2022.05.26 - The Modern Drummer Podcast - Interview with Matt

Blabbermouth wrote:
MATT SORUM Recalls Trying Out For DAVID LEE ROTH's Solo Band: 'It Was Probably The Craziest Audition I Ever Did'
May 29, 2022

In a new interview with Modern Drummer, former GUNS N' ROSES member Matt Sorum recalled auditioning for the drummer slot in David Lee Roth's solo band in 1985, a gig that eventually went to Greg Bissonette. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Literally when I came out that door, there was Greg Bissonette and Mark Craney standing there. But no one knew [the audition] was for David Lee Roth. We all got called by Steve Vai. And we were, like, 'Steve Vai? It's that guy from [Frank] Zappa.' So when I walked in… It was very clinical. We were playing crazy time signatures. It was very Zappa school. He was running me through the mill. Like, 'Give me a 7/4. Play GENESIS's 'The Cinema Show'.' 'I got that. Okay.' And then he said something, like, 'Play 26 over 8.' And I was kind of cocky, and I looked up and I went, 'Why?' And then I saw Billy Sheehan sitting on the couch. I go, 'God, I'd love to jam. Can we jam?' We didn't jam. I played by myself. And it was probably the craziest audition I ever did. I never had a situation where I had to stand there and Steve Vai was reciting all these notes and running me through this whole school of... At that point in my life, I prided myself on being a pretty pure rock and roll guy. But I looked at Greg Bissonette, and I knew he had all those other elements of — he's schooled, at North Texas State [University], and then Craney, the same thing."