Exclusive: Axl Rose on GNR, truce and writer's block

[gnr-4-ever]

The Guns N' Roses singer says new music will come sooner than the band's long-awaited 'Chinese Democracy' did.
Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY


photo by Katarina Benzova


9:18PM EDT October 30. 2012 - Few front men in rock 'n' roll have been as controversial, sensationalized or polarizing as Axl Rose, who suffered sexual and physical abuse in childhood, led Guns N' Roses to global fame starting with 1987's Appetite for Destruction and engineered its collapse a few years later. He spent years in seclusion hiring and firing new players while tinkering endlessly on 2008's Chinese Democracy. His current GNR lineup takes the stage Wednesday night in the first of a dozen shows at The Joint in Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. In a rare interview, the press-leery Rose shares his thoughts on Guns now and then, old wounds and the music industry.

New music: "All the guys are writing, and we recorded a lot of songs over the years. We'll figure out what we feel best about. Chinese was done in piecemeal with one person here and one there at different times. Appetite for Destruction was the only thing written with lyrics and melody fitting the guitar parts at the same time. After that, I got a barrage of guitar songs that I was supposed to put words to, and I don't know if that was the best thing for Guns. I do want to lean more toward lyrics and melody."

The long wait for Chinese Democracy: "I had to deal with so many other things that don't have to do with music but have to do with the industry. There's such a loss of time. It was more about survival. There wasn't anyone to work with or trust. Someone would come in to help produce and the reality was they just wanted to mix it and get it out the door. They had a different agenda. (The next album) will come out sooner."

INTERVIEW: Axl Rose on time, on task for Vegas residency

Songwriting slump: Supermodel girlfriend Stephanie Seymour and original Guns guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan "did more damage to my ability as a writer. To those three, it was all crap. It beat me down so much. At the time of the (Use Your Illusion) tours, Slash and Duff said, 'You're an idiot, you're a loser.' I didn't write for years. I felt I was hindered for a very long time. I was also trying to figure out what I wanted to say, when it's right to be venting and when you're digging a bigger hole. Lyrics on Chinese took a long time."

Good times with GNR: "Here's what I miss about old Guns the most. And this is really before we got Appetite out. In the very beginning, you had three people (Rose, Slash and guitarist Izzy Stradlin) on the same page for a short period looking out for the best interest of that band and its goals. We were trying to get signed from the beginning. We were figuring out the right attorney, the right label. I had two other guys I could rely on. I don't necessarily have that now because it is more my thing, but I do ask everyone's opinion about everything."

How the original band might have lasted: "Maybe if we could have worked together in the way Appetite was put together. I was really na?ve. I thought the success of that record would bring everyone together more. It did the exact opposite. They got success and wanted to run in their own directions. I thought they'd go, 'Whoa, it did work.' But they wanted to do their own huge bigger success off of Guns."

The odds of a Guns truce: "I feel that ball's not in my court. I'm surviving this war, not the one who created this war."

The music industry now: "It's horrible. It has nothing to do with music. I'm not trying to be bitter or cynical, but it's an ugly business. People want you to care about them or their lives, their kids, but in the end, you're just a commodity. I don't feel that way about this Guns lineup. I'm not trying to use them. I have to treat it like a business, but I don't want to make decisions that are detrimental to anyone's welfare."

Skipping the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction: "It wasn't painful to not be there. It was a beating to deal with all the pressure of feeling I was supposed to be there and deciding what to do. I try to be respectful about getting an honor or recognition, but I don't really know what the Rock Hall actually is. In my experience with the people who run it, I don't see it having to do with anything other than them making money."

Seclusion and ducking the media: "I just didn't go places where media was. I wasn't interested at the time. If the place to go was some restaurant in Hollywood, I went to the Valley. There was so much negativity, I didn't see any way to go public. I felt I was going to be slammed. The rock entertainment world just wanted to sell magazines."

Psychological issues: "I worked out a lot of them. It was strange to get successful and lose almost your entire family. Then you end up with daytime TV talk shows. All of a sudden, things considered horrific when I was growing up were so what? You were abused? Who cares? There should be more of a public acknowledgement of reality. When I talked to Rolling Stone about it, I thought people would take a harder look at my stepdad. Instead, they came down harder on me. That's still confusing to me. But surviving at any level is good. I'm a lot better than a lot of people predicted. They were rooting for the opposite. There were things on the Internet about how I'd be found dead. I had a very dark attitude."

Free time: "I go to movies, go out with friends, go to car shows. I have a zoo. My animals (wolves, parrots, dogs, cats) are my buddies. They need lots of love and attention."

Fans who discount GNR as less legitimate than the original: "They can think whatever they want. I'm not interested in their opinions."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2012/10/30/axl-rose-on-gnr-music-more/1669329/

[Loaded NightraiN]

Always great to see an Axl interview! Thanks!

[MeanBone]

Strange to see him talking shit about duff after they patched things up, but the truth has to come out i suppose. i just dunno if Duff would be that kind of person.

Regardless


i love this quote and i haven't written in here in ages but this has to be the best axl quote in a long time

Fans who discount GNR as less legitimate than the original: "They can think whatever they want. I'm not interested in their opinions."

[Ali]

Strange to see him talking shit about duff after they patched things up, but the truth has to come out i suppose. i just dunno if Duff would be that kind of person.

Regardless


i love this quote and i haven't written in here in ages but this has to be the best axl quote in a long time

Fans who discount GNR as less legitimate than the original: "They can think whatever they want. I'm not interested in their opinions."

I don't see that as being that much different than what Duff said about him in his book. I think they both criticized each other. Although, I agree. I was surprised to see Axl discuss Duff in a negative context.

Ali

[GNR4L]

Strange to see him talking shit about duff after they patched things up, but the truth has to come out i suppose. i just dunno if Duff would be that kind of person.

Regardless


i love this quote and i haven't written in here in ages but this has to be the best axl quote in a long time

Fans who discount GNR as less legitimate than the original: "They can think whatever they want. I'm not interested in their opinions."

I don't see that as being that much different than what Duff said about him in his book. I think they both criticized each other. Although, I agree. I was surprised to see Axl discuss Duff in a negative context.

Ali

I don't think it was negative. You got to remember both Slash and Duff were battling addictions at the time.  Axl and Duff are friends obviously, since Loaded opened shows for Guns. 

[faldor]

Strange to see him talking shit about duff after they patched things up, but the truth has to come out i suppose. i just dunno if Duff would be that kind of person.

Regardless


i love this quote and i haven't written in here in ages but this has to be the best axl quote in a long time

Fans who discount GNR as less legitimate than the original: "They can think whatever they want. I'm not interested in their opinions."

I don't see that as being that much different than what Duff said about him in his book. I think they both criticized each other. Although, I agree. I was surprised to see Axl discuss Duff in a negative context.

Ali

I don't think it was negative. You got to remember both Slash and Duff were battling addictions at the time.  Axl and Duff are friends obviously, since Loaded opened shows for Guns. 

I don't think they're AS good of friends after the whole Hall of Fame thing.  Obviously I don't know that for a fact, just the vibe I get.  Not that they would have anyway, but I don't think they've spoken since then.  At least not that is commonly known to the public.

[Ali]

Strange to see him talking shit about duff after they patched things up, but the truth has to come out i suppose. i just dunno if Duff would be that kind of person.

Regardless


i love this quote and i haven't written in here in ages but this has to be the best axl quote in a long time

Fans who discount GNR as less legitimate than the original: "They can think whatever they want. I'm not interested in their opinions."

I don't see that as being that much different than what Duff said about him in his book. I think they both criticized each other. Although, I agree. I was surprised to see Axl discuss Duff in a negative context.

Ali

I don't think it was negative. You got to remember both Slash and Duff were battling addictions at the time.  Axl and Duff are friends obviously, since Loaded opened shows for Guns. 

I don't think they're AS good of friends after the whole Hall of Fame thing.  Obviously I don't know that for a fact, just the vibe I get.  Not that they would have anyway, but I don't think they've spoken since then.  At least not that is commonly known to the public.

Why would the public know of any emails or texts sent between them?

I get what you're saying, but how would we know for sure either way?

Ali

[ITARocker]

I don't think it's negative...
I used to battle some people almost every day in my early days...Today some of them are my best friend. But remembering those times I can say i truly hated them, and they know it. It's just telling the story for what it is or for what it was. Maybe Axl should choose better words sometimes, but I don't think it would change anything, because media put down people's word as they want, misleading concepts etc..

[willow]

Wow very nice too hear from Axl. Good questions with straight answers. Very proud of you Axl.

[One.In.A.Million]

What an interview, and a lot more open and less guarded than other Axl interviews. I thank Axl for doing this, it must if been a horrible period for him between 94-2000. I'm glad he is honest about how low he got, and I can't believe what Duff and Slash said to him, how horrible..... my favourite part is simply this. The odds of a Guns truce: "I feel that ball's not in my court. I'm surviving this war, not the one who created this war." 

[m_rated96]

great axl interview, he sounds like his head is totally on straight and he's at peace now. hope he does more media like this!! and keen to finally hear that new music is coming from the horses mouth. still a bit of revisionism there im guessing with the purported slash/duff abuse.

[faldor]

Strange to see him talking shit about duff after they patched things up, but the truth has to come out i suppose. i just dunno if Duff would be that kind of person.

Regardless


i love this quote and i haven't written in here in ages but this has to be the best axl quote in a long time

Fans who discount GNR as less legitimate than the original: "They can think whatever they want. I'm not interested in their opinions."

I don't see that as being that much different than what Duff said about him in his book. I think they both criticized each other. Although, I agree. I was surprised to see Axl discuss Duff in a negative context.

Ali

I don't think it was negative. You got to remember both Slash and Duff were battling addictions at the time.  Axl and Duff are friends obviously, since Loaded opened shows for Guns. 

I don't think they're AS good of friends after the whole Hall of Fame thing.  Obviously I don't know that for a fact, just the vibe I get.  Not that they would have anyway, but I don't think they've spoken since then.  At least not that is commonly known to the public.

Why would the public know of any emails or texts sent between them?

I get what you're saying, but how would we know for sure either way?

Ali

I clearly said I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE of if they've talked since.  Just calling it like I see it.  I also clearly said, even if they haven't talked since then, it doesn't necessarily indicate they're no longer friends because even friends can go months without talking to each other.  Again, just the vibe I get being completely removed from the situation.  Obviously I don't know for sure.

[LunsJail]

I liked the Kimmel interview better. The one where he didn't bash former band members. 

[Ali]

Strange to see him talking shit about duff after they patched things up, but the truth has to come out i suppose. i just dunno if Duff would be that kind of person.

Regardless


i love this quote and i haven't written in here in ages but this has to be the best axl quote in a long time

Fans who discount GNR as less legitimate than the original: "They can think whatever they want. I'm not interested in their opinions."

I don't see that as being that much different than what Duff said about him in his book. I think they both criticized each other. Although, I agree. I was surprised to see Axl discuss Duff in a negative context.

Ali

I don't think it was negative. You got to remember both Slash and Duff were battling addictions at the time.  Axl and Duff are friends obviously, since Loaded opened shows for Guns. 

I don't think they're AS good of friends after the whole Hall of Fame thing.  Obviously I don't know that for a fact, just the vibe I get.  Not that they would have anyway, but I don't think they've spoken since then.  At least not that is commonly known to the public.

Why would the public know of any emails or texts sent between them?

I get what you're saying, but how would we know for sure either way?

Ali

I clearly said I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE of if they've talked since.  Just calling it like I see it.  I also clearly said, even if they haven't talked since then, it doesn't necessarily indicate they're no longer friends because even friends can go months without talking to each other.  Again, just the vibe I get being completely removed from the situation.  Obviously I don't know for sure.

My point is if we don't know for sure if they've talked or not, or if the frequency of communication has changed, what are you basing that vibe off? Honestly, I'm curious. Was there a comment by Duff in an interview that I missed.

I understand why one may think there may be some awkwardness there after the HOF ceremony.

Ali

[imcrazy]

^My two cents on the above spat - I remember reading a Baz quote a couple of months ago that when he talks to Axl, Duff gets mad and when he talks to Duff, Axl gets mad.  So if you believe that - then there still might be some friction... but seriously what difference does it make?  This isn't really big news.

[beta]

Strange to see him talking shit about duff after they patched things up, but the truth has to come out i suppose. i just dunno if Duff would be that kind of person.

Regardless


i love this quote and i haven't written in here in ages but this has to be the best axl quote in a long time

Fans who discount GNR as less legitimate than the original: "They can think whatever they want. I'm not interested in their opinions."

He did not shit on Duff, he answered the reason why he stopped writing for a long time. He does not have a problem with Duff at all. He was asked a question and he answered.

[beta]

^My two cents on the above spat - I remember reading a Baz quote a couple of months ago that when he talks to Axl, Duff gets mad and when he talks to Duff, Axl gets mad.  So if you believe that - then there still might be some friction... but seriously what difference does it make?  This isn't really big news.

I can assure you that Axl never got mad at Baz for talking to Duff and I don't see Duff getting mad at Baz for talking to Axl. There is no friction between them. Each one is doing their thing. I am sure Baz was joking.

[beta]

I liked the Kimmel interview better. The one where he didn't bash former band members. 

But it is ok when he is bashed by former band members right? All he did was to answer one question and I am glad he did.

[rebelhipi]

great read! 

[nick6sic6]

Nice interview.Honest and the truth no matter what,as always from Axl.
Telling the truth don't necessarily mean talking shit about former band mates.Plus, what the hell do we think we know ?
Peace