2021.12.20 - St. Louis On The Air - Interview with Richard

For Guns N’ Roses guitarist Richard Fortus, Pale Divine reunion will be a family affair

St. Louis Public Radio | By Evie Hemphill

Beginning in the late 1980s, Pale Divine drew crowds of St. Louis fans to music hubs along Laclede’s Landing, its members kings of the local scene. The band would pack the house at Mississippi Nights and Kennedy’s 2nd Street.

Those venues are now no more, and Pale Divine (which started out as The Eyes in 1984) broke up in the early ’90s — not too long after releasing its major label debut album via Atlantic Records.

“Had we continued on the path that we were on prior to that, building a grassroots following, [we] would have probably found more success,” guitarist Richard Fortus, now a longtime member of Guns N’ Roses, told host Sarah Fenske on Monday’s St. Louis on the Air.

But the group will reconvene for a reunion show at the Pageant later this month — something Fortus said Pale Divine tries to do at least every few years.

“[The breakup of the band] took a lot of time to heal, as marriages often do, before you’re at a point where you can be friends, realistically,” Fortus said. “And that did happen with us. I mean, it took a long time. … [But] you know what, those guys are my biggest supporters, and yeah, we’re really good friends.”

This time around feels particularly special, as the band celebrates 30 years since its 1991 album “Straight to Goodbye.” In addition, Fortus’ 13-year-old daughter Clover will be among the opening acts with her band, Poster Logic.

“She writes all the material,” Fortus said. “And all that kid does is sit in a room and write.”

Both of the guitarist's daughters are also featured as vocalists in a couple of the songs on The Psychedelic Furs’ 2020 album “Made of Rain,” which Fortus produced in St. Louis at Sawhorse Studios.

Fortus explained that the vocals for the track “Hide the Medicine” were originally recorded in New York, but lead singer Richard Butler wasn’t happy with them. “So he flew back here,” Fortus recalled. “He came to me and said, ‘I really hear, like, a child's choir singing this answering line.’... And I said, ‘Well, you know, the girls both sing.’ And he’s like, ‘Can we try it?’”

As for Pale Divine’s upcoming New Year’s Eve show, in addition to Poster Logic, the original members of The Finns will be performing as well.

“They’re another band from that same time that used to open for us quite a bit and play shows with us,” Fortus said.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2021-12-20/guns-n-roses-guitarist-richard-fortus-anticipates-st-louis-reunion-with-pale-divine

I have transcribed the GN'R related part:
-------------------------------------------------

[Hard Skool is played]

Interviewer: And that is the title track to a forthcoming Guns N’ Roses EP, Hard Skool. That song sounds great!

Richard: Yeah.

Interviewer: Yeah!

Richard: Yeah. I think it sounds good, too.

Interviewer: So, did you guys put this album together in the middle of the pandemic?

Richard: Um, a lot of it was done then, yeah.

Interviewer: Was that hard? I mean, were you trying to collaborate remotely?

Richard: Um… yeah. You know…

Interviewer: But it works.

Richard: Yeah, yeah.

Interviewer: I mean, is that part of that band for you? You guys are kind of used to putting things together remotely. You’re based here in St. Louis.

Richard: Um… yes and no. I mean, most of the stuff is done face to face. But yeah, since the pandemic…

Interviewer: Okay. Well, the album sounds great. When is that coming out?

Richard: Um… I do not know and I’m… yeah, that’s not something that I can…

Interviewer: (Laughs) Okay. When that album is ready to come out, that album will come out. It’s Hard Skool with a “k”.

Richard: Mmm-mmm.

Interviewer: I love that Guns N’ Roses is keeping that classic hard rock styling.

Richard: That’s right.

Seems to me Richard has become even more wary of talking business since after the reunion.