Five questions for Duff McKaganby ROB HAYNES
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Duff McKagan is best known as the bassist for rock colossi Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver. With the latter currently between singers, McKagan has switched to guitar and vocals to revive his Loaded side project. The new Wasted Heart EP is their first release since 2001's Dark Days album.
Why revive Loaded now?Even while I was playing with Velvet Revolver, Loaded would play every Christmas. I knew VR would be done from April and I'd written a bunch of material. It just seemed like the right time to do another record. It's a fun thing to do.
Do you miss arena venues?It's great to play Wembley Stadium, but you are maybe 50m away from the front row, and there is that detachment. You can make a lot more money playing stadiums - and I'm not allergic to making money - but, at the end of the day, that's not what it's about.
You've worked with two of the most charismatic vocalists in rock: what did you learn?Axl [Rose] is a kick-ass frontman, he throws everything into it, and Scott Weiland is great, although completely different. I'm sure I've learned different things from both of them, you can't help but do that a little. I'm sure I've learned things about guitar playing from Slash, too.
Why tour here and not in America?It seemed the right thing for this band. Audiences in the UK seem to understand the type of rock'n'roll I like to play. The UK is the first place Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver broke. I'm not too sure about playing the States. Frankly, America isn't very rock'n'roll any more.
What's the situation with Velvet Revolver?Well, we have the next record written; it was done before the last tour was over. But we have so many singers who have submitted audition tapes that we have to listen to them all critically without getting burned out. There's too many singers! But we'll figure it out.
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