.

Duff - What?

Joie - The bebop song.

Duff - An old like, fifties tune. "Since I Don't Have You", I think it's called.

Bill Riles - Didn't you appear on an Iggy Pop record once upon a time?

Duff - I certainly did.

Bill Riles - All right, I thought I recognized that. All right Jason, thanks for getting through. Let's go to Dallas, talk to Sharnelle, listener of Q102. Sharnelle, you're on.

Sharnelle - Hi Duff.

Duff - Hey, how you doing?

Sharnelle - Fine. I saw you and your wife on MTV, talking about an article in a magazine...

Duff - Yeah.

Sharnelle - ... that was coming out. I was wondering what the name of that article was and... when it came out, or is coming out, 'cause I could never find it.

Duff - Well, it came out three months ago, two months. And... it's a magazine called Platinum and they kinda screwed us over, but it's out. It's called Platinum.

Bill Riles - And that's about is as far as you're concerned, right? All right Sharnelle, I think we'll leave it at that. Let's go to Houma in Louisiana. Let's talk to Shelly, listener of 99.5 WRNO... [inaudible] ... you're on.

Shelly - Duff, hey!

Duff - Hey, how you doing?

Shelly - I'm fine, and you?

Duff - Ok.

Shelly - Then great.

Duff - Yeah? [everybody laughs]

Shelly - I got a question for you. Who did you choose to produce your new album and why?

Duff - Uuh, well... Actually I co-produced it with Jim Mitchell, who engineered... uuh, the Illusions records. And he's just a good friend and he knows how to run all the stuff. [laughs] I know how to run some of the stuff but, you know, you need a guy in the room when I'm out in the, you know... out recording drums or bass or something, and... So, we just did it together.

Bill Riles - Let me ask you something. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, London, Dallas, Denver, Seattle. Did Jim travel around with you guys or did he base himself out of one city, or? How'd that work?

Duff - Well, when I kinda got in the mood, I would just... I said, "Jim, get our here, you know, there's a ticket waiting for you, you know... you know, I'm in the mood to do this one particular song, or track drums or these two tunes, or when Jeff Beck asked to... Umm, we were in Paris. He came actually to the room, and I was playing a rough track of the song "Beyond Belief". He goes, "What's this?" And I told him what was going on. He goes, "Can I play on it?" And, you know, it took me about a tenth of a milli-second to answer.

Bill Riles - That is a true story. Jeff Beck actually came across the hall, hearing the rough track of this and volunteered, huh?

Duff - Yeah, absolutely. So, we did that in London and I just flew Jim out, you know. So it was things like that.

Bill Riles - And it worked out. All right, Shelly, thanks for the call. Movin' on across th e nation, Oklahoma City. Let's talk to Matt, a listener of Rock 100.5. Matt, speak to us.

Matt - Yo, Duff!

Duff - Yo, Matt!

Matt - What's going on, man?

Duff - How you doing, bro?

Matt - Oh, pretty good. How are you yourself?

Duff - Okido.

Matt - Umm, gotta say hi from Lainee, wanted me to say hi to you.

Duff - Ok, hi Lainee.

Matt - My question is, what made you switch over to playing bass after you'd played, you know, drums and rhythm guitar so long?

Duff - Uuh... Well, I moved to LA when I was like 19, and the drum kit I had was really just...

Joie - A piece of...

Duff - Wasn't very good, ok? And, you know, I played guitar, I wasn't really... You know, moving to LA, there's like, a million Yngwie Malmsteens there, you know. So, I sold everything I had, which wasn't worth much, and bought a really cheap bass and a little bass amp, and I said, "Ok, I'll just get my foot in the door". And that was the door I got my foot in, so...

Bill Riles - There you go. You played everything on this album. You really... You did basically pounder yourself for the Prince album, the debut Prince album. And that's just incredible. If you look at the album sleeve when you buy the album tomorrow, you'll see what I'm talking about. Duff McKagan all over it.

"(Fucked Up) Beyond Belief" is played.

Bill Riles -... Joie was talking earlier about how he had to learn these Jeff Beck licks. Joie, you have it down now?

Joie - Yeah, a little bit.

Duff - No, a lot of it.

Joie - No, it's like, all these great guitar players are playing on it. And I... you know, I heard the album and when it came time for me to listen to the whole thing, you know... I got Slash playing on it, I got Jeff Beck playing on it, and... you know, Snake and... "My god, great guitar players". And I sat there for like, I don't know, like about two weeks and I had this little machine that could actually pull out the notes, so... 'Cause, you know, Beck was the hardest one. It was definitely 'cause he plays with a whammy. And he hasn't even used a pick. He hits the strings with a whammy. Believe me, it was very, very hard.

Bill Riles - Let's go to Bethel, Connecticut, guys. Talk to Andrea, checking out II95 in Bridgeport. Andrea, you're on.

Andrea - Hi Duff.

Duff - Hey Andrea. How you doing?

Andrea - Great. So nice to talk to you. I saw you in March, New Haven.

Duff - Yeah. All snowy and everything.

Andrea - Yes.

Duff - Yes.

Andrea - And I wanna ask a question if your solo album is gonna be a permanent or occasional thing while still remaining in Guns N' Roses.

Duff - Oh, yeah. It's just, you know... uuh, a thing that, again, I must say, that I did... umm, that had to come out. And then... we got done touring about two and a half months ago, two months ago, and the album was coming out and so like, "Well..." Joie and I, "Let's put together a band, you know. Let's go tour on it." And, you know, GN'R is my band, you know, but this is... These guys... Joie and the guys are... you know, also... It's just a different thing. I don't know really how to explain it. And the guys in GN'R are completely, way a 110% behind it. So...

Bill Riles - St. Louis, Missouri is where we're going. Steve, a listener of KC95 down there. Steve, you're on.

Steve - Yeah, hi Duff.

Duff - Yo. Hey, Steve.

Steve - I'd like to ask Duff if his songs are gonna be on Guns N' Roses tapes in the future.

Duff - If my songs? What do you mean? My writing?

Steve - Yeah.

Duff - Oh, they always have been, Steve.

Commercial break

Bill Riles - First of all, Joie, thank you so much.

Joie - Hey, thanks a lot. It's been great being here, buddy.

Bill Riles - And to you, Duff McKagan, you got a brand new solo album coming out tomorrow. We wish you the best of luck with it. And we'll see you when you get to California for sure.

Duff - Yes, you definetely will.

Bill Riles - Have a good time over there, Duff.

Duff - Thanks again, bro. And thanks to everybody who called in and all that.