Adler: 'I Always Hoped That Axl Had A Little Piece Of A Heart'04/30/2012
Just minutes before the interview began, the Internet posted Axl Rose?s letter about not attending nor accepting Guns N? Roses? induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Steven Adler hadn?t seen the letter and when our conversation began, I just happened to mention this to him.
UG: Have you heard about Axl?s letter?Steven Adler: No, I did not. Please inform me.
I haven?t read the entire letter but this is part of what he said: ?I won?t be attending The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction 2012 Ceremony and I respectfully decline my induction as a member of Guns N? Roses to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.?Adler: That he didn?t want to be inducted? No, if these are words he said f-ck that guy. Obviously he?s a f-ckin? idiot. He?s hailed and loved by everybody in the whole f-ckin? world and he has the gall to say that? I can?t wait until this whole f-ckin? day is over with. I feel blessed that I?m being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He should too. You know what? I just can?t wait until this whole Rock and Roll Hall of Fame thing is over with. I want to say my thank yous to the people who helped me get there, which is the f-ckin? world, and then it?s over. I want to move onto my new life; not my new life but my new career and my new band. I?m so sick of hearing this stuff. I?m sorry guys [Steven apologizes to the other Adler bandmembers on the phone]. You don?t understand. I?m done with it. You know what? You know who Jacon Bunton is? Who Lonny Paul is? Who Johnny Martin is? Well I want you to say hi to these guys.
Let?s start with how this version of Adler came together? Lonny, you had already played in Adler?s Appetite?Lonny Paul: Like you said, I was in the band Adler?s Appetite and we were out this summer on tour and Steven and I spent a lot of time on the bus. I was playing him some of my tunes that I had written in other projects and he said, ?Dude, this is great stuff. Let?s form a band when we get back home.? So as soon as we get back home, yeah, he wanted to start fresh with me. Basically we started looking for members and one night I happened to be out at the Key Club and ran into our friend Jay Ruston.
Did you think about how Adler was going to compared to Guns N?Roses? How you?d be compared to Slash?Adler: Dude, dude, dude listen to me. Listen to me! Stop talkin? about me and Guns N? Roses and Axl. Guns N? Roses was a great experience for me and I feel blessed to be a part of it but this is a new band. This is a new singer and a way better singer and a way better character than f-ckin? Axl. And I got Lonny Paul and Johnny Martin here. Let?s talk about the new band and let?s talk about what we?re doing now.
Jacob Bunton: Hey Steven to answer your question though about the comparison and everything, I think when people hear the new music they?ll absolutely see this is an entirely new entity and something completely different. And of course you?re absolutely right, there?s always gonna be those comparisons no matter what these guys do. For instance Slash, no matter who sings for him is gonna get the comparisons and the same thing with Steven?no matter who sings for him or plays guitar there?s gonna be the comparisons.
That?s really all I was asking about.Bunton: As far as people comparing me and stuff like that, it doesn?t stress me out or weird me out or whatever because he?s Axl and he does his thing and I do my thing. Actually he?s one of my biggest influences ever. Obviously I can?t sit there and say, ?Oh, I?m Axl? or anything like that nor would I ever. He?s a freakin? vocal hero to me. Guns N? Roses is one of the reasons I ever even did this. Not to speak for Lonny or anything but he feels the same way. Slash is a huge inspiration to guitar players everywhere and all we can do is what we do ?cause we feel we have our own unique styles and everything. Like I said I think fans of rock music are truly gonna get what we?re doing. It?s such a real rock and roll record the way we recorded it?we didn?t rely on computers and Auto Tune and recording things a section at a time like so many people do today.
Where does your vocal style come from?Bunton: My favorite singers of all time are Axl, Sebastian Bach, Steve Perry and Tom Kiefer. I love those guys and then on the pop end I love George Michael. Faith is one of my favorite records and just his sense of melody and everything. So that?s where I draw my inspiration from.
Your drums sounded great on ?The One That You Hated.? Could you talk about the drums sounds?Adler: Listen?let me just apologize to you. Obviously of course I?m not upset with you. It?s just hearing something like that is disrespectful not just to Slash and Duff and Izzy and myself but to our fans. I always hoped that Axl had a little piece of a heart, a little soul left in him to at least show the fans who got him to be able to live the way we live to show some appreciation. Because I?m thankful.
I completely understand why you said that to me and what you were feeling. I know how hurt you must be.Adler: Don?t you feel disrespected?
I do.Adler: OK. Jesus Christ. Enough of this. I don?t want any part of it.
Tell me about the drum sounds.Adler: I have my sound and if you listen closely to it I literally took my snare drum sound from Appetite. I told Jeff Pilson who played bass and produced it, ?I want that sound.? I?m just stealing from myself. I know when I went into record Appetite I told Mike Clink, ?I want my snare drum to sound like a machine gun and my bass drum to sound like a cannon? and he did it. If John Bonham did another record with somebody else he would have his sound. So I took that with me but the feel of it is just how I feel and how playing with Jacob, Lonny and Jeff felt. It just felt good. Plus I?ve been sick for 20 years ?cause of the drugs so it feels so good to wake up in the morning and go play with some great people and great musicians.
Slash came down and played on a song?Adler: Yes, Slash played and came down and John 5. And let me tell you?those two guys they just don?t go play with anybody. So having them come down made me feel great and I know it made the guys feel great. It made me feel really special because it made me feel like Slash is believing in me and respecting what I?m doing and respecting me. So that just felt great. ?Cause for some godforsaken reason it matters so much to me what Slash thinks of me [laughs.] I don?t know why but I just love him so much that it means so much to and having him come down was wonderful.
Slash played on a rocker?Bunton: ?Just Don?t Ask.?
Adler: Just don?t ask me and I won?t tell ya [everybody laughs.]
Bunton: It?s a ballad and it?s just another one of those songs that is a relationship song where like maybe the guy feels bad for doing things he shouldn?t have been doing.
Paul: Back earlier when you asked if I was worried about being compared to Slash and all this kind of stuff, well once Slash played on the song?before he played on the song?he turned to me and he said, ?Why don?t you put a solo on this thing?? Any response to him was, ??Cause my name isn?t Slash.? I said that I would never be compared to him because he plays the way he plays and I play the way I play.
Adler: And to be compared to Slash? If anybody does compare him to him, which I don?t think they will because he?s got his own original sound and his own original style, but if they did compare him to Slash that?s not a bad thing.
What was it like when John 5 came down?Adler: Magic. Ho ho ho f-cking magic.
Bunton: Yeah, both of those guys are incredible.
Adler: Slash we already know because he?s a guitar hero and we already know he?s great but John 5 was just incredible. He is my kind of guitar player; a guitar player who knows show to use his effects.
Bunton: Just so you know when John came into the studio to record the very first solo he did, he walked in and wasn?t familiar with the song. He listened to the song one time, plugged in the amp and the very first solo, the very first take he did is what?s on the record. Yeah, he?s that incredible. Not only is he an incredible musician but he?s also an amazing guy.
Adler: Wonderful; wonderful. We still owe him and his wife dinner.
"It?s such a real rock and roll record the way we recorded it?we didn?t rely on computers and Auto Tune and recording things a section at a time like so many people do today."
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