January 22 2001. - Hardly finished Guns N' Roses's show in Rock In Rio, the rumors said that Axl Rose would travel to Buenos Aires. Although it was said that his intention was to see the Neil Young concert on Thursday. The most reliable sources assured that he had arrived on Saturday. At night, the members of the band Peruvian Libido that crossed with him in the disco Ėl Divino. Finally, on Monday afternoon, and hours before their supposed departure to Chile, Axl Rose decided to break the silence. Offering a phone interview with Juan Di Natale of Rock & Pop.

R&P: Axl, it's a pleasure to have you back again in Buenos Aires. We appreciate that you wanted to speak with us. How are you?

Axl: I am very well, thank you.

R&P: Why are you here? It is a surprise for us that you are in our city.

Axl: I wanted to play here, I wanted to play here and in Chile but it didn't work out. Since I was in Brazil, I still wanted to come to Argentina, keeping in mind that so much time had passed since we were here. I simply wanted to come to feel Argentina.

R&P: How do you feel about coming to Argentina? Is it different from the last time that you were here?

Axl: The area where we were has changed. I've had a great time and the people have been very nice to me. I hope to be able to bring the new band here in the fall, probably in November.

R&P: We saw your show in Rio and you spoke a lot with the audience. How did you feel after the show?

Axl: The whole show was very special. The public was very warm and receptive. The sound and the musical side didn't come out very well for the band, but it was very exciting for us to know that we could make such a big show that was very new for all. It was something very important for the new band.

R&P: It was a big decision to choose to play similar show with the new band. Was there something that made you make that decision or did you simply decide to play?

Axl: South America has always occupied a special place in my heart. The first time that I came here was very emotional for people and it stops myself. Our management proposed us to come and play in Rio. It was a honor to play there. I mean, there were new songs, people didn't know the band, it is not the old band... And at any rate they came. That was very special and the show united the band.

R&P: For every year that you were outside the scene did you think of returning as Axl Rose, a solo project, instead of Guns N' Roses?

Axl: Sometimes, but it is more important to make it as Guns N' Roses. Guns N' Roses takes a very important place in the hearts of many fans and personally I wanted to be able to revive that for them. Fortunately, I had people that helped me with that.

R&P: How was it for you to teach the new band the old songs that you used to play?

Axl: Good, at the beginning they didn't want to play them [laughs]. They didn't want to play the old songs that much, because they are musicians in themselves. They had a punk attitude like the old Guns N' Roses. But later it became fun for them, they began to appreciate the songs and enjoy playing them. The bassist, Tommy Stinson, worked very well taking the band through the rehearsals for Las Vegas and Rock In Rio.

R&P: We know that Chinese Democracy will be released in June, but we wanted to know what the reasons are for taking so long before releasing the album?

Axl: We hadn't written songs or recorded for many years. There were band changes and there were many changes in the record company. People in the record company had many opinions and they wanted to make the best possible record. Every time that we thought that we had the correct songs, then somebody thought that we could make it better. We started over, we continued adding songs, continued recording and recording. I think that when we release the album, it's gonna be something that I'm gonna be proud of and confident in. Then, we will also have an extra heap of songs. This band has played only been together for six weeks before Rio. So it is still very new for them to play together as band, with Robin (Finck) and Buckethead. That was a surprise. Obviously, that was the correct decision to make, but it was not originally planned to have three guitarists.

R&P: Is your new material more industrial? We hear that it is not very similar to that of your old band.

Axl: It is not industrial, the closest thing to that was perhaps Oh My God, but there are some songs that won't be on the album that were this way. There will be all kinds of styles, many influences as blues, mixed in the songs. But not so much inspiration of Aerosmith or AC/DC that was used on Appetite. Buckethead, his first influence and the reason why he grabbed a guitar for the first time was Angus Young of AC/DC. Several of the boys love to play AC/DC. It is only we will play other styles. When we tried writing songs in the old style of Guns N' Roses, they sounded too old, they didn't sound so alive. We could not make that. And I think that that also passed with the old Guns N' Roses. The songs composed by the boys for another album many years ago, everything sounded old. Then we tried to explore to maintain the band alive.

R&P: Did you know that some of the audience in Rio thought that Buckethead was a disguised Slash?

Axl: A lot of people on the Internet thought that Slash was in the band, still before they knew Buckethead. People thought that Buckethead was Slash for the hair.

R&P: We know that you are enjoying a short vacation in Buenos Aires for that reason we want to make this interview the shortest thing possible. We wanted to ask you how you see yourself as an artist today compared to earlier years. Are you different? Is something new?

Axl: Mmmm, good, Las Vegas and Rio were very important for us. We wanted to play in Buenos Aires and Chile but we won't really be on tour until in five months, because this is very new for us. It is important for us to have the energy and the enthusiasm to make the shows. To make this again was very difficult, emotionally and mentally. To play the old songs for the experiences of the difficult times that I had in the past with the old band. But the new guys made it exciting. It is good to leave, but what we will make a bigger and a more prepared show. I think that it was well in Rio and it was very fun, but we want to be more prepared when we make the real tour.

R&P: Hopefully you enjoy your vacation in Buenos Aires and we really hope to see your shows when you return. Do you want to leave some message for your fans in Argentina?

Axl: All that I want is to thank you for all the love and support that I feel when I am here. I am very grateful and I appreciate it. I cannot wait to return here and to play. It is very good to be here and I thank them a lot.

Thanks to Gonzalo for translating this!