2016.07.14 - 93.3 WMMR Rocks! - Matt Cord’s Interview with Tommy Stinson

https://wmmr.com/episodes/matt-cords-interview-tommy-stinson-71416/

Transcript:

Matt Cord: A replacement in Guns N' Roses longer than he was in The Replacements.

Tommy: [laughing]

MC: You told me that one.

Tommy: That's my running joke.

MC: Yeah. Tommy Stinson! Good to see you, buddy.

Tommy: I'm stoked, I'm stoked. It took me 20 minutes to get to that parking lot.

MC: Yeah, well, it's a Guns N' Roses show.

Tommy: Well, I mean, there's 40 million people out.

MC: Yeah.

Tommy: Holy. But Jesus.

MC:  Good to see you in Philadelphia again.

Tommy: It's great to be here. Awesome.

MC: And you actually-

Someone: SLAYER!!!

MC: OK, Is that your friend?

Tommy: That's my Slayer friend. Settle down, Jim, sit down.

MC: You actually got to see the show last week, right?

Tommy: Yeah. With my friend Steve who's over there, Steve.

MC: Steve?

Tommy: We went to the Kansas show, it was great. We had a fantastic time. The people couldn't have been cooler.

MC: Yeah?

Tommy: I just kind of came in under the radar and actually people like realized it was me and yeah, buying me beers and stuff, it was pretty hysterical. And it was a great show. We had so much fun.

MC: And the thing about the fact that Duff and Slash are back together-

Tommy: Yeah.

MC: I think the door was opened by you when you had those Replacements shows and they needed someone to fill in for you on bass in Guns N' Roses and Duff volunteer, you think that helped?

Tommy: You know, I'll cosign that notion.

MC: Yeah, you got the ball rolling.

Tommy: Yeah, maybe so.

MC: Yeah.

Tommy: Well, they can just thank me for that. Everyone thank Tommy Stinson for this reunion.

MC: You got Duff in-

Tommy: What a load of crap, but yeah, I'll go with it.

MC: And you got Slash to come back in.

Tommy: I called him up myself. No, no, I did not. I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

MC: You played with this band many, many years. What's it like to actually watch them live?

Tommy: The whole experience for me is a hoot, the last in Kansas City, that's the first time I've been to a big show like this, and I mean this completely seriously, the last time I went to show like this was in the 80s when Aerosmith got back together and they came out and they're like, "Hey, we clean now, you know, we're not junkies anymore, and here's our new record." And they came out, they played Harriet Island in Minneapolis. It was me and a bunch of my punk rock friends going out, we're gonna go see this show and check it out and they ripped balls. It was so good. They were so great. And so, to me, coming out of the Guns show, the show in Kansas, it was fantastic. It was fun and, you know, a lot of kind people out there and stuff. And I expected that to be pretty much the same thing. It's, you know, it's a great show. It's funny to be on the other side.

MC: Your friends with Frank Ferrer-

Tommy: I'm good friends with everyone in the band. The only one I don't know-

MC: Isn't Frank playing in your band now?

Tommy: Frank plays-

MC: Frank is the drummer now.

Tommy: Yes, yes, Frank Ferrer. And all these guys. The only one I don't really know all that well is Slash, and that's probably just because I don't remember meeting him at some point. Maybe back in the 1900s. But yeah, these are all guys, they're all my friends and the crew, all the crew guys, I know a lot of these guys. So it's kind of fun to come out and check out the show on the other side of the dividing thing.

MC: What's the biggest misconception of Axl Rose?

Tommy: [laughs] That he likes me. No, I'm kidding. You know, I don't know. I don't know. The biggest misconception....hmmm.

MC: Well, everyone always would say, like, "Oh, he's late because he's backstage getting drunk," and stuff. He's not that guy.

Tommy: You know what? Dude is the most professional... He couldn't get drunk before a show and do what he does.

MC: Yeah.

Tommy: I mean you watch him perform, he gets out, he puts 1000% into it. I wasn't there in the 80s and 90s when they were in their heyday and all that, but I know that me touring with Guns N' Roses, the dude couldn't do what he did. He just came out... you kind of gotta go with his flow. When he's ready to get up there and play, that's when you hit it and you hit it hard, you hit it 1000%, you know.

MC: Are you surprised he got the AC/DC gig?

Tommy: Not at all. I was stoked. I was jumping for... I can't even tell you. I think I might talk to you about the tweet that I threw out there, like, "the biggest balls in rock'n'roll got Axl Rose for pulling that off," because that's major kudos. Major kudos.

MC: You've met Dave before? Dave [?]

Tommy: Hey man.

MC: Yeah, you were psyched when you heard that-

Tommy: I'm totally stoked. You know what, there are not a lot of guys that have the pipes to do that gig. And the first show they did, I guess in Lisbon, my band guys and I where in Canada playing some crappy like bar club show or whatever, and we were doing our own thing, we're having a good time, but we were watching the bar and going, "Holy crap. Look at that, he's killing it!" It was great. It was a thrill.

MC: And you're gonna come down... They're here, September 20.

Tommy: I'll be back down here. I would love to. Would love, can you give me tickets?

MC: I will get you tickets if you can get me tickets because you're in this area next Friday night.

Tommy: I'm playing that [?] music festival thing at-

MC: The Susquehanna Bank Center which is now called BB&T Pavilion.

Tommy: It is now called that.

MC: And you're on next Friday night.

Tommy: Yeah, me, Kurt Vile, Ryan Adams. That'll be fun. It'll be my rock band, my other rock band.

MC: Who is in your rock band?

Tommy: My rock band consists of me, Thomas Eugene Stinson, a guy named Steve Selvidge, who was the guitar player for the Hold Steady-

MC: Love that band, [?] a Minneapolis band?

Tommy: Oh yeah, Well, yeah, but he's Luther Dickinson's, like, high school buddy. He's a fantastic guitar player. [?] one of my favorite people, you know, is guitar player right now. No dish [?] to Richard or anyone like that, but really great, great, great friend and guitar player. I got Justin Perkins playing bass. But yeah, you ever heard of a band called The Mighty Mighty Bosstones? You ever heard of a drummer? Joe Kid? We call Joe Kid Jimmy Palmer now. Jimmy Palmer. And I'll explain what a Jimmy Palmer is. Jimmy Palmer is a kind of drink. It's not like an Arnie Palmer. It's kind of like when you take what's left in the bottles and pour them in one cup.

MC: I like it, Jimmy Palmer. So that band will be in town?

Tommy: Yeah, we'll be back. We're playing next Friday.

MC: Next Friday.

Tommy: At that whatever center, what do you call it again?

MC: It's the BB&T Pavilion. Used to be a Susquehanna Bank Center. You played there with Guns N' Roses back in 2011.

Tommy: [?] year ago, I know. So XPN Festival, Exponential. Come on out. That'll be fun. It's a rock show.

MC: Dude-

Tommy: I play rock music, I play in rock bands. That's all I do. That's all I know how to do. There's no other options for me at this point in my life.

MC: Thomas Eugene F'N Stinson! Thank you, Tommy.

Tommy: Thanks for having us.

MC: Alright, we're back after this. That's Tommy Stinson, was in Guns N' Roses for 14 years. And don't forget the show on Friday at the BB&T Pavilion.

Transcribed this.