Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Tommy Stinson's Fire and Brimstone

20 September 2011

?After sex, drugs and rock n? roll, where do you go from there?? asked Tommy Stinson, former bassist for the seminal band The Replacements.

Stinson thinks aloud much in the vain of his former band; with unabashed sincerity and bearing his heart on his sleeve.
After releasing his second solo effort, One Man Mutiny, Stinson seems spiritually at peace, but creatively as raucous as his formidable years.

?I have to keep myself afloat. It does take longer for me to make records now and it would be great to dedicate more time to solo stuff,? he said.

Following up his 2004 debut, Village Gorilla Head, Stinson?s new record comes off a little harder but with a more focused feel. His inner fire to still pen loose and fast songs reminiscent of his former band demonstrates a songwriter?s organic progression. Stinson feels there?s nothing out of the ordinary on the record and that it?s an honest representation of where he?s at today as a songwriter.

In addition to his tenure in The Replacements, Stinson continues to tour with Axl Rose?s revamped Guns N? Roses lineup. After seemingly getting burnt out with The Replacements chief songwriter, Paul Westerberg, Stinson jumped in with the infamous G n? R singer.

?Honestly, playing in Guns is just like being in Replacements or playing out with Soul Asylum,? he laughed.

?In Guns, it?s not really all that different. You have a front man who is a very serious and almost dogmatic type figure. Axl has a hard time taking it on the chin so to speak. Soul Asylum, Replacements, Guns; Good and bad they take it all home with them. They do focus on the negative too much at times. I had conversations with all three and heard all the crap. How can you sit there and blah blah blah and complain. Let?s stick with the positive,? said Stinson.

(Regarding The Replacements) ?I have my own take on how things went down. We just wanted to try new things. I do believe strongly that you cannot force something that isn?t there yet. I have seen it with a lot of people; from Paul to Axl to David Pirner of Soul Asylum. I think they are all still searching for whatever it is they?re looking for.?

Full interview here: http://www.bigtakeover.com/profiles/tommy-stinson-s-fire-and-brim-stone

Tommy's album has grown on me a lot....he's a pretty cool cat. 8)

I have said this before, but it seems like Tommy has a bit of a negative attitude when speaking of Axl and GN'R.  Am I the only one who thinks this?  Let me also say, Tommy is my favorite member outside of Axl.

i agree 1000%. (well, i don't really think he sounds negative re: axl, but i think maybe axl would look at it like that.)

wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't long for gnr.  and haven't they cancelled tours before because of losing a band member?

(just thinking out loud here, people...i hope tommy's in gnr forever.)

I don't think he's being negative, that's just his style, Tommy shoots from the hip.

I don't see anything negative about what Tommy said. He basically said Axl takes criticism hard. So what?

Ali

" I had conversations...and heard all the crap. How can you sit there and blah blah blah and complain"

Are you kidding me? 13 years and counting...yea, he is going to quit or be fired 2 weeks before a huge tour.  ::)

I think he's basically saying that he's told Axl that he has a lot to be thankful for and to stop only focusing on the negative things. I'm pretty sure everyone can agree with that. It's not exactly being negative saying that someone who takes criticism harder than they should takes criticism harder than they should.

You left out the "I had conversations with all three and heard all the crap."

He's talking about all three of his bands.

i repeat: just thinking out loud.

yep.

one band he's not in anymore, and one band he's not an official member of, and guns.

and i don't think westerberg or pirner have the same reputation for...ummm....sensitivity that WAR has.

once again, i was only thinking out loud, and i love tommy, and i want him to be in the band for the duration.

Exactly.  That's not a criticism at all in my book.

Ali

Last time I checked he's in Soul Asylum.  But it doesn't really matter, he says he had conversations with all three bands and heard the crap.  Just Tommy's style.

"Soul Asylum, Replacements, Guns; Good and bad they take it all home with them."

It seems like some people around here take the criticism as hard as Axl does.

Tommy's been in GnR a long time and know Axl better than us. I think what he's saying is sort of a compliment. That Axl is an all-in-guy, hungry for more. That's a winner type. Never settled for what have been in the past, but has is mind stuck in the now and future : ok:

Wouldn't be the first time.  I have reason to believe Tommy quit or threatened to quit before the Hammerstein shows in 2006 for a few reasons.  If you remember at the first show Tommy says "I'm having a really good fucking time."  Him and Axl hugged and then Axl says "you have no idea..."  There was a lot going on back then.

I think Axl and Tommy have this sort of love/hate relationship thing going; I hope more of the former than the latter.  But I think Tommy was/is frustrated with a lot of things.  I also don't think he worries too much about what he says and so he speaks honestly and more directly than ever.  Whether that results in his departure from the band by his choice or others, who knows.
I have tons of respect for Tommy and can understand to an extent his frustration with things past and present, but sometimes it would be nice if he gave Axl more praise than persecution in these types of interviews.

I think he's just being honest and I appreciate that. Let's not pretend things in the GNR world go real smooth all the time and it's never frustrating. I wish some of the other band members would be more like Tommy. He makes it seem more like a band that has real disagreements rather than a bunch of Axl's hired drones.