Steven Adler

Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler will release his biography, entitled My Appetite For Destruction, on June 22nd via HarperCollins. A pre-order for the 304 page hardcover, trimsize book, priced at $25.99, is available at this location >

Check out the kick ass artwork for the book below!

Steven Adler issued this statement in regards to his upcoming projects:

“We have been in the studio all week putting together new original music for a spring/summer release. The songs sound great! It feels so good to be moving forward! It’s been a long time coming, but will be worth the wait. We will be debuting some of the new songs at The Key Club on April 10th. I want you all to be there! Plenty of time to plan your trip to Los Angeles.”

Adler was fired from Guns N’ Roses in 1989 amid rumours the drummer’s drug use was hampering his performance.

Adler’s battle with addiction has been well documented in the press and on reality television, as he did stints on both Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and its spin-off series Sober House.

Adler is currently working on a full length album with his band, Adler’s Appetite which is comprised of vocalist Rick Stitch (Ladyjack), guitarists Alex Grossi (Hookers ‘N Blow, ex-Quiet Riot), Michael Thomas (Faster Pussycat) and bassist Chip Z’nuff (Enuff Z’Nuff).

Steven Adler

Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler will release his biography, entitled My Appetite For Destruction, on June 22nd via HarperCollins. A pre-order for the 304 page hardcover, trimsize book, priced at $25.99, is available at this location >

Adler was fired from Guns N’ Roses in 1989 amid rumours the drummer’s drug use was hampering his performance.

Adler’s battle with addiction has been well documented in the press and on reality television, as he did stints on both Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and its spin-off series Sober House.

Adler is currently working on a full length album with his band, Adler’s Appetite which is comprised of vocalist Rick Stitch (Ladyjack), guitarists Alex Grossi (Hookers ‘N Blow, ex-Quiet Riot), Michael Thomas (Faster Pussycat) and bassist Chip Z’nuff (Enuff Z’Nuff).

Source: Bravewords, Harper Collins

The daughter of Oscar winning composer Alan Menken is stepping out from behind her father’s huge shadow and is looking to make a name for herself in the music industry.  An accomplished guitarist and long time pianist, twenty four year old Anna Rose is nothing short of a phenomenon.  Heavily influenced by the music of the sixties and seventies,  Anna’s self-titled EP is dripping with music inspired by artists such as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, and Jimi Hendrix.  The amazingly beautiful and highly talented singer-songwriter easily rises above her peers and looks to be a force to reckon with for years to come.  Steve Johnson of Icon vs. Icon recently caught up with Anna to discuss her influences, her recently released self-titled EP, the upcoming release of her full length album, Nomad, and much more!

First off, I want to give our readers a little background on you. Where did you grow up?

I actually grew up in and around New York City. I was born in New York City and then my parents moved about an hour outside the city in very northern Rochester County. Almost in Dutchess County. I grew up pretty much in Dutchess County. Then when I was eighteen I moved to Los Angeles.

How did music first come into your life?

You know, I really… Ha! Well I guess because of my dad. It was always there. My dad is a composer, so music has always been a part of my life. I started playing piano when I was two and singing as soon as I can remember. I can’t remember it not being a part of my life.

Other than your dad being a composer, what drove you to make music your career and what has been your inspiration?

Let me think… I guess what drove me to do it was that there was nothing else I ever really wanted to do. It was a huge part of my life from the very beginning. I think my parents saw that and really nurtured that. I’m very thankful to my parents because they saw what I wanted to do and really encouraged it. That being said, I’ve had some really great teachers. I trained with Arlen Roth for my guitar playing. He’s been a hired gun for a lot of different big people. Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon solo, and Bob Dylan. He’s so incredible and he sort of started to move me into that… I was already kind of into classic rock because that is what I grew up listening to. I grew up listening to The Beatles and… Then I started to get into Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, and a lot of those blues guys. That took me in a bit of a different direction. I love what music has the ability to do.

Were there any other influences that have helped shape you, the musician, that we know today?

I think Joni Mitchell a lot. When I was growing up I listened to a lot of Jimi Hendricks. I can’t play anything like him, but if there’s anyone I idolize it’s him. Fleetwood Mac… Bob Dylan… Basically classic rock and blues straight across the board. Now I’m listening to a lot more of these newer blues guys like The Black Keys and The Dead Weather. Anything Jack White does is pretty incredible. A lot of those guys are influencing what I am doing now. So that’s kind of where I find myself in the mix. I haven’t seen a lot of female performers who have been doing that, so I kind of feel like I have my little nook. [laughs]

You have played the guitar for most of your life. Do you play any other instruments or is there one you would like to learn to play?

I play piano and I actually just started writing a bit on piano. I started playing piano before guitar and as soon as I picked up a guitar I was like, “fuck this!” I switched over and I’m officially a guitar head. I’ve gone back to the piano a bit. It’s interesting how much it’s changed my song writing. I actually play a little bit of harmonica, but I’d like to be a lot better at it. If you’re into the blues you have to play the harmonica! What else… I’d love to learn how to play the cello, which is kind of random, but it’s a goal.

Your self titled EP was released September 29, 2009. For those who might not have had the chance to check it out, how would you best describe it?

It’s five songs that I chose that are on the full record. I thought they were the most accessible and the best display of what I feel is to come. I left a lot of the more emotionally deep songs, at least to me personally… I left those for the record. I wanted this to be sort of be an introduction to what my music will be about in the future. I don’t pick favorites. I really wanted the song Picture to be on the first record. It’s a song that I’m really involved in every time I perform now. I kind of go through phases with different songs. I think at the time the five songs that are on the EP are the five songs that kind of spoke to me.

Were there any challenges to making the album?

I don’t read music. I think the toughest thing for me was really trying to describe exactly what I wanted as a producer. I co-produced the record with Billy Sullivan. Billy has been a really great asset to me because he taught me how to use logic and how to really record my own music. The way that I describe music and what I want it to sound like… I needed to adapt the way that I think so that my band could understand me. I had already been playing with my band for about a year or so. They knew where I was coming from and we had made these arrangements already, but there were still certain things that I wanted to hear in the studio that I needed to figure out how to spit out. That was hard for me. Also the time spent in the studio. I didn’t leave the studio for about four or five months. A lot of these songs were written… I started writing when I was twelve. I think the earliest written song that actually made it onto the record was from when I was about sixteen or seventeen. I’m twenty four now and I recorded it when I was twenty two or twenty three. So, emotionally I had lived these songs and I was done with them. These were the songs that I wanted to be the first songs that were released and I was adamant on them being the first songs that got released. Emotionally sitting with these songs in the studio and having them picked apart. Going through them again, and again, and again. The part of me that really just wanted to do it and get it done and get out was really strong. By the time we got to overdubbing my vocals and stuff, that was very hard for me. It was frustrating to want to do it perfectly and at the same time not want to emotionally connect to these songs anymore.

Bruce Botnick is the executive producer of the album. What has is been like working alongside him and what have you learned from him?

Oh! I’ve learned so much from Bruce. Bruce is so funny. I’ve learned a lot about sound design from him and about what I want my records to physically sound like. I know what I want my arrangements to be and things of that nature, but Bruce was someone who had me sit down and just listen to sound and how broad it can be. Bruce would have me sit down with him in his studio and have me listen to different sounds and different records. He’d say, “This record is so great because there’s so much space here and you feel like you’re living within these tracks.” A lot of music now, especially in pop records, is really compressed and sort of meant to go right into your ear via a little ear bud headphone. That’s totally fine for some artists. If that’s their preference, that’s their preference. With mine, I wanted people to feel like they were sitting in there and listening to me live. There’s no auto-tune on that record. We really didn’t cut up too many takes. We did a lot of live takes with the band and then over-dubbed guitar solos over it and things like that. We really didn’t cut it up like a lot of people do now. Bruce is someone who sort of let me explore that. He didn’t force his hand. He wanted to let me explore and really make this record a great representation of who I am as an artist. I think a lot of what Bruce taught me is to make my opinions heard and to trust my own instincts as a musician.

You mentioned Arlen Roth earlier. He appears on the album. Tell us a little about what it’s like working with him and what he brought to the music featured on the album.

Arlen is really close to my heart. I started taking lessons with Arlen when I was about thirteen or fourteen years old. It’s hard for me to describe. Arlen has been a father figure to me. Especially with him being a guitar player. This is someone who I went through a lot of personal experiences with because I was growing up. I had a lot of growing pains happen while I was working with him. I was experiencing those things through playing guitar. Arlen is the best living guitarist. I can’t say enough about him. I think he’s the most brilliant man. The other part of it is that he really loves the instrument. He’s someone who taught me to love my instrument and to work hard. Vocally… My voice is something that always came naturally. I never really took voice lessons. Now I do some vocal coaching because I’m playing more and more shows. Eventually your throat is kind of like, “I hate you! Please stop singing!” [laughs] Guitar was something I really had to focus on and really master. Having him on my first record was really important to me. The same thing with Leon Pendarvus, who played the organ on the record and works with SNL. He’s a musical director and writer. Having him on there was amazing too because he’s taught me a lot. Having some of my teachers on there was important to me.

It’s good to have people that you know and trust there to help you bring out the best in yourself.

Yeah. It’s just sort of felt like this completion. I’m stepping out into the public finally and I felt like I took a really long time to develop who I am and what music I wanted to… I feel like if you don’t have anything to say, don’t say it. That’s the kind of person I am. I didn’t want to just put shit out into the world. I wanted to make sure that I had chosen the best of however many hundreds of songs I have written at this point, and have the best arrangements that I can make, and have them be the most genuine to who I am. It was a long process to feel like I had really gotten to that point with these songs.

Speaking of your songwriting. What is the typical songwriting process like for you?

For me… It’s different. Sometimes there are moments where it feels kind of like a dream and the lyrics and the music come to you all at the same time. Then there are those moments where I dunno… I’m sitting on a train or something and I end up writing a large set of lyrics or a poem and end up sort of dissecting it into the lyrics that I want for a melody that I wrote a week ago. The process is always kind of different for me. I do find that it’s easier for me to write when I have a little bit of privacy and I’m not performing as much. Performing is a very different perspective for me. You’re cutting yourself open on stage so people can watch you bleed. Emotionally that takes a lot out of me. I kind of have to be living my life in a somewhat normal way in order to write. I’m also twenty four and I think that’s going to develop and become a lot different as I start touring and playing shows every day. I think my perspective on that will change.

When can we expect the full-length album, Nomad, to hit stores?

May! May! [laughs] This year! May! I think May is really the latest. Maybe June max. I’d really like it to be out in May. I’d like to be able to play a bunch of shows over the summer. Actually my first music video just premiered today too.

Where can people catch that?

It’s on YouTube on Anna Rose Music Channel, which has some live videos of me playing too. The website that premiered it is called www.themusicslut.com, which is great. I love anything that has the word slut in it. Anything with foul language I’m happy about.

A woman of my own heart. I’m the same way. [laughs]

I know. It’s incredible that I really haven’t cursed much more in this interview.

You’re on par not to set the record for cursing in one of my interviews, so you’re ok.

[laughs] But yeah, check it out. It’s for the song “Picture.”

I’ll check that out.

Yeeeeaaaahhh…

How did you come up with the title for the album?

The title… That’s a good question. When I was recording all of these songs and like I said before, going through the emotional depths of them, I felt myself being a really nomadic person. I didn’t want to stay in one place at one time. I had moved to L.A., but I didn’t feel like that was home. I was traveling. I didn’t really stay in one place for more than two weeks. I was actually really physically uncomfortable that way. That’s how all of the songs sort of… A lot of them were already written or some of them were already written. They really started to take shape around that mentality. Someone told me once that when you make a record it really should feel like that moment in your life, right now. I took that lesson very much to heart. I felt like titling the record after the way that I had been feeling throughout the whole process. It was important to me.

What has been the biggest surprise for you so far in your musical career?

My biggest surprise? You know… People actually accepting the record. People enjoying it. Most writers are self deprecating assholes. I think as a performer you have to shut that off and try to be as cocky as you can, and get on stage and do the best that you can do. As a writer, sending out my stuff and having it best somewhat well received or well received at all and just having people like it. Having people want to listen to it. It’s always the most pleasant surprise for me. There’s no better compliment to me. That hits me right in the heart when someone says that they’ve been listening to my music. Someone who has been listening to my music knows me better than anyone else. So that’s been really amazing. There’s been a couple of shows that I have gotten to play that have been incredible. A couple of weeks ago I actually got the opportunity to sing with The Stooges at The Roxy, which was insane. That was the biggest, most incredible surprise to me. I was so nervous. The fact that they liked my voice was just the most kick ass thing in the world. It was so amazing. I’m this little blond chick. Iggy is out of control. He is amazing. I’m alright, but I didn’t necessarily expect them to be totally wowed by my little folk rock look and whatever. They were really happy with me when I came into rehearsal and rehearsed Gimme Danger with them. I got to perform this whole different side of myself. This really heavy rock side of myself. It’s definitely somewhere in there and I think it’s going to come out some day. It was a huge honor for me.

What do you consider the defining moment of your career so far?

As the defining moment, I would say when that EP went into stores and went onto iTunes and people could buy my music. It’s kind of like a coming out party. It’s like being a really awesome debutante. I finally became a part of this world that I have idolized and sat in the background of. To really step into it and to jump into the pool and just say, “Alright! I’m doing this and I’m really putting myself out there.” That was really the defining moment for me when I said, “I am now a musician.”

I heard you got into a fight about who the greatest guitar player ever is. Is there any truth to that and who is the greatest guitar player ever?

That is true. It is a true story. I did have a physical altercation. [laughs] To be fair… I was drunk and I already thought this was the most annoying person I’ve ever met on the planet. He goes on to say that Eric Clapton is the greatest guitarist in the world. I think Clapton is awesome. Clapton is amazing. I disagreed with the best guitarist thing and you know… I had to just have my way. I’m a little five foot tall nothing chick, so if you’re not listening to me I will physically hurt you.

Just drag you out of the car and…

We were actually sitting in a car. We were in the car on the way back and my sober friend was driving mind you… That’s important. No drunk driving. I hate drunk driving. Anyway, my sober friend was driving and my best friend was in the front seat. I’m sitting in the back seat with this kid and he’s going on and on and on about how Clapton is the best guitarist that’s ever lived and blah, blah, blah… So we got to a red light and I just sort of said, “You need to get out of this car right now. You’re the most obnoxious person I have ever met and by the way Jimi Hendrix was the best guitarist that ever lived.” I kind of opened the car door and pushed him out of there.

Did you leave him there?

For a little bit. We made him squirm. Then we pulled over on the side of the road and said, “If you want your ride home you better get back in, but you better not speak anymore!”

That’s funny. I think everyone has stories like that.

Well… Being twenty two years old in Los Angeles and a little blond chick who doesn’t want people to see her as a little blond chick, maybe that just sent me over the edge.

I could see that. I have only been to L.A. once and it was an eye opener.

I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it.

I was amazed how different it was from the east coast. It’s totally different.

I love a lot of the people. I love the mellowness. I love how mellow people are there. I love the lifestyle there, but I don’t like being surrounded by that industry of film and physical beauty and things of that nature. Beauty is very much defined differently over there. I like being in New York because I think being unique and being special is praised here.

Who would you consider to be the best guitar player right now?

Hummm… There’s some really incredible guitarists now. I really like Jack White’s guitar playing. Some people don’t necessarily appreciate it. They think it’s a little bit… I like grit. I like that sound of grit, of being able to hear the emotion behind the guitar playing. I think that Jack White’s got that. He’s unique and really makes great music. So I’d have to say Jack White right now.

I take it you would like to work with him in the future if possible. Is there anyone else in the music industry that you would like to work with if you had a chance?

Oh… I’d like to work with a lot of people… Let’s see… Allison Lockheart. The Kills. Just The Kills in general. If they could just let me sit in with them, that would be awesome. I love T-Bone Burnett’s style of production. I’d love to be able to work with him. Ummm… Paul McCartney. The Rolling Stones.

Ah! Get the big guns out there.

If Joni Mitchell ever came out of hiding. I actually don’t know if she’s in hiding. To write with Joni Mitchell would be incredible. I have a real… I really appreciate the music of that generation. The sixties and seventies. Oh! Jackson Browne and Tom Petty! Oh my god!

It sounds like you listen to a lot of the same music as I do. I’m kind of stuck in the eighties myself.

Oh! I love the eighties. I can’t discount the eighties.

Progress peaked at Guns N’ Roses in my opinion.

Oh god! I love Guns N’ Roses, but I didn’t love what they just recently did. I don’t know what happened to Axl.

Your are going to be stuck on a deserted island for the rest of your life and you can have three albums. What three albums would you want?

Oh my god! Worse question ever on the history of the planet! I can’t believe you’re asking me this! Ugh… This is the meanest question. A lot of people do this to me because I’m such a music freak and I have such a big music collection. I really don’t know… The beautiful thing about music is there’s never too much good music in the world. There can never be too much good music, so for me to pick three albums… Oh… I don’t know. They’d have to be some very large compilation albums. Can they be big, big box sets because I might choose the most recent Beatles box set. I’d probably choose some Zeppelin. Let me think… Beatles, Zeppelin, Hendrix. Oh god! I can’t even continue. It’s giving me heart palpitations.

That’s fine. Don’t have an anxiety attack.

[laughs]

You are currently playing some live shows. What has that experience been like for you?

Oh! That’s the best thing in the world. I love being in the studio. Being in the studio is really this supremely creative place where you can isolate yourself and you can really get into your music emotionally and mentally. You can really take the time to rip the canvas apart and start over. Live, you get one shot to do everything and you just lay it all out on the table. I love that about playing live. I think the place where you earn your fans is live. Especially now with so many people being able to put out records and then not being able to deliver during live shows. It’s really disappointing. It’s almost like anyone can make a record right now, but can you sit down live and really captivate people and really make people feel what you’re feeling. I’m constantly trying to achieve that on stage. I think that’s why I love it so much. I feel more alive on stage that I do anywhere else in my life. I feel like I live a couple of years on stage and then I can go home and sleep.

What do you hope people come away with after listening to your music?

I hope people take away… You know what? It’s not even up to me to think that. I don’t think. I just hope that people think about it. Whether they like it or don’t like it. Once music hits some one’s ears is entirely subjective. So I guess I would just hope that they listen to it in general. Even just having the chance to have someone listen to it. You can’t expect everyone to love your music. You can hope that a few people do and the people who really like it are really into and really love it and feel like they understand you and it brings them something. I would hope that my music would help people in some way.

Do you have an advice for anyone who would like to get involved in the entertainment industry?

Oh… I would say get into it for the right reasons. If you want to get into the music industry, really think about whether you’re doing it for music because there are a lot of ways to earn money and music is not one of them anymore. [laughs] I think there is this misconception because a lot of people, especially when you get into pop music, think that music is this immediate money maker in a lot of ways or that they think it’s going to be. It’s not. It’s a really hard business. It’s a business where people make assumptions about you when they don’t know you. That’s part of the job. They’re judging you based on your music. I would say that if you want to do it, do it. By all means. If you love it and you feel like you have something that you want to be heard and you feel like it needs to be heard, do it. Do everything you can to get it out there. It’s the best feeling in the world to get your creation out there, even if one person is listening to it. It’s an incredible feeling.

Is there anything else you want to let your fans know before you go?

If I have any fans, I love them. [laughs] I hope maybe I have at least one. Tell them that they are amazing and that if they’re in New York on March 9th, there’s a show at Rockwood Musical Hall. To the moon and beyond!

Thanks for taking so much time out of your day to speak with me Anna! We wish you all the best!

Thank you! It was lovely talking to you!

- -

Get all the latest info on Anna Rose at her official website at www.annarosemusic.com. Be sure to connect with her on Myspace and Facebook!

The good folks over at Talking Metal are offering a free download in their news section of a rare Zakk Wylde track featuring Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal of Guns ‘N Roses.

“Till The End” is Zakk Wylde on vocals/piano, Bumblefoot on guitar, Mark Strigl on bass and John Ostronomy on drums. We all sang backing vocals along with anybody who happened to be in the room. It was recorded way back in December 2007 the night before Zakk Wylde played a sold out show with Ozzy Osbourne at Madison Sq. Garden. Fooatge from the 13 hour songwriting and recording session were featured on Talking Metal’s TV show. The song was mixed by Bumblefoot.

Download it here >

Be sure to check out all the stellar work that they are doing at Talking Metal!

Legendary rockers Guns N’ Roses will bring their Chinese Democracy World Tour to Canada in January 2010. The Winnipeg, Manitoba concert at the MTS Centre on January 13th is the first of thirteen Canadian concerts on the GN’R world tour, which begins in Asia on December 11th, with tour updates and announcements planned throughout 2010.

Guns N’ Roses – Axl Rose, Frank Ferrer, Tommy Stinson, Richard Fortus, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, Dizzy Reed, and Chris Pitman – welcomed guitarist Dj Ashba into the band earlier this year and are scheduled to begin rehearsals in Los Angeles shortly.

The upcoming worldwide tour promotes the band’s latest album, Chinese Democracy, which debuted at #1 on the charts in thirteen countries including Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, as well as the European Top 100 Albums survey.

Chinese Democracy was released on Black Frog/Geffen Records in November 2008 and reached 3 times Platinum in Canada, Platinum in Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, UK, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa. The album is Gold in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Holland, Sweden, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Brazil and Colombia. In the U.S., the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 3, 2009.

Guns N’ Roses last toured the world in 2006 – 2007, performing 60 concerts in 26 countries playing to more than a million fans.

Canadian Chinese Democracy World Tour concert dates are:

January
13 – Winnipeg, MB – MTS Centre
16 – Calgary, AB – Pengrowth Saddledome
17 – Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place
19 – Saskatoon, SK – Credit Union Centre
20 – Regina, SK – Brandt Centre
24 – Hamilton, ON – Copps Coliseum
25 – London, ON – John Labatt Centre
27 – Montreal, PQ – Bell Centre
28 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
31 – Ottawa, ON – Scotiabank Place

February
1 – Quebec City, PQ – Colisee Pepsi
3 – Moncton, NB – Moncton Coliseum
4 – Halifax, NS – Metro Centre

Source: Bravewords.com

Legendary guitarist Slash (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) is currently hard at work on his highly anticipated solo album, ‘Slash & Friends’, which is tentatively due for release in early 2010.

Slash will release a two-track CD single in Japan on November 11th via Universal Music containing the song ‘Sahara’ (featuring singer Koshi Inaba from B’Z) and a cover of the Guns N’ Roses classic ‘Paradise City’ featuring Cypress Hill and Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson from the Black Eyed Peas. ’Sahara’ is expected to appear on Slash’s new album.

Slash is working with producer Eric Valentine, drummer Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle) and bassist Chris Chaney (ex-Jane’s Addiction).

The album is set to feature a number of guest musicians, including Alice Cooper, former Guns N’ Roses men Duff McKagan, Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin, Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Iggy Pop, Nick Oliveri, Ronnie Wood, Jason Bonham, Adam Levine (Maroon 5) and Andrew Stockdale (Wolfmother).

Legendary guitarist Slash has issued an update about his new solo album, the status of the ongoing Velvet Revolver singer search and his upcoming solo tour.

Here is what he had to say about the highly anticipated project:

I don’t know how I’m supposed to wait until next year to put out this record! It is so fucking cool & I am so anxious to get it out already. We start mixing soon and that will be that, ready to go. But, I have to wait, there’s no way around it, for all kinds of logistic reasons and that’s the reality.

But, my VR band-mates and I had a meeting a couple of weeks ago and although the search for a singer will continue, I am going to tour on my solo record most likely through next summer starting in March or April. We (VR) will keep the word of mouth system going and listening to submissions from singers and checking out different singer’s sites etc, we know the right guy is out there somewhere. It’s possible somebody could turn up before I do my tour and we could start working on new material sooner than later, in a perfect world.

As far as my tour is concerned, I have already started to put together ideas for a kick-ass band and the plan is to perform some new stuff, Snakepit, VR and Guns stuff. The new album is really great and deserves that I should support it. Plus, I’m really looking forward to getting out there and doing some gigs, its been more than a year since I was on a proper tour and all these one off jams are basically just a tease.

So, there’s the update for now, I’m still tinkering away on the solo record but there really isn’t much left to do on it but mix it, which starts in September.

Hailing from a musical family in Connecticut, Alex Grossi picked up a guitar at the age of thirteen and never looked back. Almost two decades later, all of his hard work and determination have paid off in spades. At 32 years old, the rock guitarist has accomplished more in his career than many guitarists will accomplish in a lifetime. His musical prowess launched him into the limelight, and along the way he would take the stage with some of the hard rock genre’s biggest names and his boyhood idols. Grossi has kept his musical momentum building through the years by working with Quiet Riot’s Kevin DuBrow, Guns N’ Roses’ Dizzy Reed and most recently, served as a driving force in Adler’s Appetite as he travels the land alongside legendary Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler. Alex Grossi shows no signs of slowing down as he makes his mark on the music scene. Jason Price of Icon Vs. Icon recently had a chance to sit down with Alex Grossi to discuss his current tour with Adler’s Appetite, his upcoming summer trek with the Paul Reed Smith Road Show and all of his upcoming projects.

How did music first come into your life?

I was born into a musical family. My dad was a musician for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra where he was a conductor and my mom owns a dance studio in Connecticut, which is still open for business. It is called the Grossi Dance Academy. Through those things, I was kinda born into it and I started out playing french horn when I was in second grade. It started from there and then I started seeing Motley Crue videos and that seemed like a lot more fun than playing in the Symphony, so I got a guitar and here we are! [laughs]

What drove you to make music your career?

My Mom dances for a living. She is 60 years old and in better shape than anyone in the band! It keeps her young and she really loves dancing. A wise man once said that “If you love what you do, then you never have to go to work.” I really love playing guitar and I really don’t like going to work. [laughs] I figured that if I could find a way to make a living doing it, move to the right city, meet the right people and be a pro about it, then it would happen. There is a lot of risk involved and there are a lot of people who want to do it professionally. I just thought, “How cool would it be to get paid for doing something that you love?” Thankfully, I have been able to do something that I love as a career!

You mentioned Motley Crue. Who were some of the influences that have helped shape you, the musician, that we know today?

Growing up, it was Guns N’ Roses. ‘Appetite for Destruction’ was my first record. I am a big fan of KISS, Aerosmith and all the bands of that genre. I never really got into the whole guitar virtuoso, shredder thing. I liked bands that had attitude, image and were a little bit dangerous. I also liked the fact that a lot of bands had their own sound. For example, Slash (of Guns N’ Roses). You can hear a solo on a Guns N’ Roses song or him guesting somebody else’s song and you can tell that it is him. Anyone like that has been a big influence on me. I have literally gotten a chance to play with a lot of the guys that I grew up listening to so far in my short professional career. Well, actually I guess it is not so short as I am 32 now, I am starting to get up there! [laughs] It has really been great!

I know you have done some songwriting in the past. Is there a typical songwriting process that you employ or does it vary depending on who you are working with?

Ya know, it is really contingent on what type of band that you are in. If you are hired just to come in and play lead guitar or chord guitar or whatever. In that case you just come in, they hand you the song and you just play over it. For example, I just recently worked on Dizzy Reed’s (Guns N’ Roses) solo album. I went in there and he pretty much had all of the guitar parts mapped out and I would just put my own sorta thing on it, contributing a little bit here and there. With a band like Beautiful Creatures, where I came in as the guitar player, replacing DJ Ashba the main songwriter, I literally had to write from scratch with four other guys, what became ‘Deuce,’ our second record. It really depends on the situation, Adler’s Appetite is planning on going into the studio in late July and we have already started working on some stuff. Chip Z’Nuff, Steven Adler, Michael Thomas and myself will get in a room and just start banging out ideas and roll tape. Hopefully by the end of the year, you will have a new record from us.

Great news! For those how might not know, how did you get involved with Steven Adler and Adler’s Appetite?

I have been working with Steven on and off for about five years now. I initially got contacted by Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot, to do some solo show before Quiet Riot reformed in 2004, that turned into the ‘Bad Boys of Metal’ tour. It was a summer package that featured Joe Lesté of Bang Tango, Jani Lane of Warrant, Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses and Kevin DuBrow, with me playing guitar for all four bands. I was literally on stage for four hours a night. During that time, Steven and I became really good friends and after the tour we kept in touch. I did some solo shows with him and after his stint on ‘Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew’, he decided to reform the band and called me. The rest is history!

Adler’s Appetite parted ways with one singer and now you have brought Rick Stitch in to handle the vocals. What does Rick bring to the table?

It is really, really difficult when you are trying to emulate something that people are so familiar with. ‘Appetite for Destruction’ sold well over 30 million copies worldwide and people know every note from that album. We just played over in Argentina. They don’t speak English but they can even sing the guitar solos! So, we needed someone who can be true to the music but we also don’t want to be a tribute band. The drummer in this band, Steven, wrote a fifth of the music playing on that album. When we made the singer change, a lot of people would contact me or Steven through Myspace. They were wearing the bandanna and one even went so far as to have the fake Axl Rose tattoos put on. That wasn’t what we wanted. We wanted a guy who can hit the notes and do the stuff but at the same time is not a clone. We’re not Steel Dragon, ya know! [laughs] Rick has been great. It is nice to have a guy who is on the same page off stage as he is on stage. What people don’t realize about a touring band that works as hard as we do is that you have to live with these people twenty four hours a day. You may have two straight days off in the middle of God knows where or Iowa and you have to be friends. Certain people get along, certain people don’t but that is the nature of the beast. Instead of being married to one person, try being married to five or six! That’s basically what it is like.

This summer you will be taking part in the Paul Reed Smith Road Show, how did you first join up with Paul Reed Smith and what has that experience been like for you?

I got my first Paul Reed Smith when I was fifteen years old. I started playing when I was thirteen and I progressed pretty quickly to the point where I got a job at a music store that sold Paul Reed Smith, and as soon as I had fifteen hundred dollars in my pocket, I bought one! I have been playing them since then. When I was nineteen years old, I joined a band called Angry Sal while I was attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. We got a record deal and the first thing that I though was “Well shit, I want to get an endorsement.” So, I wrote a letter to Paul Reed Smith and said “Can I play your guitar exclusively?” and they invited me out to the factory. I went down there and I have been with them ever since. Every band that I have been in, they have always hooked me up with the right guitar for it and Paul has been great. The thing about Paul is that he is probably the only guitar manufacturer that puts out a really good product that you can get anywhere, that is consistent. I could have all my gear stolen, walk into a Guitar Center wherever I may be in the world and have it sound like the one that I have been playing on stage. I really mean that. As a company, they have always taken care of me at the NAMM shows. They are not like Gibson or Fender that are these huge corporate conglomerations, they are still very much a family run business. I am really looking forward to doing the clinics with him. I believe that it is July 14th in Manchester, Connecticut at their Guitar Center location. It’s funny because Paul will be taking about all these different types of exotic woods and my job is to show up and tell stories about playing with all of these crazy rock stars! It should be really cool! I am really happy to have been with them through the years and I really don’t ever see myself playing another guitar.

You mentioned recording guitars for Dizzy Reed’s solo debut and I know Del James is serving as producer on that release. What can you tell us about this project and any idea on when it may hit stores?

I have no idea about it’s release date. I know that they are mixing it right now. Once ‘Chinese Democracy’ came out, I am sure it took a little bit of a back burner. Working with Del was great. For a guy who doesn’t really play an instrument he has a really great ear. He will walk into the room and say “No, no! Do it more like…” and then throw out some crazy analogy that ends up making perfect sense at the end of the day! It was really great working with those guys. As a Guns N’ Roses fan, and I am sure not too many people will be a fan of me saying this, but it is cool to work on every end of the spectrum. By that I mean, I am working with a guy who was there at the very beginning, Steven Adler, all the way up to the guys who are in the band now. Whether that ties the two things together, I can tell you 100% that it does not, but it is really cool to hear the stories and the history of the band. If you think about it, as far as I am concerned, they are the band of my generation. You had The Who, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles for previous generations. As far as rock bands and anyone that is in their early thirties to forties, our band is Guns N’ Roses or Nirvana but definitely one of the two.

You have worked with so many icons from the industry in your career. What is the best piece of advice someone has given you along the way?

The best piece of advice was given to me by Kevin DuBrow, and it was to always go out and play your show as if it were your last. He didn’t say it in exactly in those words but I have seen Kevin play in front of forty thousand people and I have seen him play in front of forty people. He would go out there because he genuinely enjoyed doing it. The day it stops being fun for you is the same day that it stops being fun for the audience. When you are up there, no matter how big the crowd is, no matter how good the sound is, no matter how bad the sound is, if you are having fun it is infectious. It goes back to the audience and right back to you and everyone has a good time. People pay their hard earned money to get in to see you. I won’t mention any names but there are guys in that particular genre that just show up and are only doing it for a paycheck, not because they love playing. You can tell when people care and when they don’t. That was the thing about Kevin, he always cared. I will never forget that. Even right up until our last show. It was November 4th, 2007 at a small club and he still played it as if he would have been playing Madison Square Garden. He still brought it every night! A lot of guys from that genre don’t do that anymore.

Have you had a ‘Spinal Tap Moment’ on stage?

[laughs] This entire tour has been a ‘Spinal Tap Moment’! [laughs] The most recent one was about a week and a half ago. We played a show called ‘Cornstock’. It was held in a huge corn field. Big, big show! Tons of people, great show! However, when we got there the promoter came onto the bus and said “Fellas we have a little bit of a problem here. See that there inflatable beer can?” because it was sponsored by Budweiser and they had one of those giant fifty foot beer cans. They had to tear down the entire stage and move it around this beer can. All I could think about was Stonehenge! It was what Stonehenge should have been if it were a can of beer! We had to wait four hours in the sun due to a giant inflatable beer can, so that was very Spinal Tap. Whoever wrote that movie must have been in a band or followed a band around because they were dead on. They actually predicted the future in a lot of ways. They always say watch ‘Spinal Tap’ and then go on tour for ten years and then watch it again, you will be laughing so hard your ribs hurt! [laughs]

What should we be on the lookout for from you in the coming months?

Definitely the new Adler’s Appetite record! Right now, I have a song out in the new Sandra Bullock movie ‘The Proposal’, so if you feel like hearing a song by Beautiful Creatures in a Walt Disney picture, a family movie, that was written by a very un-family band, check that out! [laughs] It is pretty cool! Also look out for possibly some more Paul Reed Smith Road Show dates and a ton more of Adler’s Appetite dates, that’s for sure!

We will be on the lookout for you!

Thanks!

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Want more of Alex Grossi and Adler’s Appetite?

Check out all the latest happenings with Alex Grossi by visiting his official site at www.alexgrossi.com or on Myspace at www.myspace.com/alexgrossi.

Check out the official Myspace page for Adler’s Appetite at www.myspace.com/stevenadlersite.

Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal has announced that he will be spending the summer touring with the legendary Lita Ford.

Lita Ford is returning to the stage this summer to give her many fans a taste of her new album to be released this fall, Wicked Wonderland, and bring back to them the music that made her the “Queen of Heavy Metal”.

Thal posted a message on his official MySpace page, in regards to the upcoming tour:

Hey all,

It’s my pleasure to announce I’ll be doing shows over the Summer with Lita Ford, playing guitar with the band alongside Bumblefoot drummer Dennis Leeflang.

To GNR fans:
Lita and I have GNR’s blessings to do this together, all is cool. This won’t interfere with upcoming GNR plans, I’ll be flying out and coming right back.

To Lita fans:
lookin’ forward to meeting y’all and having a great time together!

UPCOMING SHOWS:

SUN JUNE 21, 2009
Meltaway Festival (Zaragosa, Spain)

FRI JUNE 26, 2009
Bang Your Head Festival (Messegelände Balingen, Germany)

SAT JUNE 27, 2009
Gods of Metal Festival (Milan, Italy)

TUE JUNE 30, 2009
Rockwave Festival (Athens, Greece)

FRI JULY 3, 2009
Summerfest (Milwaukee, WI)

SAT JULY 4, 2009
Bridgeview Music Jam (Bridgeview, IL)

FRI JULY 17, 2009
Monndance Ranch Jam (Walker, MN)

FRI JULY 24, 2009
Molson Canal Concert Series (North Tonawanda, NY)

SUN JULY 26, 2009
Ridgefield Playhouse (Ridgefield, CT)

MON AUG 3, 2009
Buffalo Chip (Sturgis, SD)

SAT AUG 22, 2009
Rock Gone Wild (Algona, IA)

SAT SEPT 5, 2009
Taste of Cleveland (Cleveland, OH)

Earlier this year, Bumblefoot released, Barefoot, which is his first collection of acoustic recordings re-interpreting his own songs in a stripped-down bare form.

Featuring versions of songs from various Bumblefoot albums performed in an intimate, revealing way unlike they’ve ever been heard before. The opening track ‘She Knows’ was chosen by fans in an online poll, as part of picking which songs to record for the album.

Check out samples at Bumblefoot’s Official Site >

Legendary guitarist Slash, of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver fame, is currently in the studio recording his upcoming solo effort. The album will feature Josh Freese on drums and Chris Chaney on bass, with Eric Valentine producing.

He has posted the following update in regards to his upcoming solo record:

Slash

Anyway, hard at work in the studio, we are 6 tracks into it and it sounds really great, great playing and super killer tones, not to mention stellar vocals so far. I’m still not at liberty to publically divulge any singer’s names, but trust me, they’re amazing. I know a lot of you out there know who at least some of them are. 

I will however, give you working titles for a couple songs: ‘We’re All Gonna Die’ is one, ‘These Last Words’ is another. There is one song called ‘Crucify The Dead’ and another called ‘Beautiful, Dangerous’. 

OK boys & girls, gotta go, see you next week.” 

You can check out all of Slash’s recent updates via his Official Myspace page located at www.myspace.com/slash