September 21st, 2010
Exclusive: Marc Canter, history of GNRFirst of all, congratulations Marc for your ?Reckless Road: GNR and the making of Appetite for Destruction?, an amazing book for the fans of the band with the real story of the beginning of the journey to success for Axl, Slash and company. How do you remember those years?
-I remember felling like I was watching Led Zeppelin get their start. Every song they came up with was album ready. They had a special sound, special image, a special guitar sound?
-Your friendship with Slash made you to pick up a lot of material like photographs and recordings. When did you decide to make a book with all that stuff?
-It was in the summer of 1.993, it took 14 months and cost me $18.000 to put together the first draft. I couldn?t find a publisher. I sold off my whole rock n? roll magazine collection, which was about 2.000 of them, to try and self publish the book, but I ended up buying old baseball cards instead. In November of 2.006 I found a publisher by accident. ?Reckless Road? was their first book so there were a lot of problems getting it out. It was my dream to get this out to the people that want to see the birth of GNR. I knew that I documented something special and wanted to share it with the world. It was a big load off my shoulders to finally get it out after all those years of it sitting around.
-You own Canter?s Deli, famous Jewish style delicatessen in the Fairfax Disctrict of Los Angeles. And it was usual to find the members of GNR there. It seems that your help was very important for the band?
-Canter?s has always been known for the musicians and famous people to hang out at. Back in the 1.950?s, there were lots of big movie stars, in the 60?s all the hippies like The Doors, Frank Zappa, The Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix ,The Stones, and almost anyone else that was around in Hollywood at the time. Slash used to hang out at Canter?s with his parents when he was a kid. As far as my help, I did what I could. I had a good job and lived at home with no expenses, so most of my money went to helping my friends band. I knew they would make it if they could stay together long enough.
-We know that you?re a hard fan of Aerosmith too. Are Aerosmith and Guns N? Roses the soundtracks of your life?
-You have to add in Zeppelin, UFO, Sabbath, and Deep Purple. The only band that I like out of that time zone is System Of A Down, and a band that my son was in, called Frontrunner. Their songs were 70?s style.
-Reading your book we can feel the rock atmosphere of L.A. in the 80?s. How is the rock scene today? A lot of changes?
-Yes, in a few ways. It?s a lot harder to get signed because most of the record companies are gone and because of all the downloads nothing sells anymore. But because of Youtube and Myspace, you can still get your music out there. As far as the clubs, it has turned into 100% pay to play and they only give you 30 minutes to play after you sell $500 dollars worth of tickets. In the old days there would be 3 bands every night, now they have 7 bands each night.
-Back to Guns. You had the opportunity to live the early days of the band, and some people say those were the best years for GNR? What do you think?
-It was a special time for them. They were young and eager to write songs and play in front of people. They were writing songs for them selfs with no presser and didn?t have to worry what the world would think. When they got out ?Appetite For Destruction?, they all had reach their goal?s for that time. After that, it would turn out to be a lot harder to reach more recording goals. I know it was a big goal for Axl to get ?November Rain? out and they did reach big goals with the ?Use Your Illusion? tour. Because of difference?s they were not able to reach new goals with that line up.
-And what about the relationship between Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven? Were they real mates?
-Yes they were, they all had each others back during that time.
-I think this question is not new for you: Why do you think the original members of GNR did break up?
-The same reason as people get a divorce. They find themselfs wanting some different things. As big as they got, they couldn?t hold it together. People grow and change and you can?t expect them to do things that they don?t want to do.
-Any chance for a reunion of them, especially for Axl and Slash?
-There is a chance as long as they?re alive. As far as Axl and Slash, they would have to both go to a good marriage counselor that they both trust. They would first have to go by themselfs to get their feelings out about each other. That by it?s self could take a very long time? Axl has many more problems with Slash than Slash has with Axl. A lot of the problems could be solved by some apologies. I would love to see them at least talking to each other again someday, even if they don?t ever play together again. As far as touring together, it would be cool to see both of the GNR bands play. 1 1/2 hours of the old band and 1 hour of the new band. There are lots of people that were too young to see the old band and it would be a great way for a lot of people to hear the new record and band.
-Axl and the new members of GNR are near to visit Spain with four shows. What do you think about the new band? Do you like ?Chinese Democracy??
-Yes, I like it a lot. It?s always great to hear anything Axl does. That record took a long time to get out, but not a long time to make. By 2.002 the record was ready, but there were a lot of things that needed to be worked out with management and the record company. So while waiting for that to happen, they added some things to it.
-We know (we have read it on your book) that Axl played with piano some songs on your wedding day. Marc, you?re a lucky man?
-We asked Axl to play ?November Rain? because I thought it sounded like a great wedding song. This was back in 1.989, two and a half years before ?Use Your Illusion?. I heard the song back in 1.985/1986 and always loved it.
-The last question: What does it mean GNR in your life?
-I?m very proud to have been a part of it. Every day I spend a few hours promoting my book ?Reckless Road? and now I also have some very special 11?14 and 16?20 prints from some of the special gigs. Some of which they debuted a new song. I opened an Ebay store with fixed price items. My goal was to get these out to the fans at the lowest price I could.
-Thank you Marc for this interview, it has been an honour for us?
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