2014.02.14 - iG São Paulo - Interview with Tommy

Original article in Portuguese:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140215040123/http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/cultura/musica/2014-02-14/guns-n-roses-queremos-fazer-um-novo-disco-e-uma-boa-hora-diz-baixista.html

Translation:
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Musician Tommy Stinson talks to iG about Axl Rose, the Guns N' Roses tours and his return with the Replacements

Nicknamed "The general" by Axl Rose because of his leading role in Guns N' Roses rehearsals, bassist Tommy Stinson is one of the oldest members of the band after Axl himself and keyboardist Dizzy Reed, having joined the group in 1998.

With a tour scheduled for March and April of this year, the hard rock group will be back to the country for shows in seven capital cities - even without a new album to present since the release of "Chinese Democracy" in 2008.

In an interview with iG, the bassist talks about his desire to add a new album to the short discography of Guns N' Roses, a band that has had 29 years on the road and only six studio works. "I want to make a new album, I think it's a good time to get into it."

Regarding the current reunion of the Replacements, an influential punk rock band in the 1980s, which Stinson joined at the age of 11 at the insistence of his half-brother Bob Stinson, the musician sums up by saying that "it was fun." Bob died a few years after the group's disbandment in 1991.

The Replacements have been mentioned as influences for bands like Nirvana, Wilco, Foo Fighters and Green Day, and their reunion is for the noble cause of the "Songs for Slim" EP, recorded by Stinson and vocalist Paul Westerberg as a charity project to help with the treatment of guitarist Slim Dunlap, who suffered a stroke in 2012.

Read the interview below.

iG: Does Axl Rose still call you "the general"?

Tommy Stinson: No, today I am just "that guy" (laughs). The nickname "the general" was a long time ago. Now I'm just "Tommy".

iG: How important is Guns N' Roses for you?

Tommy Stinson: It's been a lot of fun overall. I've been in the band longer than other members. It's been great to be able to travel, to see different countries, to play in Japan. I'm looking forward to coming back to Brazil and I hope it's warm down there, because I'm freezing up here (in the United States).

iG: Is it hard to stay creative playing with the same musicians for so many years?

Tommy Stinson: That's a good question. (Guns N' Roses) has done more touring than recording. We want to make a new album, so I think it's a good time to do something about it. But there are eight guys (in the band) living in different cities and it's hard to get everyone together. I am trying to write songs and send them over the internet, I want to make it happen. We've talked about doing a new record, but we don't know when it will be.

iG: And the Replacements' reunion shows after 22 years apart, what have they been like?

Tommy Stinson: The reunion was fun, because we hadn't played together in a long time.

iG: Do you intend to play more gigs besides the four already booked in the United States? Do you want to play in other continents?

Tommy Stinson: We will play more shows in the summer in the US. We might go to Europe, maybe, but it is too much of a hassle.

iG: What's caught your attention in music these days?

Tommy Stinson: I haven't really been listening to much these days, I've been working on other people's music, but I really like Queens of the Stone Age.