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X-clusive: Slash And Duff On Velvet Revolver
Onetime Guns N Roses and now Velvet Revolver members, Slash and Duff McKagan have been speaking exclusively to Xfm’s Ian Camfield about working with their new vocalist Scott Weiland (and not working with Axl Rose).
Guitarist Slash and bassist Duff ‘Rose’ McKagan were speaking to Ian Camfield about how Velvet Revolver formed after the ex-Gunners member rejoined to play a charity gig for Randy Castillo in April 2002, and apparently the magic was still there.
“We’d kept in touch and all that stuff but we just basically had forgot about the chemistry,” Slash explained, “Then we did this show and it was just like, really, really intense. The amount of impact and the punch that Matt [Sorum – GNR drummer] and Duff and I put out was just like ‘Jesus Christ!’ Seriously!”
The band played The Sex Pistols' ‘God Save The Queen’ and ‘Bodies’, as well as Guns ‘N’ Roses’ ‘It’s So Easy’ and ‘Paradise City’. However it was a while before they enlisted their singer ex-Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland.
“We got two offers in 2003, one from Stan Lee passionately wanting us to do an original song for ‘Hulk’ and the producers for the ‘Italian Job’ who wanted us to do a cover of ‘Money’” McKagan explains, “Right at the same Stone Temple Pilots had broken up and our manager gave me a call and said “Call Scott!!”, so I called Scott and we gave him the pieces of music. He walked into the studio the next day, in fact he swaggered in, y’know? And it was at that moment we knew.”
As for Weiland’s well-publicised drug problems, Duff was quick to point out the singer’s personal and health issues are no longer an problem.
“Simple fact is, we’ve all been through that tenfold as hardcore as Scott so for us it really wasn’t and issue. He quit Stone Temple Pilots and he started up a nice little tripping habit. He wanted to stop and there wasn’t a better group of guys for him to be around than us, so it all really helped us bond and we really became a gang, you know, he’s been fine for a long time now. It’s just the Johnny law in the US bringing him down…”
As for comparisons that have been made between Velvet Revolver and GNR - and their respective singers, - Slash reckons it’s a lot easier working with Weiland than Axl Rose. Maybe even hinting at the fact that GNR may have ended up sounding like VR anyway.
“He’s not a difficult singer,” Slash explained of Weiland “There’s a big difference, a big difference! He always wants to sing, he always wants to write, he always wants to work on whatever aspect of the band that is being productive at the moment.”
“If we had for Guns sake continued,” Duff explained, “We would have still been pushing the envelope so, you know, there was no change in what we do really.”
Velvet Revolver’s debut album is pencilled in for a June release, though no official date has been confirmed.
For more from this interview, check out The Xfm Rock Show with Ian Camfield in the coming months.
Tagged as Velvet Revolver, archive
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