From: alexa@county.lmt.mn.org (Alex Alexander)
Subject: Axl RIP Interview (2 of 3)
Organization: LaserMaster Technologies, Minneapolis, MN
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 13:37:41 GMT

AXL RIP INTERVIEW (PART 2 OF 3)

You can't have a music conversation without W. Axl Rose's name popping up. 
Rock n' roll's favorite enigma, he conjures many images. Everything from 
Damien Thorn (you know the antiChrist kid from "The Omen") in a kilt to a 
mixed-up misogynist come to mind.

He has certain qualities women love to mother but if you rub him the wrong 
way, he can be a real motherfucker. If there's one thing I'd like the world 
to know about Axl, it's that he truly cares about his people. What few 
understand, however is that we are ALL his people. That's why he shares his 
pain in his songs; that's why he performs when he feels like shit. On the 
days regular folks call in sick, he has to entertain 20,000 fans. If he 
didn't care about them, he'd shine them.

When the riots were going down in L.A., Axl invited me and my family, as 
well as many of his other friends, up to the safer environs of his house. He 
was in constant communication with us throughout the crisis, when he could 
just as easily have kept himself locked in or split the scene entirely -- 
but that's not his style.

Even though his manners seem unorthodox at times, he does care. Maybe that's 
one of the reasons he's such an easy target for detractors. Cynics can't 
deal with sincerity.

This issue we pick up where we left off last time. Axl has just phoned me 
back after a short break.

----------------------

RIP: At the beginning of the tour -- with Skid Row, then Soundgarden -- the 
show seemed Illusion-heavy. The majority of the songs were off the new 
records. Then, towards the end of the tour, it seemed quite Appetite-heavy. 
Why?

AXL: That was just the mood for those nights. It was just what we felt like 
playing and what came out. l mean, in San Diego we opened with "It's So 
Easy," and we never do that anymore.

RIP: l hear you, but there are certain songs, especially newer ones, that 
should be in the set. If l go see GNR, and "Estranged" or "November Rain" 
aren't in the set, I'm gonna be slightly bummed.

AXL: I'll remember that the night we don't play them. I'll say, "Del would 
be bummed," and 20,000 people in Iowa will be going, "What?"

RIP: It's just that those two songs are classics. You could put them next to 
"Bohemian Rhapsody" or "Layla" on a cassette.

AXL: l think, musically, "November Rain" could possibly stand there. 
Vocally, l purposely wanted the sound I have on that. I'm very happy with 
it, even though it's very abrasive.

RIP: The same could be said about Steven Tyler's singing on "Dream On," and 
very few songs come close to that intensity.

AXL: One of the things like about the vocal roughness in "November Rain" is 
that anyone can think that they can sing it as good or better. They can feel 
like a part of it.

RIP: You really haven't yet addressed why Izzy Stradlin left GNR. If you 
would, explain what happened and, more importantly, how you feel about Izzy.

AXL: l feel like he shit all over me, and I wiped it off and ain't too happy 
that it happened. l think for a long period of time Izzy wanted to be more 
independent, but Guns N' Roses took off fast, and he was such a part of it, 
it was hard to take that step. That's my opinion. There are certain 
responsibilities to Guns N' Roses that Izzy didn't want to face. He 
basically didn't want to work as hard at certain things as we did. He pretty 
much just showed up before we went on onstage, would get upset that l wasn't 
on time, played, then split. There were times when we'd get off stage, and 
five minutes later he was gone. He didn't socialize with the band on any 
level, and he had a real problem being sober and being around us. Izzy's 
always been very compulsive and impulsive, and although he's quit abusing 
various substances, he still hasn't gotten to the base of the reason why he 
was abusive. He hasn't solved that, so instead of doing drugs, drinking and 
womanizing, he was keeping himself busy traveling, bicycling and buying lots 
of toys. There's nothing wrong with any of that, except that he wasn't able 
to do the things required of him in Guns N' Roses. Getting Izzy to work hard 
on the album was like pulling fucking teeth. Everybody dreaded it. Nobody 
would go by the studio while he was there, because no one wanted to deal 
with it. He'd play something out of key, and we'd ask him to do it again, 
and he'd be like, "Why? l just did it." Izzy was very unsupportive of me in 
general. He was very concerned about his free time, and he didn't have a 
whole lot of understanding of what it takes me to do my job. As far as I'm 
concerned, he was a lazy, selfish user. There are ways that miss him and 
wish it could've gone on, but he was a real fucking asshole to me. I was 
always a massive Izzy fan and supporter, but now that he's working with Alan 
Niven (former GNR manager), fuck him -- and you can print this. Even if we 
work things out between us, l won't regret what's coming out in this 
interview, because it's how l feel. I'm glad we got the songs out of him 
that we did, and I'm glad he's gone.

RIP: He really hurt you, huh?

AXL: You wanna know how he really hurt me? When he came up here to my 
fucking house and acted like, "What's wrong, man?" It's really weird; I knew 
he was coming. I could literally feel his car driving up as l was getting 
dressed. l went outside and sat down, because Izzy couldn't come into my 
house. l couldn't act like he was my friend after what he'd done to me. He 
came up and acted like he hadn't done anything, but he let us down at a 
weird time. It wasn't like someone leaving the band because they couldn't 
take it anymore; he left in a shitty way. Izzy called up members of the band 
and tried to turn them against me by saying that l pushed him out, and 
that's not how it went down. He said a lot of shit behind my back. He tried 
to make a power play and damage us on his way out, and that's real fucked 
up.

RIP: Want to talk about another former member of Guns, drummer Steven Adler?

AXL: The misconception is that we kicked him out for the hell of it, and 
that l was the dictator behind it. The truth is, l probably fought a little 
harder to keep him in the band, because l wasn't working with him on a daily 
basis like the other guys were. They grew tired of not being able to get 
their work done because Steven wasn't capable of it. I've read interviews 
where he's saying that he's straight. Most of the time he isn't. He's the 
type of person who wants everything handed to him, and he did get it handed 
to him. He got it handed to him from me. At one point, in order to keep this 
band together, it was necessary for me to give him a portion of my 
publishing rights. That was one of the biggest mistakes I've made in my 
life, but he threw such a fit, saying he wasn't going to stay in the band. 
We were worried about not being able to record our first album, so I did 
what l felt l had to do. In the long run l paid very extensively for keeping 
Steven in Guns N' Roses. I paid $1.5 million by giving him 15 percent of my 
publishing off of Appetite for Destruction. He didn't write one goddamn 
note, but he calls me a selfish dick! He's been able to live off of that 
money, buy a shitload of drugs and hire lawyers to sue me. If and when he 
loses the lawsuit he has against us, and he has to pay those lawyers, if he 
has any money left, it'll be the money that came from Guns N' Roses and 
myself. At this point l really don't care what happens to Steven Adler, 
because he's taken himself out of my life, out of my care and concern, 
completely. I feel bad for him in ways, because he's a real damaged person, 
but he's making choices to keep himself in that damage. There's nothing we 
can do at this point. We took him to rehabs, we threatened his drug dealers, 
we helped him when he slashed his wrists. l even forgave him after he nearly 
killed my wife. I had to spend a night with her in an intensive-care unit 
because her heart had stopped thanks to Steven. She was hysterical, and he 
shot her up with a speedball. She had never done jack shit as far as drugs 
go, and he shoots her up with a mixture of heroin and cocaine? l kept myself 
from doing anything to him. I kept the man from being killed by members of 
her family. l saved him from having to go to court, because her mother 
wanted him held responsible for his actions. And the son of a bitch turns on 
me? l mean, yeah, I'm a difficult person to deal with, and I'm a pain in the 
ass to understand, and I've had my share of problems, but Steven benefited 
greatly from his involvement with more than l did from knowing him. Steven 
had a lot of tans, but he was a real pain in the ass. l need to keep him in 
my life for you? Fuck you!

RIP: Now that we've taken care of that, what about the flip side of the 
coin: the new guys, especially guitarist Gilby Clarke?

AXL: Gilby is awesome, and a pleasure to be around. He works the stage and 
the crowd really well. Also, he helps give us a sense of rock 'n' roll 
normalcy -- if there is such a thing. Gilby has a way of understanding and 
dealing with situations that makes the whole trip more tolerable. His 
insights from being on the outside of GNR help us. He has his opinions of 
what's going on with us, and it helps us get a different perspectives 
because Slash, Duff and myself have been in GNR for so long and are so close 
to it that sometimes we don't see things like other people would. Every now 
and then he'll say something to me, and I'll go, "Wow, l didn't see it that 
way." He's been putting himself through his own rock-and-roll education with 
his other groups for years. Now he's a part of Guns N' Roses.

RIP: Is he a "member" of Guns N' Roses?

AXL: This "member" thing is quite interesting. l read in an interview where 
Matt (Sorum, GNR's drummer) said that if he didn't get made a member, he 
wasn't going to be in Guns N' Roses. The truth of the matter is, Matt's a 
member of GNR, but it doesn't really mean anything. It's kind of like a 
clubhouse/gang thing. We're all members of this gang. What it boils down to 
is, whose yard is the tree house in? Matt's a member of GNR, and his 
opinions are taken into consideration. As far as that's concerned, Gilby is 
a member too. Dizzy is a member of the band. With all of the background 
singers, horn players, keyboardists -- we look at if like we're all Guns N' 
Roses. But the bottom line is, the business is basically run by Slash and 
myself. Then we run whatever it is we're discussing by Duff and see if he's 
cool with it. Guns N' Roses is basically Slash, Duff, Doug Goldstein and 
myself, but theres a lot of other people involved that are a part of our 
lives and a part of our family.

RIP: Do you think Matt's gonna be pissed when he reads this?

AXL: If would be nice if he wasn't. I love everybody in this band. It's 
kicking ass and feels really warm and really cool onstage. At this point its 
the 12 of us that get onstage and fucking go all out.

RIP: Theres 12 of you?

AXL: Theres Teddy, theres Dizzy, theres Roberta, Tracy, Lisa, CeCe, Anne, 
Gilby, Matt, Duff, Slash and me. Slash put this new band together, did all 
of the groundwork. He did such an amazing job that I just can't believe it 
really happened. I'm glad to be a part of it. Its a pretty huge thing, and 
we might even add some dancers, like we used to have back in the old 
Troubadour days. Its something we've considered.

RIP: When you and Slash aren't at each others throats, you're really a force 
to be reckoned with.

AXL: Let me say something about us being at each others throats: We haven't 
really been that way in the past year and a half. l love the guy. We're like 
opposite poles of energy, and we balance each other out. We push each other 
to work harder and complement each other that way. We had a run-in in Dayton 
(Ohio), because both myself and Dougie thought he said something shitty to 
me onstage. That was the night I cut my hand to the bone. Backstage we have 
monitors much like the ones onstage; and while l was back there dealing with 
my hand, I thought I heard him take a potshot at me. I wrapped my hand up in 
a towel and was like, "Lets get it taken care of, so l can finish the show." 
I came back onstage and was a dick to him and told him I'd kick his fucking 
ass in front of 20,000 people. That was fucked up. l was wrong, and l 
apologized the second l realized I was mistaken. Someone who is supporting 
me as strongly as he does is a hand I never want to bite.

RIP: The tribute to Freddie Mercury was very cool. What was it like jamming 
with legends like Queen and Elton John?

AXL: The Queen gig was the most humbling experience of my life. It was 
fucking intense. When we first met Brian May last summer it was wild. None 
of us would let him out of the room. He's one of the nicest people I've met. 
When we did "Bohemian Rhapsody," that was unrehearsed. Brian asked me to do 
it that day, and it felt right. l spoke to Elton before the show, and he was 
kind of uneasy about meeting me, you know, I'm supposed to be the most 
homophobic guy on Earth. When we talked, l was excited, but serious, telling 
him how much his music meant to me. By the end he was like, "Whoa." Onstage 
l was trying to be as respectful to him as could. l was purposely vibing 
out, and if you look close, you can see it at times, how much love and 
respect I have for Elton. There was some heavy eye contact going down. It 
was amazing. MTV's John Norris kept saying, "This could be the last time 
you'll ever see Elton John and Axl Rose together onstage." Not if I have 
anything to do with it.

RIP: When speaking of Oueen, one must speak of AIDS. How has this disease 
affected you?

AXL: I want to learn more and start helping people. Freddie Mercury's death 
is a marker in my life that says there's no turning back, and I'm going to 
do whatever can to inform the public about certain things. We can't sit idly 
and hope someone will change things and hope things will be alright. There 
are alternative forms of medicine that are having high success rates in 
treating AIDS victims. There's things like vibrational medicine, 
oxygen-ozone therapy, there's homeopathic medicines, there are Chinese 
medicines and different forms of vitamins. The government is denying the 
public this information. That's because the government, the FDA and the 
pharmaceutical companies are making billions of dollars off of people dying. 
The FDA invests money in companies they're supposed to be regulating -- that 
makes no sense. Over the last 50 years there have been different cures for 
different illnesses that have been kept from us. Freddie Mercury's death 
made me want to fight for people to have the right to know about these 
alternative treatments. Everyone has a God-given right to health, and it's 
being denied by power-hungry, greedy people who want control.

RIP: I take it you're not very big on the way things are being run?

AXL: Our government talks about freedom and liberty while they exercise and 
maintain and enforce and strive for and fight for all the control they can 
have over the people. Since day one we've been taught to support our own 
oppression, and l think its time for things to change.

RIP: Well put.

AXL: How's this interview going?

RIP: Really cool.

AXL: To put all of this in an interview would've taken weeks a couple of 
years ago.

RIP: Yeah, but two years ago we were less skilled at this.

AXL: And on dope. Also, with a lot of these issues I have the support of 
Guns N' Roses, but I'm not necessarily speaking for the other members here. 
I'm speaking for myself and where I'm coming from.

END PART 2 OF 3

_________________________________________________________________________
Alex Alexander           |    The thoughts expressed here are my own, 
LaserMaster R&D          |    and in no way reflect those of my company
7156 Shady Oak Rd.      G|R   (which would no doubt disavow everything
Minneapolis, MN 55344    N'   I have ever said on the net or in person).
(612) 943-9314          G|R   ------------------------------------------
---------------------    |   "Your only validation is in living your
alexa@county.lmt.mn.org  |      own life; vicarious existence is a
CIS -- 71005,506         |       fucking waste of time." -- Axl Rose
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

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