Here Today... Gone To Hell!

VELVET REVOLVER's SLASH Talks WEILAND Split, Search For New Singer - Apr. 3, 2008 
 
RollingStone.com spoke exclusively with VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash today regarding the band's decision to split with frontman Scott Weiland.

On Weiland's departure:

"Everybody?s just very relieved. This is something that?s been coming down for a while. I know everybody is tying the STP [STONE TEMPLE PILOTS reunion tour] thing to it, but it started way before that. We just had a lot of commitments to fulfill, so we just had to drag this thing out until the obligations were finished. Basically, we're just excited about finding someone else and moving on."

On the search for a new frontman:

"There's some people, but it's really premature to start naming names. We actually worked with a guy, I won't mention his name, before we left to go to the UK and there just wasn't enough to break him in, so we're gonna work with him again some more, and maybe some other guys as well."

On Weiland's recommendation that the band hire former SKID ROW vocalist Sebastian Bach:

"I thought [Weiland] could be a little bit more imaginative. I'm not sure if that was meant to be a pot shot or what. Whatever, it's not worth any real drama." 
 

very interesting read.

Seems their is some bad blood to a degree with scott. which isn't suprising really considering the past few days/weeks.

I wonder if all of this "behind the scenes" feuding started when Slash appeared at Axl's house in 2006 and reportedly told Beta that Scott was a fraud, lol. 

that happened in 2005.. but it came out in 2006, and slash never admitted it until 2007.

Yeah probably nothing to odo with the fact that Scott can be an asshole (and I'm not one of those anti-Scott fans either, but I recognize the truth). Also, Scott did fire off some serious shit about Acxl (calling him bald, etc.) that probably didn't go over too well, either. While Slash may or may not like Axl, I don't htink I've ever heard or read Duff saying anything bad about him, so maybe there was consternation there. Interestingly enough, not sure really heard Duff say shit about Scott, other than that quote about him missing the flight and he even tried to make that look good, albeit ina  sarcastic way.

you beat me to it Bob.

At least they stuck it out till the end of the tour.

Explained here:




Probably also explains why they focused on the UK and Ireland with only three shows outside those two.






/jarmo

Yeah , Once the STP thing was announced it seemed to go south. I honestly thought at first ( as did most people I knew ) that they'd each move on to respective side projects/solo work. But the fact still stands that they have a 3 album contract , so they kinda have to move on unless they are gonna do a live thing ( because there isn't enough for best of ).  Which is a 2 sided coin , because either A) They move on with a new singer and achieve better things or B) Get a new singer for the purpose of "fulfilling commitments"....

That depends on if the record company wants to invest in a third album.

They can't be too thrilled with the sales of Libertad or the loss of the front man with erratic behavior.


Duff had a contract with Geffen when he was about to release Beautiful Disease. It didn't come out.

Slash's Snakepit were signed to Geffen but the second album came out on Koch.






/jarmo

[/quote]

Yeah , Once the STP thing was announced it seemed to go south. I honestly thought at first ( as did most people I knew ) that they'd each move on to respective side projects/solo work. But the fact still stands that they have a 3 album contract , so they kinda have to move on unless they are gonna do a live thing ( because there isn't enough for best of ).  Which is a 2 sided coin , because either A) They move on with a new singer and achieve better things or B) Get a new singer for the purpose of "fulfilling commitments"....
[/quote]

I've got a feeling its the latter, unless they find a needle in a haystack and the band becomes better and makes each member happy.

I didn't even consider that really , I mean obviously the group has the right things needed to market the band. I'm sure they could convince them with the "right" singer that they have something more. Should be very interesting to see how all this plays out , if they have already started jamming around they must really wanna get going.

I'm sure there were an abundance of reasons for this collaboration to melt away, but did anyone else get the sense right from the beginning of this thing that Weiland had a complex about a certain lead singer?  Maybe he never felt comfortable being the guy who was seen as taking the place of Axl Rose next to Slash in a very big band.

I think he did have a bit of a complex about it, but it was many of the fans and listeners who seemed to see him as "taking the place of", and I'm sure he couldn't help but see it.  You know - when you're playing a VR show and people in the audience are holding up Axl signs or yelling for GnR.  That could create a complex & a pissed of attitude in a person.       

this is nuts.  You know when I think this started?  Around October of 07 when Scott fell of wagon.  I swear, the show I was at, he almost fell asleep sang wrong words of Patience and Duff and Slash were shaking heads.  I think that is when they realized, "We're about to get fucked", he is back to old Scott. 

If the trouble starting long before the STP thing and they were waiting until the obligations were finished,  I wonder why he told Billboard that Scott would be only be doing a "handful of STP shows" and that he was "itching to start new Velvet Revolver Disc"?

Slash Itching To Start New Velvet Revolver Disc

January 22, 2008

Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash says the group is planning a significantly shorter turnaround for its third album.

Slash tells Billboard.com that the group plans to start working in earnest on the follow-up to last year's "Libertad" in April

Why not just say nothing and finish the tour...maybe because they still had shows to play?

I think Baz should have been the choice of theres since the beginning :yes:




SAVAGE ANIMAL :headbanger:

I think this is wonderful. I loved the last two records for the most part but Im not a huge Weiland fan. Now we get to hear what these guys can do with someone else.
The future of this band depends a lot on how this next record turns out.

Yes, this is when they have nobody to blame but themselves.  This is when we hear real dirty gritty rock in roll.  This is when they bust out the Izzy CD (the one they wrote before Weiland joined) and let him be a co-writer.  This is when we finally get what we want from VR!!!!!!!!!!!!  I hope....

Oh my god , CD and A "bad ass" rock n roll disc from VR..... The world could implode i tell ya  :beer:

Its put up or shut up time for Slash, Duff and Matt.. Dave, I respect you regardless cause you are a great team player.  But now is the time we get what we were promised, as Scott Weiland says, "Mother Fucking Rock N Roll".  Big Machine wasn't that, bring on the good shit.  I am so ready!!

Doubtful, but fingers crossed.

If they aren't fired up now, they never will be.  They sacrificed so much musically for Weiland.  Well no more.  No more excuses. Get the dude with some pipes.  Let izzy write his lyrics if he can't.  VR needs a singer and frontman, not a singer/songwriter.  If he can write lyrics, great, but that SHOULD NOT be focus!!

when did you become clive Davis?

maybe they should just get christian aguliera to be the new singier then.

Well, he has a point.  Get the best "singer" now because Duff and Izzy can write great lyrics.  So if you have those 2, plus what you can add, awesome.  Brian Johnson saying Malcom and Angus lyrics for almost 30 years now.  He hasn't written lyrics since 1980.

Some people seem to be making a rather large assumption that Izzy will still want to work,or at least write lyrics for, the band.  I have no evidence,of course, that he won't but, equally, there's the possibility that he's moved on and might consider this a retrograde step.  After all, wasn't his material rejected by them before?

And even supposing he and Duff do collaborate on lyrics, I think an album approaching anything near the standard of AFD is out of the question, given the evidence of their solo projects after GNR.  (I know that no-one has openly voiced this wish but I do get a sense of an unspoken anticipation that great things will come out of the collaboration.)

I really don't mean to be the wet blanket in all this but I just think that those who're expecting this to be some kind of renaissance for VR are likely to end up being disappointed.

i gotta say, i'm with her on this one  :yes:

Whatever they do, they need a frontman who brings in something contemporary.

Ok here is some speculation on recent events.  Let me say from the start that I don't necessarily belive that this is the best course of action for VR - but I think it is a plausible possibility of recent events.

Remeber back on 5th March when Sebastian Bach went on SmartAss radio for an interview.  Just before he went on air he received a phone call that really rattled him.  He carried on about it clearly distracted saying "Fuck man Fuck" (insert excitable Bach adjectives here) etc etc "I just got a phone call that will change my life" etc etc.  Bach then went on to say words to the effect that it will make sense later when people look back on it.

Well the 15th of March I believe was the first VR date in the UK.

Now Slash comes out in this Rolling Stone interview saying:

"There's some people, but it's really premature to start naming names. We actually worked with a guy, I won't mention his name, before we left to go to the UK and there just wasn't enough to break him in, so we're gonna work with him again some more, and maybe some other guys as well."

Those dates I mention - 5th March Bach gets the phone call, then 15th March VR have their gig in the UK, therefore a short time in between for some practice/audition sessions.  Those dates kinda fit with Slash's statement........

(Remember I am not saying whether Bach should or shouldn't get the gig, I am simply putting foreward a hypothesis based on the dates etc and the things that happened and the comments that were made)

Now that's creative.  You'll look like a genious if that's true, and I think they could do some damage together, but I doubt it would happen.  Don't know why the guys would have such a change of heart after they supposedly really weren't considering him too intensely the first time around.  Unless "Angel Down" opened up their eyes, which is great and all.  But again, I highly doubt it.

far fetched, but could be, i guess

Yeah possible I spose. 

Personally I don't think it would be the match to get the most out of VR but it would probably be workable.

But hey - probably a long shot, I just thought all those events put together seemed kinda weird.

Personally, I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell of Baz joining VR but, if Slash had even been considering the idea, I would have hoped that he'd have been a little more diplomatic in his answer to Rolling Stone's enquiry about Weiland's comment.

"I thought [Weiland] could be a little bit more imaginative. I'm not sure if that was meant to be a pot shot or what. Whatever, it's not worth any real drama." 

Firstly, if Baz were to join VR, it wouldn't be only Weiland being 'unimaginative', it would follow that VR were being the same; not something I can see Slash acknowledging.   ;)

Secondly, although ambiguous, the final sentence could be taken by Baz to mean that it's inconsequential whether or not he joins the band; not a good starting point for any potential relationship, I would imagine.

Hey I agree with what you are saying.  But hey, from what I can tell Baz was bascially the bridesmaid (or close to it) the first time around with VR (which is kinda staggering to me) so I suppose anything is possible.

Well, Bach has range for sure!  They could do GNR style songs.  There are positives.

I just don't see it.  Bach has a big summer tour planned with his current band and Slash supposedly wants to get going right away (we all know how much he hates downtime).  So aside from all the obvious reasons, the schedules just don't seem to add up.

Fuck, I can't wait.  This is so exciting.   Just like the project days.  I hope Izzy is really involved this time for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you high?  You think Slash & Duff are going to choose Bach as the next singer  :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:???

You're fuckin' crazy , my friend

He brings NOTHING to the table, NOTHING  -  If that band chooses to go on, and really look for a singer, it is not going to be a washed up has-been
who most people outside of Sebastian Bach threads on GNR boards think is a fucking joke

Read my first post - I said that i don't think this is the best course of action for VR.  Whilst Bach brings some things to the table I don't belive he is the right guy for the job.  Hypothetically if he got the job I think we would be still left with VR producing something that is ok/good but still not quite right up there.

I was simply throwing a red herring into the mix based upon some recent events combined with some "left field thinking".

BTW - if he was such a joke I am sure a certain individual would not have gone out of his way to help him out with such a kind gesture of adding some killer vocals on a couple of songs - which I am sure meant some phenominal sales figures compared to what they would have been without his contribtion.

Lots of people may start viewing Velvet Revolver as a joke if they don't get things turned around.  We know you hate Sebastian, point taken!

Bach ain't gonna be the singer, same with Izzy.

Bach ain't being it is a good thing, Izzy not being it is a bad thing :P

Bach: Duff said his vocal audition sounded to much like Skid Row, Slash said negative things about him in the Slash bio, Bach is now asskissing good friends with Axl and said some negative stuff about VR. He just ain't gonna be it.

Izzy: I'll bet those 10 songs they recorded late 2002 are amazing, but Izzy isn't gonna be fully committed to this, he'll do a short tour (like he suggested in the first place) and release an album (classic album!) but that would be it. Even now the aspirations of VR would be a little higher, or in other words less underground. Then there's also Dave in the picture, what would his roll be? It wouldn't fit (not that I care about Dave but the guys from VR do).

I hope they'll make a good choice.. Weilands vocals weren't that bad but imo he brought too much of a modern/STP influence in VR. I hope with a new singer they'll deliver some more classic stuff again. I don't think VR is gonna throw in the towel completely at this point, seems from the quotes of Matt and Slash they're much further with moving on then we thought.

No one on Earth thinks more of Axl Rose's ability & talents than me - but his judgement is sometimes...shall we say.....strange

Remember, this is also the man who forced "his friend" Paul Tobias into the old Gnr and actually put him on stage with the new Gnr

Axl is very loyal to people he cares about, or trusts .........That in itself does not make Sebastian any more relevant or impressive in regards to today's music scene

I think we got your point the 1st 3 times that you do not like Baz.

Ok.  Maybe he isn't a great songwriter but the guy does have some pipes. 

I don't really think he would fit in with VR either but smearing him over and over isn't helping your point any.

Jarmo, I swear I am not trying to bring Axl into this BUT I want to know from u and Jim Bob etc


Does it make Slash look any better in you guys eyes that maybe a lot of this had to do with Scott talkin shit about Axl?

Seems to me that really offended Slash *remember he said I can talk about him cause I know him but u cant*


So if Slash didnt want to be in a band with him anymore cause of Scott saying that, does that win Slash back some respect points in you guys eyes?

Yes, I admit , I overdo it with the Baz Bashing - I don't mean to offend anyone who may like him

Solid point D --  I remember reading that as well - 

Is Slash on delayed reaction though?  Did he just wake up over 2 years later and get pissed off?

If this bothered him so much you would think he would have done something about it in 2005-2006 when these things actually occurred?  It's April of 2008 now, a bit late to be reacting about things said so long ago. 

Obviously there were other problems and factors here and with all the mudslinging these guys are doing at each other over the net, it's nearly impossible to figure out where the blame really lies.

A little too much analysis here..

Make no mistake, Scott left VR. 

VR did not leave Scott Weiland.

Smart money says if Slash wouldn't have made (then lied about) going to his ex bandmates home the VR house of cards would have been at least more stable than it was before the inevitable STP reunion nailed the Weiland era version of the bands coffin shut.

The only way he can earn some respect points is by starting to act like "an adult" and telling the truth.


The only reason Scott said those things were because of Slash.

He lied to his band mates and fans.



/jarmo

Amen to this as I believe it is probably fact.

Slash should have been spending more time focusing on his current situation. 

is it a coincidence that Matt said "the world isnt holding its breath for an STP reunion and now we got one and VR are no more?


Could that have been a huge thing that pissed Scott off with matt?

If Scott was so pissed about Slash visiting Axl's house he would've left back then, not a few years later..

I think there are several factors, with Slash not being the main one. The main thing is STP again, then there's the quirrel's with Matt (and the rest probably backing up Matt), they've pulled eachothers hair out before.

Not necessarily..

Who knows what Slash said to pacify him and attempt to regain his trust?  Hell, he lied to the entire planet on CF radio about the visit in the first place - can you imagine what he may have said to Weiland (and the others for that matter) to diffuse the situation once he was outed with that press release?

I realize there is/was multiple factors in the entire fiasco, we'd be naive
to think otherwise.  With that in mind, the trust ship sailed (with Weiland especially) as soon as Slash admitted making that trip, who in their right mind wouldn't have doubts after that??

The STP thng was eventually gonna get 'em anyway, that was gonna happen regardless.

Probably, but it seems like a lot of words were thrown around between these guys which made working together impossible.

I wish the STP thing well but I think Scott is a bit delusional if he actually does think the world was waiting for them to reunite.  I lived through that era and eh, it wasn't that great.  A few cool songs but nothing earth shattering.  I am sure them doing the tour will do moderately well, though.  People like nostalgia.

Seems they are all doing too much talking and not enough playing right now.

Frankly they all need to STFU and concentrate on their respective projects and stop yelling at each other over the web. ::)

Agreed, Scott only said those things because he thought Axl was the one lying.  I actually respected Scott, not for what he said, because he said something. 

Wouldn't it be awesome as hell tho if they brought Izzy in and made an album as a one off thing with Duff and Izzy on vocals? No major commitment, maybe a short tour-don't even have to call it Velvet Revolver. Maybe something to do between singers instead of having a long gap of nothing going on while searching for somebody. And as far as Baz I don't think that's happening. Baz is a total dork, but he seems like a nice enough guy and after all Axl has done for him I think even he knows that would be a slap in the face to Axl.




I don't think Slash didn't want to be in a band with him anymore cause of this, but I could def. see where it would put a strain on the Scott/Slash relationship. Scott probably thought he was doing the right thing by Slash and sticking up for him and may have perceived SLash as being ungrateful.

It can even get better; There's also a SID album from before the Project recorded late 2001, only this one has Taz Bentley (from the other cd's) on drums instead of Matt :P It's finished and all.. funny thing is that Slash said it didn't sound like GN'R or Snakepit.

But yeah a release like that would be awesome.. I think they (or Izzy) won't release any of that stuff on purpose though, cause of some nostalgic reasons

It'll sure be interesting to see what else Scott, Slash, and Matt will have to say about this situation in the next few days. I truely believe that there was some really seriously bad stuff that went on with this band that none of us know about yet. I've always said that I thought eventually Scott would prove to be too difficult for the rest of the band to deal with. What the hell is it with lead singers anyway?

gossip sells. guess the prospects of stp and vr aren't dark after all.

3rd album is the charm and they will get it right on this one!  I have a feeling. 

You know... some unknown guy would be great now for the band... at least there were no egos going around, and problematic vocalists, and Slash and Duff could take the lead, and doing something really of their own. But on the other hand, would the "new" VR be any successful with an unknown singer? Afterall, wasn´t Scott one of the protagonists, along Slash, to bring success to VR?

Oh... there´s another thing to regard... with some unknown (or at least not that worldwide known) vocalist, wouldn´t VR be even more categorized as "the other GN´R band"?

Either ways, I´m kinda hopefull for this new project... Let´s just wait and see!  :)

An unknown vocalist would be ideal. He/she would too grateful to pull any bullshit and slash and duff could really lead. Scott seemed way too hell bent on proving that he was doing the band a favor by joining not vise versa. An unknown singer would be eager to please the band and work hard to prove their worth a shit.

Dont want to sound like a dickhead but VR should just quit. slash and duff are gonna be an even more ridiculous Van halen



u go from Axl who is a 10 out of 10

to Scott who is a solid 7.5 out of 10


next guy will be a 5 out of 10 probably

imagine how bad it would be to try and be compared to axl

now u are being compared to not only Axl which is impossible but now Scott also.

If I were asked to sing for them, Id do it only for the cash cause u are gonna get fuckinflamed and bashed.  No way u could measure up to that legacy of frontmen.

D, I have to agree with you about Axl. I think whoever becomes the lead singer will be compared to Axl, but NOT Scott weiland. Scott was good for STP b/c  of his vocal range. I think whoever becomes lead singer will be looked as better than Scott, but  will NEVER be compared to Axl. My theory is because so many people looked at the original lineup of GNR as the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin for Generation X and Y.

not to mention diminishing returns...no one cared about Libertad with scott...will they care about VR with a new singer?? idk..

I think its 3rd cd to finish obligations and then its done for VR

I agree that the comparisons are inevitable but thats an incredibly lame reason to call it quits. Who cares what comparisons people make? If Slash and Duff still like making music together then they should continue to do so end of story. Besides I'm sure they well know, especially since the inception of VR and particuarly Slash, the Axl and GnR questions aren't ever going to stop. Especially since it really seems Axl is lining everything up right now for CD.

Get real folks -  Slash & Duff needed a guy with Weiland's name to make their "project" work  .  It may not have been the greatest chemistry, but it was the right choice at the right time. To think that Velvet Revolver can be a commercial success without Weiland is a bit naive.   It's gonna take a very big name to sell people on, IMO.  Personally, I don't think they should keep the name of the band intact.  Just end it and if Slash & Duff want to continue playing together, at least grab a new singer and make it a new band.

Well that's what a lot of people said about the GN'R name,and the name is still being used,so I don't see why that VR shouldn't continue with using the VR name,anyway it'll be interesting to see who they get as the new singer. :smoking:

Weren't they on Al Murray's Happy Hour last night?  With regards to Paul, I believe that that's why they call themselves Queen + Paul Rogers - they acknowledge that no-one can ever replace Freddie and do that as a mark of respect.

I had the privilege of seeing Queen when Freddie was alive and have to say that, in my opinion, he and Axl were (and still are in Axl's case) the two greatest frontmen I've ever seen.

 :smoking: This guy rips a mean "You Could Be Mine" plus some cool originals www.myspace.com/georgesteckertband

na, hes just more of a scott fan it seems....interesting that the break brings out true colors in the fans and which side they stand on....I do like scott in STP but I dont think he gelled with slash/duff right and the music suffered

for me VR is the slash/duff/matt project...bring on a new singer...maybe they can finally stop playing watered down mainstream rock and make something cool : ok:

No, the admin originally had and still has an STP site, as well (below empty.com).    As he stated, for him, "the band without Scott is not VR", and  "VR is no more for me".    Apparently, for him, without Scott & the original line-up, it's no longer the same and he's lost the interest in keeping the site up.  He has chosen to put more of his time in at below empty.com.   The forum remains, continues to be active, and will be updated.  

Exactly!   

The GNR name carries a LOT more weight than Velvet Revolver.  Sure they can still use the name but they don't quite have the resume to warrant that.  That's there choice though.  I agree, Scott Weiland was a big name and seemed to be the right choice at the time.  They had very good success initially, but that seemed to die out fast as Libertad and the latest tour didn't exactly set the world on fire.  I'd have to think they'd need an established guy to front the band to return to the top.  Who knows though, as some people have mentioned the guy from Sixx A.M., he wasn't well known before that band and they've had pretty good success.  Maybe the music just needs to be better.

About the site, you're right, the owner is a great STP fan, he maintains the best STP site around: www.belowempty.com. VR was Scott for him.

About the VR name, they should have keep the name Reloaded, I never like this name at all. But anyway, they have to change now, the name was Scott creation. Let's hope they won't do the same mistake as Axl did.

Now I was wondering, and I don't remember if this was mentioned before, but what bad things did Bach supposedly say about VR?

I don't think he said anything too bad, but I think he commented on being offended that slash said something about "working with him sounded too much like guns meets skid row" and he called it Skid Roses or something similar. I think all Baz said was along the lines of "Duh! I WAS the singer for Skid Row!"

I thought only the "Velvet" part was Scott's ideal. ???

FC, you are correct sir.