Here Today... Gone To Hell!

STEVEN ADLER

by KOSTA LINARDOS

Date: 20 May 2009

Guns N? Roses, Appetite For Destruction, Steven Adler. The original drummer from what was once the world?s most dangerous band. The skinsman behind one of the greatest albums of all time, and a man whose forced departure from his band, while at their ?world?s biggest band? peak has been shrouded in lies, controversy, myths, legends and pity. Here, Steve Adler tells us what has been and what is coming.

Speaking to Steven from his L.A. home today, he doesn?t sound like a broken drug addict who?s bitter with his past; more like a man finally dealing with his past and enthralled with the future. His voice is so full of enthusiasm and energy I'm waiting for him to jump through the phone at any second; he is warm, bright and his much publicised speech impediment (due to a drug-induced stroke) is almost non-apparent as he lets us in on what's new in his life.

?It?s just been so wonderful to have my best friend Slash back in my life, and me being a part of his life and he being a part of mine,? Adler gushes. ?He says he has one song, ?cause he?s working on a solo record and he has the one song that he says is specifically for me. All I ask is that one opportunity to get in there because I wanna be his drummer! I mean that?s how we started out.

?You know, we?re both more level headed and still alive and better players than we were, we?re in a better place then we ever were. I WANNA BE HIS MAIN DRUMMER!! My main goal, I got my best friend back, now I just wanna finish what we started. I mean it?s a shame I missed out on all the other records and all the people he?s played with. Because of my drug addiction I missed out on so many things, I?m grateful to be alive and to have the opportunity to be able to get back together with him.?

Appetite For Destruction has a sound that no other GN?R album after it had, what do you bring that down to?

?I grew up learning how to play drums not with a bass player, but with a guitar player; with Slash. Usually it was just me and him practicing. So in the songs I would play what he was playing instead of just keeping a simple 4/4 pattern; like all rock is 4/4 but instead of the boom-cha, you know bass-snare-bass-snare, he would be doing like k-ka-k-ka-k-ka?s on his guitar and I would do that on the drums.?

?When we got together with Duff? See, Duff is a natural guitar player, he didn?t start off playing bass - he started playing bass guitar two weeks before he got hooked up with me and Slash. Which obviously worked out, and worked for me, because his style of bass playing is more of the style of a guitar player, so it worked perfect.

So, we just worked so well together. It was the biggest drag of my life (getting kicked out of G?N?R). I did write and record the demo tapes for Use Your Illusion. I?ll never forget telling everybody I knew, ?this was going to be even bigger than Appetite? and it would have been? if it had been recorded the way Appetite was; the way it was supposed to be - with five guys. It would be even bigger! It was supposed to happen. Axl took the name and I?m the only one out of the five of us still doing the songs from Appetite.?

What about Duff and Izzy, do you still speak to those guys?

?Izzy is like the hardest person to find because he?s a jet setter, everywhere, anywhere. And Duff I?m going to be running into next week for the Vh1 Rock Camp.?

How are you going with sobriety?

?Great! I wouldn?t be talking to you right now if I wasn?t doing great! And I wouldn?t be friends with Slash ?cause he?s gone almost four years sober and he?s been the biggest influence on me to stay sober, he quit smoking (cigarettes) three weeks ago, he?s like ?I?ve got the patches and everything?.?

I hear you have a book coming out?

?It?s almost completed, it should be out by late January of next year. Basically it takes Slash?s book, Nikki Sixx?s book and puts everything together as one. Because we were all together ? we?ve known Nikki forever ? so if you read his book and you read Slash?s book and when you read mine, everything, all the pieces of the puzzle will be put together. That?s how it works, and yeah, it?s very exciting.?

If the original five members ever toured it would be one of the biggest tours to ever happen in music. Could you guys ever do it?

?Do you know how much that drives me crazy? It?s driving me crazy; it?s driving me nuts! I hear it consistently throughout everyday of my life, and more than anything I wanna say ?Yeah, we?re starting it tomorrow or tonight?. It?s so ridiculous not to do it. ?

Did you ever wanna put another band together, a whole new band with all original music and do something new?

?Yes I would like to do me, Slash, John Sykes, Chips Z'nuff (from Enuff' Z'Nuff) and Steven Tyler singing would be great?? (laughs)?

Lastly do you ever wake up in the morning and think ?I?m guy that played the drums on Rocket Queen? and smile?

?In the morning and in the afternoon and at night (laughs) I?m so proud of it!?

http://www.beat.com.au/article.php?id=1978

Slash quit smoking... :o

 :hihi:  Trying to quit again. 

Steven's forever hopeful, isn't he? 

May be the only thing that keeps the dude going

I hear you Steve. Glad he's pals with Slash again but don't know if Slash can take Steve on as his main drummer (I'd love it to happen though). After all, it is just a singer they're looking for and Matt's hardly gonna say,  'sure, Steve, have my job'. Anyway I'm really keen to hear Steve playing with Slash again. That's kickass!!!!

cant believe Slash has quit smoking lol!  wonder how long that'll last!  :rofl:

I wonder what put him over the edge?  Dying didn't stop him from using H...and he was still smoking like a fiend after they put the pacemaker in...perhaps Duff convinced him to shape up for a climb, or there are stairs in the studio he's working at.

^^  He has two little kids whom I sure bug the shit out of him about it. 

Why has Steven's 'opinion' on C.D. been removed from the article? (Not that it particularly matters since he's full of shit as usual)

yeah....wow!! that's the biggest news in the whole interview!

"Axl took the name and I?m the only one out of the five of us still doing the songs from Appetite."

Dear Steven,

Both GnR and Velvet Revolver both play tracks from that album, something tells me that Steven has been dancing with Mr. Browstone again.

Fuck man, if Slash can quit smoking, then I'm also gonna give quitting another try. By the way, I didn't know Slash had a pacemaker fit in. Did he have a heart attack or what?

No, he describes it quite well in his book though.  You should check it out.
Sorry, cant really remember the details.

Yeah, I've been meaning to read that book for a while now. Just got "Watch You Bleed" for my birthday gift a couple of weeks ago and i read Mick Wall's book "W.A.R." and "M?tley Cr?e's "The Dirt" last spring. Nowadays I've really gotten into reading rock autobiographies.

The Dirt is awesome!!!!!  Great read.  if you liked the Dirt, you will definitly like Slash's book. 
Some people have complained that the "facts" are wrong in Slash's book but who cares, it wouldnt be very rock n roll if it was full of precise facts.
Slash himself has said that the book is just "his opinions"

If he can't get this shit right, then I can only imagine the cringe readers are going to feel when they look through his bull shit book. Hell, it's not only GnR and VR still playing Appetite tracks, but Slash still plays them solo with anyone he can. And if Steve's got his "best friend" back, he should know this.