Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Posted by Gunns on ParadiseCity.com:


Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baB7Rzu2bxU
@ about the 17:00 mark, he talks about joining GN'R
@ about 24:00, he talks about GN'R not having a setlist

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxqyCkr7RrA
@ about the 1:00 mark he's asked what his favorite unreleased GN'R track and talks about the material. Says a lot hasn't leaked, thank God.
@ 17:30 he talks about coming off stage with GN'R.
@ 18:40 he talks about the recording of Chinese, says he wrote the chorus part to Better and plays the part
@ 20:00 he talks about the unreleased material. Says some of the stuff was written from nothing, some seeds for the songs are from the Slash era. Says he's worked with Dj on stuff, nobody's worked on stuff with Ron.
@ 21:00 he says there's so much stuff recorded. Mentions three albums of material. Talks about Axl working on it at the moment.
@ 22:00 talks about the secrecy surrounding GN'R. Talks about how Axl has a talent for putting things together. Taking a part from Dj and putting it together with something from Richard.
@ 24:00 talks about his friendship with Duff and whatever or not Duff will do more shows with GN'R.

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-nmecjVW9g



/jarmo

So there's some interesting tidbits about the unreleased material...



/jarmo

pretty damn good interview..part 2 is great...

Man, imagine this first song/riff Richard played... WITH AXL VOICE!

Thanks for sharing definitively an great interview, and insightful.

Absolutely one of the more interesting interviews with any of the other guys.  Thanks for posting it.

Definitely listen to part 2, guys.

A couple of notes to add to what Jarmo wrote:

-Richard said (at the time of the recording of this workshop) that Axl was working on recording vocals last week.  So, Axl has been working on new music recently.

-He also said that he knows Tommy is busy with Replacements' activities and that there is talk of Duff doing more shows in the future, but that's up in the air at this point.  I didn't hear the specific question that was asked because the people asking questions weren't mic'd up, but Richard didn't rule out Duff playing more with the band and didn't limit the extent to which he would.

Ali

You can't go wrong with Duff or Tommy. :D

Mixed thoughts on this one.

Love the talk of actual work being done.  Pretty unsettling some of these suckers still lack vocals, 12-13 years later.

Let's hope Richard meant overdubs.

It really depends on the specifics. Could be overdubs or harmonies or new stuff or old stuff.

I'm encouraged by the fact that he was working on new material. That's nothing but positive from my perspective.

Ali

Wow, so Axl is still recording vocals. I wonder if that is for the new new material or the second half of Chinese? Either way they are working on something, but they must not be because the information about where it is taking place hasn't been made public yet  ;)

I thought I heard him say that some of the material is related to some stuff that Slash wrote way back in the day. Does that mean Slash's name may eventually appear in the writing credits for one of the new prospective GNR albums?

It is good to hear him talk openly about the unreleased recordings like this; certainly the most positive sign yet.

''This week he is been recording a lot of stuff vocally''.

It means he might actually be keeping his word and it wasn't just talk.  Its absolutely positive.

Think Jarmo would be happier about new songs, or rubbing our faces in it?  Little from column A, little from column B, I suspect.

Haha preemptively speculating negatively about the future eh DX? I wonder what it will be like around here when new music is released. That is something I would like to see (in addition to the music itself).

These clips confirm a lot of the things that has been said recently.

Maybe the positivity among a certain clique will increase exponentially from now on!  : ok:




/jarmo

If, god willing, an album actually comes out next year, you don't think there will be some smug "I told you so" type talk?  I sure do.

Hell, we have that here NOW, and that's with nothing to go on.  Imagine if there was actually a product out.

Full disclosure, I'd do the exact same thing, roles reversed.  If next year rolls around, they hit the road without an album and the talk is still the same vague "we're looking at it" crap, I (and others) would absolutely be breaking some balls. 

But that's a two way street, and I accept that.  As I often say in these little debates, "we can't both be right".  And when you are proven wrong, if you have any credibility, you take your lumps.  Breaks of the game.

Everything went great until you had to come in and try to make it about yourself.  :P

---

"And Dj and I have worked on stuff. Nobody's worked on stuff with Ron."
:o


/jarmo

Yeah, but we've known that for years.  I didn't even think that warranted real discussion as its not remotely new.  Ron has been telling us that himself for how long now?

Axl doing vocals, that's a new development.  The news of them having no interest in Ron's input is about as timely as Borat jokes.

certainly encouraging. The one thing about Axl's vocals that I have never understood is the way you can pick his quality/style in any given year. I really think he is a hit while the iron is hot type of singer. I do worry a little that he is recording while not being mid tour as the opening shows tend to show rust and a more fragile set of chords.

That said some of the Cd vocals like IRS are fantastic so who can tell. I'll be hugely pumped if there is a genuine sniff of (Gasp.....a series) of albums come earlyish 2015.....yayyy

He's been saying they haven't gotten together to work. Richard's saying he has worked on stuff with Dj.
People took Ron's comments over the years to mean that nothing has been done by anybody. Which turns out to be false.



/jarmo

So doesnt that beg the question why is ron left out of the process?

Possibly. Maybe his parts are done?

People kept bashing Dj and Richard for their comments... Yet none of the comments said by any of them invalidate any other comments.




/jarmo

Out Of What Process ?

I'd think so.

Then you think about he stories about how they haze him pretty hard, couped with the fact no one from management will even return his calls for weeks...it doesn't paint a picture they value him all that much, does it?

You're painting a one sided picture there.

Didn't he record more guitar parts than what appeared on Chinese Democracy? Or maybe the tracks they want to use already have enough guitars...




/jarmo

Maybe.  Or maybe its the stuff I said.

You may well be right.  But so might I.  I am only basing what I said on what I've been told.  Not taking what I've been told and looking for an alternative spin that puts things in a better light.

Sometimes, the bad light is how things are. 

You've only heard one side. And because it's painting a certain kind of picture, you choose run with it.... If you were even remoltely objective, you'd think "Hey, so he says that, but maybe there's more to the story....".

---

"Three albums worth of material. Easy"


/jarmo

Ron certainly appears to be, for lack of a better term, the red-headed stepchild (which I hate, btw).

Richard saying that no one has worked with him kind of reinforces the notion that he's on the outside looking in.  I don't think you can just assume that the next sentence is "But he has made valuable contributions on his own and is an integral part of the process."  

I'd agree.  That's a leap, and one you only make if you are very emotionally invested in having that be true.

I have no reason to think Ron is flat out lying to us.  What's in it for him?

Then again, as you are so anxious to remind us, you are there and we are not.  Perhaps we should couple your access and your skepticism as a foundation to call some shenanigans on what he says?

Could be wrong, but my feeling is that, in terms of creative input, writing, etc, neither Buckethead nor Ron were taken seriously by the other band members (other than Axl).  Robin had referred to Buckethead in an interview as a 'stunt guitarist', Tommy had said "Buckethead going away is the best thing that could've happened to the band", so perhaps unfairly, Ron may have inherited that disdain, coming in as the shredder/virtuoso guitarist. 

It's not a case of lying. It's like you're looking a a painting but you can only see the bottom left corner. You try to judge the whole painting based on that....

I don't know about his issues with anybody. Band, management or anything. I read the same comments you read. But I'm more careful about thinking that's the way it is.
I'll give you an example. Remember a few years ago the band was rehearsing and Bumblefoot had a live stream of it? Well, he managed to stream part of Estranged. Surprise spoiled. Maybe it wasn't his intention, but maybe others become a bit wary of telling that person details far in advance?



Or Ron kept waiting for the band to get together instead of doing what the others did? And when he realized that, they already had enough ideas....




/jarmo

Very solid point here.  Could well be.

Look, if you spend your time in the studio in a chicken coop watching hard core porn in a mask with a bucket on your head, then it's not hard to see why the other members didn't exactly relate to him.

Bucket and Ron are two totally different people.  There may be some parallels with playing styles, but that's it.

Could be 'and' instead of 'or'... both of our points could be right.  For example, Richard said he and DJ worked together on stuff, but not with Ron, indicating a line of communication among them that didn't exist with Ron.  Maybe I was harsh in thinking they don't respect what Ron brings to the table from a creative standpoint, but could be his style of playing is not something they relate to and would have difficulty collaborating with directly. 

But maybe its like the pro golfer that doesn't respect the long drive guy.

Or he adds some parts later once there's an almost finished song.



/jarmo

My thought is perhaps Ron had the opportunity to contribute, but chose not to.  Sounds like the other guys worked on stuff and submitted it to Axl.  Maybe Ron feels that as a band they should all write together and doesn't want to see his parts chopped up and put back together without his input. 

That sounds very plausible.

True...like a gimmicky, one trick pony.  I think Ron has shown a bit more diversity than being just a shred-monster, but I see your point.

Fail  :( well kinda :-\ dunno  :hihi:

Ron been rly impressing me, live with gnr at least.

Cheers to that! I hope Ron is all over the next album. But then again, I hope everyone is all over the next album (all the way back to Josh Freeze and whoever else in between). Part of what I like so much about CD is that it is a massive collaboration of so many brilliant artists. Definitely hoping to see that again.

Isn't that Richard's solo?



/jarmo

It doesn't sound all that plausible to me given that Ron already recorded parts to songs that were already written for CD.  It could be any one of a number of things, including what Jarmo has said about Ron adding parts later on or at a different time.

Ron confirmed in his Reddit AMA that they (meaning including him) have worked on each other's song ideas.  So, the notion that he has been left out of the process of working on new material entirely is not supported by even him.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1tti1i/

[?]feconroses 22 points 11 months ago
Have you guys written and/or recorded any new songs since 2009?
permalink
[?]TheRealBumblefoot 12 points 11 months ago
Together, that we finished? No. Playing on each other's song ideas? Yes.

Ali

Thanks for clearing that up Ali. So from that it's obvious that Ron is not being singled out and prevented from contributing material for whatever strange reason.

I Believe

 :smoking:

Interesting. So he's contributed to somebody else's ideas.
Maybe the inaudible question was relating to what Ron and what Dj had said in previous interviews. So Richard made it clear how things work. 




/jarmo

The only way I could reconcile Richard's comments with Ron's is that maybe Ron worked on stuff alone remotely (for example, working on stuff alone and then sending it to the other guys electronically and going back and forth from there) while the other guys actually got together.  At around 8:10 of this interview, Tommy talks about the guys going to DJ's studio at his Vegas house after the residency:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g3iE38AY0o.  If Richard is saying they never worked with Ron, maybe he means that Ron was never present at a session such as that? 
 

Yeah. There's all kinds of possible reasons for Richard's comment.


/jarmo

I think that is a very plausible scenario, yes.

Ali

It even made it onto Blabbermouth with quotes from Richard and Dj

On how much he contributed to the writing process for 2008's "Chinese Democracy":

Fortus: "On 'Chinese Democracy', I was adding to ideas that were already there. That entire record was written when I joined the band 13 years ago. Except I wrote the chorus to 'Better'. A lot of the new stuff [that ended up on that album] that [we were] working on, some of that stuff [are ideas that came] from nothing and some of the stuff is stuff that [we had] been working on that were ideas that were already there. Some of the stuff Slash did that was the beginning of the seed of the song that's been around for a while."

On the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to "Chinese Democracy":

Fortus: "DJ [Ashba, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist] and I have worked on stuff… Nobody's worked on stuff with Ron ['Bumblefoot' Thal, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist].

"There's so much stuff that's recorded, there's so much stuff that was done. I mean, there's three albums' worth of material, easy…

"I know this week he's [GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose] recording a lot of stuff, vocally.

"That camp is very… I don't know why. It's just that they're very… Axl is very secretive. He doesn't want stuff getting out. He wants to create stuff and then release it when it's ready. Which I… I get it. He's also a bit of a perfectionist, as you can imagine.

"The way [Axl] generally works is that he doesn't wanna take an idea that DJ sent and… What he'll do is he'll take a little piece that I sent, he'll take a little piece that DJ sent on another track, and he's always done that. Back even with the 'Appetite [For Destruction]' stuff, he would take a little bit from this, a little bit from that, and then put it together. And when you listen to it, you can sort of hear it. When you listen to the tracks, you can hear that it's… Especially on 'Illusions' [the 'Use Your Illusion' albums], the opuses, [where] he took little bits from different people and put them together. He's got a real talent for that."

Ashba said in a recent chat with Legendary Rock Interviews that GUNS N' ROSES has both recording and touring plans in 2015. He revealed, "We are planning on doing quite a bit of touring this coming year. The focus is getting in a studio and putting together what we all feel is the best GUNS N' ROSES record. Lack of material is not an issue. We have tons of stuff."

Ashba added. "Axl has two full albums that he has recorded. He has played me a bunch of songs off of that that are incredible! I can't wait to get in and kind of dive into those as well. I've written tons of songs and demoed up a bunch of stuff. I think it is just a matter of getting in and sifting through the piles of material."

Edited to add:
Source: http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/richard-fortus-on-new-guns-n-roses-album-axl-rose-wants-to-create-stuff-and-release-it-when-its-ready/

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/jarmo

Cool, cool, cool.

That can only help, getting stuff like that out in the press.

Yes, thanks for the link.



/jarmo

The death hoax was obviously silly, but people were able to piggyback the photo from the studio onto that and make it into an article.  And Richard's quotes were also alluded to.

And it showed up in my FB feed, so it gets the word out.  That's a good thing.

The comments underneath... not so much.  But I highly doubt anyone making those comments had any interest in the new album anyway.

I just got around to watching these interviews, clinic things..

I must say they were very good and something I would love to see more of from band members..