Enquiry for a HTGTH Axl interview

[Spirit]

So... I know this has been tried in the past (years ago) with no result - a message board comes together to compile a list of questions to send to Axl. Maybe the night in 2008 when Axl went on the message boards to chat was his appreciation of the interest shown in the past. It's been a little over six years since that, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask now.

Jarmo, would you be comfortable to make an enquiry to management if this is something Axl would be interested in? We know that the press sends these sorts of requests all the time, and sometimes (not often) Axl says yes to answer some questions sent his way.

Maybe, with all of us being hardcore fans, we stand a slightly better chance than the press world if we are one of the many on his list.



The questions would be respectful and seen from a fan's eyes. It would have been an awesome day for us if Axl chose to open up a bit for us about the future. Knowing a little bit more about how he views the next direction of Guns N' Roses and maybe the sound of the new material would be something we can live on for a long time - make the waiting time for a new album even more intriguing.

Again, I'm just putting this out there to see if there's a general interest for this among the members of the board, but first of all Jarmo. It could also be a boost for the board as every time Axl choose to say something in public, it gets picked up by the whole world.

[D-GenerationX]

I promise not to ask any questions, if it will help.

[Spirit]

I promise not to ask any questions, if it will help.

Oh, I'm sure you'll have a lot of good ideas for questions without a confrontational nature. 



Maybe this can be a positive thing for the board. To have something everyone gathers around, instead of much of the "conflict" we've seen in the past.

[D-GenerationX]

I have a few, yes.

Maybe someone could reword them for me.

[JAEBALL]

I promise not to ask any questions, if it will help.

Haha

Spirit.. Great idea. Would love to see it come to fruition. You would think if any GNR site could get this done...it would be right here.

 

[Ericnor]

Good idea. I'm sure the fans would have come up with lots of relevant and good questions if this were to go through somehow. Even without it happening, it would have been interesting to read what kinda angle and form of questions the board members here would raise.

-Eirik

[D-GenerationX]

I almost wonder if you'd have to submit them ahead of time.

So many dumb questions got asked the night he came to MYGNR.  We needed an editor, badly.

[Spirit]

I almost wonder if you'd have to submit them ahead of time.

So many dumb questions got asked the night he came to MYGNR.  We needed an editor, badly.

That was my thought yes. A pre-compiled list of questions.

Not like the forum chats.

[Axl4Prez2004]

I've always wondered if Axl ever considered playing sports or participating in endurance events. 
Just based on the physical nature of his stage performance.

Does he have a bucket list?
He doesn't have to divulge it, just curious if he's got one or a loose version of one.

Has he ever considered writing an advice column?
I'd pay to read it if he did.

Has he ever considered making a guest appearance on ABC's The Bachelor? 
I can just picture Chris Harrison letting the ladies know, "There's only one Rose remaining..."  and in walks Axl Rose.   
Why not?   

[Mysteron]

The timing has to be right for the band.

What can Axl offer at this point in time that he has not already answered.

[sky dog]

That is what I was thinking.....unless he plans on giving us a release date and tracklisting for the next album! 

[Axl4Prez2004]

The timing has to be right for the band.

What can Axl offer at this point in time that he has not already answered.

Perhaps the 4 questions I posted less than an hour ago?
Enquiring minds want to know.   

[TheBaconman]

If this was to happen, unlikely, but if it did

We would have to have follow up questions

When someone asks Axl a question sometimes the answer is very, how you say, axlish

There would have to be follow up questions asking.   What does that mean?  Etc...

[Mysteron]

If it was to happen, Jarmo would be on the button 

These endeavours are forever about timing.

[Spirit]

The timing has to be right for the band.

What can Axl offer at this point in time that he has not already answered.

Well, some information about the new music is probably what the fans want to know about the most. We really don't know much specifics about what their plans are.

• Will the next release be all new music written by the current line-up or does he want to release the material that Bucket, Brain, Tobias and Finck has worked on?
• How big is the body of material they have at this time?
• Where are they in the process of writing, recording, mixing etc.
• How has the writing process been for the next album? For the last album he has said that they were using lots of different ideas and riffs recorded by different people, and then putting things together afterwards. Have they written any songs with a different approach for the next album?
• What will the sound be like on the next album? Will there be a lot of aggressive rockers, many ballads, acoustic pieces, guest performers, industrial elements, classic hard rock sound...?
• He has given us song names in the past. Would he be willing to drop a couple more, with a little description of how they sound?
• Has he been working on the ideas that Dj sent him?
• Will Richard have any writing credits for the next album? It has been said in the past that he was brought in partially for his writing capabilities.
• Is the remix album something they are looking to release?
• Richard commented on the re-recorded Appetite from 1999, and he thought it wasn't intended for release. Axl wasn't dismissive of the idea when asked about it many years ago. Could it still be that they might release any of those tracks, maybe as b-sides to singles?
• How does he view the music industry today? Does he think that it's hard to find motivation to create new music when the financial reward isn't what it used to be?
• How would he preferably go about releasing an album? Is he still in favor of physical copies, or does he think digital is the way to go?
• He seems to be very passionate about the album art. How much thought does he give it? Is it something he wants to do by himself, or does he seek help from the band mates or others?
• Can he say anything about what happened with the alternative covers of Chinese? Does he hope to officially release them at one point?
• We know that he put a lot of work into previous videos. Is music videos something that he still wants to do, or is it something that doesn't interest him anymore?
• Could Duff or Izzy be considered as guest musicians on the next record? Has he written anything with either of them in the latest years?
• Would he consider doing any guest vocals himself with any artist in the future?
• As he himself took the producer chair (along with Caram) on Chinese, is it the same case for future releases?
• Talking about producing, how did he go about learning the art of production? Learning by doing or has he been schooled in it?
• Has he laid down any guitar tracks himself on any of the new material?
• Is Paul Tobias still writing/recording with the band? Same goes for Brain.

I think there are lots of options to what he can share with us without giving away anything that will diminish any pleasure of actually listening to the album when it arrives.

I remember the Rolling Stone interview with Axl back in early 2000 where he shared quite a bit about what was to come. It was an awesome read for any fan of the band.

[The Wight Gunner]

 just one question from me.

Any plans/hopes to join the list of legends to play the Isle of Wight? 

[DeN]

if he's in the studio he could take some time between two mixes, good idea

[jarmo]

The timing has to be right for the band.

What can Axl offer at this point in time that he has not already answered.

Well, some information about the new music is probably what the fans want to know about the most. We really don't know much specifics about what their plans are.

I'm not against the idea itself. But then when it turns into this kinda "forced" way of getting updates regarding the album... It just loses some of its fun I guess.

It's like people who send you messages asking when you're gonna go to country X but what they really wanna know is, when is GN'R going to country X....


Just something to consider.



/jarmo

[Spirit]

The timing has to be right for the band.

What can Axl offer at this point in time that he has not already answered.

Well, some information about the new music is probably what the fans want to know about the most. We really don't know much specifics about what their plans are.

I'm not against the idea itself. But then when it turns into this kinda "forced" way of getting updates regarding the album... It just loses some of its fun I guess.

It's like people who send you messages asking when you're gonna go to country X but what they really wanna know is, when is GN'R going to country X....


Just something to consider.



/jarmo

We could have more variety in the questions of course (not all about the album). But personally, I think it's only natural at this point in time that, as a fan, it's the number one thing that intrigues us.

I don't see that as a bad thing, we are hardcore fans of the music after all.

But, as I said... there's of course a lot of other things we could ask him about at the same time.

[jarmo]

I know that much.

I'm just saying that the whole idea of the interview seems to be to get an update on the album.
And if the one being interviewed isn't interested in talking about that at that specific point in time, then there goes the whole idea.

Just saying.

It's like when somebody tells you "Hey! Nice to see you!" and then immediately asks for something. You get a feeling there was an ulterior motive all along. 



/jarmo