Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Recently we asked Richard Fortus if he could answer some questions for us. He didn't feel comfortable answering questions about GnR, but in the following, he talks about how he met Frank Ferrer, Chris Pitman's status in the band, and how playing with Izzy was, among other things.

The questions were mostly put together by me, but with contributions from the other admins at the Source: Mango and jazjme. The interview happened thanks to jazjme, so on my behalf: thanks for that.

Most GnR fans may not know you all that well, but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing this acoustic Love Spit Love video back in the mid 90s on MTV Europe, and I think it must've gotten quite high rotation as well. I realised this while listening to that Love Spit Love album, and I have to say it's a pretty cool album. How was it to record that album with Richard Butler? And how did Frank Ferrer get involved with that?

Richard: I actually did 2 records with Love Spit Love.  Richard Butler had asked me to help him write a "solo" record after we finished a Furs tour.  We began writing and after a while he decided that it wouldn't really be fair to call it a Richard Butler album, since the 2 of us had written everything together and it had more of a band feeling. After all of the songs were written we signed a record deal and started auditioning drummers.  We auditioned loads of drummers in NY. 

I was walking down St. Marks and ran in to Frank as he was closing up a shoe shop.  I remembered him from his old band the Beautiful.  They had opened for my old band (Pale Divine).  His band had just broken up, so I invited him down to audition and he got the gig.  So we did the first LSL record and then toured to support it.  After that, we switched record labels and signed with Maverick/Warner.  That label was really hot at that time, but they really dropped the ball on our record.  I thought that was a great record, but we toured and then Richard, Frank and I got together with John Ahston and Tim Butler and did a few more Psychedelic Furs tours. 

Actually, right after the last LSL tour, Frank and I had been playing with a couple of friends from the East Village in NY in a band called Honky Toast.  There was a huge buzz around that band in NYC.  We ended up in this huge bidding war.  All the majors were trying to sign that band.  It was a band we were just doing for fun. We ended up signing this big deal with Epic and doing a record.  We did a little touring, but we terrible management and we weren't a very healthy bunch at that time.  After that, Frank and I did some more stuff with the Furs.  Frank is a natural talent.  He's one of the best rock drummers i have ever had the pleasure of playing with.  We've played together so much, we know what the other is going to do before it happens.  A sort of telepathic communication.

You also played in Pale Divine prior to joining Love Spit Love.

Richard: Pale Divine was my first band.  We toured and became very popular in the midwest and eventually signed with Atlantic records.  We toured with the Furs and during that tour the Furs asked me to join them onstage everynight after our set.  I worked with Butler for the next 12 years.  When I moved to NY, i began doing sessions.  I did loads of different types of sessions.  Movie scores, tv ads, pop records, hip hop, country, zydeco, etc...  I love to play different styles of music. I love music and i love the challenge of playing styles I'm not as well versed in.  I worked with loads of different types of artists.  I just love to make music and I'm still amazed that I can make a living doing it.  I feel incredibly fortunate. 

You've also played with people like Britney, N'Sync and more recently Nena. How do you compare working with artists like these to playing with GnR, Pale Divine, Love Spit Love or any other of your own bands.

Richard: It's a very different experience when you go in to do a session.  It's great to be able to take someone else's song and add something to it.  it's very different than when it is your song.  I enjoy them both equally.

Could you confirm that Chris Pitman is an official member?

Richard: I honestly don't know.

I saw you live with Izzy this summer and you two really seemed to hit it off live. Izzy wrote several of the songs you're playing, so from your view, how does it feel to have him walk into the band now, and how is playing with Izzy?

Richard: I really love Izzy.  He's a real talent and it's easy to see where a good 90% of the song riffs on Appetite came from after having played with him.  I had the oppourtunity of getting to know him while we were in Europe, and he's probably become one of my favorite people.  He's very genuine.  We have a lot in common and he is someone that i can really relate to. It's an honor to call him a friend.

Anything else you're currently up to that you'd like to share?

Richard: Recently, I've been working on the new Spiderman 3 video game score, writing and recording with Puddle of Mudd for their new record, i just played on a record by a new artist on Def Jam called Kerli, I'm doing some music for Apple, Red Bull and various commercials and hopefully i will have time to do some more recording with Crystal Method for their next record.

(Feel free to post this interview elsewhere, but remember to credit www.gnrsource.com.)

http://www.gnrsource.com/forum/

Wow cool interview  : ok:


HUH  ???

Yeah, the Pitman question is pretty weird. I don't know why did he answer that he isn't 100% sure about it.

"Recently we asked Richard Fortus if he could answer some questions for us. He didn't feel comfortable answering questions about GnR"


Why is it that we hear these band members say this so often ?

There seriously better be something huge in the works for all this secrecy.

I don't get what's such a big deal they can't say what's going on. Unless, they truly have no idea.

That would be bad. ? ?:crying:


/bringbackadler

Well i thought Pitman was an official bandmember....obviously i was wrong  :-\

cool interview,he is very busy man

In a certain light, this interview can go a long way towards fueling the "Axl + hired musicians" argument. ?I can't even begin to imagine all the legal ramifications and goings-on in the GnR world in terms of contracts, membership, etc., and quite honestly, I'm not going to put that much effort into it. ?I'm grateful to have the band touring and recording, to hear new music, and to have Richard as part of GnR.

thanx guys!

Him refusing to answer any questions about CD seems weird. ?It sort of lends itself to the theory that the members (besides axl) really have no idea what is going on with Cd. ?In interviews they never seem to answer a question 100 percent. ?It reminds me alot of politicians when they try to evade a question.

what do you think,did izzy help axl in making of chinese democracy???

how can you be sure these interviews with diferent forums are true> there seems to be a lot of them lately .
uimean you never see them coming herere fora interview do you? the biggest forum of them all.

I see people here already question the members vs. Axl deal. I can't see any reason to put that much into his answer... the way he answered it, he only seems to really not know. I mean, I could probably follow up with a question of whether he's an official member, and I'm not sure he'd say he is.

When he said he wasn't comfortable with questions about GnR, I have a feeling that he just didn't want to say something wrong, and he's thus avoiding those questions. And that's fair. In the end, Axl would be the right person to ask about this.

samoice: If you don't want to believe it, then fine. But I have run a GnR songinfo page for 6-7 years, and I don't think I would want to risc that page's credibility by posting a made up interview. In the end, I guess the Fortus webmaster could get confirmation that it's real... it's no big deal and I don't care if people check it with him.

it's not like Fortus don't know what the fuck is going on with GN'R.Every current member knows the status of CD.He just don't want to reveal any information that might cause problem to him.Remember what happen to Ron when he stated that he was approached by GN'R couple of years ago...Thats why they don't want to take any risk which might jeopardize their career.

Thanks for this great interview. : ok:
I don't see the point in not believeing that this is a genuine interview.

Maybe Richard can't tell if Chris is a member or not because he doesn't know what Chris' contract says.
But I doubt that the other band members do not accept Chris as a fellow member.

not to toot my own horn or anything but i KNOW that this is a genuine interview, i know the interviewer and i got to know part of the answers richard gave directly after he had given the interviewer his answers, even before it was posted at gnrsource.com.

Good Interview!  :)

Thanks for posting it!

Good interview--thanks.

pretty interesting interview, thanks for posting!!!

I think if Chris wasn't a fulltime member he wouldn't have played bass at the fashion show, they could have just got some random to do it and left Chris twiddling his thumbs.

Also, did he not write part of Maddy?

Pitman does alot more than write a part of Maddy.


And even on the website and myspace- he's put down as a bandmember.
Ask Tommy- Tommy said he was an official member before.

UUff... thankz for info ... Look Richard versus Izzy In Think About You... 20 / Dec. in L.A.

A M A Z I N G

hbk *

I hafta agree with you here... Pitman is introduced, put on shirts, etc... He's in...

Great interview guys, thanks!

Pretty interesting how Richard signed with so many labels in his career. He seems young, but pretty experient...

I think he was just joking about Pitman.

love this bit, he is so versatile, he's got projects everywhere! and some major names like a Spiderman video game, Apple and Red Bull commercials, etc.. pretty cool stuff

If you guys haven't already, I strongly recommend the Pale Divine and Love Spit Love albums.  Honky Toast... not so much.  Good songs on there, but they're pretty basic.
It was a great interview, and I too consider Chris Pitman to be an official member.

Just for the record we did this Q and A via email. and it was more about getting to know more about richard to share with fans, we asked 12 questions 7 of which Richard replied to.......the last thing he said in his reply email was.

 That's all the questions i feel comfortable commenting on.
richard


and we were very appreciative about him answering any.

good stuff jaz  :beer:

I'm guessing he just didn't want to get into the whole who is considered an official member debate etc. and exactly what that means etc..

Thanks for posting.

Yes, definitely.

I believe Izzy's presence will shine through on this album.

I'm hoping he is the reason we will still have some of the old Guns feel.


/bringbackadler

naturally one can't help but ponder what the 5 questions he felt uncomfortable commenting on were. :P


Good interview.
Thanks for sharing.


noooooope.

Anything's possible in Axl's world and something like this wouldn't surprise me one bit when considering the friendship and history of these two dudes.

Fortus is jealous of Pitman, plain and simple.  How can you play in a band and not know the guy?  He said the same thing when EMS tried to interview him... something along the lines of how he didn't really know Pitman so he couldn't answer.

Clearly, Fortus hates the fact that Pitman's getting more and more attention.  I'll bet Fortus felt pretty good about being the sexiest member of the band.  But then Pitman stole the spotlight at the Walk of Style Awards. 

Did anyone notice he spelled Pitman's name "Pittman?"  C'mon, that controversy was cleared up months ago.  He's gotta know how to spell his name by now.  Clearly, he misspelled it on purpose -- a little underhanded dig at Pitman.  Then saying he doesn't even know if he's in the band?!  C'mon Dick, what do you think he's doing up there all night?  Just hanging out, wiggling the keyboard?!  He co-wrote Silkworms andMadagascar, and if you've heard the new Better leak, then you know what a huge part he's going to play in the album.   :rant: :rant:

or maybe some one gets mad easily because the love of his life wasn't well talked about in an e-mail :hihi:

I think people should read the info as it is. It isnt about GNR , and some people are really goin far to interpret but that was to be expected I suppose.

Yea, maybe.

But Fortus just rubs me the wrong way when it comes to Pitman.? We asked him whether Pitman's beats were funky or super funky and? TWICE he responded saying how he really didn't think he knew Pitman well enough to answer.

I mean, c'mon... the guy's in your band for Christ's sake!? Say his beats are "super funky."? Even if he didn't really think they deserved the "super," he should want to make his bandmate sound good.? I just don't get Fortus.?

Axl said on the kevin and bean show in may i think were he named all the band members, and pitman was named, so there.

Even though i still wouldn't call the band gnr  :rofl:

Don't put so much into this... these aren't answers he dwelled that much on, and people here seems to twist words. I don't know if the jealousy comment about Fortus/Pitman are anything but a joke, but if it's serious, come on... This doesn't mean 1% of what people gather from it. I feel unpleasant that an interview I'm behind causes this much discussion about an issue that is probably insignificant.

Yes, we should be aware of the fact that Richard took time to answer these questions and he did it good.
I accept the fact that the fans of Chris defend him when people are bashing him, but I don't get the point of all those PitManiacs anymore. He is a cool guy but do not make it into a "running gag". Nobody will take it serious anymore.
And why should Richard give a comment if Chris' music is funky or super funky?  :rofl:
Totally out of interest. (for me at least)

i think we should be grateful gnrsource conducted this interview and stop building up all this controversy "richard vs. chris", it's disrespectful to the bandmembers and it's disrespectful to those who conducted this interview, so stop making it something it's not. of course richard wouldn't  be "jealous" of pitman, that's ridicilous, so i suggest you "pitmaniacs" tone it down a little bit, you've had your fun, now it's just an annoyance. i don't think either chris or richard would appreciate seeing this controversy as far as putting them up against each other goes, that's not what true fans of the band should do, we should support them all. thanks jan and jaz for this interview, i enjoyed it.

This can't be for real......




/jarmo

Its not and I got the humour. It's a tad advanced...

Almost a bit too weird...

geez some people are a little too tightly wound around here.

i feel like fortus doesn't really say much because pitman wants to stay a little mysterious. i don't know why but i get a vibe like pitman kind of treats gnr with caution, like its potentially damaging to his cred or something. why not step up and get the glory for doing such awesome things with the gnr sound?

Why's everyone so worried about Pittman's status ?

He records w/ Guns (supposedly). I know that he tours w/ them.

So why is everyone wondering if he's an official member ?

And more so, what qualifies being an official member ?



/bringbackadler

when it comes to a band, i think that is pretty much self-explanatory :confused:

Yeah, but I'm not talking any band.

I'm talking Guns N Roses.    : ok:



/bringbackadler

Why the question?

I think for the first time I can make sense out of your post, bringbackadler.

Whereas I agree that he wants to remain mysterious, I don't think he believes GN'R damages his cred. ?He's friends with Tool, who have made an entire career out of being mysterious, so I guess he's just going by their example.

Thanks ppbebe !

Your opinion means alot to me.? ? ?: ok:


/bringbackadler

Should have asked Richard if Richard was an official member. :-\

I think Axl's the only one allowed to say, who in fact is an official member.

More than likely because it seems to change so often.



/bringbackadler

Funny that Pitman was in the band longer than Fortus.

Hilarious

How would Finck fans respond if Pitman gave an interview in which he said he wasn't even sure if Robin was "officially" a part of Guns N' Roses?

They'd laugh at Pitman?? Finck is the LEAD guitarist.. Pitman is the SECONDARY keyboard player... Face it guys Dizzy Reed is more important than Pitman!

Dizzy has been in the band longer than anyone other than Axl. Show some respect.

And the Pitmaniacs have a point, it's pretty weak of Fortus to not confirm that he's in the band. I'd bet Pitman is more in the band than Fortus is anyway.

If Dizzy was so great, then why'd they even need Pitman. ?Dizzy's a great pianist, but he's not a tech expert. ?Axl was smart enough to realize that. ?Dizzy's great in an early 90's kinda way. ?But Pitman is the future.

Pitman's role differs to dizzys.

enough is enough. Or are you trying to alienate the fans and the members from each other?


length is less important than quality.  ???

Quality?

The newest leak of Better had WAY more Pitman.  Meanwhile, Finck was kinda buried in the mix.

Believe me, Axl knows a thing or two about "quality."

Like I said, each plays a different role in the band. They are all important. Or they wouldn't be in.

What's your point here? This is clearly not the final version. The H-D ad had Better way closer to the final version and had Robin all over the place. The mix will put everything loud enough for the better sound, not just to show some member for the sake of it.
 
Also, I bet you would be surprise how much of those so called "Pitman sounds" in this new demo are Dizzy's job too. Or you think he's playing bongo in this song? :P

Dizzy's amazing on the bongos.? I'm sure his work is great too.

I was just responding to someone who who implied that Finck was more important than Pitman, just because he plays a guitar.?

Pitman this, Pitman that.

This is about the Richard interview.

I don't think Richard, or the rest of the band, are the right guys to answer questions about the business side of the band.



To be honest, I don't even understand why Chris was brought into the interview.




/jarmo

Yeah, but he plays synth too in Better, not bongos. So, some of the sounds may be Dizzy, not Pitman.

In a guitar driven band, he's has the biggest role in the leads. That says a lot.

I guess the question (and the answer) was more like a joke. Like jazjme said, Richard seems like having a dark sense of humor.

seriously, you are doing pitman a disfavor. i used to be on mygnr.com, defending pitman and wishing for him to get the respect that he deserves, but people like you who take it so over the top (every day) just makes people tired of it. it's not funny, it's not helping pitman, it's just a very, very, un-funny annoyance.

He's got a lot of fans. ?People are interested in Pitman. ?

The only reason it seems like an issue is because this is the third time that Fortus has dodged his chance to say ANYTHING about Pitman. ?The other guys in the band have no problem just saying something cool about Pitman. ?I've spoken to Dizzy and Axl about him. ?BBF said a bunch of sweet stuff about Pitman in his last online chat. ?Brain and Baz had no problem saying nice things about Pitman.

I understand being all secretive about Chinese Democracy... but when he won't even say if Pitman's a member of their band. ?WTF? ?And not knowing how to spell his name after all the work we've done to try and solve that mystery? ?It's just baffling.

But you're right. ?Back on topic.

I'm glad Fortus gave long, detailed answers. ?Jan did a great job of asking questions that gave him a chance to elaborate. ?I'm really glad Fortus put some thought into (most of) his answers.

and they wont stop when you continue to tell them that they are doing it wrong or whatever, if we all just let them be and not care about that they bring pitman up in every thread they might get tired of it in like 2 weeks, but your posts telling them to stop it don't help ;)

I think pitman is great but this is a fortus thread and what fortus said i take like a joke as we all probably should : ok:

no, god forbid i express my opinion on a message board.

axlgurl, I guess SeriousYou'n is saying that we better not to feed the attention seeker with what they are after.

The interview was a pleasure to read.

Fortus is a professional and a purist when it comes to music and I believe the questions you asked highlight this.

I'll give you the reason: I asked questions about Richard's relation with Frank because we know very little about Frank. Maybe I didn't get a whole lot more, but I think Richard gave a cool answer. It's the exact same thing with Pitman: He has fans, and I believe he's more important than what many fans seems to think. Thus, like a previous post said, he's interesting too and for that reason, I asked about him. I didn't think a whole lot about it, and I thought I'd get a "yes, he is" answer, just to get it confirmed. Had all the questions been answered, I think it would've made more sense, because it would've been in more of a CD/GnR context. The question now seems lost, and I somewhat wish it had not been asked, because to me it's by far the least interesting answer in this interview. It could even be a joke, like others are suggesting... that it gets this much attenton now, just sucks.

Yeah, unfortunately a very good interview gets an strange attention that it doesn't deserve.
Especially because people keep talking about one single line.

We should talk about the other answers that are way more interesting.

Jan, don't feel bad about a thing.  That was a great interview, and the fans should be kissing your ass for landing it doing such a great job.

Yes, for all the slower members of the forum, the Fortus/Pitman jealousy thing was a joke.  Jesus Christ.  Lighten up.  You guys are as serious as Chinese Democracy. 

I think richard found the pitman question dumb and because of that gave it a "dumb" an ironic answer back as a joke or something maybe..


Yes ppbebe that was exactly what i meant thank you, but AG always seems to want to misunderstand and fight with me for some reason ???

I understood the Frank question because he's the latest addition to the band and all. I just didn't understand why anybody would doubt Chris' involvement with the band.



/jarmo

I believe it was done as a kind of hommage to all of the fans of Chris and because it is obvious that some people do not see what involvement Chris may have on GN'R music.
And to show the ones who are still talking shit about this or that member that Chris is in the band.
Unfortunately it ended with a uncertain answer. To me he is a member, no doubt about it, but maybe there is a difference (GN'R member and GN'R musical employee) as far as contracts are concerned or whatever. I don't know.

Well you do know that GNR is a guitar driven band right?? They always will be... No matter how much synth comes about, the guitar will be the most important instrument in this band...

The Dizzy Reed comment was said just because you guys know only a fraction of what Pitman has actually done... Like someone already said, Dizzy may have done everthing you've given Pitman credit for...

maybe because Pittman is the SECOND key board player...most bands dont even have one keyboard player...

Pittman is the SYNTH MASTER !

 :yes:


/bringbackadler

Why do people label Chris as the 2nd keyboard player?

Do the guitarists wear numbers?

Well sort of, when people were speculating who'd replace Buckethead they always asked, 'Who will be the third guitarist?'

I don't think it implies that Pitman is lesser to Dizzy.

Why do people bitch about having two keysmen, when there was also two on the UYI tour.

no the guitarists dont wear numbers...but here is a number for you...Dizzy Reed has been in the band for 17 years!!! thus making Chris Pittman the SECOND keyboard player...anyone want to disagree with that?

Yeah I disagree, it's pretty stupid to number-rank the keyboardists based on length or involvement, I think Dizzy and Chris have very different roles in the band and shouldn't be compared as greater and lesser.

I dont have a problem with two... There was only 1 in the illusion days.. Zig Zag toured only... Never listed as a member...

People jock Pitman here more than I jock Buckethead, and that's saying something.  :hihi: Your persistence is admirable, if not annoying.

Nice Fortus read. I like him.

Some of us only do it because certian people have to mention him everytime they post  :rofl:

Well he relates to everything GNR.

people just do it because they think its cool or different to do so....like if their favorite member is Pittman they are some cool fan who is into the obscure members....I only say this because Pittman has not done ANYTHING that we are aware of for Guns N Roses...yes i know he is going to be on CD, however we still have no idea what he has done on it...and dont go saying "oh you can hear his influence on the leaks" because none of you know who did what on any of the leaks yet...its all speculation....

Just when I think i'm the only one who thinks like this... John comes along  : ok:

They all do what Axl tells em to anyway most likely, so what's the difference, right?

This thread is surreal.  I'm so used to seeing the new and old GNR advocates at each others' throats, but now all the new GNR advocates are fighting about ranking the importance of the band's members.   :rofl:

Jeez, I think Richard gave his answer in a jokingly manner, mocking the whole thing about Pitman. I really, really doubt that he doesn't know if Chris is in the band or not ( ::)) Cool interview...

It's their religion  : ok:

I take it serious too but I know how to take a joke about it also.

Yes, you are right, synths are the future. I just love how it's sounds all spacey and sci-fi like and stuff.
Get a grip boy, A-Ha and OMD called from the 80's, they want their sound back...

lol nice one.....dont forget that we have heard NOTHING from Chris Pittman...yet people call him the future......if it turns out he did alot on CD and its good...ill give him all the credit in the world...i just dont understand this obsession with the back up keyboard player...

Chuck Berry called from the 50's! He wants his sound back too.

 :confused: Haha, what an awesome thread.
Maybe Richard just likes messing with Pitman fans kinda like Trent Reznor likes messing with GNR fans.


Seriously though, a really good interview. I think it's cool how highly he speaks of Izzy, although it surprised me a little. When he said he could see where 90% of appetites riffs came from, it made me wonder about if they tried to incorporate any of that old sound into CD (GNR always melts sounds and styles into itself, so it's interesting to think of their own sound as being now an influence on them!)

Also, he's writing AND recording with Puddle of Mudd?? They're not exactly an unknown band, i wonder how commited to that project he is with Chinese Democracy looming so 'soon.'

he has done his part for CD for now, so i see no reason not to work with others if that's what he wanna do, and it's not like he left the band, he has always worked with others like that

Puddle of Mudd have been stagnant essentially since their first album and have been plagued with lineup changes ever since.

This isn't true at all.? I've seen Pitman live with GnR four times now.? I've heard a shit load of leaks.? I've listened to Lusk, Zaum and Tool.? I absolutely know what Pitman brings to GnR.

And seriously dude -- everybody knows his name is spelled "Pitman" now.  Just like Fortus, you think you're being clever, but you're just being rude.

Eat it.

hmm no actually i spelled his name wrong....ok so its Pitman...whats the difference...i have been listening to GNR for 20 years...and I can care less about a back up keyboard player.....too bad...live with it....I have nothing against Pitman...but I am sick of people like you acting like the guy is god when he proved NOTHING in GNR yet......once again just because you like the most obscure member of the band does not make you some super cool fan......

*co-signs*

i agree 100%, it's idiotic.

BUT

DON'T FEED THE TROLL!

Well I'm not saying rock n' roll is the future, now am I?
I just find it ridiculous to hear all these people talking about a more updated/modern sound. I couldn't care less about how modern it sounds, as long as it sounds good, it can sound modern, old, deprecated, fresh, stale, retro, updated, whatever... so forgive me the stab, will ya?

http://www.comics2film.com/FanFrame.php?f_id=24931

Richard Fortus interview
February 24, 2006. Written by Jan, GnRsource.com

Recently we asked Richard Fortus if he could answer some questions for us. He didn't feel comfortable answering questions about GnR, but in the following, he talks about how he met Frank Ferrer, Chris Pitman's status in the band, and how playing with Izzy was, among other things.

The questions were mostly put together by me, but with contributions from the other admins at the Source: Mango and jazjme. The interview happened thanks to jazjme, so on my behalf: thanks for that.

Most GnR fans may not know you all that well, but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing this acoustic Love Spit Love video back in the mid 90s on MTV Europe, and I think it must've gotten quite high rotation as well. I realised this while listening to that Love Spit Love album, and I have to say it's a pretty cool album. How was it to record that album with Richard Butler? And how did Frank Ferrer get involved with that?

Richard: I actually did 2 records with Love Spit Love.  Richard Butler had asked me to help him write a "solo" record after we finished a Furs tour.  We began writing and after a while he decided that it wouldn't really be fair to call it a Richard Butler album, since the 2 of us had written everything together and it had more of a band feeling. After all of the songs were written we signed a record deal and started auditioning drummers.  We auditioned loads of drummers in NY.

I was walking down St. Marks and ran in to Frank as he was closing up a shoe shop.  I remembered him from his old band the Beautiful.  They had opened for my old band (Pale Divine).  His band had just broken up, so I invited him down to audition and he got the gig.  So we did the first LSL record and then toured to support it.  After that, we switched record labels and signed with Maverick/Warner.  That label was really hot at that time, but they really dropped the ball on our record.  I thought that was a great record, but we toured and then Richard, Frank and I got together with John Ahston and Tim Butler and did a few more Psychedelic Furs tours.

Actually, right after the last LSL tour, Frank and I had been playing with a couple of friends from the East Village in NY in a band called Honky Toast.  There was a huge buzz around that band in NYC.  We ended up in this huge bidding war.  All the majors were trying to sign that band.  It was a band we were just doing for fun. We ended up signing this big deal with Epic and doing a record.   We did a little touring, but we terrible management and we weren't a very healthy bunch at that time.  After that, Frank and I did some more stuff with the Furs.  Frank is a natural talent.  He's one of the best rock drummers i have ever had the pleasure of playing with.   We've played together so much, we know what the other is going to do before it happens.  A sort of telepathic communication.

You also played in Pale Divine prior to joining Love Spit Love.

Richard: Pale Divine was my first band.  We toured and became very popular in the midwest and eventually signed with Atlantic records.  We toured with the Furs and during that tour the Furs asked me to join them onstage everynight after our set.  I worked with Butler for the next 12 years.  When I moved to NY, i began doing sessions.  I did loads of different types of sessions.  Movie scores, tv ads, pop records, hip hop, country, zydeco, etc...  I love to play different styles of music. I love music and i love the challenge of playing styles I'm not as well versed in.  I worked with loads of different types of artists.  I just love to make music and I'm still amazed that I can make a living doing it.  I feel incredibly fortunate.

You've also played with people like Britney, N'Sync and more recently Nena. How do you compare working with artists like these to playing with GnR, Pale Divine, Love Spit Love or any other of your own bands.

Richard: It's a very different experience when you go in to do a session.  It's great to be able to take someone else's song and add something to it.   it's very different than when it is your song.   I enjoy them both equally.

Could you confirm that Chris Pitman is an official member?

Richard: I honestly don't know.

I saw you live with Izzy this summer and you two really seemed to hit it off live. Izzy wrote several of the songs you're playing, so from your view, how does it feel to have him walk into the band now, and how is playing with Izzy?

Richard: I really love Izzy.  He's a real talent and it's easy to see where a good 90% of the song riffs on Appetite came from after having played with him.  I had the oppourtunity of getting to know him while we were in Europe, and he's probably become one of my favorite people.  He's very genuine.   We have a lot in common and he is someone that i can really relate to. It's an honor to call him a friend.

Anything else you're currently up to that you'd like to share?

Richard: Recently, I've been working on the new Spiderman 3 video game score, writing and recording with Puddle of Mudd for their new record, i just played on a record by a new artist on Def Jam called Kerli, I'm doing some music for Apple, Red Bull and various commercials and hopefully i will have time to do some more recording with Crystal Method for their next record.

only thing wrong is jan misstyped it was feb 07!

He was a God before he ever joined Guns N' Roses.

"Chris Pitman created God" - Bumblefoot

Is Ron a troll too?