TOMMY in Bass Player (mag) April09

[GNRFAN20]

A tour announcement in April. Seems like the pieces are falling together.

[AxlReznor]

Pitman had recorded two released album at that point, as well as numerous demos, and writing for other artists.  He was also part of Tool's Aenima tour... which would probably make Tobias the guy he was talking about, except he said it was eight people collaborating together at the time, and there were only seven band members.
Although the extra person would probably be Youth or someone else of that ilk, and no one could accuse him of not being experienced enough (Killing Joke and The Fireman aren't exactly minor projects).  So yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't like Paul's stuff to begin with, and then gradually started to see their potential.  I know I wasn't expecting much from him, but he came out with some really great stuff on the record.

[ppbebe]

I don't see it as a swipe.

the interview was done right after a soul asylum peru tour, which was in mid jan....

[PJ]

Pitman had recorded two released album at that point, as well as numerous demos, and writing for other artists.  He was also part of Tool's Aenima tour... which would probably make Tobias the guy he was talking about, except he said it was eight people collaborating together at the time, and there were only seven band members.
Although the extra person would probably be Youth or someone else of that ilk, and no one could accuse him of not being experienced enough (Killing Joke and The Fireman aren't exactly minor projects).  So yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't like Paul's stuff to begin with, and then gradually started to see their potential.  I know I wasn't expecting much from him, but he came out with some really great stuff on the record.

he used the same "8 people collaborating" before.. and the other person was Buckethead
i also remember an article saying that tommy and paul had problems in the beggining, because paul had a huge ego and had the whole guns atittude and have enver toured..

[AxlReznor]

he used the same "8 people collaborating" before.. and the other person was Buckethead

Not in 1998 it wasn't.  Although it's possible he was talking about everything after then too, it did sound as if he was talking about when he first joined specifically.

And no, I don't think it was a swipe at all.  I think it was more acknowledging that there was a certain arrogance that had to be overcome in order to realise that people with less experience than them could have good ideas.  That's probably where the collaboration came in, getting to know each other both on a personal level, and professionally in regards to what everybody is capable of, to bring everyone onto the same path.

[PJ]

if the 8th person is not BH
could be Sean Beavan.. he helped arrange a lot of songs in CD

[ppbebe]

I was a keen reader of tommy interviews and I thought the 8 were the 2002 lineup when he mentioned that in 2003/4.

And no, I don't think it was a swipe at all.  I think it was more acknowledging that there was a certain arrogance that had to be overcome in order to realise that people with less experience than them could have good ideas.  That's probably where the collaboration came in, getting to know each other both on a personal level, and professionally in regards to what everybody is capable of, to bring everyone onto the same path.

absolutely. "at first"..... "but"... are the key words.

I like the line "I think everyone of us learned a lot from it"

[jacdaniel]

Great read, once again an 'insider' says Axl is not the evil maniac that some of the 'outsiders' claim

I don't think that anyone ever claimed this. 

[ppbebe]

Some 'real fans' do.

[PJ]

I was a keen reader of tommy interviews and I thought the 8 were the 2002 lineup when he mentioned that in 2003/4.

yeah i also understand.. that the 8 are the 2002 line-up
he started talking about the egnesis of the new band but the writing stage didnt finish in 99.. and i really think that the meat of this album was written/arranged in the BH era

[King Axl]

Good interview. It helps me to understand why Axl would want a guy like this in his band--smart, and not fucked up from drugs 

[FunkyMonkey]

Thanks for posting, that was a great interview.

And for anyone interested, Soul Asylum with be playing at the Azkena Rock Festival in Recinto Mendizabala Spain on May 15th.

http://www.azkenarockfestival.com/arf/

[ppbebe]

can't wait to hear riad and if the world live! and hopefully any and every song off cd!  

[AtariLegend]

Pick up the April '09 issue of Bass Player for our exclusive interview with Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson. Here's  more from that interview.

How did you come to play with Soul Asylum?
We?re all old friends from high school. After [bassist] Karl Mueller passed away in 2005 from throat cancer, his widow Mary Beth asked if I?d fill in for gigs the band booked before he died. When the band went to finish the record they?d started, she asked me to do that, too. Apparently Karl had a list of people he wanted to take his place in the band, and I was on it. I like those guys a lot?fortunately I?ve been available to do shows with them the past couple years.

You just got back from playing a Soul Asylum gig in Lima, Peru. What was that like?
There?s a lot of turmoil in the government. Around town, you can feel something?s not quite right. It?s chaotic and sketchy, but we met a lot of neat people. They don?t get to see a whole lot of live music. Soul Asylum did a big press conference?it was like the Beatles had come. [Laughs.]

Aside from Guns and Soul Asylum, what else are you up to?
I have my own studio where I do my own music. I couple years ago I scored a movie for Sony Pictures called Catch and Release. That was really fun, and I?m trying to get more into that.

How did you get that gig?
I played on a track of Paul Westerberg for Open Season. The woman who hired him asked to hear some of my music, and they loved it. They couldn?t just give me the contract, since I was a new composer?it was a $40 million movie?so they had to pair me up with someone. I teamed up with BT [film composer Brian Transeau] because he?s a friend of mine, and we?ve worked together before. It was a good fit. The producers gave us ideas like, ?We want something that sounds like Los Lobos.? I love Los Lobos, but I would never try to cop them?they are so good! So we?d come up with our own thing. It was a blast, writing things unlike anything I?d done before.

How does film scoring work?
Before filming starts, you sit down and draw up blueprints of where there are going to be musical moments. Then they film it, often with some sort of temporary music in place to help the producers visualize the finished product. It was a great experience ? and it paid me a lot of money, which was great, too!

Do you have plans to do more of that?
I do, but it?s a hard racket to get into. And right now is a really hard time for movies. A great way to get back into it is to hit the independent film circuit, but since so many hedge funds have gone bankrupt, there aren?t many indy movies going into production right now. I?ve had to put it on the back burner, but my studio is up and ready for when I do get the call.
I like the idea of having my own studio to score movies, but I can?t really count on those jobs coming in. And I?m going to be pretty busy with Guns for the next year and a half, so I might rent it out or put it in storage. I?d like to say that I?d use it to produce bands, but there?s hardly enough time to do my own music.

What was your involvement in the new Replacements re-releases?
Peter Jesperson and Phil Broussard, Paul?s manager and I did a lot of stuff. In my studio, Phil and I mixed a lot of the extra tracks that weren?t originally mixed. Years ago the analog tapes were dumped to digital files, and we worked with those. The tapes are old, and I didn?t want to be the one responsible for messing up our first record. [Laughs.]

In 2004, you released your own record, Village Gorrilla Head. Do you have plans to do another album?
There are a bunch of songs I?ve been working on for the last few years. I might just put them up as a free download?it?d definitely simpler that way. I can?t be bothered going the record label route; that?s a big pain in the ass, and they don?t seem to know what they?re doing right now anyway.

Source: http://www.bassplayer.com/article/web-extra-tommy/mar-09/93975

[faldor]

sweet interview!....now...tour in April I dont think so....is just 3 weeks away and we didnt hear anything, lets say these year, cheers for that! 

Let's get that square ball rolling!

[CheapJon]

didn't he say that they were gonna start rehearsing in february? that would mean this interview was done in january at the latest, we do "know" that GNR rehearsed when that young nick dude jammed with them but i guess the dates have been postponed inofficially, whaddya think 'bout it?

good that he will be "pretty busy with GNR for the next year and a half" hope it'll be for a longer time 

[SMFS]

Yeah april does seem unlikely at this point maybe late april but more likely may or june now.

Are you kidding?

[faldor]

Yeah april does seem unlikely at this point maybe late april but more likely may or june now.

Are you kidding?

I'd say mid to late summer would be an optimistic view, but you never know with this band.  We didn't find out for sure that Chinese Democracy would actually be released until a little over a month before the release date.  So when/if it IS finally announced maybe the wait won't be that long.

[RebelRose89]

great interview- tommy's a cool dude.
plus those pics are baddass!

[GnR-NOW]

Does does that mean the band is rehearsing ? April shows seem a little soon ....

 .... but thats not a bad thing