2020.08.03 - Sirius XM's Trunk Nation - Interview with Frank

Excerpts from Ultimate Guitar:
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During an appearance on The Eddie Trunk Podcast, Guns N' Roses drummer Frank Ferrer looked back on joining the band in 2008, the ongoing semi-reunion, original GN'R drummer Steven Adler's guest appearances on the trek, and more.

When asked, "How many years have you been in GN'R now?", Frank replied (transcribed by UG):

"I started in 2008; I was supposed to be temporary, but I pretty much stayed there."

You replaced Brain, right?

"Yes, Brain wanted to go off. First of all, he was gonna have a child at the time, and since then he's become a producer. He's still involved with that in a lot of ways and yeah, he wanted to be more of a producer. And you know, Guns N' Roses is exactly the style of drumming that I love to play every day, so it's perfect."

How did you get the gig?

"Richard Fortus and Tommy Stinson - and Brain to a certain extent, he didn't know me that well, but Richard Fortus and Tommy Stinson brought my name up when they were having a discussion about Brain going home for the birth of his child. And obviously, I've played with Richard since 1992 [in a band called Love Spit Love]; and when Tommy did his solo stuff and he'd come to New York, I'd go to play with him, so both those guys know how I play and they thought I'd be perfect for the gig.I thought it was an audition - in my heart, it was an audition - and I approached it that way. I prepared, and I went and played my ass off, but I did have the backing of Tommy and Richard Fortus."

Do you remember where your first GN'R performance was?

"It was - I believe we were definitely doing a European tour. I remember that Alice in Chains played right before us - and I adore Alice in Chains, I've seen them every single time they played in New York. I actually went to their first gig in New York, and it was surreal standing there, getting the drums set up and having a curtain in front of our stage, and having Alice in Chains playing in front of the stage and playing all my favorite songs. So I do remember, it was like an out-of-body experience, and that's when it really hit me, 'Oh, this shit is coming down right now, this is some real stuff'."

You and Richard have a vantage point of having been in GN'R prior to the reunion. You were in with other guys, and now you're seeing what's happening. For you, what's been the biggest change?

"Well, the best way I can explain that is that I really had to work hard to make sure I was able to represent Adler's feel, Matt Sorum's feel, and Brain's feel of the 'Chinese Democracy'... So that was the toughest challenge - finding all three eras of Guns N' Roses and bringing them all together to one cohesive way of playing their material. Of course, there were changes. I mean, Slash and Duff, they have a certain feel, they have a certain ear for their music, and those three drummers are really three different kinds of drummers. So that was the toughest part - trying to bring those three entities together to make it cohesive and have everything flow."

You got a lot of ground to cover, and for people who've seen GN'R recently, it's a long set, it's not unusual for it to be a three-hour show

"Yeah, it's tough, but like I've said before, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love it, love it, love it - the greatest thing I've ever done in my life."

You mentioned Adler, he made a couple of appearances on the reunion tour. How was that for you?

"To be there and see the audience, the crowd, that energy when Adler sat down - I thought it was really special. On a different note, I think it might be appealing to everybody, Adler's such a cool guy - he's a puppy dog, you know? So it's nice to see him and have him around, and I'm glad he had that moment and I think the crowd, you could see the emotion in the crowd. I thought it was nice, I had no problem with it. Steven is a really sweet man, I really like him a lot."

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/frank_ferrer_talks_toughest_challenge_of_being_guns_n_roses_drummer_shares_feelings_on_steven_adler_reunion_on_tour.html

That was nice and gracious of Frank, and I believe it.