Axl Rose Breaks Silence about Chinese Democracy
Axl Rose scheduled a series of online chats with well known Guns N' Roses fansites, MyGNR.com, Here Today… Gone To Hell!and the Guns N' Roses fan community ChineseDemocracy.com. The chats were great an enlightening, but they did happen weeks ago. You probably got this news from other sites. But there was so much GnR news that we decided to wait and collect it all in one place for you. I included parts of the chat below:
Q: Axl, have you been in contact with [original Guns N' Roses drummer] Steven Adler at all? Not as far as playing with him or anything, just to, like, lend him support? [Adler appeared this year on the reality television show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" during an attempt to get off drugs. He was subsequently arrested in Los Angeles on July 18, after someone called police to report he was causing a disturbance.]
Axl: "I do wish Steven the best and in my heart hope that he finds some peace and security. As far as direct contact, no. It, unfortunately, gets too messy too quick. In Steven's mind, I'm the one who holds the keys and power over his happiness, so I'm the bad guy pretty quickly."
Q: I have one question for you, Axl. What is stopping the fans from seeing you Slash, Duff and Izzy back on stage together?
Axl: "You've been lied to and misled for such a long time that sorting through all that here is virtually impossible. A lot will come out over time, but the truth has been out there for a long time as well but that doesn't give you what you want, so this dance just goes on and on."
Q: How come you always come on stage so late at gigs?
Axl: "I've been an after-midnight type since I was sneakin' out of my house in junior high [school]. With [the] old GUNS [lineup], we preferred [to take the stage at] 12:00 a.m. or so. When we moved to theaters etc., obviously that changes but it's never changed inside me. Doesn't matter what I do, so generally that's when I'm more myself. This isn't to mess with anyone that has an early schedule to keep, it's just personal preference. And in regard to the size [of] venues, I'm on record as preferring whatever venues allow for our schedule, but management and promoters can do a lot in their own interests behind the scenes that can rarely be avoided and their greed or whatever leads to a lot of double talk and ugly behind nonsense that generally eventually ruins things for everyone. Translated: once a tour is scheduled, however, it's like parting the seas to change. As far as being late, I've been that way my whole life. It drove Izzy [Stradlin] crazy but he would check himself and freely admit I was generally actually doing something that had to get done rather than watching basketball, etc.
Q: I was wondering about new tour dates....
Axl: No plans. We're talking.
Q: What's your opinion on the ["Chinese Democracy"] album, GunsNRoses.com and ChineseDemocracy.com being banned in China?
Axl: China's a tough place. A lot of us have no idea how good we have it and think less of those less fortunate. The Chinese people have been kept in the dark through literally the fear of incarceration or death, which, to most, is either unimaginable or only able to be contemplated with stories or movies and such where there is an all-encompassing environment and they're growing larger everyday.
Q: How do you feel about meeting your fans? What is the best way for a fan to meet you if they happen to be a dude (since the stereotype is that rockers only wanna meet hot chicks)?
Axl: I like meeting all kinds of fans, but after a show (I realize that's the only time some may feel they have an opportunity, but with the exception of close friends around...), not to be offensive, but I'm generally not looking forward to walking off stage to hang with guys, whether they're fans or not. I deal with Guns all day every day, so coming off stage to talk about the band is just like more of the same. Unless there's pressing business, I wanna forget that 'till it's time to go at it again the next day. And people may enjoy meet-and-greets and have their reasons why it meant a lot for them, which I respect, but overall, charging fans for it, I think, [is] disgusting of bands. Now if they did it for free to winners of a contest, etc., that would be different. Charging is lame. How to meet bands? Maybe try to hang out places you might hear they do sometimes.
Q: If you're composing music (piano), are you using some computer software to write the notes down or are you using a sheet of paper and a pen for this?
Axl: If I want to capture it, I either use Logic or Pro Tools in the studio. I've tried recording myself otherwise for years, but for some reason, no matter what's there, it doesn't seem to be where my real focus should ultimately be.
Q: From interviews, tours, riots, and information you revealed yesterday morning, this project has obviously had its ups and downs. If you could do this whole process over again, with the making of CD, would you?
Axl: Only for the same reason I have, other than that... not in a billion years.
Q: "Chinese Democracy" was a brilliant album, but do you miss the old GUNS from time to time?
Axl: I miss the illusion we shared for only a few months, if that, of thinking we were in this together. It wasn't real, or if so, only ever so briefly while deeper currents of ambitions were temporarily put aside, but I didn't know that then.
Q: I guess the only question I really have is when do you think we will see you boys on the road again? And is there ever a chance of you playing Philadelphia again?
Axl: Not sure. Looking at options. And I would love to play Philly, as I would have loved to play back in '02.
Q: Will there ever be decent promo and interviews, etc. concerning this album, or is this it?
Axl: There were, in my opinion, well-thought-out plans and strategies that unfortunately were ignored once we were pressing CDs. There will be proper interviews and some are already scheduled for much later intentionally. Good idea, bad… we'll see. I'm happy the record's out; the rest… one nightmare at a time.
Q: What are your views on [VELVET REVOLVER's] "Contraband" and "Libertad"?
Axl: I'll save this one. These are obviously highly charged areas and I'd rather take things one step at a time.
Q: Axl, have you been in contact with [original Guns N' Roses drummer] Steven Adler at all? Not as far as playing with him or anything, just to, like, lend him support? [Adler appeared this year on the reality television show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" during an attempt to get off drugs. He was subsequently arrested in Los Angeles on July 18, after someone called police to report he was causing a disturbance.]
Axl: "I do wish Steven the best and in my heart hope that he finds some peace and security. As far as direct contact, no. It, unfortunately, gets too messy too quick. In Steven's mind, I'm the one who holds the keys and power over his happiness, so I'm the bad guy pretty quickly."
Q: I have one question for you, Axl. What is stopping the fans from seeing you Slash, Duff and Izzy back on stage together?
Axl: "You've been lied to and misled for such a long time that sorting through all that here is virtually impossible. A lot will come out over time, but the truth has been out there for a long time as well but that doesn't give you what you want, so this dance just goes on and on."
Q: How come you always come on stage so late at gigs?
Axl: "I've been an after-midnight type since I was sneakin' out of my house in junior high [school]. With [the] old GUNS [lineup], we preferred [to take the stage at] 12:00 a.m. or so. When we moved to theaters etc., obviously that changes but it's never changed inside me. Doesn't matter what I do, so generally that's when I'm more myself. This isn't to mess with anyone that has an early schedule to keep, it's just personal preference. And in regard to the size [of] venues, I'm on record as preferring whatever venues allow for our schedule, but management and promoters can do a lot in their own interests behind the scenes that can rarely be avoided and their greed or whatever leads to a lot of double talk and ugly behind nonsense that generally eventually ruins things for everyone. Translated: once a tour is scheduled, however, it's like parting the seas to change. As far as being late, I've been that way my whole life. It drove Izzy [Stradlin] crazy but he would check himself and freely admit I was generally actually doing something that had to get done rather than watching basketball, etc.
Q: I was wondering about new tour dates....
Axl: No plans. We're talking.
Q: What's your opinion on the ["Chinese Democracy"] album, GunsNRoses.com and ChineseDemocracy.com being banned in China?
Axl: China's a tough place. A lot of us have no idea how good we have it and think less of those less fortunate. The Chinese people have been kept in the dark through literally the fear of incarceration or death, which, to most, is either unimaginable or only able to be contemplated with stories or movies and such where there is an all-encompassing environment and they're growing larger everyday.
Q: How do you feel about meeting your fans? What is the best way for a fan to meet you if they happen to be a dude (since the stereotype is that rockers only wanna meet hot chicks)?
Axl: I like meeting all kinds of fans, but after a show (I realize that's the only time some may feel they have an opportunity, but with the exception of close friends around...), not to be offensive, but I'm generally not looking forward to walking off stage to hang with guys, whether they're fans or not. I deal with Guns all day every day, so coming off stage to talk about the band is just like more of the same. Unless there's pressing business, I wanna forget that 'till it's time to go at it again the next day. And people may enjoy meet-and-greets and have their reasons why it meant a lot for them, which I respect, but overall, charging fans for it, I think, [is] disgusting of bands. Now if they did it for free to winners of a contest, etc., that would be different. Charging is lame. How to meet bands? Maybe try to hang out places you might hear they do sometimes.
Q: If you're composing music (piano), are you using some computer software to write the notes down or are you using a sheet of paper and a pen for this?
Axl: If I want to capture it, I either use Logic or Pro Tools in the studio. I've tried recording myself otherwise for years, but for some reason, no matter what's there, it doesn't seem to be where my real focus should ultimately be.
Q: From interviews, tours, riots, and information you revealed yesterday morning, this project has obviously had its ups and downs. If you could do this whole process over again, with the making of CD, would you?
Axl: Only for the same reason I have, other than that... not in a billion years.
Q: "Chinese Democracy" was a brilliant album, but do you miss the old GUNS from time to time?
Axl: I miss the illusion we shared for only a few months, if that, of thinking we were in this together. It wasn't real, or if so, only ever so briefly while deeper currents of ambitions were temporarily put aside, but I didn't know that then.
Q: I guess the only question I really have is when do you think we will see you boys on the road again? And is there ever a chance of you playing Philadelphia again?
Axl: Not sure. Looking at options. And I would love to play Philly, as I would have loved to play back in '02.
Q: Will there ever be decent promo and interviews, etc. concerning this album, or is this it?
Axl: There were, in my opinion, well-thought-out plans and strategies that unfortunately were ignored once we were pressing CDs. There will be proper interviews and some are already scheduled for much later intentionally. Good idea, bad… we'll see. I'm happy the record's out; the rest… one nightmare at a time.
Q: What are your views on [VELVET REVOLVER's] "Contraband" and "Libertad"?
Axl: I'll save this one. These are obviously highly charged areas and I'd rather take things one step at a time.
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