Axl Rose: The Extended Interview

[Alpachiris]

Exactly brother .. you're right. 

[Chuzeville]

Great interview !
I only wish he picked the "No Comment" choise to the loooong asnwers and answered a few more questions !  It looks like that the nowdays lineup actually is the true Guns N' Roses.If Axl is so devoted so are we.

Well, the only important question came before and he chose not to elaborate on it.

[FunkyMonkey]

Very interesting.  His answer here gives some real insight into the way he thinks/feels about the subject.

CA: One interesting issue it raised was the question of the romantic idea of an original line-up reforming, no matter the reason behind them no longer working together. Billy Corgan has talked about a "porn fantasy" some fans have of the original Pumpkins line-up touring again, which he continually has to say will never happen - what are your thoughts on this?

AR: I understand the "romantic" thing, the desire, the fantasy. Personally I haven't wanted other bands to reunite, or really enjoyed it when they have. For me generally something always seemed missing.

But Guns is my life, not someone else's. For me there hasn't been a way to make any type of reunion work regardless of money (either talk or legitimate) without jeopardizing what I feel is the well-being and best interests of nearly everyone I'm involved with in the GNR camp (including myself). People here have big investments of their lives in what we're doing. We've worked hard for what we have here now and continue to do so. I know what I went thru then. I know what I and all of us have gone thru since. People enjoyed the product and the entertainment our lives gave them back in the day, but they weren't the ones actually living those lives together. It's not somewhere I'd go back to or would want to go again. Life's too short.

[nick6sic6]

Great interview !
I only wish he picked the "No Comment" choise to the loooong asnwers and answered a few more questions !  It looks like that the nowdays lineup actually is the true Guns N' Roses.If Axl is so devoted so are we.

I wish fans, media , band members everybody would stop saying anything about this being the Real guns N roses....

legally... yes of course it is... but its......who cares anymore, whoever plays music (and the list is long) with Axl Rose will be called Gun N Roses

Since Axl mentions it in every interview he did in the last 5 years,i see nothing wrong when a fan at the other side of the globe saying it too. 

[AXLGNR123]

I'm still trying to figure out why Slash wanted to tour in 91 to "break Axl."

Like touring isn't what bands do or something after they release music.

And I don't get the excuses for being late. Almost every other band is time 90 percent of the time, but Axl is late 90 percent of the time. What gives? What's the problem?

[jarmo]

You said after they release music.

The tour in 1991 started before.



Just because you don't understand something, doesn't mean it's wrong. He just explained how he is.

What's the point in comparing people with different characteristics?


/jarmo

[m_rated96]

great Axl interview. i wish he did this more, i know the media have given him a shit rep but if he was this open and reasonable and articulate all the time in interview, it really would improve his reputation in 3-4 years, and ultimately help the new band re-invent themselves.

(...apart from the one probably revisionist comment about Slash)

I'm still trying to figure out why Slash wanted to tour in 91 to "break Axl."

Like touring isn't what bands do or something after they release music.

And I don't get the excuses for being late. Almost every other band is time 90 percent of the time, but Axl is late 90 percent of the time. What gives? What's the problem?

dude, are you kidding? Axl just gave the worlds most clear explanation of how it is, possibly for the first time ever. To sum up he basically says: "it's fucking complicated to put on a GnR show, and i'm a bit of a late guy = constant lateness". There's your explanation. give the dude a break, as a constantly late dude myself i totally understand everything he's saying

[raindogs70]

http://www.legendaryrockinterviews.com/2012/04/06/new-legendary-rock-interview-with-jack-and-heather-ann-russell/

This is worth a read, because Jack Russell from Great White was responding back to an interview Niven did about Great White and Guns N' Roses. This should give everyone a pretty good idea of why he was kicked out of managing GNR on top of trying to push for the '91 tour when he did (bad timing, Axl's divorce, incomplete album, Izzy MIA, etc etc etc).

This caught my attention -
I?d heard that Axl flipped out when Niv tried to change his lyrics  - Had anyone ever heard about this before?

Side note: Axl's probably talking about the Rapidfire demo.

[JAEBALL]

I'm still trying to figure out why Slash wanted to tour in 91 to "break Axl."

Like touring isn't what bands do or something after they release music.

And I don't get the excuses for being late. Almost every other band is time 90 percent of the time, but Axl is late 90 percent of the time. What gives? What's the problem?

It's as if Axl takes a very self serving view of everything and doesn't quite get that people might have personal feelings and desires that are not directly tied to wanting to hurt him.  Slash probably just wanted to tour  because they were in demand at that time and wanted to make the most of that yet to Axl he was the devil who wanted to ruin him by going on tour...  I really dont think Slash is that clever

and again.. why is it only Slash.... the other members in the band... the record company..whoever... what was their motivation to go on this epic world tour... only Slash wanted to use it to destroy him ?

we are all entitled to our opinions i guess...... ha... especially when ur a rock star!

and before anybody attacks my post for pitting axl vs slash... axl brought him up in this interview.. not me lol


btw.. whoever said "definitely maybe" should be the name of the next record... that really made me laugh ! and its perfect !

[ITARocker]

Nice reading Axl's answers, but mainly useless questions 

[sandman]

i feel sorry for axl that he thinks slash's main goal was to break him. i don't know the actual answer, but i'm guessing slash's desire to tour had something to do with the millions of dollars he would make and the ability to cement their reputation as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. they were on top of the world. to not tour would have been odd.

none of them would enjoy the success they have today without that tour. it is a legendary tour in rock history. so rather than create theories about Slash's motives, he should thank everyone that got him to tour when he didn't want to. because that tour helped put him in the position he is in today.

 

[beast13284]

 ;)wow and i was gonna surf for porn tonite ! glad i didn't awesome int axl is opening up alot lately what was the aerosmith deal ? missed that great int i hated dark knight though oh well

[slashsbaconpit]

Dark Knight Rises, fuck yeah!

Good to hear from Axl. New album? Hmmm ...

[Conan]

i feel sorry for axl that he thinks slash's main goal was to break him. i don't know the actual answer, but i'm guessing slash's desire to tour had something to do with the millions of dollars he would make and the ability to cement their reputation as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. they were on top of the world. to not tour would have been odd.

none of them would enjoy the success they have today without that tour. it is a legendary tour in rock history. so rather than create theories about Slash's motives, he should thank everyone that got him to tour when he didn't want to. because that tour helped put him in the position he is in today.

 

I feel sorry for Axl that every stupid effing journalist asks the same boring arse questions all the time! What about a reunion? Why are you always late? When do you think you'll work with Slash again?

How about a new effing question? Axl's done about 5 interviews in total since Chinese Democracy came out and every bloody one of them is filled with the same crap! People are blaming Axl for the convoluted answers to the usual questions. Well what DO you want? The same old answers he's already given, in a new interview? Why don't you b*tch about the journo not asking him something NEW?

If you want a scoop journos and you want something interesting from Axl, how about spending the MAJORITY of your limited interview time asking him about things that he hasn't been asked 10000 times before?

 

[russkwtx]

Cool interview for sure, thanks for finding/posting. I wonder if the answers were written or spoken.

[GNR4L]

i feel sorry for axl that he thinks slash's main goal was to break him. i don't know the actual answer, but i'm guessing slash's desire to tour had something to do with the millions of dollars he would make and the ability to cement their reputation as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. they were on top of the world. to not tour would have been odd.

none of them would enjoy the success they have today without that tour. it is a legendary tour in rock history. so rather than create theories about Slash's motives, he should thank everyone that got him to tour when he didn't want to. because that tour helped put him in the position he is in today.

 

I disagree, I think a lot of what Axl is saying is the truth.  You have to remember Slash was an addict at the time, if he meant it intentionally or not we don't know.  Axl was the only one with a clear head, and probably has every reason to believe Slash intended to break him.  Axl has stated he shouldn't have been on tour.  I'm guessing due to personal reasons and Slash being close to Axl at the time, probably knew what was going on.  Great interview.

[raindogs70]

I'm just glad Axl's becoming more comfortable doing interviews again, even if it's stuff he doesn't want to go into, but has to because other sides had their say over the years. We might not agree with it, but he's doing it because he's the frontman, the head honcho, and wants people coming out to see the band and get a great show, because he could just decide one day to just call it a day and not tour anymore.

When it comes to GNR:

[Chuzeville]

You said after they release music.

The tour in 1991 started before.

/jarmo

And we all know how much Axl loathes touring without a record out. 

[sandman]

i feel sorry for axl that he thinks slash's main goal was to break him. i don't know the actual answer, but i'm guessing slash's desire to tour had something to do with the millions of dollars he would make and the ability to cement their reputation as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. they were on top of the world. to not tour would have been odd.

none of them would enjoy the success they have today without that tour. it is a legendary tour in rock history. so rather than create theories about Slash's motives, he should thank everyone that got him to tour when he didn't want to. because that tour helped put him in the position he is in today.

 

I feel sorry for Axl that every stupid effing journalist asks the same boring arse questions all the time! What about a reunion? Why are you always late? When do you think you'll work with Slash again?

How about a new effing question? Axl's done about 5 interviews in total since Chinese Democracy came out and every bloody one of them is filled with the same crap! People are blaming Axl for the convoluted answers to the usual questions. Well what DO you want? The same old answers he's already given, in a new interview? Why don't you b*tch about the journo not asking him something NEW?

If you want a scoop journos and you want something interesting from Axl, how about spending the MAJORITY of your limited interview time asking him about things that he hasn't been asked 10000 times before?

 

when did axl answer the question about finding out about venue curfews and transportation schedules? it's not that i don't believe you, i would just like to hear what his prior response was to that question. because his response here is kinda strange....

"Getting new information on show day usually means getting it close to, if not right before, going on stage. The reason can vary: no one knowing about the curfew or public transportation issue in advance, new rules, new laws, new schedules, people not knowing I wasn't informed or negligence. In some cases people don't want to inform me for fear if I'd known about the restrictions I may not have agreed (when booking the tour, not on show day) to do the show... and someone somewhere felt it was in our, or whoever's, best interest for us to do that particular show."

most people on these threads do a quick internet search and make a quick phone call and find out that information within 5 minutes (because we all know it is a potential issue with this band). so it's a bit of a head scratcher when he says he can't find this information out. maybe he should just check the threads in here for each show because that information is usually clearly spelled out.

but these questions are asked because THAT is the story related to gnr. these interviews aren't just done for the die hard fans that have read every piece of information provided over the years. this is for non and casual fans that are not aware he may have been asked these questions in the past. most rock fans did not see the Trunk interview, but they may read THIS story. so those people are probably curious why Axl refuses to follow a more normal schedule that would make things easier on his fans (instead of the take or leave it attitude). THAT's the story with this band.

read an interview with metallica and they still get asked about napster. it's been 15 years but that's what they are known for.

in response to the being late question, Axl himself says:
"I could choose to say nothing or no comment but I feel 1.) These particular questions in this interview don't exactly deserve that response" 

so even HE believes the questions deserve a response.

one of the important questions i was curious about is new music. it was asked and Axl gave a vague answer.

we got about 20 paragraphs from him regarding going on late, but only 7 words when asked about new music.

[Conan]

when did axl answer the question about finding out about venue curfews and transportation schedules? it's not that i don't believe you, i would just like to hear what his prior response was to that question. because his response here is kinda strange....

"Getting new information on show day usually means getting it close to, if not right before, going on stage. The reason can vary: no one knowing about the curfew or public transportation issue in advance, new rules, new laws, new schedules, people not knowing I wasn't informed or negligence. In some cases people don't want to inform me for fear if I'd known about the restrictions I may not have agreed (when booking the tour, not on show day) to do the show... and someone somewhere felt it was in our, or whoever's, best interest for us to do that particular show."

most people on these threads do a quick internet search and make a quick phone call and find out that information within 5 minutes (because we all know it is a potential issue with this band). so it's a bit of a head scratcher when he says he can't find this information out. maybe he should just check the threads in here for each show because that information is usually clearly spelled out.

but these questions are asked because THAT is the story related to gnr. these interviews aren't just done for the die hard fans that have read every piece of information provided over the years. this is for non and casual fans that are not aware he may have been asked these questions in the past. most rock fans did not see the Trunk interview, but they may read THIS story. so those people are probably curious why Axl refuses to follow a more normal schedule that would make things easier on his fans (instead of the take or leave it attitude). THAT's the story with this band.

read an interview with metallica and they still get asked about napster. it's been 15 years but that's what they are known for.

in response to the being late question, Axl himself says:
"I could choose to say nothing or no comment but I feel 1.) These particular questions in this interview don't exactly deserve that response" 

so even HE believes the questions deserve a response.

one of the important questions i was curious about is new music. it was asked and Axl gave a vague answer.

we got about 20 paragraphs from him regarding going on late, but only 7 words when asked about new music.

I wasn't having a go at you (unless you're the journo who asked these questions...) but as to lateness, reunion and Slash questions repeated ad nauseum? Er, Jimmy Kimmell and Eddie Trunk interviews of (relatively) recent times spring to mind...

I'd just like to see an in-depth interview with Axl for once that DOESN'T focus on those questions. We know the answers already - 1. Because Axl struggles to get to everything on time and always has, plus there are a multitude of other concerns he has to deal with, given the beast that GNR is. 2. No there won't be any reunion in Axl's lifetime. 3. No he definitely won't be having a nice dinner and a good chat with Slash any time soon.

See not hard? I could do 75% of most of Axl's interviews for him, just with those answers right there. I don't think it too much to ask that they ask him something ELSE given the extremely limited opportunities they and the rest of their profession have to interview Axl Rose...