2024.05.25 - 107.7 The Bone - Matt Sorum Reflects on Being Fired From GNR, Touring With Geezer Butler and His Rock N' Roll Journey

Excerpts from Blabbermouth:
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In a new interview with Chasta and Baby Huey of San Francisco Bay Area's 107.7 The Bone radio station, Matt Sorum reflected on his time as the drummer for Guns N' Roses. The 63-year-old musician, who replaced Steven Adler in the Axl Rose-fronted outfit, said in part (as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net): "It was chaotic. It was crazy. Of course, Axl was late [going on stage] sometimes. Who cares? That was the energy. If people complained, by the time he came on stage, it was just on — game on.

"I say to people, what was going on backstage was causing a lot of emotional sort of angst in a punk rock way," Sorum continued. "Some of us were angry — I could say me included. We were like, 'Where is he?' Like, but once we got up there, we were, like, 'Ahhhh.' And talk about taking it all out — we did. And you asked me before, what would it be like to be in the same band? And that's something I thought about. And I always say to, like, Tré Cool from Green Day or something. I said, 'Tré, man, it's like you got the same band and the same guys. And how does that feel? And it's only three guys, so you split the money three ways. That's cool.' [Laughs]"

Matt went on to say that he is thankful that he got an opportunity to play with Guns N' Roses when he did. "I had that moment with the band, and it's really shaped and formed my life and a lot of doors have opened because of it," he explained. "So I look at it with a lot of gratitude. When people ask me, 'Oh, you're not included in the new [Guns N' Roses] tour.' And I've said, in the beginning, it was a little weird. I was, like, I didn't even get a call [asking me to be a part of it]. But now I look at it different. I look at it like how I explained before: I'm not supposed to be there. I got a child. I got a beautiful wife. The old me, the old Matt, the old guy, if I got up there, I don't know what would happen to me. I don't know."

Sorum added that a lot of great opportunities have come his way as a result of his association with Guns N' Roses. "I still get a lot of accolades and I always get these weird fringe benefits — still, 30 years later," he said. "I have businesses because of it. I do other things philanthropically. I'm able to put the word out because I'm the guy from that band. 'Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Guns N' Roses drummer has charity for kids,' it gets press because I'm the guy from that band, and played on the records and some of the songs — a lot of the songs. So, all that being said, I'm in a really good place. So. what's happening with me now is I've got a lot of businesses and philanthropic work and then I do [my all-star rock collective] Kings Of Chaos for fun."

https://blabbermouth.net/news/matt-sorum-says-he-looks-at-his-exclusion-from-guns-n-roses-reunion-differently-now-im-not-supposed-to-be-there

More excerpts from Blabbermouth (the article also contains some interesting quotes from earlier interviews with the other members of Deadland Ritual):

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n a new interview with Chasta and Baby Huey of San Francisco Bay Area's 107.7 The Bone radio station, Matt Sorum spoke about the demise of Deadland, the supergroup he started a few years ago with guitarist Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Steve Stevens), bassist Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) and singer Franky Perez (Apocalyptica). The 63-year-old former Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net): "When you're trying to start a new band, it is a new band. And even Velvet Revolver, we came out banging, but there was a couple of years setting that up. We came out with 'Slither' and boom, the train was rolling. But Deadland was a different situation, with the way the music industry has gone and stuff, as far as signing rock and roll and how do you get the music out there and all that stuff. So when we finally started to go out and do some tours, we were going on during the day. And I go to Geezer: 'When was the last time you went on stage during the day?' He goes, 'I don't remember.' And then me and Geezer, we were on a bus — we shared a bus in Europe. He asked me if we wanted to get our own bus, 'cause when you do a tour like that, you have a budget and you've gotta get the crew. And we weren't getting Black Sabbath money or Velvet Revolver money or Guns N' Roses money — we were getting the money that a band that opens during the day gets. So you have a budget. It's very expensive to tour Europe. So we get a bus — me and Geezer get a bus. And even then. I said, 'Geezer, when was the last time you were on a bus?' 'I don't remember.' And he didn't even really like the bus that much. And I've gotta say, it was like that kind of thing."

Matt continued: "When you've toured that many years, as far as Geezer and even myself, you have to have sort of creature comforts to be able to survive a tour — at our age. [Laughs] When you're a kid, when you're 20, 25, you don't care. You're in a van. I remember my first tour, I was in a station wagon and, and I drove the Ford Econoline van and I was a kid in a candy store. I was, like, 'What are we eating? Who cares? Whoa.' And then you're, like, 'Oh, we don't have a hotel tonight? We sleep in the bus? Really.'

"So, I think Deadland was kind of that — it was a couple of guys, three guys that have been in really big bands and traveled at the highest level and played the biggest shows," Sorum explained. "And then Franky Perez, who [was a] great singer. But it just wasn't something that we could really push through, if that makes sense."

Last June, Geezer, who was promoting his autobiography "Into The Void: From Birth To Black Sabbath - And Beyond" at the time, spoke about the status of Deadland Ritual during an appearance on the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast. Geezer said: "Matt and the singer fell out. It was right before we were gonna go into the studio and record the album. We'd written 12 songs for an album, and everything was going fine. Then the pandemic hit, and all the studios closed down. And that was it. You couldn't leave your house for three months, or whatever it was. So we were all restricted to our various homes everywhere. And nothing ever came of it. That's when I started writing the book instead."

Asked if fans will ever see those Deadland Ritual songs come out, Butler replied: "I think Matt's gonna do one or two on his new [Kings Of Chaos] album that should be out sometime this year… I was in Steve Stevens's studio and we both did a song for Matt."

Stevens discussed Deadland Ritual's split during a January 2022 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". At the time, he said about the project: "I think it's done, although there was a lot of material that was written that I hope will see the light of day in some form or another. I'm still friendly with all those guys."

As for what caused Deadland Ritual to come to an end after only releasing two songs, Stevens said: "It was really difficult. We were about to sign a deal. We went out and toured Europe. We're all seasoned musicians and we're used to a certain lifestyle, and here we were having to open. We did a number of festival dates and small club dates. Initially, everyone said they were willing to do that, willing to get in the trenches. When reality hit and there was crappy food and crappy hotels and all that kind of stuff, I think people lost interest."

Steve went on to praise the musical chemistry between the members of Deadland Ritual, saying: "From the first day of rehearsal, to walk in there and play against the sound of Geezer Butler, man, I would have paid just to be there. Incredible. For bass players to have such a unique and profound influence on music, those records and that sound that I grew up with, and there I am playing against it, the hair stood up on my fucking arms. I mean, it was incredible. And [he's] such a gentleman. And the rhythm section of him and Matt was undeniable."

In March 2021, Butler told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that Deadland Ritual was "dead." He explained: "The virus put the final nail in the coffin. We had 12 or 13 songs written. We were about to go into the studio [in] March [2020], and everything closed down. Matt left the band. And Steve has got, I think, a lung condition or something, so he couldn't leave the house 'cause of the virus. And we just didn't revive it. You never know — we might do it next year or something. I don't know."

A few hours after Blabbermouth.net published Geezer's comments, he took to his Twitter to write: "I would like to clarify a recent interview remark I made, concerning Deadland Ritual, and Steve Stevens. I was referring to the start of the pandemic, how it stopped us from going into the studio to record. I said Steve wouldn't leave his house because of a lung condition." He continued: "I was told Steve had a respiratory problem & didn't want to risk getting Covid. I totally agreed. Anyway, I want you all to know that Steve is up and about and has no 'lung condition'. In fact he played at this past Super Bowl. #lockdown #COVID19 @Stevestevens #clarification".

Deadland Ritual released two songs, "Down In Flames" and "Broken And Bruised" in late 2018 and early 2019. Both tracks, which were produced by Greg Fidelman (Metallica, Slipknot), were made available via Sonik Riot Records/AWAL powered by Kobalt.

https://blabbermouth.net/news/matt-sorum-on-demise-of-deadland-ritual-it-wasnt-something-that-we-could-really-push-through