WEBVTT - Duff McKagan 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:15.956 Pushkin. 0:00:20.316 --> 0:00:22.796 In the minds of many rock fans, Duff McKagan will 0:00:22.836 --> 0:00:25.916 forever be known first and foremost as the basist of 0:00:25.956 --> 0:00:29.036 Guns n' Roses. The band's white hot reign in the 0:00:29.116 --> 0:00:31.836 late eighties through the early nineties is the stuff of 0:00:32.036 --> 0:00:36.036 hedonistic hard rock legend, and for anyone interested in reading 0:00:36.036 --> 0:00:38.996 a detailed account of that wild ride maybe the last 0:00:39.036 --> 0:00:41.956 in all of rock, check out Duff's memoir It's So 0:00:42.076 --> 0:00:46.876 Easy and Other Lies. After turning thirty, Duff got sober, 0:00:47.036 --> 0:00:49.716 eventually left GNR, and then went on to play stints 0:00:49.756 --> 0:00:53.076 in Alison Chains and Jane's Addiction and helped form the 0:00:53.116 --> 0:00:57.476 supergroup Velvet Revolver. Duff also enrolled in college while writing 0:00:57.516 --> 0:01:01.316 columns for the Seattle Weekly, Playboy and ESPN on everything 0:01:01.396 --> 0:01:06.116 from personal finance to sports. In twenty sixteen, he rejoined 0:01:06.116 --> 0:01:08.556 Guns n' Roses following their induction into the rock and 0:01:08.636 --> 0:01:12.156 roll holly fame. Outside of his contribution to big name 0:01:12.236 --> 0:01:15.476 rock bands and personal finance columns, Duff has also been 0:01:15.516 --> 0:01:19.676 releasing solo materials since the early nineties. His latest album, Lighthouse, 0:01:19.756 --> 0:01:23.436 signals a new musical direction for Duff, one that focuses 0:01:23.476 --> 0:01:28.436 on reflective personal lyrics and stripped down rootsie rock. On 0:01:28.476 --> 0:01:31.156 today's episode, Lea Rose talks to Duff mccagan about his 0:01:31.196 --> 0:01:34.276 decision to leave the heroin infested punk rock scene in 0:01:34.316 --> 0:01:38.276 his hometown of Seattle for Los Angeles. He also shares 0:01:38.356 --> 0:01:42.196 stories about Axel Rose and Slash while recording Appetite for Destruction, 0:01:42.996 --> 0:01:45.876 and he reminisces about the time his musical idol Prince 0:01:46.316 --> 0:01:48.916 was trying to get Duff to reveal the real reason 0:01:49.036 --> 0:01:54.916 why Guns n' Roses broke up. This is broken record 0:01:55.236 --> 0:01:56.796 liner notes for the digital age. 0:01:56.996 --> 0:01:57.916 I'm justin Ritchman. 0:01:58.716 --> 0:02:01.956 Here's Lea Rose's conversation with Duff mccagan. 0:02:02.716 --> 0:02:07.356 I want to talk a little bit about your latest album, Lighthouse, 0:02:08.316 --> 0:02:11.116 And since it's been out for a little while now 0:02:11.156 --> 0:02:13.556 and you're over sort of like the initial wave of 0:02:13.636 --> 0:02:17.036 releasing it, you've had a chance to see how it's 0:02:17.076 --> 0:02:22.036 living in the world. What has the reception been, you know. 0:02:22.116 --> 0:02:26.116 Because I'm not touring it yet and the record came out, 0:02:26.156 --> 0:02:30.596 we had extended the Guns and Roses tour, but we 0:02:30.636 --> 0:02:32.996 already had like a release date for my record and 0:02:33.076 --> 0:02:35.436 we couldn't push it back. So we were supposed to 0:02:35.556 --> 0:02:38.556 end the Guns tour. Three days later my record would 0:02:38.556 --> 0:02:40.436 come out. I would be free and open to do, 0:02:41.276 --> 0:02:43.556 you know, press or for the things you got to do. 0:02:43.996 --> 0:02:47.396 But we extended our tour. So I was in Boise, 0:02:47.476 --> 0:02:50.476 Idaho the day my record came out. It was like 0:02:50.636 --> 0:02:53.516 having a birthday. I got a cake and my wife 0:02:53.596 --> 0:02:56.916 sent me flowers and I'm in the you know, this 0:02:57.076 --> 0:03:00.596 hotel room and Boise and it feels like my birthday, 0:03:01.316 --> 0:03:06.156 but I'm by myself and you can't really tell how, like, okay, 0:03:06.476 --> 0:03:12.076 it's out, what's hey? You know, record reviews already come out, 0:03:12.156 --> 0:03:16.236 some pre previews of the record, so and then then 0:03:16.356 --> 0:03:19.316 reviews and then you know, I don't really look at 0:03:19.836 --> 0:03:24.396 comments on social media. It's not really my my bag. 0:03:24.476 --> 0:03:27.436 It's I have a story why that is? 0:03:27.636 --> 0:03:30.476 But you know, is it because they don't feel constructive, 0:03:31.276 --> 0:03:33.916 or they don't make you feel good, or they're just 0:03:34.236 --> 0:03:37.116 from random people and who cares what they think? 0:03:38.396 --> 0:03:42.156 I don't think anybody's really random, do you know? I 0:03:42.196 --> 0:03:45.236 think everybody's got an amazing story. I really do, because 0:03:45.236 --> 0:03:47.996 I've just met so many people in an elevator or whatever. 0:03:48.396 --> 0:03:50.476 You know, you get in the elevator and you think 0:03:50.516 --> 0:03:52.756 you're you're the king of the mountain. And then you 0:03:52.836 --> 0:03:55.676 hear some story in elevator. I'm not even the most 0:03:55.716 --> 0:04:00.996 interesting person in this elevator, you know. So no back 0:04:00.996 --> 0:04:03.076 in Valvary Revolver days, you know, when the like the 0:04:03.116 --> 0:04:06.436 fan forms and stuff, we're just getting started, and I 0:04:06.436 --> 0:04:08.796 would look. We had a site and there's a fan forum, 0:04:08.796 --> 0:04:11.556 and I would look and there was this one guy 0:04:11.556 --> 0:04:14.196 and had he had like a screen name, and he 0:04:14.236 --> 0:04:17.076 would say things like we were right on, like the 0:04:17.116 --> 0:04:21.196 guy knew music, knew about what we were doing. But 0:04:21.236 --> 0:04:24.676 then he would be critical about something. You know, he's 0:04:24.756 --> 0:04:26.876 kind of right about that. And then I would live 0:04:26.916 --> 0:04:29.676 and I would wait for this guy to like post something, 0:04:29.916 --> 0:04:32.596 and I would kind of rise and fall a little 0:04:32.636 --> 0:04:36.476 bit and not extremely so, but I got caught up 0:04:36.516 --> 0:04:39.436 in what this guy was saying and I was doing it. 0:04:39.676 --> 0:04:43.476 We played some gig in Europe, like a festival, and 0:04:43.516 --> 0:04:46.156 we were doing a signing at the festival and this 0:04:46.316 --> 0:04:49.996 kid comes up to me and he's like fifteen years 0:04:49.996 --> 0:04:53.036 old and I signed something for him. He's like this 0:04:53.196 --> 0:04:56.676 kind of you know, star Trek kind of kid. I 0:04:56.756 --> 0:04:59.636 know him. We're friends to this to now and he 0:04:59.676 --> 0:05:01.916 said he says the screen name. He goes, I'm him, 0:05:02.396 --> 0:05:06.876 I'm like, how old are you? Because I'm fifteen. I'm like, okay, 0:05:07.356 --> 0:05:10.156 so I'm done with this. I was like a forty 0:05:10.236 --> 0:05:12.516 year old man, you know, I'm like, what am I doing? 0:05:12.796 --> 0:05:14.596 But it was all when it was new, you know. 0:05:15.316 --> 0:05:18.636 So my point is like when something happens with me, 0:05:19.116 --> 0:05:23.076 a gig at Hyde Park or a Lighthouse record comes 0:05:23.076 --> 0:05:25.396 out and I'm really proud of it and huh blah, 0:05:25.596 --> 0:05:27.716 and I know how I feel about it, and I 0:05:27.756 --> 0:05:30.996 know what I went through to get those songs out, 0:05:31.116 --> 0:05:34.996 and lyrically what I went through to, you know, carve 0:05:35.836 --> 0:05:39.876 those words and throw out words and rewrite it again, 0:05:39.996 --> 0:05:42.956 and you know, the music's just being you know, the 0:05:43.076 --> 0:05:47.076 perfect like little synthesizer sound there and all this stuff 0:05:47.116 --> 0:05:50.276 and the drum sounds and the things you go through. 0:05:50.636 --> 0:05:52.916 It's probably pretty obvious. You know. I'm not trying to 0:05:52.916 --> 0:05:56.676 make commercial pop hits. I'm trying to make things that 0:05:56.716 --> 0:06:00.436 are important to me and hopefully important to other people. 0:06:00.796 --> 0:06:04.596 You know. So when that comes out, I'm not going 0:06:04.636 --> 0:06:07.396 to read social media comments and I won't even look 0:06:07.436 --> 0:06:11.436 for reviews. My manager will say me stuff, he knows 0:06:11.476 --> 0:06:14.596 I don't like to breathe reviews really because again, I 0:06:14.796 --> 0:06:17.316 just like things to sit there. I know when I 0:06:17.356 --> 0:06:20.156 go out, like when I'm out and toured Tenderness, the 0:06:20.196 --> 0:06:23.476 record before this same sort of records some sort of 0:06:23.516 --> 0:06:28.876 like vocal lyric in the same area, you know of 0:06:29.476 --> 0:06:34.436 kind of healing and togetherness, and I know how that 0:06:34.836 --> 0:06:38.036 works for an audience, and it's kind of really amazing. 0:06:38.396 --> 0:06:41.236 You know, you can see people crying and stuff, you know, 0:06:41.396 --> 0:06:44.716 like it really hits. It happens in guns it happens 0:06:44.796 --> 0:06:48.076 in bands. I plan that sense of togetherness for sure, 0:06:48.556 --> 0:06:51.436 but this is a bit more personal for me. So 0:06:51.476 --> 0:06:54.996 the record. The reaction has been great, like the reviews, 0:06:55.116 --> 0:06:58.516 and that this record's done a lot better sales wise 0:06:58.636 --> 0:07:03.196 than Tenderness, which means I'm growing as this kind of 0:07:03.236 --> 0:07:08.116 new solo artist area. I'm going into acoustic ribbon and 0:07:09.316 --> 0:07:12.356 something I wanted to do since I played on mark 0:07:12.436 --> 0:07:15.996 Land against Field Songs in nineteen ninety seven. This is 0:07:16.036 --> 0:07:18.196 what I you know, I want to aim for that, 0:07:18.596 --> 0:07:21.196 and so other than that, I'm going to get some 0:07:21.236 --> 0:07:24.636 tour dates together for the fall somewhere cool. 0:07:24.676 --> 0:07:27.556 And then is Guns N' Roses going back out on tour. 0:07:28.196 --> 0:07:31.796 This year's well, we are taking this year off. Okay, yes, 0:07:31.916 --> 0:07:35.996 we played so many shows in the last like whatever 0:07:36.196 --> 0:07:39.716 eight years that we need to We need to give 0:07:39.756 --> 0:07:42.116 the world a break. And you know we play long 0:07:42.156 --> 0:07:45.276 shows too, so we all need like a like a 0:07:45.316 --> 0:07:48.436 physical break. We played those three and a half hour 0:07:48.476 --> 0:07:50.956 shows and kicks one's ass. 0:07:51.356 --> 0:07:53.836 How do you prepare for those three and a half 0:07:53.876 --> 0:07:56.876 hour shows? What are you doing the day of the performance? 0:07:57.516 --> 0:08:00.996 I mean I could give you really literal. 0:08:00.796 --> 0:08:02.476 Like yeah, yeah, yeah, I want to know what's the 0:08:02.516 --> 0:08:04.196 morning routine? What are you eating? 0:08:04.676 --> 0:08:11.636 Yeah? Yeah, lemon water, coffee, lemon water again, banana. Then 0:08:11.676 --> 0:08:15.276 I go to the gym. I'll do cardio and then 0:08:15.356 --> 0:08:19.236 stretch and then do some sort of like you know, 0:08:19.316 --> 0:08:22.516 push ups or you know, like an hour in the gym. Okay, 0:08:22.996 --> 0:08:26.676 ending again with a stretch and then shower, eat like 0:08:26.676 --> 0:08:29.556 a really healthy lunch, which is whatever I can find, 0:08:29.596 --> 0:08:34.236 but usually just some greens with chicken, no carbs, no, no. 0:08:35.636 --> 0:08:39.876 The show's very cardio driven. You know, you're round and around, 0:08:39.876 --> 0:08:42.636 so you can't have a full stomach. I'll have some 0:08:42.676 --> 0:08:47.596 snacks up on stage, like protein bars or something, a 0:08:47.596 --> 0:08:52.676 lot of electrolytes and then afterwards I'll eat it pretty 0:08:52.676 --> 0:09:00.036 massive dinner, you know, pretty massive shepherd's pie and you know, 0:09:00.516 --> 0:09:05.396 or lasagnia or whatever the catering's got. Try not to 0:09:05.436 --> 0:09:07.516 do fish because it's kind of late. You know, the 0:09:07.556 --> 0:09:10.436 catering has been closed down for a couple hours. Oh, 0:09:10.716 --> 0:09:12.876 so we're getting food that's kind of been then sitting there, 0:09:12.916 --> 0:09:15.636 it's all right. I'm totally used to it. It's just 0:09:15.716 --> 0:09:19.236 fuel at that point, you know. And after showing ice. 0:09:19.276 --> 0:09:21.916 My legs like soak them in an ice bath. 0:09:22.276 --> 0:09:23.996 Yeah, buckets? Yeah? 0:09:24.036 --> 0:09:26.556 Wow? Is that because you've been standing for so long? 0:09:27.796 --> 0:09:31.676 It's I have to do like yeah, therapy like massage, 0:09:31.676 --> 0:09:33.156 guns and ice. 0:09:33.676 --> 0:09:34.076 Wow. 0:09:34.316 --> 0:09:39.596 Yeah, it's a very athletic, you know. Feet you get 0:09:39.636 --> 0:09:41.356 to go out and sage and be an artist and 0:09:41.676 --> 0:09:44.036 play your thing and have all that feeling and stuff. 0:09:44.476 --> 0:09:49.356 But in that it's all athletic. You know. You have 0:09:49.476 --> 0:09:52.356 to think like an athlete, you know, running across the 0:09:52.356 --> 0:09:56.116 stage and then hitting a false set of backup backing vocal. 0:09:56.196 --> 0:09:59.556 You have to be fit. You can't. You can't just 0:09:59.716 --> 0:10:01.716 like sit in the hotel room then go do an 0:10:01.796 --> 0:10:04.236 egg and then go sit And there's no I don't 0:10:04.636 --> 0:10:06.916 I mean, I suppose you could, but it would be 0:10:06.956 --> 0:10:07.756 really bad for you. 0:10:08.396 --> 0:10:11.036 It's funny like sometimes you hear about like certain golfers 0:10:11.036 --> 0:10:13.956 who have like no athletic regime at all, and they 0:10:14.036 --> 0:10:16.276 just sort of like there's one golfer who's famous and 0:10:16.316 --> 0:10:18.756 he like drinks like five beers and then he goes 0:10:18.876 --> 0:10:21.436 he's like one of the best golfers of all time, right, 0:10:21.916 --> 0:10:24.236 And then you hear about like Tiger Woods, who's like, 0:10:24.436 --> 0:10:29.876 you know, just like a relentless trainer exerciser, and he's 0:10:29.996 --> 0:10:32.596 like so smart about what he's putting in his body 0:10:32.636 --> 0:10:33.276 and everything. 0:10:33.516 --> 0:10:36.116 I know, Like Robin Zander from Cheap Trick. You know, 0:10:36.276 --> 0:10:41.276 he's I don't ho hold he has seventy blank you know. Yeah. 0:10:41.396 --> 0:10:44.436 He he's got one of the most amazing rock and 0:10:44.516 --> 0:10:47.836 roll voices never was. He smokes cigarettes and has a 0:10:47.836 --> 0:10:51.476 glass of wine, doesn't warm up nothing, it goes on stage. 0:10:51.676 --> 0:10:53.956 He's one of those guys within the industry. It's like 0:10:55.036 --> 0:10:59.596 not everybody's Robin Xander, you know, like he's just gifted, you. 0:10:59.556 --> 0:11:01.996 Know, Yeah, some people are just built different. 0:11:02.156 --> 0:11:06.796 Built differently amazing. Yeah, So I mean that's my regime. 0:11:06.796 --> 0:11:08.916 It's kind of nerdy. It's it's kind of athletic, but 0:11:08.956 --> 0:11:11.676 it's what I gotta. I'm serious about what I do. 0:11:11.836 --> 0:11:14.596 Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it sounds really smart. And then 0:11:14.916 --> 0:11:18.476 how do you come down from the adrenaline? Like do 0:11:18.516 --> 0:11:21.716 you even get like a big influx of adrenaline at 0:11:21.716 --> 0:11:23.756 this point? Are you sort of used to it? 0:11:24.436 --> 0:11:27.836 No? I get nervous and adrenaline every night. I do 0:11:27.916 --> 0:11:31.756 a little like a meditation before, like when I get 0:11:31.836 --> 0:11:34.156 up on the stage. We have about ten minutes, and 0:11:34.196 --> 0:11:37.196 I do a little thing before every gig just to 0:11:37.236 --> 0:11:42.076 calm everything down, chill, take it in. But I think 0:11:42.156 --> 0:11:45.876 for me after show, coming down from it, my body 0:11:45.956 --> 0:11:48.316 is used to like, okay, now we've got to shut down. 0:11:49.116 --> 0:11:51.356 You know you're gonna feed yourself and you're gonna shut down. 0:11:51.396 --> 0:11:54.116 You're gonna be reading your book in about forty five 0:11:54.156 --> 0:11:56.996 minutes as soon as you get back to your room. 0:11:57.516 --> 0:12:01.316 So I eat and ice at the venue and then 0:12:01.916 --> 0:12:04.356 I'm in my bed. Sometimes I go straight off the 0:12:04.396 --> 0:12:07.556 stage to the hotels. It depends on the traffic of 0:12:06.996 --> 0:12:09.756 the venue to kind of tell you you gotta go. 0:12:10.156 --> 0:12:13.676 Yeah, So, no, nobody's hanging out after there's no life. 0:12:13.756 --> 0:12:15.836 Sometimes we don't unless you want to hang for a 0:12:15.836 --> 0:12:18.196 couple hours and let all that traffic go. So and 0:12:18.276 --> 0:12:21.076 some people do that. You can do that, but I, 0:12:21.436 --> 0:12:24.476 you know, sometimes I get straight back. I'm reading my 0:12:24.516 --> 0:12:27.356 book forty five and it is to an hour after 0:12:27.516 --> 0:12:28.476 we got off stage. 0:12:29.236 --> 0:12:32.196 I saw Iggy pop is on a song on the 0:12:32.636 --> 0:12:35.796 title track, is right, So how was it recording with Iggy? 0:12:35.836 --> 0:12:37.796 Did you guys do that together in person? 0:12:38.916 --> 0:12:43.276 Well? No, so I you know, Iggy's like, there's like 0:12:43.356 --> 0:12:48.116 three for me. You know, it's Prince, it's Lemmy, and 0:12:48.156 --> 0:12:51.236 it's Aggy, you know, and Iggy's still with us. And 0:12:51.276 --> 0:12:54.396 it's always been like that since I discovered this. Dude 0:12:54.516 --> 0:12:57.756 is said twelve through my old the older punk rock kids. 0:12:57.836 --> 0:12:58.036 You know. 0:12:59.476 --> 0:13:02.076 So I got I got to play on and write 0:13:02.076 --> 0:13:05.316 some music on this last record, a song called Frenzy, 0:13:05.636 --> 0:13:09.956 a few more songs, and that was just like and 0:13:09.996 --> 0:13:12.836 then he's like, can you me and Chad from Chili 0:13:12.916 --> 0:13:16.076 Peppers and Andrew Watt and will you guys be my 0:13:16.196 --> 0:13:20.196 band for these these five shows? Like yes, we will 0:13:20.276 --> 0:13:23.956 be here and you can pick the set list. Holy shit? 0:13:24.156 --> 0:13:26.396 Wow, Okay, so it's like old Stugio stuff. 0:13:26.436 --> 0:13:29.116 You could we just picked whatever we put songs from 0:13:29.116 --> 0:13:31.476 the new record, of course, but we yeah, we picked 0:13:32.396 --> 0:13:35.116 some killer shit, you know, and we made a set 0:13:35.156 --> 0:13:37.276 list and he was like cool, cool, And we got 0:13:37.996 --> 0:13:40.796 Jamie from the Kills to play the other guitar, and 0:13:41.236 --> 0:13:43.596 Matt Clifford he plays with the Stones, he played the 0:13:43.676 --> 0:13:46.996 keys like nightclub and and all that stuff and really 0:13:47.196 --> 0:13:49.476 kick ass man. We rehearse. We all had it down 0:13:49.516 --> 0:13:51.356 before we went to rehearsal. You know, I was like, 0:13:52.236 --> 0:13:54.676 I'm not gonna not know what I'm doing. And we 0:13:54.716 --> 0:13:57.636 wanted to be the best Iggy band he'd ever had. 0:13:57.676 --> 0:13:59.876 And there was probably a couple of moments on a 0:13:59.916 --> 0:14:03.956 couple of the stages we were it was slamming. But 0:14:04.396 --> 0:14:07.156 so we did that and and did the did the 0:14:07.196 --> 0:14:11.636 shows and that. You know, Iggy knew I was making 0:14:11.636 --> 0:14:15.356 a record and he just kind of wanted to return 0:14:15.396 --> 0:14:18.436 the favor. It was very sweet and he did it. 0:14:18.516 --> 0:14:21.396 He just read the lyrics from. 0:14:21.796 --> 0:14:23.116 Lighthouse so cool. 0:14:23.796 --> 0:14:26.316 So we had like five of like him reading it 0:14:26.396 --> 0:14:29.836 five different ways. You know. I had the studio in Seattle. 0:14:30.516 --> 0:14:32.876 You get your speakers and you put it in his 0:14:33.396 --> 0:14:37.396 voice of fucking god, you know, and then we put music. 0:14:37.516 --> 0:14:40.996 We put kind of a different version of Lighthouse, the 0:14:41.116 --> 0:14:45.916 song behind his spoken word thing. And that's how that happened. 0:14:46.476 --> 0:14:48.356 What about Prince. Did you ever get to meet Prince 0:14:48.436 --> 0:14:49.236 or play with Prince? 0:14:49.636 --> 0:14:52.916 I never wanted to play with Prince because I've heard 0:14:53.076 --> 0:14:56.196 like he just because he's better than everybody at everything. 0:14:56.516 --> 0:15:00.396 You know. I met him, Yes, I met him one time. 0:15:00.476 --> 0:15:02.076 I was way too drunk. It is when I was 0:15:02.076 --> 0:15:04.956 still drinking and I realized I was too drunk. When 0:15:05.196 --> 0:15:07.516 it was in Germany. I went it was the Diamonds 0:15:07.516 --> 0:15:11.156 and Pearls tour. Guns and Roses were playing you know, 0:15:11.396 --> 0:15:15.516 the whatever stadium the next night, and he was playing 0:15:15.756 --> 0:15:20.956 the arena and I went went into the back, you know, 0:15:21.196 --> 0:15:24.596 Guns and Roses guy, all that stuff, right, got to 0:15:24.636 --> 0:15:26.956 get into the back and blah blah blah, and he 0:15:26.956 --> 0:15:28.836 heard I was there and I would like to talk 0:15:28.876 --> 0:15:31.036 to me. He knew I was a fan, and I 0:15:31.116 --> 0:15:33.996 went back and I just I was realized I was 0:15:34.036 --> 0:15:40.916 too drunk. Yeah, so fuck, you know, and and that 0:15:41.036 --> 0:15:43.516 I don't remember what happened. I remember there's like candles 0:15:43.556 --> 0:15:47.196 and stuff, and I'm fucking too drunk, and there's you know, Prince, 0:15:47.276 --> 0:15:50.876 and I don't want to be here I don't want 0:15:50.916 --> 0:15:54.396 to be here and got out of that one. But so, 0:15:54.636 --> 0:15:58.436 you know, and then I there was a documentary that 0:15:58.556 --> 0:16:00.836 I was part of. I don't think it ever came out. 0:16:01.116 --> 0:16:03.956 It was a bass player's documentary that he was doing. 0:16:04.996 --> 0:16:08.876 And some some producer called me, Princess doing this documentary. 0:16:08.876 --> 0:16:11.436 Can you can we go through your basis and just 0:16:11.476 --> 0:16:16.876 talk about bass playing? Prince is doing it? Sure? Oh yeah, okay, 0:16:16.996 --> 0:16:18.676 So these guys came to my house and I had 0:16:19.116 --> 0:16:22.036 my bases out and things, and I dressed up a 0:16:22.036 --> 0:16:27.636 little bit, you know, and get in texts questions from 0:16:27.796 --> 0:16:32.596 Prince in real time like blah blah blah. 0:16:32.676 --> 0:16:34.516 Yeah, what did he ask you about your playing? 0:16:34.636 --> 0:16:36.676 Yeah, how'd you come up with that thing? At the beginning? 0:16:36.796 --> 0:16:37.676 Sweets out of mind? 0:16:37.836 --> 0:16:39.276 Yeah, great question. 0:16:39.636 --> 0:16:42.436 But then but then they started getting like why did 0:16:42.476 --> 0:16:46.596 guns and Roses break up? He was asking questions like 0:16:46.636 --> 0:16:49.756 anybody else for to ask at that time. We don't 0:16:49.796 --> 0:16:53.356 get into that. You know, that's something we talk about. 0:16:53.756 --> 0:16:54.756 Prince wants the tea. 0:16:54.956 --> 0:16:57.956 He wants the tea, No, he wanted tea. It was 0:16:57.996 --> 0:17:00.836 a bunch of other stuff like yeah, it was very 0:17:00.996 --> 0:17:03.476 very kind of sweet, and you know, it was on 0:17:03.956 --> 0:17:06.516 Larry Grant. Move was like a oh to Larry Graham, 0:17:06.596 --> 0:17:07.836 this this documentary. 0:17:08.116 --> 0:17:12.196 Yeah, it's interesting. I was watching old you know, interviews 0:17:12.276 --> 0:17:15.916 throughout the years, dating all the way back from early 0:17:16.076 --> 0:17:20.756 gun stuff through Velvet Revolver through now and there was 0:17:20.796 --> 0:17:24.516 an old interview that you did with Kurt Loader in 0:17:24.556 --> 0:17:28.716 Paris and Lenny Kravitz was in the room. Okay, and 0:17:28.756 --> 0:17:31.036 then Lenny comes and sits down with you. Do you 0:17:31.036 --> 0:17:31.516 remember that? 0:17:31.916 --> 0:17:34.236 No, I remember being in Paris and we did that 0:17:34.316 --> 0:17:38.756 pay per view and Lenny was, you know, that first 0:17:38.836 --> 0:17:42.876 record like we I'm still buddies with him, but you know, yes, 0:17:43.436 --> 0:17:46.516 like Slashed, his friend who went to same high school, 0:17:46.596 --> 0:17:49.756 middle school together, right, who like made this killer record 0:17:49.916 --> 0:17:52.916 like whoa you know that was like the record of 0:17:52.956 --> 0:17:55.916 the summer for us, his first record for. 0:17:55.836 --> 0:17:56.556 You and Slash. 0:17:56.676 --> 0:17:57.236 Yeah. 0:17:57.316 --> 0:17:58.916 Yeah, so you're talking about that, and I guess the 0:17:58.996 --> 0:18:02.356 night before you had played with Jeff Beck and with Aerosmith. 0:18:03.476 --> 0:18:05.476 Oh was it that? So was the interview the day 0:18:05.516 --> 0:18:09.076 after that that gig? Yeah? Okay, so Lenny Kravitz would 0:18:09.196 --> 0:18:13.236 did Mama said we had special guests and we had 0:18:14.396 --> 0:18:18.076 Joe and Steven Erosmith did train after rolling and maybe 0:18:18.156 --> 0:18:21.476 Mama cann or something. Yeah, Jeff Beck was supposed to play. 0:18:22.036 --> 0:18:25.396 We did a sound check like the day before, and 0:18:25.436 --> 0:18:28.156 it was so a lot of he has tonight. He 0:18:28.236 --> 0:18:32.676 had tonight and I fucked him up so he couldn't 0:18:32.676 --> 0:18:32.876 do the. 0:18:32.916 --> 0:18:34.356 Get oh man. 0:18:34.756 --> 0:18:38.716 Yeah, and we felt so guilty, like were too loud. 0:18:39.436 --> 0:18:41.996 But to see, you know, like I can't really watch 0:18:42.236 --> 0:18:45.276 that stuff because I see a really sad guy. You know, 0:18:45.356 --> 0:18:48.036 I see a guy couldn't get himself out of it. 0:18:48.516 --> 0:18:51.116 You know, I tried to stop. I don't, you know, 0:18:51.636 --> 0:18:55.796 so what I see is like kind of a and 0:18:55.876 --> 0:18:59.276 I'm the same me is then you know, you don't change. 0:18:59.756 --> 0:19:03.556 But I'm stuck in this, in this wet court, cardboard box. 0:19:03.596 --> 0:19:06.476 I couldn't punch my way out of, you know, to 0:19:06.716 --> 0:19:09.716 have to drink first thing you want you wake up 0:19:09.836 --> 0:19:13.716 when you sleep that it's like those times that you sleep. 0:19:13.756 --> 0:19:16.396 It's not you know, like now I go to bed, 0:19:16.476 --> 0:19:18.836 like after we play show, I'm in bed an hour 0:19:18.916 --> 0:19:21.596 or later. And it's been that way. I've been sober 0:19:21.596 --> 0:19:24.676 a long time, you know, but yeah, it's it's hard 0:19:24.716 --> 0:19:26.516 for me to see like there was you can see 0:19:26.636 --> 0:19:29.596 like fun drunk like in the late eighties. Then you 0:19:29.636 --> 0:19:32.556 see it and you know, you see the blow, you 0:19:32.596 --> 0:19:36.196 see the falling out and ship. 0:19:36.516 --> 0:19:38.796 Yeah, yeah, yeah, you seems a little puffy, but you were 0:19:38.876 --> 0:19:41.196 very sweet and you were very nice, and you seemed happy. 0:19:41.716 --> 0:19:43.676 But I just think it's interesting when you told the 0:19:43.796 --> 0:19:46.196 Prince story that you had the self awareness of, like, 0:19:46.516 --> 0:19:48.476 I'm too drunk to be in this situation. 0:19:49.836 --> 0:19:52.876 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean I was never a blackout drunk. 0:19:53.076 --> 0:19:55.036 You know, it's never a mean drunk. I was never 0:19:55.156 --> 0:19:58.236 like any of that stuff. But I was aware and 0:19:58.356 --> 0:20:01.956 aware drunk like I am too. Like suddenly I got 0:20:01.956 --> 0:20:05.676 too drunk. I started drinking too early today. My tolerance 0:20:05.756 --> 0:20:10.396 was through theop you know. But it's one of those times, Nice, 0:20:11.796 --> 0:20:13.196 I can't form a sentence. 0:20:14.596 --> 0:20:16.876 We'll be back with more of le Rose's conversation with 0:20:16.956 --> 0:20:24.116 Duff mccagan after this quick break. We're back with Lea 0:20:24.196 --> 0:20:25.636 Rose and Duff mccagan. 0:20:26.716 --> 0:20:30.076 I watched your documentary It's So Easy and Other Lies 0:20:30.916 --> 0:20:34.156 and which was incredible. I love the music and the 0:20:34.236 --> 0:20:38.116 renditions of the songs that you guys played. The Pedal 0:20:38.156 --> 0:20:43.436 Steel was beautiful. Nice, oh was it was gorgeous. He's 0:20:43.516 --> 0:20:47.516 really really moving. It was really great, and I'm listening 0:20:47.956 --> 0:20:51.916 to the audiobook okay, also really great. I was curious though, 0:20:51.996 --> 0:20:54.316 in the very start of the book, I think it's 0:20:55.356 --> 0:20:59.476 chapter one, maybe it's chapter two, you talk about how 0:21:00.236 --> 0:21:02.716 when Guns n' Roses went on the Usuer Illusion Tour, 0:21:03.276 --> 0:21:07.876 you traveled in an airplane, like not like a private 0:21:07.956 --> 0:21:13.836 jet but like commercial airplane. Yeah, and early on you 0:21:13.876 --> 0:21:18.156 and Slash Chris and the airplane by smoking crack and 0:21:18.196 --> 0:21:19.956 this is in like chapter two. 0:21:20.396 --> 0:21:20.596 Yeah. 0:21:20.676 --> 0:21:23.636 Yeah, So I was just curious, why did you decide 0:21:23.716 --> 0:21:27.316 to put that the hard drug use so soon in 0:21:27.356 --> 0:21:27.756 the book. 0:21:28.716 --> 0:21:32.676 Well, now I start that book. There was a million 0:21:32.756 --> 0:21:34.716 different ways you could write that book. And I had 0:21:34.756 --> 0:21:39.396 written so many pieces that became that book for The Weekly, 0:21:39.476 --> 0:21:42.196 because you know, when you're writing so much. I was 0:21:42.196 --> 0:21:45.716 writing for the Weekly, I was writing for Playboy financial columns, 0:21:45.716 --> 0:21:50.276 I was writing for ESPN. I was writing all this stuff. 0:21:50.316 --> 0:21:55.116 So that kind of creativity, just like songwriting. Yeah, you're 0:21:55.116 --> 0:21:57.396 a writer, so you know this, ye writing your white 0:21:57.436 --> 0:22:01.236 two thousand words that begets more, Oh shit, I should 0:22:01.276 --> 0:22:04.476 write about this. And so I was writing tons of stuff. 0:22:04.556 --> 0:22:08.116 My word document was just full of documents. I'd kind 0:22:08.116 --> 0:22:11.116 of name them like so you know, and a lot 0:22:11.156 --> 0:22:13.596 of this became like that's I can't put that out 0:22:13.596 --> 0:22:16.236 in the Tall Weekly. It's two personal and it's too 0:22:16.476 --> 0:22:19.436 like come out of left field, you know. And Tim Moore, 0:22:19.476 --> 0:22:22.476 who was my editor at Playboy, I asked him to 0:22:22.916 --> 0:22:26.316 edit my book, which was not write it. I had 0:22:26.356 --> 0:22:28.516 all these pieces. Can you look at all these pieces? 0:22:29.476 --> 0:22:32.916