Re: 23. JANUARY 2001-NOVEMBER 2002: RICHARD REPLACES PAUL, TOURING STARTS

by **Soulmonster** Sat Jan 29, 2022 9:59 am

AXL'S DAILY ROUTINES IN THE 2000S

Beta and Fernando Lebeis would talk about Axl's day-to-day routines:

We have a nutritionist who tells us what to eat. Axl exercises all day long. He runs between three and five miles every other day. He works out for three or four hours. He doesn’t go out much. We go to the movies a lot, he loves watching a movie. He doesn't like bars. […] He eats a lot of healthy food, turkey breast, chicken breast, plenty of salad, and drinks a lot of water... He also likes Brazilian food a lot. He even tried cabbage and liked it. […] His grandmother says that he was never a day person. He writes a lot at night. There is no phone, no interruptions. This is the time when he is most creative.

Bolsa de Mulher, January 22, 2001; translated from Portuguese

I'm the one who cooks at the house, but it's easy. He really likes grilled meat and fish, he has a very healthy diet and drinks a lot of water.

O Estado de S. Paulo, July 1, 2001; translated from Portuguese

He likes to surf [the Internet], he could spend hours, but when he reads lies about him and can't do anything, he gets upset. The fans read the public chats and the stories are repeated so many times that they start to believe them.

Guns N' Roses Brazil Fan Site, July 2001

Axl would himself say he liked doing average-guy stuff, like reading with his favorite book being Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly:

I was a little scared when I saw they were making it into a movie starring Keanu [Reeves]. But I guess if he can handle The Matrix, he can do this.

Rolling Stone, January 16, 2006

He did not attend many concerts, though:

Not lots, no. I'm not - oddly I guess - I'm not really a live performance guy. I'd rather watch sports on TV rather than most of the time than go to an actual game. I'd rather, because like the close-ups and all of that. So I'll watch some things if it's film, but I'm not so much seeing things live a whole lot.

GloboTV, September 4, 2016

In 2008 and 2012, Axl would be asked what hobbies he has:

Cars, checking out art, F1.

chinesedemocracy.com, December 13, 2008

I go to movies, go out with friends, go to car shows. I have a zoo. My animals (wolves, parrots, dogs, cats) are my buddies. They need lots of love and attention.

USA Today, October 30, 2012

Axl and F1 racing driver Kimi Räikköseen
2006

Talking about his animals:

I love animals and I have all kinds of different animals and... I like the way that sometimes an animal will know if… say someone else in the house is sick or something, the animal stays by that person. [...] [I have d]ogs and cats and wolves and birds. [...] A couple wolves, a couple- what five or six- had five or six birds [chain, of what, Chihuahuas]

China Exchange, June 7, 2016

[...] what I mean though is, um, say like with cats, if you do not keep yourself open to some degree to being sensitive they're not going to be around you. So if you want to be friends with your cat you'd have to be more sensitive than the world may make you or you make the world.

China Exchange, June 7, 2016

In 2016, Axl would become a "friend" to the watch maker company HYT, as Vincent Perriard, HYT co-founder and board member, would explain:

Axl is a huge fan of watches in general but when he came across HYT he was really blown away. Axl and HYT share the same unconventional attitude. I can feel this partnership is going to be very rock 'n' roll!

Press Release, June 21, 2016

Axl sporting a HYT watch
Unknown date

MUSICAL PROJECTS

In April 2001 it would be reported that Axl and Alanis Morissette was considering doing a duet together for the upcoming Lord of the Rings soundtrack [The Province, April 3, 2001]. The recording was intended to be done in the summer of 2001 when both artists were supposed to tour in Europe [The Province, April 3, 2001].

by **Soulmonster** Mon Jan 31, 2022 9:52 am

FORMER BAND MEMBERS DISCUSSING THE NEW GUNS N' ROSES MUSIC

With new Guns N' Roses music leaking and being played at live shows, former band members were frequently asked to voice their opinion on the new material:

I heard some of the stuff off Napster, and of course the song (Oh My God) from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. Knowing Axl for as long as I have and knowing how brilliant he is, I cringe at some of it. But I’m probably the worst critic. I can still hear that brilliance at times. I’m proud of him. (laughs) And I could have played on that record.

The Akron Beacon Journal, June 21, 2001

I've heard a couple of things on Napster. […] From the little I heard, I don't believe I can tell [if Axl has taken the new music in the direction he wanted]. I haven't heard enough of the album to get a good representation of the whole record. But it sounded like more in the direction that he described to me. I'm one of the biggest fans of Guns n' Roses. It'll be interesting.

Livewire, July 10, 2001

I haven’t heard them yet. I know they played at Rock In Rio, but the only think I saw about them was when I went into a record store and they were playing a video with someone talking, and I recognized Axl. I asked a guy, “What’s that?”. He told me: “It’s Guns N’ Roses in Rio”. He was sort of doing a speech, but I don’t even know what he said. I would like to hear them.

Popular 1 (Spain), July 2001; translated from Spanish

[Being asked why the public still care about Axl]: They [the public] feel bad for him, they feel sorry for him like I do. I mean, I love Axl. It's just a shame that he can't, you know, get his head out of his tuckus long enough to realize it was the five of us who made him a star in the first place... He won't put his record out either, cause it'll flop, it'll suck, and it does suck, and then he'll have nothing to back up on.

WYSP 94.1 Rock, via Blabbermouth, May 16, 2003

I don’t know any more than you do. There’s only a couple of songs with vocals on it–I know that for a fact. But it will come out one of these days.

Rolling Stone, July 8, 2004

You would probably know better than I do. [...] the last thing I have time to do is get on the Internet to get the down-low on Chinese Democracy.

The Gazette, March 21, 2005

You know what? You probably know more than I would. I really have no idea. I've been so busy after leaving Guns N' Roses. I went up to Seattle, went to school and started having babies. And then this band popped up. [...] But I wish they would get it out after all this time.. [...] you know, spontaneity and rock 'n' roll go together. And chemistry. It comes back to the old adage: If it takes you more than five minutes to write a song, then just scrap it. I don't know. Axl Rose is a very, very fickle guy, and he changes his mind all the time. So who knows?

San Francisco Chronicle, April 17, 2005

I’m pretty sure what they're doing now won’t sound like the Guns N’ Roses I knew. But despite all the sadness and heartache that Axl put me through, good luck to him. I still love him. It was all a decade ago, I’m over it.

Classic Rock, April 2005

Axl ruins it not for himself and for the rest of us (Slash, Izzy, Duff, Steven) but he ruins it for the fans. [...] If he puts it out he thinks he'll sell 20 million copies. Well, maybe he's lucky if he goes gold. There's no hits on it, it's crap.

The Rock Radio, June 3, 2005

It's not really my cup of tea.. and that's not to say it's bad, its just not my style. Axl is trying to go into a direction of like...shit, old Guns N Roses, mixed with Nine Inch Nails, mixed with the fuckin New York Philharmonic, mixed with Elton John. He's just really conflicted, one minute he wants to do some huge ass 10 minute epic song and the next he wants to do It's So Easy.

KKRW Texas, June 2005 2006

I know [Axl] recorded a couple of songs during several years, until someone from the company came in and thought they sucked.

La Voz del Interior, November 3, 2005

[Being asked if he expects Chinese Democracy to be released in 2006]: I certainly hope so because I’m so over talking about it. This anticipation is ridiculous. Just get the fuckin’ thing out! Every interview I do I get two or three questions about it and I haven’t even been in that goddamn rehearsal room in 10 years. [...] I’ve always said [Axl]'s an incredibly talented guy. The things he writes about blows my mind. The music probably isn't going to have the same angst that it had, but there’s probably gonna be some really great stuff on there.

FHM, June 2006

I heard a live track from a concert supposed to be one of the new ones, but it was so long ago I don't even remember what it sounded like.

Herald Sun, June 24, 2007

Honestly, you probably know more about it than I do - I’d bet money that you do. That was the record we started working on in 1994, but that band was so splintered at that point that nothing got started.

Time Off, July 8, 2007

I'm sure it's got some amazing shit on it cos I know Axl and what he's capable of. So I'm interested to hear it but patient enough to wait until he figures it out. Because I don't have anything to do with it. It's easy for me to say that [laughs].

Classic Rock, July 2007

I haven't heard anything on 'Chinese Democracy' and probably won't until it's released. I'm sure at some point it will be released, but your guess is as good as mine.

TK101 Radio (via Blabbermouth), August 9, 2007

In 2007 Slash would he had been fine with Axl continuing with the band:

[...] you have to understand, when I quit, whatever he went on to do after that, was fine. And I knew he was going to continue on with the name, because that was one of the things that was leading up to the split anyway when it first came up [...]

The Howard Stern Show, November 1, 2007

In 2008, Slash and Gilby would talk about the forthcoming release:

[...] I’m probably less inquisitive than most. I’d be interested to hear it when it comes out, but I’m not sitting around anticipating its release. I don’t think it’ll be the holy grail that people might have been expecting after 14 years, or however long it’s taken. And I know it’s not going to be what you would consider a traditional GN’R record. But, Axl is, with all due credit, an awesome artist, so I’m sure it’s going to be a phenomenal record.

UnCut, February 2008

I hear through the grapevine bits and pieces of what's going on, and I'm interested to see what it sounds like because it will be such a huge statement. Although I wouldn't say we split up over musical differences, we did have some musical direction going toward the end there, and I'd be interested to see where it was headed. But I'm not holding my breath because I know Axl, and one of the problems with the band was sitting around (waiting for him) ..... It will come out when it's ready to come out, but I don't have the anticipation that everyone else has.

210SA, January 30, 2008

I want to hear it, but not until I can physically buy it in a record store. I don't want to be listening to some file-sharing download that may or not be the actual album. [...] I don't know about [it being strange to finally hear it], but one way or another it'll be great, because Axl in his own right is a genius. I'm intrigued, because the saga and all the procrastination behind him making that record has a lot to do with why he’s there in his world and I'm here in mine. I'll be interested to hear what Axl has to say these days. Music is the purest form of communication after all.

Mojo Magazine, June 2008

I am just like every other person and I am a fan of GNR's music but I have no idea. I have heard a couple songs just like everybody else and I am just as curious as everybody else. I am really curious to see what kind of music you break up a really good band for.

Live-Metal.Net, August 1, 2008

I mean, I'm glad if it's finally coming out. I'm glad for Axl, that probably that pressure is off him. I'm glad he's able to let the music go. He is a perfectionist, man. There's people that are just perfectionists and they can't let a single note, anybody hear a single note unless it's, you know, perfect. You know, some musicians will play everybody their demo in the band, and then they go with all the mistakes and they don't care, because they know that everybody else has got the vision to hear it. Axl is, you know, a different… he's a different breed. He's just a musician, man, and he's a caring guy. You know, I've always known him to be a good guy and a caring guy, and I'm glad he's able to finally get this thing out. But, beyond that, musically and all that, I don't really have thoughts or… It's not my band. It would be like me having thoughts on the new Tool record, you know, or something. I wouldn't have many thoughts. If it's good, kick butt, I hope I get something out of it, and if it's not, it probably wouldn't even come into my radar.

MusicRadar, November 3, 2008

As far as Axl's new record, I'm sure there's probably amazing stuff on there, just know there. I've only got that one song and a listen at a gym to go off, so I can't really say that much about it. But how do I feel about it? Good for him that this record's finally coming out. Obviously, I wish him the best. I'm glad that people that have been waiting for this record have something to finally go get.

The band that we formed twenty-something years ago is a completely different thing, and that's been over for… wow, 15 years. But I know Axl; he's a perfectionist, in a good way, musically. So I know he's not gonna let something come out that sucks — at least in his mind. That counts for something with me. He and I, we shared a lot of good times, some crappy times, but when you look at the glass, it's definitely more than half full for me.

Friday Night Rocks with Eddie Trunk, November 21, 2008

by **Soulmonster** Sun Jan 22, 2023 9:03 am

HAVING TWO KEYBOARD PLAYERS IN THE BAND AT THE SAME TIME

When touring started in 2001, Chris would be the band's second keyboard player in addition to Dizzy.

In 2005, Dizzy would be asked how he felt about a second keyboardist:

Uhh... you know.. [Chris] adds so much to the band. He's a good guy to get along with. I've never had a problem with him of any kind. I'm a team player man... I'm always up for whats best for the whole raw picture. on tour.. you know... he just accents what we do so... I'm all for it.

Madagascar88, September 26, 2005; paraphrased

Dizzy would also talk about working out keyboard parts between him and Chris:

Chris (Pitman) has been in the band for a long time now. I have a lot of respect for what he does and vice versa. We figure out who's going to do what, you know? I think it's important for people to look at the big picture, to put your ego aside at the door and do what's best for the band. Chris and I both have that capability.

Twin Cities, November 10, 2011

As far as the older stuff, I do all the piano stuff, and there's a lot of that. I think the main thing is we kind of look out for each other so we're not blown up by the pyro. It's good. We spot each other, basically.

Journal and Courier, December 7, 2011

I think if you go through the songs we`ve done over the years, especially the newer songs but also the Use Your Illusion material, then you would realize that I only have two hands. Chris brings an incredible amount of himself and creativity to the songs. It`s a good thing to look over and see him doing his thing on stage.

Metal Express Radio, May 7, 2012

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