Two tickets to the Guns show
August 6, 2008
By Steven Patrick
Some bands simply do not get the respect and credit they deserve. LA Guns fits that mold. Along with such notorious contemporaries like Guns N' Roses and Motley Crue, LA Guns and their founder/lead guitarist Tracii Guns were there at the epicenter of Hollywood's Sunset Strip glam metal scene. LA Guns and Axl Rose's band Hollywood Rose merged to form Guns N' Roses. Therefore, Tracii was the first lead guitarist in Guns N' Roses before leaving to reform LA Guns. Guns' departure was one of the first casualties of GNR's heavy drug usage. Guns was then replaced on guitar by some guy in a top hat.
The reformed LA Guns then rose to fame alongside Guns N' Roses in the late eighties, peaking with the success of their 1989 album "Cocked and Loaded." The album yielded LA Guns' biggest hits with songs like "Never Enough," "Rip and Tear," and "The Ballad of Jayne." Numerous lineup changes have since dotted their past, but LA Guns has never failed to deliver the goods. Currently there are two rival lineups of the band in existence, but it's the writer's opinion that there is no such thing as LA Guns without the Guns man himself. Tracii was kind enough to answer a few questions concerning the current tour with Faster Pussycat, a local connection within the current lineup, and what we can expect from LA Guns in the future.
UW: I hear one of the band members is from the area?
Yeah, Chad [Stewart, the drummer]. He's from Zanesville, OH?real close to the Columbus area. Chad'll have a bunch of fans and old high school girlfriends showing up. *laughs* You never know with Chad. High school boyfriends?girlfriends?you never know. *laughs*
UW: So which came first, LA Guns or Hollywood Rose?
LA Guns came first, and then I hooked up with Axl [Rose]. We started Guns N' Roses. He had his band, Hollywood Rose, and I had LA Guns. Axl actually sang in LA Guns before Guns N' Roses. LA Guns started in high school with some friends?started playing around in the garage. Then I drew up an LA Guns logo on a blank record and thought that that was the coolest thing I'd ever seen in my life?and stuck with it ever since.
UW: What kind of stuff were you listening to when you started the band?
Well, LA Guns started out a cross between Led Zeppelin and the Sex Pistols?with a little bit of Aerosmith thrown in there?and a lot of Motley Crue. *laughs*
UW: Did the band name come from your stage name, or the other way around?
Uh, some chick gave me my name. Yeah, she just walked up to me and called me "Mr. Guns" one day, and that's been my name ever since.
UW: What was Rocklahoma [an annual festival of '80s-era rock] like this year?
This year it was very muddy. It was Flood-lahoma?lots of rain, and we got out of there just before the storms hit. Two of the side stages got wiped out. Tornados. It was like Oklahoma had a monsoon.
UW: The members of LA Guns and Faster Pussycat know each other pretty well, don't they?
Yeah, back in the day, Faster Pussycat and LA Guns started about the same time. Then there were members in LA Guns and members in Faster Pussycat that were starting bands together, and then now there are members in LA Guns and members in Faster Pussycat that are still playing together. It's just one big?you know?incestual orgy. *laughs* It's Rockla-homo!
UW: So is there ever any confusion between you guys and the other version of LA Guns that currently exists?
Oh no, we don't ever get confused. We always know where our shows are at. *laughs* No, well, maybe the same people show up to their shows too, but we always have a great crowd, and everyone seems to understand what's going on. Fans of this stuff?they read on the internet and they know everything that's going on.
UW: Can we expect a record from the Tracii Guns-led lineup of LA Guns?
Yeah, we just finished recording a record up in Ontario, Canada with producer Steve Thompson. We were up there for about two and a half months recording. It should be out probably early March of '09.
UW: With recent news that Steven Adler [original GNR drummer] is back in rehab, what's it like being one of the few veterans of the '80s LA rock scene that made it out alive?
It's good to keep the name going and keep the band strong. That's how I've been able to do it for the last twenty years. Some of those guys?some of those guys just seem to keep falling and some of us just keep moving on.
LA Guns will be playing at Cardo's in Chillicothe, OH on Monday, August 11 at 8 p.m. For more information, please visit
www.lagunslive.com or
www.gocardos.com.
http://uweekly.com/newsmag/08-06-2008/8942
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