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words:
Joshua Sindell , pictures: George Chin
Appetite for reconstruction
Take three former members
of Guns N' Roses, add the troubled singer
of Stone Temple Pilots, and you've got one
of the greatest supergroups in rock 'n'
roll history. Ladies and gentlemen, meet
Velvet Revolver.
THE EL Rey Theatre
in Los Angeles is packed, and anticipation
floats above the audience's heads. There's
the usual coterie of jaded music-industry
types, sevceral lucky fans who won tickets
by calling radio stations, members of the
press corps, and even a few celebrities.
Dave Grohl and No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal
jostle for viewing space on the art-deco
theatre's narrow floor. 'Hulk' director
Ang Lee smiles from high atop the balcony's
VIP section, looking tired and amiably confused.
This concert is paid for by Universal, the
movie studio that's releasing his movie,
but Lee doesn't appear all that excited
by what he's about to witness.
But when the lights dim,
the scream that rises from the crowd is
deafening. The curtains part, and five men
take to the stage with determined expressions.
Four of them are instantlt recognizable.
There's singer Scott Weiland, the slim frontman
for Stone Temple Pilots. Then there's guitarist
Slash, curly-haired and cigarette burning
between his lips as always, and bassist
Duff McKagan, his hair now grown out and
coloured platinum blond, legendary former
members of Guns N' Roses. Ex-GN'R drummer
Matt Sorum is here too, smiling and energetic
alongside guitarist Dave Kushner.
Without any introduction,
the guitarists slam into the opening riff
of the first song: 'Bodies' from the Sex
Pistols classic 'Nevermind The Bollocks'.
Weiland begins to twist and writhe in his
famous lizard-dance, as the music grinds
to a temporary crescendo, when he finally
unleashes his scream as the main riff unfurls:
'She was a girl from Bir-ming-HAM!'.
'Bodies' hits this floor with the impact
of a wrecking ball. Weiland, bobbing and
weaving between the swaying forms of McKagan
and Slash, runs around the stage like a
man with something to prove. At times he
narrowly misses colliding with his bandmates
as he attempts to be all things to everyone
in the room, a camera-crew hired to document
the concert frantically trying to stay one
step ahead of the manic frontman. "We
are Velvet Revolver!" Weiland says
thriumphantly at the song's finale. "Welcome
tou our first ever gig."
As it happens, the El Rey
show might end up being their shortest
ever gig too. Five more songs - including
two originals (the radio-hit 'Set Me Free',
and 'Slither'), Stone Temple Pilots' 'Sex
Type Thing', Guns N' Roses' 'It's So Easy',
and a thunderous run-through of Nirvana's
'Negative Creep' that had Dave Grohl headbanging
- and Velvet Revolver's debut show is a
matter for the history books.
As the crowd of hundreds
filters outside through the main lobby,
there isn't a sense that anyone feels short-changed
or hungry for more. Yet, there's an unanswered
question hanging over everyone's head like
second-hand smoke: Has everyone witnessed
the second coming of Guns N' Roses, or merely
another in a series of side-projects doomes
to disappoint?
FOUR DAYS later,
Duff McKagan turns up at his publicist's
West Hollywood home with boundless enthusiasm,
still riding high on the excitement of last
week's El Rey concert. In recent years,
McKagan, the Seattle-born bassist, had been
playing with his own group, Loaded, and
was straying towards an increasingly secure
life. He had been attending university to
obtain a degree, was a passionate devotee
of martial arts, and had settled down with
his lady and newborn baby in the canyons
above Hollywood.
It's easy to speculate
that Velvet Revolver is a group that was
put together by a consortium of managers
and promoters to make a quick dollar, but
McKagan quickly sets that record straight.
The lanky bassist claims that Velvet Revolver
is a reunion that originally came together
as a one-off and nothing more.
Kerrang!:
What brought Velvet Revolver together?
Duff McKagan: "This was all
done so organically. I had met Scott before,
but because we were both so loaded at the
time, we didn't remember a lot about our
meeting. Slash and Matt and I started playing
together in April 2002 for this benefit
show for Randy (Castillo, former Ozzy Osbourne
drummer), where Josh Todd of Buckcherry
sang with us, and Steven Tyler made an appearance.
The feedback from the audience was amazing,
and the next day we decided to get into
it a bit more. Fate just brought some of
the other players together. What was important
to us was getting the right chemistry."
The former Gunners began
to work on new songs with Todd and Buckcherry
guitarist Keith Nelson in the spring of
2002. When matters didn't pan out with the
younger duo, McKagan, Sorum and Slash decided
to still make a serious go of things. McKagen
brought in former Infectious Groove/Electric
Love Hogs guitarist Kushner, who'd been
playing with McKagan in Loaded, and who
was a boyhood mate of Slash's. Izzy Stradlin,
another former Gunner, turned up to jam
and write songs, but would end up losing
interest in the project. For most of 2002,
the four musicians sought to discover a
new voice for their band, an undiscovered
'diamond in the rough'. The listened to
hundreds of demos, searching for the right
new voice. They never found one.
Then, in late 2002, McKagan's
wife who was friends with Weiland's then-wife
Mary, set up a dinner engagement. Introductions
were made, and invitations accepted. Weiland's
relations with his STP bandmates were at
a low point. McKagan, who certainly has
had plenty of experience around substance
abusers, nevertheless sensed a renewed dedication
in Weiland.
Kerrang!:
You've managed to stay sober for some time
now. Were you concerned about the possibility
of working with someone like Scott Weiland,
with his history of arrests?
Duff: "But I didn't get sober
through any kind of rehab, but through my
martial arts training. Martial arts has
also taught me to give back help to those
who need it, and Scott came to me seeking
help. I mean, he's been to rehab 35 f***king
times, and it hasn't worked for him. He
told me about that, and he was very honest
about it. He said, 'Obviously, rehab isn't
working for me, and I know how you got sober
and I've always thought that your way might
be the final way for me to try kicking it
all;. So, I said, 'If you're asking me for
my help, that's a very serious thing. I'd
have to call somebody, and for me to make
that call, I'm putting my reputation on
the line. I will call a martial artist,
someone who won't give a f**k who you are,
you know?'. And he said, 'I'm ready. Let's
go'."
Scott Weiland, it should
be noted, is also in Los Angeles on this
fine summer's day. But he's holed up in
his house, avoiding the media frenzy. A
recent arrest in May was the troubled singer's
fifth such run-in with the law in under
a decade, and he was booked for investigation
of drug possession. On a grimly humorous
note, the band's new website lists Weiland's
upcoming July 11th court appearance under
the reading of 'Upcoming Events'. Till then,
it seems, we won't be speaking to the elusive
singer. However, at a press conference before
the El Rey show, Weiland intoned that Stone
Temple Pilots are on a "very, very,
very long hiatus", and that playing
with this new group for him was like being
part of rock 'n' roll history.
SHORTLY AFTER
McKagan drives off to other engagements,
the ever smiling Matt Sorum turns up, reeking
of cologne, with his shirt unbuttoned to
reveal a tanned chest. The Orange County-raised
drummer, of all of the musicians, appears
to be the most excited to be playing again,
and also the most eager to show up his former
boss, Mr. Axl Rose. And he's doubtly pleased
the US radio has taken such a liking to
Velvet Revolver's debut single 'Set Me Free',
because he co-wrote it, coming up with the
main riff and melody.
Kerrang!:
How would you rate your current situation
compared with that of the original Guns
N' Roses, or your time in The Cult?
Matt Sorum: "This is probably
the best thing I've ever done. Everyone
just seems to be more focused, and there
aren't those same distractions, like alcohol,
drugs and chicks. We have a certain name
to live up to, I think, and we have to represent
that. That's why it took us so long to try
and find a singer. We waited for years to
do something together because there was
either a lot of apprehension or a lot of
nervousness, because we never thought that
we could be as great as the thing that we
once had."
Kerrang!:
He's put his former bandmates through hell,
though.
Matt: "He's a walk in the park
compared to the other guy! I'll put
it to you Scott's a sweetheart, and not
that Axl wasn't a sweetheart sometimes,
but..
Kerrang!:
Do you think that Stone Temple Pilots will
think that you stole their singer away?
Matt: "It could be what
they're thinking, From Scott's perspective,
there arent's a lot of good feelings in
that camp right now. The very first track
we worked on together, 'Money', the DeLeos
were working with Alien Ant Farm right next
door to us. They were in the very next room.
That was very f**king uncomfortable! And
I know and I like those guys. I didn't know
what to think. Supposedly, from what Scott
says, Robert doesn't like to tour. I don't
want to say that we stole their singer,
I want to say that Scott made his own decision."
AS THE afternoon
turns to dusk, Sorum speeds off in his sports
car. Finally, the third member of the GN'R
triumvirate arrives. Without his sunglasses,
and unruly hair neatly tied back in a pony
tail under a baseball cap - disappointingly,
not a a top hat -Slash appears both youthful
and alert, even with a smattering of salt-and-pepper
stubble on his face.
The guitarist is soft-spoken
and effortlessly polite. When complimented
on the single's early success, he winces
slightly. He says that things are going
almost too well right now, and doesn't
want anything to break the spell. Although
the group doesn't have an album out yet
(and they're not promising one until late
this year, or early 2004), the El Rey concert
will find its way onto a live EP, possibly
even one packaged with a DVD of the event.
Kerrang!:
Is it fair to call Velvet Revolver a 'supergroup'?
Slash: "A 'supergroup' I think
is an imaginary word for an imaginary band.
It's also always used as a one-shot deal,
and this is something I don't want to be
short term."
Kerrang!:
Why hadn't you and Duff and Matt and Izzy
ever formed a band together earlier?
Slash: "I had played on Izzy's
solo stuff, and on Duff's stuff, and Matt
and I had jammed together here and there.
But we never formally joined up for a group
until now, because, subconsciously, we weren't
comfortable with the idea of being 'Guns
N' Roses' without actually being
Guns N' Roses. The Guns 'thing' is bigger
than all of us. The reality of it is, I'll
forever be known as 'Guns N' Roses' guitarist
Slash'. But we just never hooked up until
the sad fact of Randy dying brought me and
Duff and Matt together, and when we did,
that was a huge, powerful moment."
Kerrang!:
What's the immediate plan for Velvet Revolver?
Slash: "I plan on doing a lot
more live dates before we go into the studio.
That's the only way to really fine-tune
a band before you go in. We just don't want
to play a lot of new stuff yet, and we can't
do certain Guns songs because they are just
too anthemic. We can't do 'Paradise City'
and 'Welcome To The Jungle' in another band,
or even 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. They're just
too personal. But there are a couple of
songs that are more laid-back, and 'It's
So Easy' is one of them. I don't think that
Scott wants to dredge up his whole history
with Stone Temple Pilots with this band,
so we'll just do a couple of songs."
Kerrang!:
Do you have extremely high hopes at this
point?
Slash: "I had never seen Scott
perform before last Thursday. I had never
been to a Stone Temple Pilots show, I didn't
even have their records, so that was my
'Cinderella' moment. I only knew Scott's
voice from the radio. The moment of truth
for me was going up there onstage with him
and me really being blown away by him. It
was way more than just a first gig
for me!"
Kerrang!:
Do you think that people will still be excited
about seeing former Gunners playing again?
Slash: "I think that there's
a real lack of rock 'n' roll out there now.
It's the same as it was in the '80s when
Guns came out. I think people will always
be into music that's heartfelt. I think
that a band like ours can just go out and
do shows and people will just lose it because
it's genuine."
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