DAVE KUSHNER

Slash MIGHT INSPIRE MORE SCHOOLBOY DAYDREAMS, BUT VELVET REVOLVER WOULD BE FIRING BLANKS WITHOUT THE INVENTIVE RHYTHM PLAYING OF DAVE KUSHNER. TG ENJOYS A QUICKIE IN THE BATHROOM WITH THE MAN DUFF McKAGAN CALLS HIS "SECRET WEAPON"

"There's fighting and theres drama and theres breaking stuff. I wouldn't want to fight any of us."

Dave Kushner has never been interviewed in a toilet before. At least thats the impression TG gets from the guitarist's furrowed brow as we balance our dictaphone precariously on a toilet urinal and set the tape rolling. This wasn't how we planned it. In our minds eye we imagined this meeting with the Velvet revolver man to take place over crisp linen table cloth with coasters for our drinks and little more than the distant 'thack' of a soundchecked snare drum for background noise. In reality its half an hour before the Velvets are due onstage at Cardiff's International Arena, and Dave has just stepped off the tourbus. If no longer the most dangerous band in the world, then Velvet Revolver are certianly the most disorganised.

We had planned to talk in the 'Vibe Room'. A dimly lit boudoir of drapped curtains, scattered bottles and skull-shaped candles; a seedy backstage underworld where those outside the bands inner circle fear to tread. The arrival of Duff McKagan soon buggers this idea up, however. Slumping onto the leather sofa with a cigarillo, the gangling bassist proceeds to answer all the questions TG directs at Dave before disappearing into the ajoining room to play along with Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll at deafening volume. TG gestures to the bathroom. Dave pauses, then agrees. The press officer looks at his watch - make it quick.

By his own admission Dave Kushner is the least famous member of Velvet Revolver. The guitarist is routinely cropped out of magazine covers in favour of his esteemed bandmates, and sometimes swept aside as the media picks the bones of Guns N' Roses via Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum (drummer) or quizzes frontman Scott Weiland about the Stone Temple Pilots. It's a pity because what Dave lacks in the bedroom wall stakes he more than compensates for with his rock n' roll pedigree. A high school friend of Slash, who subsequently played with such LA middleweights as Wasted Youth and Infectious Grooves, the guitarst was sufficently well-regarded on the scene to be appointed musical direcctor of Dave Navarro's touring band for the Trust No One album. He found himself in Duff McKagan's band Loaded in 2002 and followed the bassist into VR later that year.

Velvet Revolver's debut album, Contraband, was released last year to blanket acclaim. It is a rock n' roll record in the grand tradition, with huge riffs and agressive song writing. And like the Gunners debut album Appetite For Destruction, released in 1987, it makes people want to fight and have sex.

Dave grins "I hope so. Its funny becuase I wrote Illigal i Song at my house just after my wife and I had this huge fight. I was pissed, but instead of breaking some stuff I actually sat down and tried to write something. And that song came out of it. "Thats not to say people should get into fights because of our music," he adds quickly. "But its just who we are. If you listen to Guns N' Roses theres a sentiment thats about fucking and fighting. Its the same with Stone Temple Pilots. And with Velvet Revolver we've mixed it all together and taken it a step further."

It's quite refreshing in that respect, we tell him. Most bands start out angry and end up going soft. Do you ever see Velvet Revolver mellowing? Dave shrugs.

"When we put this band together there was a lot of shit going on. There was a lot of problems with Scott in terms of his drugs intake, the arrests and legal problems. Maybe thats why Contraband sounds like it does. But who knows how it will change. We wouldn't rule out picking up an acoustic. We did Loving the Alien when Scott came into the studio after Duff and I had arrived there early. He was saying we should do an acoustic song, so we just sat down and wrote it. But on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of distortion I'd say the new record will probably be a strong 9. Y'know, we're a rock band. It's kinda what we do. There might be a couple of ballads but nothing too soft."

Even when he's cradling a non-alcoholic beer Dave extrudes rock n' roll panache. Between the skull rings that adorn his fingers and his characteristic facial hair , the guitarst looks likes Craig David after a decade on Led Zeppelin's tourbus. This is not the work of a stylist. As a familair face on the Sunset Strip of the late 1980's Dave was an active participator in the glamour and violence that gave birth to LA hellraisers like Guns N' Roses and Motley Crue. "The punk scene was just starting to fade when the Sunset Strip scene was going on," he recalls. "And there were clubs like the Whiskey-A-Go-Go that would hold both punk shows and rock shows, and sometimes you'd see long-haired guys driving down the street and punk guys running out into the middle of the road, fighting with them, pulling them out of their cars. It was cool though...

"I was in the punk-rock scene then," Dave continues. "And I was in a bad way. I was really fucked up. I wrote guitar riffs on acid and drank all day, every day, just not at a well-publicised level like my [Velvet revolver] bandmates. We all knew each other back then. I had known Slash since school and we used to work at the same video store. And during the period when I was really fucked up was when I got to know Scott, too."

These days, Duff referes to Dave as Velvet Revolver's "secret weapon". "It's just cos no one knows who I am," he laughs. "I dunno, I guess it's because where all these guys come from is a more blues based rock background. I'm not really from that background, I was always into pedals and doing something diffrent from what you'd expect of a guitarist in this kind of band. If it were Izzy [Stradlin], you'd know what to expect. I don't think within those constraints. And it's not like im so creative, it's just that I think like a band like Muse. I love that kind of playing: real heavy, drop-D tuned riffs."

Ask Dave about his ability and his reply is disarmingly honest. "I see myself as more of a meat and potatoes player," he admits. "Obviously my natural ability is good but I have to practice. I have the worst memory when it comes to learning songs. It's like Dave Navarro's one of those guys who remembers every song he's learnt. He can play all the old Maiden songs note-for-note yet i've learnt those songs and forgotten them. The only three Guns N' Roses songs I know are the three we do live. [Mr. Brownstone, Its So Easy and Used to Love Her] I did learn Paradise City when we played it live with some other version of this band, but I couldnt play it now if you put a gun to my head."

Sharing a stage with rock's most iconic guitarist might faze some players, but not Dave. Duff has already described him as "the perfect fuckin' muse to Slash," and the new boy seems to agree. "I've been a fan of Slash since we were in high school," Dave explains. "He had this three-piece instrumental band and he was awesome even then. He's certainly the best guitarist I've ever played with. Y'know Dave Navarro is amazing, too. They're both actually better than people realise. Dave is an amazing blues guitarist and obviously Slash is. But then Slash can also play with the likes of Ray Charles - and he did (on Charles' 2001 remake of God Bless America). "One time, Slash was on vacation in Spain," recalls Dave, warming to his theme, "and there wre these flamenco players in a bar. Slash had taken his guitar, so he ended up playing with them. Even though hes never been trained in flamenco hes so good that he can just jump in and play along."

So it's all working out for Velvet Revolver. No creative differences. No drug problems. No egomaniacs. But do they still qualify for the tagline foisted onto Guns N' Roses - that of the 'most dangerous band in the world?' "Yeah" replies Dave as we finish up. "There's fighting, theres drama and breaking stuff. I've gotten into my share of fights with people in and around the band." He draws himself up to his full height and gives TG a semi-serious glare. "I wouldn't want to fight any of us."