via Blabbermouth Duff McKagan's Loaded will tour South America in early November.
The band is scheduled to perform at Willie Dixon in Rosario, Argentina on November 5, with dates in Brazil (November 8) and Chile (Santiago on November 11) also in the works.
In other news, McKagan will guest on "The BJ Shea Morning Experience" this Wednesday (September 30) on the Seattle radio station KISW 99.9 FM
Duff will appear at approximately 8:20 AM PST
Drummer Geoff Reading recently quit Loaded and was replaced by Isaac Carpenter.
In other news, Blabbermouth is reporting that former Guns N' Roses / Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum told Blistering.com that Velvet Revolver will eventually get back together. He said, "We have been e-mailing back and forth, in search of a singer, so we have high expectations. We want to make sure this singer will work and be a better thing. We looked a long time before we got Scott, and I don't know if we got Scott because it seemed like an easy way to fill the bill.
I know we want to take it up a notch and make it better. When we got Scott, we jumped into it pretty quick. Even though Me, Slash, Duff and Dave had been working together on the first record before Scott came on, then Scott jumped on and we went on the road and did the record pretty quick.
The second album, I think, we fell prey to more of what Scott wanted to do and we wanted to straight-up rock and roll. I think this time around we would like to make a real strong rock album and stick with more of our roots.
The first record he picked the songs. We had about fifty songs written. He just started to sing on them, that album happened real organically and really quickly.
When we went to write the second album it seemed to take different road, I always wanted to make a harder record, but I think we went a little lighter and the fans didn’t really care for that much. I think the second record is a good one but we did what we did. I think it was a weird chemistry between us."
California Chronicle Duff McKagan proved he had an eye for figures when he was invited to a wild party at the legendary Playboy mansion. But the US rock star wasn't just eyeing up the scantily-clad Bunny Girls lounging around the home of millionaire Hugh Hefner.
The bassist impressed the sex industry mogul with his business knowledge and landed a job writing a financial column for Playboy magazine.
Duff said: "I went to business school and got my finance degree. It's an interesting time to be writing a financial column. It's great fun and keeps my brain ticking over."
Duff shot to fame playing with two of the biggest bands in rock history - Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, so he's one of the few rockers equipped to keep tabs on the royalties he earns.
He said: "I keep a handle on where all our money goes. When Guns blew up we began creating huge income - not just for us but for other people. Musicians have no training for things like business managers and tax credits. I didn't want to get ripped off so I learned about it."
Duff brings his new band Loaded to the O2 Academy in Glasgow on October 17 supporting Black Stone Cherry.
The group will promote new single "Mother's Day," a track from their album, Sick.
Duff said: "I like the feeling of forward motion a tour gives you [everything] from the cameraderie of a band to the feedback from the audience."
He has fond memories of playing in Scotland with Velvet Revolver, the supergroup formed with ex-Guns' bandmates Slash and Matt Sorum.
He told me: "Our show at the SECC in Glasgow in 2004 is one of my three favourite gigs of my entire career. The crowd was figuratively carrying us on their shoulders. I felt so in the moment. I'd put it up there with when Guns played at Rock In Rio in 1991."
But Duff has promised we've not seen the last of Velvet Revolver.
In 2008, singer Scott Weiland announced on stage at the SECC he was quitting the band but Duff says plans are in place to reform the band next autumn.
He said: "We've got a top 10 list of singers we'd like to try out, and enough material for a great new record."
TMZ has learned Stone Temple Pilots front man Scott Weiland experienced a seizure during an American Airlines flight just hours ago.
Sources close to Scott tell us he suffered the seizure while flying from Los Angeles to Miami. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
TMZ has been told that Scott has a history of seizures - he was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures. Despite the seizure, we're told Scott plans on attending the launch of his clothing line "Weiland for English Laundry" on Saturday.
A rep traveling with Weiland tells Rolling Stone exclusively that the airplane staff called for medical assistance over the loud speaker and had to administer oxygen to Weiland. Shortly after, Weiland had come to and was “in good spirits” as was taken off the plane for the hospital.
Weiland was traveling with his Scott Weiland Band to Miami for a performance and the launch of his clothing line Weiland for English Laundry at the club Mansion. The rep said the singer has a history of seizures, but is now “doing great” and expects to leave for Miami tomorrow and appear at the club as scheduled.
Ask any musician, and they'll tell ya: one of the hardest thing about this "business" is finding the "right" band members. I can remember being in Velvet Revolver for about 15 minutes or so (about three weeks, actually) and the thing I loved about that experience (working with Duff McKagan especially) is that those guys had at least 30-40 songs on the demo CD Duff gave me, and all of us had one goal in mind: creating some great music.
That's it.
We rehearsed at Mates for five hours at a time. No one asked, "How much am I getting paid to rehearse?" "Who's paying my gas money to write this song?" etc. The subject of money never came up. We rehearsed, wrote songs and hung out together because we loved playing more than anything else, and are happier playing music than doing anything else.
Classic Rock Slash was unhappy throughout his entire career in Velvet Revolver – and working on his forthcoming solo album has given him a new creative lease of life. The former GN’R/VR guitarist has been talking to Classic Rock about the dissolution of VR and how the band’s split with Scott Weiland pushed him work by himself on a solo album.
“Now at this point I can talk about it,” says Slash. “I always support whatever group I’m playing with – I’ll never say anything bad about them while I’m in it. But fuckin Velvet Revolver – that was the toughest five years, dealing with that band, just because of the obvious [Weiland] and really, really bad management. Joke management for the entire time.
“For some reason in that entire five years I could never be happy. I could never get comfortable and happy with it because it was such a fucking mess. That last tour in the UK was the first time I ever had any fun in that band – because I knew that Scott was leaving and it was a huge relief.
“But, all things considered, Scott to me is now like George Bush – y’know, I like him now that he’s not here. I have nothing bad to say about Scott, but he doesn’t work well with others in a group situation. So towards the end I had written a bunch of music and there were a lot of restrictions because of him writing in Velvet and a lot of stuff that I wanted to do was just sort of squelched. Y’know Slither happened and Fall To Pieces and a couple of other songs I wrote, but it didn’t have the direction that the group – especially before Scott came into it – really set off in. Especially on that last record – which I still think is a good record, but was a lot mellower than [I would have liked].
“Anyway, so I was writing a lot of material and on that last UK tour I started taping a lot of stuff and when I got home I was like, ‘I need to get away from this group situation – I just need to be in control of something and do things my own way’. So it was a relief. And we’ll see – it’s not really about trying to make the biggest record in the world, but I will support it. I’ll go out there and do what I have to do to make sure that people go out there and listen to it cos I think it’s a cool record.”
How will that affect Velvet Revolver?
“Well Duff’s on tour, I’m doing my record, so it’s sort of at a standstill. I haven’t heard any amazing submissions from singers as of late, so I might… Y’know, Velvet when it finds the right guy will be amazing, but I’m in no rush. I’m not freaking out – because that’s how we got Scott in the first place. He was the first decent guy that came up.”
After the Norway gig everyone is going to think Franky Perez is the guy.
“I thought about that. Yeah, Franky’s fucking bad ass. You know, he did some time with Velvet but I think because I was so preoccupied with my record nothing really came of it. Anyway, we’ll see what happens. When my record comes out there’s going to be a lot of different things that I can do so what happens as far as Velvet is concerned – we’re going to be on a hiatus until we lock together and say, ‘Hey, these are our options, let’s see what we’re going to do’. I don’t know if Franky is going to be the guy or what – he’s just a really, really good singer. Even Ozzy came up and said, ‘Who the fuck is that guy? He’s fucking great!’ He actually said: ‘What the fuck am I doing up here? He’s the one that should be singing…’”
In Norway, Franky Perez confirmed that he had worked with VR in the last six months: “I’ve probably known Slash a little under a year. We have this mutual friend and we’ve run into each other a few times but we met – actually met, met – about six months ago. And then I was working with Velvet Revolver for a little bit and then Slash started doing his solo record…”
So you worked with VR after Weiland left?
“Yes. So I got to hang out with all the guys and started working with them and then about the same time Slash had to work on his solo project and Duff was doing Loaded so that dissipated, but the great thing is that I got to have a great relationship with Slash.”
Did he realise that the internet was going to be filled with ‘Franky-is-the-new-Velvet-Revolver-frontman’ stories?
The singer just smiles and shrugs: “Well, you know, if the opportunity comes around, I’m ready.”
For a full interview with Slash & Friends, see Classic Rock 136, on sale 19 August.
Slash just recorded a guitar part on a song for the British singer Estelle. He also revealed that Velvet Revolver is having a meeting next week. I expect them to announce Franky Perez as their new vocalist. Franky will replace Scott Weiland who left the band last Spring to reunite with Stone Temple Pilots.
Izzy Stradlin's new album is due to be released on iTunes any day now.
After that Gilby's doing a three-week stint at The Viper Room in West Hollywood, CA on July 11, 18 and 25.
Gilby will also host & perform at the Storm Stadium Rock Fest in Lake Elsinore, CA on August 15. Adler's Appetite, Warrant, Great White, and KOTTAK are also playing the festival.
Robin Finck and Nine Inch Nails have announced NEW FINAL DATES.
They're going to play a handful of shows in NYC, Chicago and LA starting August 22. They will be informal affairs in medium to small venues with longer set-lists, possible special guests, cool openers and other surprises. In NYC they'll be playing Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall and Terminal 5. In Chicago, the Aragon Ballroom. In LA they'll be at The Wiltern, The Henry Fonda, The Palladium and The Echoplex. These should be cool, unusual and unique final shows for Nine Inch Nails.
Finally, DJ Ashba will chat live with fans (and non-fans, I suppose) next Wednesday, July 15 at 7 PM Pacific / 10 PM Eastern Time at AshbaLand.com
You will need to download and install Palace chat software to join in.
Via his Twitter account, Slash posted a recent picture of himself and his mother Ola Hudson. Great shirt Slash, and thanks for being so open with your fans during such a difficult time.
Slash is scheduled to play Norway's Quart Fest on June 30.
Canadian guitarist and vocalist Rob Lamothe just the posted MP3s of his Velvet Revolver audition on his official site.
Meanwhile, former Velvet Revolver vocalist Scott Weiland recently told ARTISTdirect that Stone Temple Pilots has "18 songs written, and vocals are written on about 10 of them."
Former Velvet Revolver bass player Duff McKagan was interviewed on June 10 at the Caribana festival in Switzerland. The interview focused mainly on Duff's new disc with his band Loaded. According to Duff, "it's a straight-up Rock 'n' Roll record."
Next week I'll be publishing my belated review of the album - Sick.
An extended video of Adler's Appetite playing this past Monday night at the SoDo nightclub in Colorado Springs, is embedded below.
Their set: Nightrain, My Michelle, Civil War, Mr. Brownstone, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Rocket Queen, Mama Kin, Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City, Welcome To The Jungle.
Finally, thanks to the kind folks at ChopAway.com, I was able to put together this video slideshow of Izzy Stradlin performing "Battleship Chains" live. I'm guessing that the recording is from his 2000 European tour. Thanks for the audio guys. Enjoy.
On the corner of a big Los Angeles intersection stands an office block you could pass a thousand times and not take in. At ground level, there are a few shops, a couple of places to eat and the ubiquitous Starbucks. Nothing the tiniest bit special.
It's here (armed with a skinny cappuccino) that I meet someone totally out of place in the mundane surroundings - Duff McKagan, American hard-rock institution.
Taking in the fortysomething with short, spiky blond hair and aviator shades, you know he couldn't be anything but a rock'n'roller.
Founder member and bassist of Guns N' Roses, he's now bassist in Velvet Revolver (with his GN'R mates Slash and Matt Sorum) and frontman of his own group Loaded.
I also gather he's a seriously daring mountaineer, martial arts expert, financial guru for Playboy.com (yes, really) and budding radio presenter in his home town of Seattle where he also writes a local blog.
Tonight, he brings Loaded and songs from the band's riotous new album Sick to Download 2009 at Donington Park, on the same bill as a much anticipated performance from the reformed Faith No More. But, as we take a table outside Starbucks in the early LA summer sunshine, this pencil-thin, sober, super-fit character tells me he's "just happy to be alive".
He experienced it all - the women, the drugs, the extreme highs, the devastating lows and, most of all, the booze.
"If I wrote about what happened to me in 1994, it would have to be called All The Shit I Don't Remember," he explains.
That was the year he contracted acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis (his pancreas swelled to the size of a football) and he was told to give up booze or die.
"And I wanted to die because it hurt so bad and there was no escape. I was pleading with the doctors to kill me."
1994 was the year he became sober.
"If I drank, I would have died. It was very black and white," he continues. "When I got sober, I really started to get in touch. I took up martial arts. My sensei told me to look at myself in the mirror every day and say, 'Yesterday, I did everything right that I could do'. I'm proud of that."
It was at this point Duff began to realise he wanted out of Guns N' Roses, which, with Axl Rose at its helm, had become the biggest band in the world.
"I met my wife Susan and she got pregnant. And as I was about to have this kid, I started thinking , 'Shit, there's only me and Axl left (of the original members).'
"Why are we rehearsing at three in the morning? I don't want to do it anymore. I got a life.
"I was kind of hoping the band would get back together. I was under a lot of pressure but I was looking like the level-headed guy.
"Our manager was calling me every day for advice. What a scared little prick. I'm going, 'Dude, manage the fucking band. You're the manager!' I started to look around and go, 'What a bunch of morons'."
It's sad to reflect on the disintegration of a band who made some of the finest rock albums since Led Zeppelin - Appetite For Destruction, Use Your Illusion I and II.
Duff remembers the band's humble beginnings in LA. "Five guys who started in this town. We were living in squalor with nothing but a united belief in what rock'n'roll was,
"And we brought enough different shit and we trusted each others' opinions and we liked each others' influences. We toughed it out. We didn't care. Then not just America but the whole world were like, 'Yeah, we relate to this whole thing'."
All these years later, I ask Duff what he thinks of Chinese Democracy, the Guns N' Roses album that took an excruciating 15 years to make with only Axl of the original line-up present.
It's a question he gets asked a lot. "Number one, what does it matter what I think of it?" he replies. "But for the record, Axl sings great on it. There are some songs I really like and some I don't.
"People have read it as, 'Oh, Duff doesn't like it,' but it's not like that at all."
This brings us on to the subject of Velvet Revolver, formed in 2002 as a kind of hard-rock supergroup made up of ex-G N'R members, Dave Kushner from Wasted Youth and, until he left, Stone Temple Pilots' singer Scott Weiland.
For Duff, the lead-up to Scott's departure in April 2008 was a particularly harrowing time.
As someone who's been sober "apart from a couple of stumbles" since 1994, he was watching the singer going "over to the other side".
"Our last month and a half of touring with him was brutal," says Duff. "I guess maybe it's not fully known that Slash, Matt, Dave and I decided that we were going to get rid of him.
"We tried to bring him back but we couldn't do it. His old demons popped back up. Look, I'm a drug addict, I totally get it but he was too far gone. None of us had the energy to go through that.
"So we actually fired him on April Fools Day after the gig in Amsterdam. I wish him the best of luck."
Now VR are on enforced hiatus as they look for a new singer. "We've written all the music for the next album and the songs are huge," says Duff. "Scott was an amazing frontman, one of the best on the planet, but I think we still have our best record to come.
"But until Velvet Revolver find a singer, I'm putting 110% of my energy into Loaded. The new record was really fun and really inspired."
You can see elements of Duff's other bands in Sick but there's a clear nod to his youth and his love of punk rock - "the 13-year-old kid who saw the Clash in Seattle in 1979".
This is Loaded's third album, arriving a full eight years since Dark Days, and finds Duff swapping bass for lead vocals and guitar.
One song kind of sums up Duff's life less ordinary - Slide. It goes, "The Seventies gave us punk rock/The Eighties gave us crap/Nineties junky chic so cool, I don't remember much of that".
Then he turns to me and smiles: "Well fuck, I survived all that shit and I'm here feeling really great about it."
Mary Weiland, the estranged wife of Stone Temple Pilots/ex-Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland, will publish her memoir, Fall to Pieces, on October 27, 2009 via William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
A description of the book reads as follows:
"A visceral, rollercoaster ride inside bipolar disorder, rock 'n' roll, celebrity culture, and the competitive world of modeling from a rock star wife and recovering drug addict.
On the surface, Mary Weiland had a fairy-tale life. She was a highly paid fashion model married to successful rock star Scott Weiland, the notorious frontman for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver. Then came the rampage in a Burbank hotel room and the resulting media frenzy that revealed to the world her bipolar disorder and drug abuse.
In Fall to Pieces, Weiland describes the extreme highs and lows of her life, the volatility of which long hinted at mental illness. Working with acclaimed journalist Larkin Warren, Weiland tells her story with refreshing candor, unflinching detail, and more than a little humor. Reminiscent of celebrity memoirs by Tatum O'Neill, Brooke Shields, and Valerie Bertinelli, Weiland's story offers a window into the world of modeling and rock 'n' roll celebrity while providing deep insights into a serious and misunderstood psychological disorder."
"When I was 16 years old I dreamed of being a famous rock star. I never knew what came along with it - the good, the bad, and the straight up bullshit. I thought that creating beauty would bring beauty... Not always. At 16, Mary dreamed of being a famous model. She came close but she gave up her career for Noah, Lucy, and myself. She never got to see the 'what could have happened.'
Well as everyone knows by now we are getting divorced and yes, Mary is writing a book which I have not read. But what I want everyone to know is that it has nothing to do with infidelity. Neither the divorce, nor the book. Please don't place the red letter upon my children's mother.
One last thing... My love for her will never end. We just forgot how to be friends. She has now chosen a public career and one that brings both accolades and public scrutiny. There will be more of this sort of thing to deal with as time goes by... both good and bad.
Divorce is hell, I remember it well and we deal with it every day. And if you think about it, we both have our 'what ifs' and 'why nots,' but it's no cheaters story and all I ask is to not see her cry."
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