2011.11.11 - That Metal Show - Interview with Axl

Transcript:

Someone: Yeah, yeah, all right.

Eddie Trunk: You ready? You're good? We're rolling. All right, it's Eddie Trunk and we are backstage at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Don Jamieson is here, Jim Florentine-

[38 hours earlier]

Jim Florentine: Okay, today is Friday. It's, uh, like noon and we're heading to Miami, we're at Newark Airport right now and, uhm, we're supposed to be interviewing Axl Rose so sometime Saturday hopefully that's gonna go down and we're psyched. We're getting on a plane and we're going for it, who knows what's going to happen.  

ET: You know, I mean he's one of the guys we get so many emails about and tweets about saying, "Hey," you know, "How about Axl Rose on That Metal Show?" Well we've asked a thousand times, we figured maybe we just go there and get in his face he'll have no choice but to give us an interview. We don't know, we're hoping, but look at what we're doing for the audience, we're actually going out and trying this thing and we're going to try to force the issue a little bit.

[clip to flight]

ET: Yeah, when he did he did my radio show five years ago and it was like probably the last interview ever, he's ever done. See, that wasn't set up, I mean, he just walked in and we just hung out and Don was there, Jericho was there, Scotty was there, Sebastian was the conduit to make it happen. I mean, he just came by like, what, 10 minutes in he was one of the boys

Don Jamieson: [?]

[from the baggage area at Miami airpoit]

Someone: Did you check your bag?

JF: No, I'm a professional. When you wear your underwear three days in a row you don't have to check a bag. [sneezes]

ET: That's why he gets sick, wearing the same clothes over and over again, you could watch the infection now.

[arriving backstage; meeting Xavier Muriel from Buckcherry]

ET: How was the show last night?

XM: Unbelievable.

JF: Yeah?

XM: Unbelievable. I mean we're all like scientists just going, "This is happening! This is happening!" It was cool, man.

DonJ: This is the first time you guys play with Guns?

XM: Yeah.  

DonJ: Cool.

XM: And then you know what's really weird is our slots a lot earlier than what we normally have so, like, the two of the tours we had previous it wasn't like a lot of turnout when we were on, so by the time we'd get to the last two songs, which are the ones they came to see anyways, you know, most of the time it was packed. But like last night from the get-go and it was back on. 

ET: You was going on like nine, right? 8:45?

XM: Yeah, which is a lot later than we normally did on the two... on the Kiss and the Nickleback tou where we were on like at 7 o'clock. As soon as we got up there, I mean, I peeked out and it was like the whole floor was crowded, they were filing in the mid arena so I was like, "This is awesome!" and then by the time we got to, you know, crazy [?], it was on, dude. We were letting each other go, "This is awesome!" And we watched Guns and they were just, you know... and the band is just shredding. Axl's just killing it.

[clip to interview with Bumblefoot]

JF: We're here at American Airlines Arena in Miami with Bumblefoot from Guns N' Roses. It's about an hour before doors open. You guys are going on in a few hours. How do you feel, man?

Bumblefoot: Feel good.

DonJ: You guys just came back from South America-

Bumblefoot: South America and Mexico.

DonJ: They love GN'R in South America-

Bumblefoot: They do!  

DonJ: Yeah, but like fanatical, like Beatles love.

Bumblefoot: Yeah, I don't feel like that about everybody or if it's just us in particular but we do get a lot of support. They're very passionate down there.

JF: So how many people you performing in front of down there about?

Bumbefoot: Oh god...

JF: Like 30,000? 40?  

Bumblefoot: It depends. I mean, when we did Paraguay there were 72,000.

JF: 72,000?

Bumblefoot: 72,000.

DonJ: What's the highlight of the show for you?

Bumblefoot: Highlight of the show?

DonJ: The actual stage show.

Bumblefoot: You know what, it's become Estranged because for years everybody would just badger me on the Internet. They would badger me. [laughs] They would just badger me... Twitter, Facebook, it's like, "Play Estranged!" "Play Estranged!" "Play Estranged!" I had to start blocking people, they were just badgering me [laughs]. So finally we got to play it and the audience is really happy. It's, you know, it's whatever they like.

ET: Let me ask you this, it's been a little while now since-

DonJ: ...we were able to do a full interview-

[noise in the background]

ET: Well Bumble, let me ask you this because it's been now a little while since Chinese Democracy came out.

Bumblefoot: Yeah.

ET: Has there been any activity in the studio or writing about another Guns N' Roses record?

DonJ: Your badgering him!

ET: What's that noise?

Bumblefoot: What's that noise that's gonna start in like two minutes?

JF: You want to drown out your answer? We could put music over.

[music starts in background]

ET: There we go [laughs]

[Bumblefoot gesticulating and pretending to answer]

[clip to Bumblefoot playing his double neck]

ET: All right, it's Eddie Trunk and we are backstage at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Don Jamieson here, Jim Florentine here, and we are joined by two members of Guns N' Roses -  who turned in an absolutely amazing three-hour performance here tonight - DJ Ashba, good to see you, man.

DJ: Thank you, yeah you too.

ET: And the one and only Axl Rose. Thanks for coming here, man we appreciate it. It's good to see you. How do you feel after doing a show like that, man, three hours, I mean, the endurance has got... is just amazing. You just blew people away.

Axl: I feel really good about the show. We had a fun show and I feel like, you know, the band's starting to fire on the right cylinders and it's interesting to be back in the US.

ET: Yeah, you just come from South America, was it?

Axl: Yeah, another South America run.

DonJ: The fans are very fanatical in South America, can you talk about some of the the places you played and some of the the crazy audiences you've been around down there?

Axl: Well we did a really long run not quite a year ago there and Ecuador, like, 40,000 people and we've did a lot of different cities in Brazil and so now we did Brazil and Argentina twice and Chile. We tried to go to Guatemala but there was too much political unrest there and we tried to do Costa Rica and that got a little interesting, you know, a little shady.

[laughs]

DJ: Rock in Rio, that was fun.

Axl: Rock in Rio was amazing. And I'm... it's interesting... I mean, different things to different countries, you know, and to the people. There's a way that Brazil likes me that is different than the way Argentina does, that is different than the way Chile does, you know, which then all of it's different than America. America is a different thing. It's a whole other animal.

ET: You know what I noticed most is the amount of young fans that are in that audience. Like, a lot of people that I would think, looking at them, maybe weren't even born when Appetite came out. I'm talking like they're probably seeing Guns N' Roses for the first time. It was really cool to see the mix and cross-section of people here.  

Axl: It's a lot like that in the rest of the world and I would say way more so than here, so far.

JF: It's just amazing, if people haven't seen this band, we've seen you... we saw you guys five years ago when you came around and still now it's just amazing, the shows you guys put on, three hours kick ass-

Axl: And we're having fun together as a band you know. It's an interesting thing because of the way we work on stage and the way we work the crowd, we're trying to develop a little more interaction where first we were... everybody was, you know, more concerned with getting their parts right and figuring out how to interact with the crowd, we feel we got that kind of going. Now, we're trying to figure out how to interact with each other a little bit more on the stage, you know, and how far to take it. It's like Tommy was slamming me in the other night, you know, and then the next night he was doing it-

DJ: And you put him in a headlock.

Axl: I was just having fun but I realized, "Wait, I got him in a headlock!"

[laughs]  

Axl: You know, it was turning into [?].

DonJ: Obviously, all the new songs from Chinese fit in very well with the classic stuff but does it still blow your mind sometimes to hear how much people go crazy for November Rain and Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City and the long-lasting effect those songs have had on your fans?

Axl: Yeah-

DonJ: It's never waned!

Axl: It's very surprising and at the same time, you know, we try to put as much into it in the performance of it as we can.  And, you know, I was thinking about it, at the the first show in Orlando, and, you know, there was a long period of time that, I don't think it was a wrong thing because as I was talking with people tonight, back in the early days our crowds were much more violent, you know, and rowdy in a sense, and there was also a sense of like fighting for the songs as as our songs and, you know, and how we're putting them out there and then, you know, I'm watching the people last night, and I've thought about this before, but I just realized, you know, just feeling how much it's also their songs and their, you know, their memories and stuff and I really want to put as much into it as I can for them, you know, so that they they feel like the song that they liked all these years, you know, or whatever,  that they still have a reason, you know, or it makes them feel good about whatever experiences they had.

ET: What's amazing, I think, with what you're doing is that you're doing a three-hour show. I mean, tonight was a three-hour show. I know last night was too from what people told me, and I mean, I just imagine, for all the band, but of course you singing this stuff and fronting this band, that sort of endurance. I mean, you must... do you go through a process when, you know, you're going to get ready to go out on the road of what you have to do to yourself to to be able to physically do that?

Axl: Well, everybody in this band has their own different physical regimen that they go through.  I do a lot of cardio, you know, when I can and... or when I can force myself to  [laughs] But yeah, you got to get your wind up and you got to get your head in the right place to go out and do it.

DJ: You're super disciplined, too.

Axl: No. I mean, absolutely not.

[laughs]

Axl: Noooooo, no. It's an interesting thing because it's not just me, it's like it was in kind of starting with some of these guys but now, like, when we did this last run after being off the road for a while, it's like they're coming to me wanting to throw more songs in the set, "Hey, Frank wants to do this," I'm going, "Well, tell Frank nobody asked".  

[laughs]

Axl: You know, we're joking on stage you know, but it's like that, it's like they want to throw more stuff in, it's like throwing it out to get me that, and Shackler's was something that they wanted to do. Everyone in this has their own reasons for  wanting to push themselves and they like going out there feeling, like, they saw, they gave, they got back on the bus.

ET: You know, another question about the preparation: There's a lot made about the start time of Guns N' Roses' shows, for whatever reason. What goes on for you in that preparation time? Because the thing about it is, say what you want about what time the band goes on but when you go on it's all on, and as we said, you're given your full three hours. There's not a lot of bands doing that right now. But for you, Axl, what is the preparation like day of a show, like before you're getting ready to hit that stage in the time before you go on?

Axl: Well, you know, not complaining or to be a wuss or whatever just a lot of times day of show for some reason everything starts going wrong, people are making mistakes that you have no... you're making mistakes, they're making mistakes and nobody even knows why. You know, it's like things that you go, "Well, I should know this," you know. It's like everybody gets hit by ADD or whatever and so you're trying sort through that and get yourself in the right headspace and physical whatever that you got to, you know, work through. It's more like sports, you know, and and having to play the big game. And, you know, I think we're doing better, you know, as far as that goes.

I mean, a lot of this goes way way back, though, to '91 and where we were super late going on stage and that really more has to do with I should not have been on tour. I only went on tour because of three reasons: My manager had booked a tour without authorization and he just booked the tour and then I'm going to be sued for it, he was also telling me that if Slash dies of heroin or whatever, it's my fault, and Slash pushing me. And I should not have agreed to that tour but I didn't know how to get out of it after it was booked and the only thing that started cutting down the late times was when I realized it was really being hard on the crew. The band didn't care about me so I wasn't that... my head wasn't about them. The public... like I said, it was a different kind of violent crowd, there was a back and forth thing whether they wanted you to succeed or tear you apart. But the big thing was that the crew was having trouble, that was really supportive of me, and they weren't getting enough sleep and I didn't want anybody getting hurt and once that happened, you know, we started... I started getting myself... figuring out a way to get there sooner. But it was also about trying to get the album done, get the album out, you know, it was a lot to what was going on there. And then I just... I lived right behind my school and I couldn't make it to the class [laughter] I had a job at the grocery store down the street and I'm running down the street with wet hair trying to tie my ties, a sandwich in one hand.

ET: I was going to say, has it been a lifelong thing since you're a little kid?

Axl: Yeah.

ET: it has been, right.

Axl: Yeah, it's a comic strip.

[clip]

ET:  But how are you feeling about the the band that you have now? You said earlier you feel it gelling.

Axl: I feel great with the lineup and the chemistry and stuff. I feel like the right people helped make Chinese and some of the other songs that we've done. And I think the right people are playing them, that want to be here and found a way to be here, and fight to be here, and work hard here. And they all push each other, you know, give each other a hard time.  

ET: How do you feel about Chinese Democracy now that it's been out for a few years? Did it live up to your expectations and what you wanted it to be and all the work you put into it? 

Axl: I think that it's done a lot of that. I think it's gonna do more. People all over the world like a lot of things about it, you know, there's certain songs we do live, you know, and they react. So yeah, I think it's working. It's working in ways... on stage, it's kind of between Tommy and I, and Tommy's talking with the other band guys and stuff and I'm going with what I feel I have the most energy I can put into and what, you know, my guesstimate of where the crowd's at at that time with what to try to hit him with. I mean, like in Orlando, you know, we went into the AC/DC song Riff Raff, I just needed that to  pick myself up at the time and I told him that, I go, "Yey, I need some to get my mojo going, so I got to do this song for me."

DonJ: You did a little Rosie tonight.

Axl: Yeah, yeah, we did both.

JF: You know what's great that your catalog is so great that you could put Welcome to the Jungle as second song. Most bands will go, "That's our encore, that's our last song," you guys used to open with it and now it's the second song in your set because, you know, you got so many great songs after that.

Axl: You know, also like we were in, I don't know what country we were in at the time, and they were all just really excited and this beer comes flying and I was like, "You know what," because sometimes we've stopped Chinese and then started again but I was like going, "You know what, now I want to," it's like, "Let's just forget that song right now, let's just go right to Jungle, let's start the whole show over but hit him with Jungle not as the second song, let's hit it as the first song." The band thought that was pretty funny though [laughs].

JF: [?]

ET: Has it even amazed you at what's happened with Welcome to the Jungle in the sense that, you know, we're big sports fans, I mean, you can't put a football game on or-

Axl: It's been that way since the song took off, I mean-

Et: More so now than ever, it's everywhere, man!

Axl: ...I still got a pair of cowboy boots Boomer [=Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason, sports analyst and former American football player] sent me back in the day, you know [chuckles].

JF: Because Welcome to the Jungle was out, they were playing like 120 minutes or something, like late at night, before and then Sweet Child came out like six months after right and that's when everything hit and then Welcome to the Jungle- 

Axl: David Geffen gave me a lecture about the wrong cover and that's why I'm not selling records and blahblahblahblah but all that was kind of planned to sell records and, you know, it's like because, you know, first cover gets banned, we go with the second, you know, and that was already-

JF: I still have the first cover.

ET: Yeah?

JF: Yeah.

Axl: But the original cover, that we never made, was going to be the the Challenger exploding.

DonJ: Wow!

ET: Really?

Axl: Because I figured it's on the cover of Time then we should be allowed to use it too and it wasn't meant derogatory but I just wanted our record to be... because that photograph just blew my mind. But they went, "Oh this is in bad taste." So I  was like, "Okay well what about this one?" and I just kind of threw this postcard out and walked away [laughs].

DonJ: Hey, can you talk about... you know, we talked about MTV a little earlier, you mentioned it, can you talk about the obvious impact that it had on your band and any remembrances of that time especially with the videos you guys did? Very revolutionary at the time.

Axl: You know, I have, you know, mixed emotions about MTV, as I would think a lot of people do. But there's no denying that it didn't help us explode, you know. People liked the videos, they liked the songs, and they liked a lot of what we did with that. Then it became only bands being able to make a video that had people's interests and maybe will ignore the song and that band doesn't get as big because of whatever the physical image doesn't look the same. It's like sometimes music to me is just you're supposed to hear the song, you don't have to write a script to it and that's part of the reason why there are not videos for Chinese yet. I want people to have a certain amount of time. I didn't... I wanted people to get what they could out of the material for a while, rather than tell them what I want them to think.

ET: Where are you at with music now? We've talked to some of the band members throughout the day and everybody's  expressed an interest in wanting to do more new music and this band in particular with this lineup. And you had a bunch of stuff recorded as well that didn't make it on Chinese, right? So where is your thought process on to more new music or are you still kind of, you know, working Chinese Democracy in in your mind?  

Axl: It's a combo of different things and it's trying to figure that out, we're working with new management and, you know, we'll be figuring out what we're doing with the label and, you know, kind of feeling things out in the US as we're going across the country.

ET: I want to ask you about what you do vocally, because I was really blown away tonight watching you sing that stuff, spot on, pitch on, I mean, everybody was saying that, "Yes, he really is singing, like, everything exactly the way you want to hear it." There's very few-

Axl: I had a good night.

[laughs]

ET: Is this an anomaly to the tour?  

Axl: No, no it's not an anomaly but I did have a good night and I have been taking care of my voice. I do warm ups before the show, I do warm downs after the show, I do those religiously.  

ET: But I imagine actually it's also stuff you... and I've talked to a lot of singers about this who have made iconic records and sang in a certain style early on when they were young and made their first couple records, and then I'll talk... Brian Johnson for an example, I just spoke to Brian and I said, "Man, when you sang," you know, "the Back in Black album and you sang in the way you sang, did you feel you kind of painted yourself into a corner a little bit 30 years later when you just have to do that-

Axl: Yeah, I did that with You Could Be Mine I couldn't... when I first time had to play You Could Be Mine like, "What did I do to myself? What have I done? I got to sing this now," you know. But I've noticed that, you know, other bands have a problem with, you know, that it's not too manly to be doing voice exercises and, you know, there's a lot of teasing or ribbing or annoying people and whatever, but you got to do what you got to do. It's like a guy can be exercising his fingers in the corner with his amp up and stuff and it's not really bothering anybody but going [does some voice exercises] is annoying everybody around.

ET: Doing interviews at 6 am, is that good for the voice?

[laughs]

Axl: Well, as long as I've been up.

ET: And the day off, I was going to say tomorrow, but today. Hey, I want to ask you about something that just happened, which is the announcement of the eligibility of Guns N' Roses in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame now, I have some very strong opinions about that institution which I've been very vocal about for a long time about the way they've... the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-

Axl: And, but I don't know-

ET: How they... well, the bands they've ignored for decades that have, you know, they've looked past that they haven't put in. I think you guys are eligible for the first time and you're on the ballot to go in. How do you feel about it and, you know, would you accept the induction? Is it something that you kind of are excited about?  

Axl: Elton asked me to induct him and so I took it upon myself to go on stage and induct him and Bernie. You know, I was pretty proud of that still. I don't know what it means in terms of me with the old band and the old lineup. I don't know what if we were to be invited what they would ask of me or not. I don't know. That's still all up in the air. It's an honor, you know, to be on the, whatever, the nomination or whatever, and I know that there's definitely an element of the fans that really like that, you know, and so for them I think it's a great thing.  

ET: Right.

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

[clips from performance in Miami]

Axl: Last time we were here a few years ago, I don't remember a whole lot. The next day I found out something about tackling a mechanical bull... that's Miami.

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

ET: What you see is what you get from you, you're a fun guy to talk to and, you know-

Axl: [laughs]

ET: Well, you are! I mean, at least in my experience, you know, in the couple times I've had the opportunity-

JF: Everyone that came in here, your band mates, said, "What's something about Axl?" "He's a funny guy. He's always cracking jokes, always getting everybody in a good mood."

ET: Yeah, that's where I was going what do you think is the biggest to the people watching this-

Axl: Sorry, it's like, what did Clooney say, "So many jokes, so little time."

ET: What is the biggest misconception that you think people watching this thing think about you, you know?

Axl: There's too many things. There's too many things said. It's, you know, it's like two decades of people talking and most the time they're talking off things somebody who had a bias started or said. They could have said jokingly, you know, "Axl's a dictator," I know exactly where that started, that started with a woman named Beth... she didn't start it, Beth Nussbaum, this woman was interviewing us and Izzy called me the Ayatollah in an interview, and then it just rolled from there and I didn't... I wasn't... It just didn't hit me that I should, like, you know, I should nip this in the butt and confront it. And people just say all kinds of things. And a lot of people think I sue everybody, but the reality is I get sued a lot and I don't really sue anybody back and not half as many as I'd like to...or I have time to.

[laughs]

JF: It's funny because there's-

Axl: Hit them with the rhythm stick.

JF: There's so many, like, absurd rumors about you out there and I'm sure you've heard a million, is it too crazy- 

Axl: Back when Guns N' Roses, like when Sweet Child first took off, was it Kiss FM, was a big station in LA and their biggest DJ was talking about how I had... I heard him on, I came out of the Cathouse, I got in the car and he was talking about how I had the tattoo of California on the inside on one thigh and I don't know, Panama.

[laughs]

Axl: You know, it was like, you know, I mean, they just say things. It's like, England wrote about how I ran over my dogs and then I ate them, you know. I mean, there's too many things said.

DonJ: But you had your say in Get in the Ring, man.

Axl: Yeah, a little bit, but that's an example too because that was not my idea, you know, that was Tom Zutaut and Duff McKagan's idea, you know, because there was this blank space in this song and I was trying... "Man, but we got to do something," and they were like, "Why don't you just go in and go off on Andy Secher, you know, and Bob Guccione jr?" you know and, "Sure, yeah," eventually I did and everybody was happy with it but when it hit the fan everybody disappeared, you know. And I was naive and didn't realize, you know, the political wars going on between the different publicists at the record labels and their relationships with the Rolling Stone or Spin or whatever, and then.... so I kind of, I got set up, but then nobody stepped forward to say anything.

ET: I'm thinking because you-

Axl: It is that ugly, sorry.

ET: No, no but what's-

JF: How do you not take this stuff personally, though, when you get attacked?

Axl: I think I have, and then I have to work at getting over it, you know.

ET: Well, here's the thing-

Axl: It takes a really long time, I mean the stuff that happened coming out of Abu Dhabi just now, it's like, you know, we got way betrayed in, you know, in business and we had no idea, we didn't see it coming. Some really horrible things were said about people that did not deserve it for any reason. The whole band was turning against different people and then found out it was all a smoke screen, it was all nonsense, it was all lies.

DonJ: So one of the things I wanted to mention is I was there the day that Axl came up, you know, to the radio studio 
with you-

ET: Five years ago. Sebastian was there, started screaming, "Dude, I'm getting texts from Axl for the first time in 13 years!" And that legendary night took place, whata great time we had.

DonJ: Well, one of the fun times I had was... is hearing you talk about some of the bands that you like, you know, you were talking about WASP and Judas Priest and now seeing you guys incorporate a lot of covers in, the AC/DC... but can you talk about some some of your favorite bands either from back in the day or people you're listening to now?

Axl: You know, it's like I didn't really do much iPoding and stuff and I've kind of started that, you know, so I'm listening to to all kinds of things. I'm listening to Ben Harper and listen to Jerry Lee Lewis, you know. It's like I'm just kind of going through... put on all the different CDs I have and I'm just kind of listening to it, to see what's up.

JF: Rose Tattoo?

Axl: Yeah, I mean, I'm a big fan of Rose Tattoo.

JF: Yeah, that's one of my favorite bands.

Axl: Angel City.

ET: You know what I always wanted to ask you too, is like everybody sees Axl Rose, the rock god, the icon, the rock star guy-

Axl: They do?

[laughs]

ET: Yeah, they do.

Axl: Wow, cool!

ET: You know, they do.

[laughs]

Axl: I had no idea, usually it's like [gesturing brushing something off his shoulders] "Oh, what'd they just throw?"

[laughs]

ET: Trust me... no, you know, they do. But I often wondered like this, when you're not fronting the band, when you're not working on music, what do you like to do? What do you-

Axl: I have this mirror and I do the Silence of the Lamb's dance.

[laughs]

ET: Is that where the dance, the original dance came from?

Àxl: That's what I do, yeah.

[clip of live performance]

DonJ: When you were doing Chinese Democracy, and obviously people were anxious to hear what you were going to do next, did you personally feel the pressure from fans and from the media for this album to happen, or are you able to isolate yourself and just concentrate creatively on making it-

Axl: Absolutely not.

[laughs]

Axl: No, it was a torrential downfall, you know, it was a... yeah.

DonJ: And I don't know if you're the type of guy who can and put the blinders on and go, "Look, I have to make... this is my album and I'm making it... I'm going to make it and it'll be done when it's done, when it's right."  

Axl: At times, but no. No, I mean, you have people just screaming, "Release it," which I'd... you know, and that's good that they want it, but what does that mean? I don't really know what that means. But my favorite one, though, I think I said it before, was that somebody that was.... I saw a post, it was about Steven hadn't put out an album yet at the time or whatever, and they go, "Axl and Steven are having a race to see who can put out their album last!"

[laughs]

Axl: I loved that. 

ET: Not too long ago, I think it was in England, that Duff got up and played with you guys-

Axl: Yeah, we're gonna do some shows with Duff, too.

ET: How was it to have him on stage with you again and how-

Axl: Well, it's like first he was in the... I heard him in the hallway, he was talking-

ET: You had no idea?

Axl: No, I had no idea. You know, people say, "Oh, it's just coincidence," I don't know what I believe about that for sure, but Duff was in the hallway and then I invited him to the show and then Tommy handed him a bass, you know. I said, "If you want to play any songs, you know, let us know," and it would be fine, but Tommy just hand him a bass to play You Could Be Mine and Duff was like, "I haven't played that song for whatever" and Tommy goes, "It has four strings, two knobs, man just go for it," you know.

[laughs]

Axl: And then I ran out there, I'm singing, I have no idea, I look over and there's Duff, you know. It was fun, you know, and he had a good time and his wife were great. We went out and hung out a little bit, so that was nice.

DonJ: And Izzy also has played some shows.

Axl: Actually, he was supposed to be here tonight, he was going to drive here and then he couldn't make it. He, you know, because I saw something and text him... Oh, I heard some Stones song that I had never noticed before, Please Go Home, and then... because with this iPod, it's like I've had other people put some songs and stuff and I saw one of Izzy's songs, Please Go Home and it's the same one and it was the same Stones song and I liked his version of it and I texted him and he said, "Hey, you know you're playing it's like maybe I'll meet you in Miami." I guess... he bought his own tour bus.

ET: Really?

Axl: And he drives it.

ET: He drives it himself?

[laughs]

Axl: He loves to drive. He goes in the desert and drives. And he writes... he's got songs about doing donuts, you know.

[laughs]
 
Axl: I mean, he's done... that's how, actually that's actually Izzy doing donuts help Sweet Child happen because I met this girl in a bar and then I had to leave because Izzy had taken over the limo, this is when we're still doing clubs, and was doing donuts like in Dallas, drunk, and then I forgot I invited her and I invited somebody else and they both showed up at the door together and so then I introduced the other girl to the radio guy and then he was like,  "That's really cool" so he sold my record.

[laughs]

DonJ: It's amazing what these guys.... so he's he's driving things and Duff's a financial analyst now. 

ET: He [?] Starbucks or something like that. He's got some sort of piece of Starbucks or something but, you know... but that's cool, that would be cool, Loaded, because I think-

Axl: He hasn't sent me any free coffee.  

[laughs]

DonJ: He might do your taxes, though.

Axl: Yeah.

ET: Write through your finances, who knows?

Axl: Yeah, that could be scary.

[laughs]  

Axl: It's like, "I'll get that, I owe him bad".

ET: Well, I mean, we're getting a sign that we got to wrap this up soon and we can't be more appreciative that you took the time to come out here and join us for this but, you know, this is... for the viewers seeing this, this is a big moment for them to see and hear from you, and see you looking, and we can say, sounding so good, you know, with this band that we saw tonight. But what do you want to tell your fans?

Axl: Oh, I haven't really thought of a sales pitch [laughs]

Axl: No, I just want to let you know I want you to come to the show and enjoy the show, we're going to give everything we have during the show. We're gonna do what we do, we're also playing for ourselves, you know, we're playing for the crowd, we want to, you know, work as hard as we can. It's like tonight, it's like if you didn't like tonight, well I don't really know what to tell you because, you know, we're putting it out there, you know, and I felt good about it.

ET: Well, you guys want to say something?

JF: This is... yeah, I'm speechless. We appreciate you coming, man.

ET: You came and gave us some time, we really appreciate it and let's do it again sometime, you know.

Axl: Yeah, thanks guys.

ET: And best of luck on this run and hopefully-

Axl: You know, next time, though, if DJ would just not keep talking over me.

[laughs]  

ET: Well, listen, safe travels the rest of the way and thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you for doing this.

[cut away some generic thank yous]

The videos don't work anymore.

I found another link with the interview:

And for that you received some more reputation points!

Great! What do they do?

It tells everyone else that you are a popular and contributing member.

Any existing link for this?

Stiken wrote:Any existing link for this?

Unfortunately not. I have saved the video but I can't upload it anywhere, because the algorithms don't let you even upload it!

But I'll transcribe it when the time comes

Article from the day the interview was taped; Blabbermouth, Oct. 30, 2011:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Axl Rose Gives Hour-Long Interview To VH1 Classic's 'That Metal Show'

Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose gave an hour-long interview to VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show" early this morning (Sunday, October 30) a couple of hours after the band's headlining performance at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

In a series of tweets, "That Metal Show" co-host Eddie Trunk expressed his frustration about having to wait around for Axl to decide whether or not he wanted to speak on camera, "[It's] 5:30 a.m. [now], [and we] got to this arena at 3:00 p.m. [on Saturday]," he wrote. "[We are] still here.... If this interview happens, I might dose off for the first time ever in an interview. . . My producer ain't giving up on this and I'm [here] working for VH1, so [I'm] sticking it out until he calls it. But this is nuts!" Shortly before 7:00 a.m., Trunk tweeted, "[Five] years after [Axl gave a] radio interview [to 'Friday Night Rocks', a show hosted by Trunk. Ed.], Axl Rose has just done an hour interview for ['That Metal Show']. History made! Will air [on November 11] on VH1 Classic! Get ready!"

https://archive.blabbermouth.net/news/axl-rose-gives-hour-long-interview-to-vh1-classic-s-that-metal-show/

Spin, Nov. 7, 2011:
---------------------------

Inside Axl Rose’s First TV Interview in Over a Decade

Written By William Goodman

For the first time in over a decade, reclusive Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has sat down for a TV interview, chatting with Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine, and Don Jamieson, the hosts of VH1’s That Metal Show, backstage following a stop on GN’R’s U.S. tour in Miami on October 29. The interview didn’t start until 5:30 A.M. — and it went for close to two hours. There was a lot to catch up on. SPIN got the lowdown on what Axl discussed straight from Trunk. (The interview airs on the season premiere of That Metal Show on National Metal Day, November 11). “Love him or hate him, he’s still Axl Rose,” Trunk tells SPIN. “And he’s masterfully found a way to always be interesting.” (Watch our exclusive clip for proof.)

Here’s what you have to look forward to:

How’d this rare interview come together?

The only radio appearance Axl has done in the past few decades was on my radio show about five years ago. He walked into my radio studio in 2006 completely out of left field. Nobody saw it coming and he hung out with me for over three hours on the air. We had some connection, so I had a feeling that there was a chance this TV interview might happen. We have a level of trust. He’s been at the top of our list for a long time. But it’s always a gamble.

What did you think of the new lineup’s performance?

I’ve seen various versions of GN’R since the original band broke up, some lineups better than others, but I was pleasantly surprised. Axl in particular sounded great. People always ask, “Was it as good as the original band?” No band is ever going to be as good as the original lineup. That shouldn’t even a be part of the thought process. That said, they did great renditions of the old songs, they played the new material, and everyone had a solo, a chance to shine.

Why did the interview start so late?

I asked him about his perpetual history of late starts during the interview. He said it’s all about when he feels that everything is right and he feels ready to go. He made a joke that being late has plagued him since his childhood. So, when the band went on at midnight I told my producer, “There’s no way he’s going to play for three hours, then get off stage and do an interview.” Around 4 or 5 A.M. I was sure it wasn’t going to happen. But sure enough, at 5:30 A.M., Axl walked into the locker room where we set up. He was as fresh as a daisy. He sat down and was in no hurry to leave. He wanted his guitarist DJ Ashba to be on the set with him, too. It was shocking. He’s a nocturnal guy, but I expected him to walk off the stage and right out the door to South Beach. He said that in those couple of hours between the end of the show and the interview that he was cooling down. He takes a lot of precautions to preserve his voice. But it’s all on Axl time, no question. If you’re going to attempt to interview Axl, then you better get plenty sleep the night before, and not have anything to do early the next morning.

What was Axl’s demeanor during the interview?

When he first came into the room he had his guard up. He knows me, but he did not know my co-hosts. But he looked great. About five minutes into the interview we had him chuckling. He loosened up and had some fun. We were not going to beat him up for coming in late.

Were there any topics you were told not to discuss?

The only thing he didn’t want to discuss, understandably, was a reunion with the original lineup. He’s all about this band, this lineup. Journalists constantly bring up the idea of a reunion. But there’s nothing imminent about it. It defeats the purpose of what they’re doing now. Axl feels like it’s disrespectful to his new band. But we talked about past members of the band throughout the interview. Axl brought up some of the old guys before we even did.

So he’s really excited about this new lineup?

Yeah. Axl emphasized that this current tour, which goes until the end of December in America, is extremely important to him and the new band. It’s hugely important for fans to see him after all the BS and misconceptions. It’s really important for fans to see him having fun and championing this band. Yes, this band is very important to him. He pointed out that every member of the band does a solo. He said, “If this was just the Axl Rose show, and I wasn’t worried about promoting a band, then I wouldn’t be giving these three different guitar players the spotlight.” He said, “It’s really important to me that people see this as a band.”

Do you think this lineup will release new albums and tour more often?

I think so. Axl did say that he wants Guns to be more active. He feels good about the team around him. He has a new manager. Axl’s bandmembers told us that he has a ton of songs that they’ve all heard. It’s just a matter of honing in and getting into the studio to recorded and then release them.

Axl said that original GN’R bassist Duff McKagan’s band Loaded will be opening select dates on this tour.

Yep. When I asked Axl about Duff playing with GN’R in England, he volunteered that information. However, I don’t think there’s any definite plan. Axl mentioned it in passing. But since then I’ve heard from a number of people doubting it, saying, “Well, that’s a nice idea.” To my knowledge there’s nothing locked in yet.

Axl and his former manager, Irving Azoff, have been suing and counter-suing each other. Was that discussed?

We didn’t get into the business and lawsuit stuff too much. But without citing specific names, Axl mentioned that various managers, agents, and promoters over the years have been far more responsible for what’s gone down than he has. Axl is probably getting sued or countersued every day. It’s almost hard to keep track.

Guns N’ Roses are nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Did you ask about that? Who from the original lineup would attend the ceremony to accept the award?

Axl said that he doesn’t really follow that stuff. He said it’s an honor to be nominated, but he doesn’t know how it’s going to play out. Axl’s a huge fan of Elton John and it was an honor for him to induct Elton a few years back. So it seems that Axl thinks that anything that’s good by Elton is good by him. But it seemed too premature to discuss. First GN’R have to see if they get in. Then they’ll see how it plays out. I’ve talked to Slash about it, too, actually. Slash and I are friends, and Slash basically feels that if they get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, then they’ll see who shows up and who doesn’t. Whoever shows up will stand onstage. Slash remembered the legendary debacle with Van Halen. They had two guys who weren’t even in Van Halen — Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar — up onstage accepting the award! So I know Slash wants to avoid anything awkward like that.

Do you think the Slash Vs. Axl Rose beef is repairable?

I do. I saw Slash a couple days ago in Los Angeles, where I was giving an award for Ronnie James Dio’s cancer foundation, and we talked a little bit. He knew that I’d just interviewed Axl, and he asked about Axl and how he was. I said that Axl mentioned him in the interview, and that it wasn’t anything negative. Slash said, “Yeah, we’ve actually been pretty cool lately.” Slash is a pretty easy-going guy, and he’ll ride with the tide. But it’s hard to get a read on it. But outside of Slash, Axl is cool with every other original member of Guns. Izzy [Stradlin] comes out and plays with Axl and the band every once in a while. Duff just played with him. There are no issues with either of the two drummers. If there’s a rub with the Rock Hall induction, it would only be about Slash. In talking to both Slash and Axl, though, they’re both very committed to their careers right now. Axl is amped about this new GNR lineup, and I just heard Slash’s next record, which is coming out next year. It’s amazing. The media dwells on their relationship more than the guys themselves do.

https://www.spin.com/2011/11/inside-axl-roses-first-tv-interview-over-decade/

Another interview with Eddie Trunk, Rolling Stone, Nov. 9, 2011:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Axl Rose Interviewed On ‘That Metal Show’

Anger towards former bandmates seems to have dissipated, says host Eddie Trunk

About two weeks ago, That Metal Show host Eddie Trunk got word from Axl Rose’s new manager Peter Katsis that the Guns N’ Roses frontman might be interested in appearing on the program. “It was all pretty loose,” Trunk tells Rolling Stone. “They said, ‘Well, we have a pretty good chance we can get Axl to you if Eddie’s there and the crew is ready to go.’ [VH1 Classic] was willing to roll the dice and give it a shot.”

Trunk and the crew – including co-hosts Don Jameson and Jim Florentine – flew down to Miami, where G N’ R would be performing, on October 29th. They arrived at American Airlines Arena at 3 p.m. and set up a set in the Miami Heat’s dressing room. Axl arrived at around 8 p.m. and didn’t take the stage until midnight, wrapping up the show at 3 a.m. “This whole time, there was a lot of conflicting information about whether or not the interview was going to happen,” says Trunk. “So we interviewed the rest of the band, opening act Buckcherry and members of the crew so we’d definitely come back with a show, even if the Axl interview didn’t work out.”

At 5:45 a.m., Axl walked onto the set with new Guns N’ Roses guitarist DJ Ashba. Trunk interviewed him for an hour and a half. “In a perfect world, with an interview of that magnitude, we’d like to be a little more fresh and not coming off 24 hours with no sleep,” says Trunk. “But Axl was great. He was alert and awake. That’s Axl time. He was in great spirits and friendly and much how I remember him from when I interviewed him on my radio show five years ago.”

They covered a lot of ground during that 90 minutes. “He’s still a staunch believer in Chinese Democracy,” says Trunk. “He believes that the record is finding new fans and he feels that the material from that is going down better and better in the live show.” Axl was less committal when asked about new music. “When I asked him about a new record he just said, ‘I’d love to at some point, we’ll see.'”

In this exclusive clip, Axl explains why he usually takes the stage so late. “I think we’re doing better,” he says. “A lot of this goes way, way back to ’91 when we were super late going onstage. That really has more to do with that I shouldn’t be on tour. I went on tour for three reasons, our manager had booked a tour without authorization and then I’m going to be sued for it. He also told me that if Slash does heroin, it’s my fault. And Slash is pressuring me. I should not have agreed to that tour.”

Guns N’ Roses are on this year’s ballot for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If they get inducted, the ceremony is next April in Cleveland. “His attitude about that was, ‘We’ll see how it plays out if we’re inducted. If that happens, we’ll see what lineup of the band they like and what members they want and don’t want,'” says Trunk. “He also said that he didn’t know much about it. He did say that inducting Elton John back in 1994 was a big thrill for him. He took the whole thing as an honor and said, ‘We’ll see how it plays out.'”

Trunk also gets the sense that lots of Axl’s anger towards his former bandmates has dissipated. “There’s only one person from the original band where there’s residual issues – and that’s Slash,” says Trunk. “It almost seems to be that that has maybe died down just a little bit. I’m not trying to put words in anyone’s mouth or speculate, but there was a clip on YouTube a couple of weeks ago of Axl telling a good story about the time that he was with Slash on the road. It was the first time I saw him talking about Slash where it wasn’t just venom.”

Now that he has interviewed Axl, Trunk has has sights on future conquests. “Personally, I’d love to interview Eddie Van Halen,” he says. “Especially with all of the confusion about what’s happening with Van Halen. The world would love to see Ozzy, and Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on the show too. Some of these holdouts have to realize that this is where there audience wants to see them. They will be interviewed by guys that love their music. If they continue to hold out, they are only shortchanging their fans.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/axl-rose-interviewed-on-that-metal-show-117260/

@Blackstar Have you already transcribed this?

And Trunk said it was almost 2 hours of recording. What we have is less than 1 hour. Does more footage exist?

Soulmonster wrote:@Blackstar Have you already transcribed this?
And Trunk said it was almost 2 hours of recording. What we have is less than 1 hour. Does more footage exist?

I haven't transcribed it.

I downloaded it as part of an archive that had all That Metal Shows episodes of that season and it was less than an hour. I have edited out a few minutes of live footage because youtube and vimeo blocked the video.

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:@Blackstar Have you already transcribed this?

And Trunk said it was almost 2 hours of recording. What we have is less than 1 hour. Does more footage exist?

I haven't transcribed it.

I downloaded it as part of an archive that had all That Metal Shows episodes of that season and it was less than an hour. I have edited out a few minutes of live footage because youtube and vimeo blocked the video because of that.

Alright, then I will get on with transcribing.

In another interview with Trunk they said the interview was 90 minutes. So then it makes more sense.

Done!

Anyone have any idea what show Axl is referring to here?

Blackstar wrote:About two weeks ago, That Metal Show host Eddie Trunk got word from Axl Rose’s new manager Peter Katsis that the Guns N’ Roses frontman might be interested in appearing on the program.

When did Katsis become the band's manager?

Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:About two weeks ago, That Metal Show host Eddie Trunk got word from Axl Rose’s new manager Peter Katsis that the Guns N’ Roses frontman might be interested in appearing on the program.

When did Katsis become the band's manager?

According to a later article/interview with Axl, Katsis lasted less than a month as the band's manager and was fired in early December 2011.

Anyone have any idea what Axl is referring to here when mentioning something coming out of Abu Dhabi?



I am inclined to think it is connected to Azoff and the ongoing lawsuit, or maybe reunion rumours.

I struggle with this quote. Axl met a girl in a bar and invited her (presumably to his room since this was in Dallas, or maybe it was in LA but Axl just mentioned Dallas because that's where Izzy liked to do donuts) but forgot about the invitation because he had to leave early because Izzy had taken off with their limo. Anyway, it resulted in two girls coming to his door. But where does the radio guy come in? Was there a radio guy at his hotel room/home? And is the point that the radio guy thought it was cool that Axl had to girls coming over that he started to plug the single Sweet Child on his radio show?

Steen was not impressed by this interview and Axl's replies:

DJ would claim Axl was unaware the interview was going to happen:

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:About two weeks ago, That Metal Show host Eddie Trunk got word from Axl Rose’s new manager Peter Katsis that the Guns N’ Roses frontman might be interested in appearing on the program.

When did Katsis become the band's manager?

According to a later article/interview with Axl, Katsis lasted less than a month as the band's manager and was fired in early December 2011.

As I see that the That Metal Show interview was recorded on Oct. 29 and Eddie Trunk says he had talked to Katsis two weeks prior, Katsis must have been hired in October, so he lasted a little more than a month.