Adler's Appetite Singer Quits; Steven Adler Comments - Video Interview

[FunkyMonkey]

STEVEN ADLER: Ex-ADLER'S APPETITE Singer 'Wasted A Lot Of Our Time And A Lot Of Our Money' - Mar. 29, 2011

Gerry Gittelson of Metal Sludge conducted an interview with ADLER'S APPETITE drummer Steven Adler (also ex-GUNS N' ROSES) and guitarist Michael Thomas about the recent departure of the band's lead singer, Rick Stitch. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow.

On singer Rick Stitch's departure:

Adler: "I think he went about it the wrong way, 'cause I didn't even find out that he quit the band from him, I found out from someone else."

Thomas: "It was very strange; it was out of the blue. All of a sudden we got a text message saying 'Check your e-mail.' And there was a short little paragraph saying that, 'As of today, I'll no longer be carrying on with the band, I wanna concentrate on my other band, my original band, full time.' So he decided that was where his priority was at, that he was going to work on his original music and continue on with that."

Adler: "Right now we're still going on with our tours. Our tour starts May 5. We have other singers that we've been talking to ? even before he decided to quit, we were talking to other singers. And we wanna get more of a solid guitar player, 'cause the one that we hired for the European tour wasn't as solid as we thought."

On a potential new lead singer for ADLER'S APPETITE:

Thomas: "As soon as it went on the Internet that Rick was leaving the band, there was a flood of e-mails and responses [that] came in; it was overwhelming. And now we're weeding through all these people, and what we really wanna do is give a chance to somebody who is a star to walk in the door and sing some of the most legendary rock and roll songs of all time. It's an incredible opportunity. So, for us, we take it very seriously, because we also have to live with this person and create and write with this person, 'cause, as you know, we've released new songs recently ? 'Alive', 'Stardog' and 'Fading' ? which are actually on iTunes. So they're gonna be singing not only the GUNS stuff, but original material and putting their stamp on this new stuff that we've been writing since we got home from the European tour last month. So there's so much going on; it's a crazy circus. We're just really excited about the opportunity of working with some new cats that can really come to the table and bring it."

On whether they are concerned at all about being able to find worthy replacements and carry on with the band:

Thomas: "Anybody that knows the history of this band knows that we've had lineup changes, and it's all been healthy steps forward. This is just one more step in the process."

Adler: "I agree. It's just one more step forward. And it's a shame that the singer we were working with decided not to work with us. Because we're going into the studio in the next three weeks, which he's gonna miss out on. And what he did to me personally I didn't appreciate. We were planning on him being in the band ? that's why we did the recordings with him. So, basically, he wasted a lot of our time and a lot of our money. In fact, if he was gonna do it that way, we would have thrown him out a long time ago, we would have never used him."

Thomas: "But we respect the fact that if he wants to work on his original stuff, that's cool..."

Adler: "You respect the fact. I don't respect the fact. I think he's an asshole for doing it to me, or doing it to us. But God bless him all the same. . . I haven't talked to him yet. That's the kind of person I'm dealing with. I found out that he was quitting the band because somebody told me he saw it on his Facebook. I had no idea. So you can take any story you want out of that, 'cause that's how it happened."

Thomas: "And it's disappointing in the fact that we have this two-month summer tour coming up and so much great stuff on the table. And we just had this incredible meeting with [producer] Jay Baumgardner, who has done PAPA ROACH and a number of great bands, over at NRG [studios] last week. It's a really good situation for the next guy coming in, so that's why we're being very serious about the candidates we're looking at and kind of going over all the details."

Adler: "The next person that we work with is gonna be... obviously, he's gonna be a better singer, and a better all-around person that what we were dealing with."

Stitch announced over the weekend that he was leaving ADLER'S APPETITE in order to concentrate on his Los Angeles-based original project LADYJACK.

Video: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=156020

[sleeper]

I hope Stevie has a better plan than VR for getting a singer.

[Trist805]

I bet Jdog is happy  

That kind of sucks that Rick did that.   That was shitty of him to burn Adler and the band like that.  He probably just used this whole thing as an opportunity to promote his other band...who were opening for Adler before this.  I respect Steven for telling like it is and for kind of bashing them.  

[LunsJail]

Let's face it, this is a GNR covers band. Any singer who comes in is probably going to be more commited to doing original stuff with their original band. Steven should realize that. I agree that email isn't the best way to let everyone know though.

[One.In.A.Million]

This has actually happened before, back in like 2005 or whatever, another one of his singers left to persue his own original band. 

Seems to me that Adler needs to pick someone, who has his heart set on a long career with Adler's Appetite, and to be honest, it's getting fuckin boring seeing Adler's appetite playing GN'R songs, when the players are obviously inskilled in doing so.

If I was Steven, I'd stop covering GN'R songs, or maybe cut it down to 1-3 at least. Guns N' Roses are the only band that should be playing Guns N' Roses songs period, end of discussion. 

And that's also probably why alot of Adlers Appetite singers have left, because they know that it's essentially a GN'R cover band and they are always going to lose that one live, because no one can sing GN'R songs except Axl Rose. 

[Doofey]

That's what's weird about it though. As soon as they started recording original material, he left. I could understand getting frustrated if they were only playing GNR songs and had no intention of ever playing anything else. But thats not what happened.

I guess we will have to wait and hear the other side of the story. Very odd.

[Albert S Miller]

I must admit, I went to see them this last summer, and I quite enjoyed myself, great little show, caught one of Stevens drum sticks, it seemed to be a great little set up, all the players appeared to work well together, though it was a cover band, Rick Stitch I thought did a pretty good job, so, sad to see him go.  I wish them luck finding a replacement.

[FunkyMonkey]

LADYJACK Vocalist Rick Stitch On Leaving ADLER'S APPETITE - "It's Unfortunate The Way Some People Are Handling Things"

Rick Stitch: "I only wish a further statement from me on this matter was unnecessary, but it's unfortunate the way some people are handling things. With every relationship that ends, be it personal, professional or both, those involved have different ways of dealing with it. I simply chose to move forward and concentrate all of my efforts on a positive situation where I can be creatively embraced and be myself, rather than force myself to perform within the parameters of other's ideas. No one would win if I continued on as I was, not Steven, not myself and certainly not the fans.

Robo and I have a musical chemistry that you don't see every day. Yes, I can write music on my own as can Robo, but when we put it together we have something that I wasn't willing to lose by continuing on with Adler's Appetite. I learned a lot during my time with Steven and am very grateful for the experience. The sad reality is that I simply can't be in two places at once, so I felt I had no choice but to go with my heart. As I didn't want to put Steven and the guys in a bind, I chose to give Steven the news when he had no immediate tour dates scheduled, as I didn't want the guys to have to cancel any shows. The band has plenty of time to find a replacement, as I have no doubt they will. Adler's Appetite will go out there this summer and kick some ass. I wish them nothing but the best.

[One.In.A.Million]

LADYJACK Vocalist Rick Stitch On Leaving ADLER'S APPETITE - "It's Unfortunate The Way Some People Are Handling Things"

Rick Stitch: "I only wish a further statement from me on this matter was unnecessary, but it's unfortunate the way some people are handling things. With every relationship that ends, be it personal, professional or both, those involved have different ways of dealing with it. I simply chose to move forward and concentrate all of my efforts on a positive situation where I can be creatively embraced and be myself, rather than force myself to perform within the parameters of other's ideas. No one would win if I continued on as I was, not Steven, not myself and certainly not the fans.

Robo and I have a musical chemistry that you don't see every day. Yes, I can write music on my own as can Robo, but when we put it together we have something that I wasn't willing to lose by continuing on with Adler's Appetite. I learned a lot during my time with Steven and am very grateful for the experience. The sad reality is that I simply can't be in two places at once, so I felt I had no choice but to go with my heart. As I didn't want to put Steven and the guys in a bind, I chose to give Steven the news when he had no immediate tour dates scheduled, as I didn't want the guys to have to cancel any shows. The band has plenty of time to find a replacement, as I have no doubt they will. Adler's Appetite will go out there this summer and kick some ass. I wish them nothing but the best.

Well what did he expect from Steven and the guys?. 

I'm sure when he joined Adlers Appetite, he never said to them "oh, by the way dudes, if I get bored in a couple of years, I'm gonna fuck off and screw you, to go back to work on my own original band, yeah cool?". 

The fact is, he most likely did this to get some recognition for himself, by playing with an ex member of GN'R. Which is selfish and ignorant, and he must have known that another vocalist fucked Steven over a few years ago, doing the exact same thing.

It's unfortunate that some of these hardcore rock n' roll wannable vocalists like Rick, jump at an opportunity to play with a legend like Steven. Only to get bored really quick, and then go back to their own shitty bands, because they think they know have what it takes to make it big.