Here Today... Gone To Hell!

http://www.helium.com/tm/138074/members-roses-these

The new members of Guns N' Roses: Who are these guys?

by Anthony Hillman

It has been 13 years since Guns N' Roses have released an album - the punk cover album, The Spaghetti Incident? Since that time, Axl Rose has seen the departure of Gilby Clarke, Slash, Duff Mckagan and Matt Sorum. He's fought laboriously to revive the band from the ashes, at the same time as fighting countless lawsuits filed against him and record an album. He's seen numerous attempts at come-backs fail. And yet after all this time where most would have given up, Axl has fought on. Last year, Guns N' Roses took to the stage for the first time since a 2002 North American tour fell apart and by the expressions on all eight members faces, they are overjoyed to finally be able to put the past behind them and look to the future.

Some people will write them off without Slash, of course... but for those willing to give this band a shot, the many years of up's and down's look like they may finally be coming to an end. Chinese Democracy will finally be out this year (after just completing mixing by Andy Wallace, who mixed Nirvana's Nevermind), large European and US tours went off relatively smoothly. But there's one question remaining - and that is, exactly who are the people who are wowing thousands of fans a night? Well...

Robin Finck

Born November 7, 1971 in Marietta, Georgia, Robin Finck began his career with the Impotent Sea Snakes. A band that can be described as industrial-glam rock, the Sea Snakes eventually released their debut album Everything in Excess in 2001. Another early project of note is the Twisted Sister tribute band, Sick Motherfuckers in which Robin played alongside future Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez.
However, Finck's big break came in 1993 when he met Trent Reznor, who was working on the Nine Inch Nails album The Downward Spiral. The next year, Spiral hit big and Finck was handpicked by Reznor to be part of the Nine Inch Nails live line-up - replacing Richard Patrick - during the Self Destruction Tour. In NIN, Finck played alongside Danny Lohner, Chris Vrenna and James Wooley (replaced by Charlie Clouser in 1995), and played such memorable gigs as Woodstock '94, and as opener for David Bowie on the Outside Tour, and frequently found himself victim of Reznor's destructive showmanship onstage.

After the extensive NIN tour came to an end, Finck decided that he wanted to do something completely different to what he had been doing. Which eventually led to him becoming the musical director and guitarist for the world famous Cirque du Soleil Orchestra, on the circus' first tour of Quidam? It was this position that led to a chance meeting with Matt Sorum and Axl Rose in 1997, who had been in the audience. During the show, Sorum had mentioned to Axl that the guitarist would be the perfect person to fill in for Slash until they could convince him to rejoin the band. A position that would later become permanent.

Since 1997, Robin has been a member of Guns N' Roses - briefly leaving in 1999 to take part in NIN's Fragility Tour, only to return the following year - and has experienced all of the highs and the lows of being in the band. Through the multiple cancelled tours, and the long years that have gone into the making of Chinese Democracy, Robin has the distinction of writing Better, a new song to appear on the album that is fast becoming a fan favourite.

Robin can be seen in the Nine Inch Nails live releases - Closure and And All That Could Have Been, and also recreated tracks on the remix album Further Down The Spiral. On top of that, some of his own work can be heard of John Carpenter movie, Ghosts of Mars OST, playing with the likes of Scott Ian of Anthrax, Steve Vai and former band mate, Buckethead.

Richard Fortus

Born November 17, 1966 in St. Louis, Minnesota, Richard began his career in Pale Divine who released one album in 1991 entitled Straight to Goodbye. His first major band, however was formed in 1992 when he and former Psychedelic Furs guitarist/vocalist and bassist brothers, Richard and Tim Butler created Love Spit Love. Love Spit Love released their eponymous debut in 1994 and another in 1997 entitled Trysome Eatone, with bassist Chris Wilson replacing Tim Butler.

But perhaps their best known track is the cover of The Smiths' How Soon Is Now? which appears in the opening credits of TV show, Charmed. After that band eventually split, Richard joined the Butler brothers in the reunion tour of their previous band, The Psychedelic Furs. The tour resulted in a live album - Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live - being released in late 2001.

Besides those bands, Richard has made appearances as a session musician for artists ranging from BT to N'Sync, and has made numerous guest appearances on albums by the likes of Ben Folds and notably, GN'R band mate, Tommy Stinson's album, Village Gorilla Head.

His calling came in 2002, when Guns N' Roses had announced a short festival tour in Asia and Europe. Axl's childhood friend, Paul Tobias had opted out of the tour stating that he didn't feel comfortable in front of such large crowds. Enter Tommy Stinson, who brought Richard to Axl's attention. A relative latecomer to the GN'R camp, it is not known how much of an influence he will have on Chinese Democracy, but his inclusion in the line-up brings an element to the band not present since the departure of Izzy Stradlin in 1991... in Axl's words, "He's an amazing lead player and very technically skilled. He really likes the pocket that Brian sets and the two of them click with Tommy so we finally have the real deal rhythm section, as Richard is a proven professional. Basically, Richard's the guy that we always were looking for."
Richard uses his downtime to write music for movies and commercials, including a famous track from IBM commercials.

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal

Born September 25, 1969 in New York, Ron Thal is a fusion guitarist who's first known recording - Chopin Fantasie - was featured on Shrapnel Records' Ominous Guitarists from the Unknown. Signing to Shrapnel, he released his debut album The Adventures of Bumblefoot in 1995, followed by Hermit in 1997.

Later, Ron broke away from Shrapnel Records to form his own label, Hermit Inc. with which he released the albums Hands, 9-11, Uncool and the compilation album, Forgotten Anthology.

In 2005, he released his most recent album, Normal. A tour to support the album was planned earlier this year, but was later scrapped when a jamming session with Guns N' Roses turned into a full time position as replacement for the departed Buckethead - ironic, considering he played the solo of Sweet Child O' Mine with Most Precious Blood on the tribute album Bring You To Your Knees: A Tribute To Guns N' Roses.

Considering the lateness of his arrival into the band, Ron almost certainly won't appear on Chinese Democracy, however his stage presence combined with his skills bring virtuosity to the band, without the need for a KFC bucket.

When not working with Guns N' Roses or on his solo albums, Ron works as a producer as well as songwriter for videogames and TV shows, and volunteers for the MS Research Foundation.

Tommy Stinson

Born October 6, 1966 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Tommy began his career as a musician at an early age. By the age of 12, he was already member of The Impediments with his guitarist brother Bob, and drummer Chris Mars. Soon they were joined by singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg, and changed their name to The Replacements in order to be booked by a club who had banned them for drunk and disorderly behaviour. Eventually the band was signed to local label, Twin/Tone.

In 1981, The Replacements released their debut album, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, followed by EP Stink the following year... but it wasn't until 1983's Hootenanny that people started to pay attention, paving the way for their breakthrough Let It Be in 1984.

It was after the success of Let It Be that the band eventually signed to major label - Sire - with Tim becoming their first release with the company in 1985. Tim earned the band yet more rave reviews and is one of the albums Tommy stated he is most proud of. The Replacements went on to release Pleased to Meet Me in 1987 and Don't Tell a Soul in 1989. After Don't Tell a Soul, Paul Westerberg wrote a solo album, which was recorded and released in 1990 by The Replacements with the title All Shook Down before the band's eventual split in 1991.

It was then, that Tommy formed the band, Bash & Pop with Steve and Kevin Foley and Steve Brantseg. The majority of Bash & Pop's material was written by Tommy who replaced bass to be vocalist and guitarist. The band released their only album, Friday Night Is Killing Me in 1993, and contributed the track Making Me Sick to the soundtrack of Kevin Smith's cult movie Clerks. in 1994 before their demise.

In 1995, Stinson made another attempt at his own band, joining forces with Marc Solomon, Dave Philips and Gersh to form Perfect. Things seemed to be taking off when they were signed to Medium Cool Records, and released the heavily Johnny Thunders-influenced EP When Squirrels Play Chicken in 1996, before recording their debut album Seven Days a Week in 1997. However, the album was shelved by the new owners of Medium Cool's distribution company, Regency Records after a legal dispute between the two companies'. The band eventually split in 1998, which is when Tommy got a call from Axl Rose, who was searching for a bass player to replace the departed Duff Mckagan. The two hit it off, and Tommy is currently the longest serving member of Guns N' Roses besides Axl and Dizzy Reed. In 1999, he appeared on their contribution to Arnold Schwarzenegger movie End of Days soundtrack, Oh My God, and like his fellow band mates have endured the highs and lows of being a member of the band.

During the downtime between 2002 and 2004, Tommy started working on his first solo album Village Gorilla Head. The album was released to favourable reviews, and Tommy credits Axl for giving him the balls to try new things he would have never thought of doing before that album. Notable guest appearances on the album include GN'R guitarist Richard Fortus, GN'R keyboardist Dizzy Reed, former GN'R drummer Josh Freese. It was mixed by former Chinese Democracy producer Sean Beavan. Also in 2004, the Perfect album Seven Days a Week was brought by Rykodisc and finally released, retitled Once, Twice, Three Times a Maybe.

Considering his work with all three of his previous bands shared a lot of influences with Duff Mckagan, many view Tommy as the logical replacement for Duff. His skills as a bass player and a musician can't be understated, and there is a big chance that Tommy had a big influence on Chinese Democracy as a whole.

Chris Pitman

Born February 25th, 1976 in Independence, Missouri, Chris Pitman first came into the public eye when he became a touring member of Tool on their 1994-1995 tour promoting Undertow. During this time he handled keyboards and synthesisers. When at the end of the tour, bassist Paul D'Amour quit the band, Chris teamed up with him and Ken Andrews and Greg Edwards of Failure to form the covers band, Replicants, where he provided keyboards, backing vocals and acoustic guitar. Together, they released one self-titled album in 1995 including covers of T. Rex's Life's A Gas, Gary Numan's Are Friends' Electric? And Wings' Silly Love Songs on which Tool's Maynard James Keenan provided lead vocals. The following year, Chris provided synths for Tool's Third Eye. Afterwards, Chris, Paul, Greg regrouped along with Medicine's Brad Laner to form the experimental psychedelic band, Lusk, who released their only album, Free Mars in 1997.

Other projects include the electronica project, ZAUM which he worked on with Tool's Danny Carey. Only a four track demo tape is available; however the track Merkaba was played live by Tool and released on their limited edition CD/DVD Salival. Chris has also worked on records by Failure and Blinker the Star, providing sound effects, mixing and keyboards.

In 1998, Chris began working with Guns N' Roses, helping the band write in the studio and working on programming on the album in a role that was earlier turned down by former Nine Inch Nails drummer, Chris Vrenna. This position in the studio staff eventually led to Chris being integrated as a full-time member of the band in 2001, in which he contributes samples, synthesisers and additional keyboards. His most notable contribution is to the track Madagascar, in which he has put together a montage of speeches which is played in conjunction with the guitar solo.

Bryan "Brain" Mantia

Born in 1964 in Cupertino, California, Bryan began playing drums at 16 years old, with influences including Led Zeppelin, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. When in a high school band, he was given the nickname "Brain" after becoming obsessed with the music theory book, Portraits in Rhythm by Anthony Cirone.

In the 1980's, Brain joined a funk-rock band named The Limbomaniacs, who in 1990 released their only album, Stinky Grooves.

Also in 1989, Brain landed the role of drummer in Les Claypool's Primus, but was forced out of the band by injury.

It was after the break-up of The Limbomaniacs that Brain began to play in multiple bands, including M.I.R.V., and Tom Waits, before finally settling on an experimental/funk band formed by himself, keyboardist Bernie Worell, Paliarment-Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins, producer Bill Laswell, turntablist AF Next Man Flip and guitarist Buckethead called Praxis. Praxis released Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) in 1992, and had a career which eventually spanned seven albums.

Outside of Praxis, Brain also drummed on several of Buckethead's countless solo albums including Monsters and Robots.

In the late 90's, after the departure of drummer Tim Alexander, Brain returned to Primus for several years, in which he appeared on 1997's Brown Album, 1998's Rhinoplasty and 1999's Antipop.

When Primus became dormant in 2000, Brain was contacted by Axl Rose who was in search of a new drummer after the departure of Josh Freese, and had taken the advice of then-guitarist Buckethead. Since then, Brain has remained in the band, but that didn't stop him from joining old friends Les Claypool, Bernie Worrell and Buckethead for their 2004 album under the name, Colonel Claypool's Bucket O' Bernie Brains The Great Eyeball In The Sky, as well as appearing on Emotional Technology by electronica artist BT along with band mates Tommy Stinson and Richard Fortus, and actress/Marilyn Manson's ex Rose McGowan.

Halfway through the European tour, Brain was forced to return home when his pregnant wife went into labour and ex-Love Spit Love/Tommy Stinson drummer Frank Ferrer filled in for him. Brain returned to the drum kit for the five US shows in mid-September, but Frank has since returned for an indefinite period of time due to Brain's family commitments. But this is temporary, and Brain will be back as soon as possible.


Other Notable Mentions

They may not appear onstage any more, and they may not even appear on the record, but these people have all been part of Guns N' Roses at some point during the making of Chinese Democracy, and even if their parts aren't included on the album, there's a huge possibility that music/compositions they helped create will. So they're worthy of a mention.

Paul Tobias (1994-2002)

A childhood friend of Axl's, co-wrote old GN'R songs Shadow Of Your Love and Back Off Bitch before replacing Gilby Clarke in 1994 and appearing on that year's cover of Rolling Stones classic, Sympathy For The Devil the last Guns N' Roses track to feature Slash, Duff Mckagan and Matt Sorum. Also co-wrote and appeared on 1999's Oh My God from the End of Days soundtrack. Played four shows with the band in 2001, before leaving in 2002 to be replaced by Richard Fortus.


Josh Freese (1997-2000)

The busiest drummer in the world replaced Matt Sorum in 1997, and alternated between recording parts for Chinese Democracy and drumming live for Devo and GN'R engineer Billy Howerdel's project, A Perfect Circle featuring Maynard James Keenan of Tool. Appears on Oh My God, but left the band in 2000 after A Perfect Circle finished recording their debut album Mer de Noms - and went on to tour the world.

Buckethead (2000-2004)

The eccentric, KFC bucket-wearing guitar virtuoso genius joined the band in 2000 to finally realise Axl's vision of a line-up with three guitarists (he previously tried a Slash/Gilby/Zakk Wylde combo, but it didn't work). When the band emerged in 2001, Buckethead immediately became the most famous member of the new line-up for all the wrong reasons. He eventually left the band in 2004 to concentrate on his countless other projects, including Colonel Claypool's Bucket O' Bernie Brains.

cool read, but it's from 2006?

No 2007

oh really...


those bolded sentances pretty much says it's from 2006

Chris Pitman rules

The article is new, obviously the information on bumblefoot had been written last year however the first paragraph of the whole article clearly shows this has been finalised and published this year (2007). Seems like a mistake on the writer's part  :hihi:  :peace:

yup no big deal at all, we' cool :hihi: :peace:

cool read, nice to have it wrapped up like that.

 : ok:

cool,very nice informations

"During the show, Sorum had mentioned to Axl that the guitarist would be the perfect person to fill in for Slash until they could convince him to rejoin the band." - Untrue, he was suggested by Matt to become the new rhythm guitarist.

"Ron almost certainly won't appear on Chinese Democracy" - Del James' article implied otherwise.

"Other projects include the electronica project, ZAUM which he worked on with Tool's Danny Carey. Only a four track demo tape is available; however the track Merkaba was played live by Tool and released on their limited edition CD/DVD Salival." - Untrue, only a namesake song.

"he previously tried a Slash/Gilby/Zakk Wylde combo, but it didn't work" - Untrue, Gilby was gone by the time Zakk jammed with GNR.

Where did he get this info from? There was a rumour about it last year but that's it. Good article though.

Fist one, how could we know, i mean a guy to replace slash until he comes back is just a replacement, not a lead guitarist or a rythm guitarist...

second, ron will be on the album, we know that now, because of what del said, which this writer could have missed, and ron said so himself not long ago after this story was written...

last, your absolutely right....

i think it's cool tho to read about what records the other members have contributed on, where they come from etc. it it's acurate that is...

First... originally wrote in 2006, I changed bits around when I finally submitted it to a professional place this year, and must have missed a few things.

Second... I tried to make it as accurate as possible.  Any mistakes, or things that have been proven wrong since then, I apologise for.  I do still think that it is the most comprehensive biography of the new members around, though.

Thirdly... Can I request that everybody click the link?  Even if all you do is wait for it to load and then close the window.  I'm getting paid by the number of hits the page gets. :rofl:

if that's true, i' can click it a bunch of times if that works? :hihi: :rofl: :peace: :beer:

I understand Robin was suggested by Matt to replace Paul Tobias. Hence the famous Axl line "I want him play lead".

only that he was suggested to replace slash

I got the Robin Finck thing from a few sources, including this one from Q magazine in 2001...

A year on, Matt Sorum introduced Rose to former Nine Inch Nail guitarist Robin Finck, advising that he would make a great foil for Slash - who could then be restroed to the lineup Rose said, "No, he would be a great replacement for Slash."

you seem to say that both finck and stinson are the longest serving member (not members) of the new guys. that cant be true in both cases, only in 1, as you say one joined in 97 and the other in 99.

Well, they both joined in 97.? But in 99, Robin left.? So they've both been through the same stuff, but because Robin rejoined in 2000 it technically makes Tommy the longest serving member - and the only one I used the term with whilst talking about them.? I did mention the fact Robin briefly left in there. ;)

OK i was a lil wrong bu so are you. you actually say that stinson got the call up, er, call, in 98. you do mention fincks absence but im not sure what that had to do with my point.

in fact, this may well mean that they are roughly equal in their time as members, taking robins absence into account????

wow jimmy this is a very cool read....i hope you dont mind but i posted it on rosesofvelvet too :beer:

Let me be a "band nerd" here for just a minute...

Portraits in Rhythm is not a music theory book, but just a book of short snare drum etudes (exercises) for snare drummers.

I do like the article--thanks for sharing it!

Great article man. Very well written... Loved it. I'm gonna translate to portuguese to put in my board, if you don't mind..

No problem.  If you could, could ya please include the link and ask people to click on it, too? :rofl:

Yeah, a very fun read!  And I learned that I share a birthday with Fortus, which is cool.

I know this isn't a Tool forum, but the live version of Merkaba on Salival is actually a reworked medley of Psychedlic Experience and Merkaba from the Zaum demo.

very nice

Great read!

I clicked on the link, as well...  : ok:

I thought I read somewhere that Sorum recommended Finck to Axl in the hopes that Axl would see the error of his ways and do whatever he needed to do to get Slash back.

tommy stinson replaced duff in 1998.
and yeah, it's true about axl wanting robin to play lead, after matt suggested him as a new rhythm guitarist.
thank god for that! :beer:

Good read for people not on the board, who may know nothing about new gnr-most of it we know, but it is fairly accurate-I think Matt said bring him in to play with Slash, Axl shot back "no, I want him to play lead"-it's interesting, I wonder if Matt knew at the time, or the decision had been made to have 3 guitar players-that might be why Matt said bring him in, I'm not sure Matt was thinking rhythm guitarist

Thankz For Info...

This Guys = Guns N' Fuckin' Roses.

hbk '

Unfortunately, it seems that my article has been outranked by a retard... typical. ::)

damn, that sucks  :no:

Thank you for this article, good read.

While we are on the topic of who these guys are. I wanted to open up a discussion about the relationships between the members and what we all think or perceive as their attitudes towards the name Gun n' Roses.

   First off, do you think that the band is in fact a democracy? I mean obviously Axl will make the final call on things but do you think there really is open discussions and or debates on what's going on.

   Another point I wanted to bring up was do you guy's think the band might be saying to Axl enough already let's get this monster out there. I don't mean this to start controversy but the members must be proud of their accomplishments on the record and I'm sure they all want it out there for everyone to hear. Of course we know Axls attitude, no one is going to push him around, but a little pressure. 

  On the other hand they could be thinking, fuck it, I get my paycheck I'm on call when we have gigs, I show up ready to play, if we record I'm ready to record.

  I made a note of this because of the other "projects" the different members have going on all the time, Dizzy with Hookers and Blow, Stinson out with Asylum, we Fortus works like hell, Brain you know, and Bumblefoot well he's all over the place.

  What you think?     

Well, I think this band is a democracy, but some people have a bigger say over others. E.g. Axl has the majoritive say, Tommy has a massive input, then Robin...see where I'm going?

Also with the issue of whether they really want it out or not...I think Robin must be dying for this to come out and I think the others must be too, but maybe they don't voice their opinion as much as they normally would because of Axl's notorious temper? Well thats just my opinion, probably wrong, but I thought I would say it. Oh yeh, just one more point. You talked about wondering if they think 'fuck it, its just about the money'...Lets go back to that notorious Brain quote...when he said its all about the money. It must be a combination...I don't think he would be there JUST for the money, but I think he won't be there JUST for the music either, because no-one would really want to stay with a band with inactivity for such long periods of time if they weren't being subsidised very nicely, but then again, they want to stay because the music may be that good and they would want their names to go down in history.

brain was joking. Could be when he said that he was in the band (almost) for love.

about the band democracy, tommy interviews will tell you a bit.
Most any organization in democracy has someone in charge.

Good work, MrRedfield : ok:


:headbanger:

This is Guns N' Roses so live with it........ :beer:

It must have taken a while to write this article, and it turned out very well.
Thanks for the effort. It was a good read.