DJ Ashba: 'I Don't See Myself Going Back To Guns N' Roses Ever Again'

[AlexC]

2 hours ago, Babooshka said:

 Bumblefoot was almost shaking in that interview. It really does seem like it was a traumatic time for many in the band. And I suspect it wasn't just due to fan criticism, things were going on behind the scenes.

Yeah he mentioned something about getting stabbed by another member of the band or being forced to stab one of them or something. Axl gave him the nickname "Shank" because of it... Yeah being in Guns N' Roses is far from 'fun and games' it seems.

[DieselDaisy]

19 hours ago, Rovim said:

He insulted my intelligence for sixx years with his fake image and raped my ears with shitty guitar playing. Patience solo, kept on playing in the golden gods SCOM performance even if it was horridly out of tune and ruined the performance.

His tales about smoking where there's no smoking allowed, beating up some dude and then crying about how he was bullied as a child.

Ruining Les Pauls cause it looks cool all burnt up, playing a guitar with a drum stick like a fuckin' asshole, the This I Love solo, attention whoring hulk hogan shit, drinking jager to look cool on stage only to go spit it out behind the amps so he won't be too drunk to "play". Had a rig overlook video on youtube and didn't know fuck all about any of it. Too stupid to use 2 tone knobs and 2 volume knobs on his guitar.

Never before have I come across a douche on DJ's level. Not one that was in a band that I like anyway. He talked shit about Bumble as well.

Just as shitty as Sixx. Can't play their instrument, nothing they say or do has any value. The lowest of the low. Plus he's an idiot to boot and I hate his ugly, retarded emo bitch tats. Neil Diamond my ass.

The picture of him burning his guitars with a cigarette was one of the most Spinal Tap things I'd ever seen.

[PsychoKiss344]

56 minutes ago, BorderlineCrazy said:

Leaving the almighty Bucket aside, of all the people Axl played with, Robin had the most ridiculous image. I'd say Dj comes right after. I'm not comparing one's style with the other's, I don't even care about their image, they're musicians, not models.

Putting their image aside Robin is a way better guitarist than DJ. (In my opinion)

[BorderlineCrazy]

13 minutes ago, PsychoKiss344 said:

Putting their image aside Robin is a way better guitarist than DJ. (In my opinion)

Totally agree. Not a big fan of either of them playing Slash's solos but Robin did a hell of a job on CD!

[wasted]

Slash is having his revenge on the This I Love solo these days. 

[Nostalgia^]

I do understand him but him recognizing that he won't ever go back just seems to say that he knew all along that he was just a stand-in for Slash - and no matter how hard he tried it was all he would be.....I mean, now that the reunion has happened, all of the members Axl surrounded himself with between 1994 and 20016 with are largely forgotten/blocked out by everyone except the hardcore fans. No matter how hard Ashba tried no one really gives a fuck about that now. That's a tough pill to swallow for ANY musician...but that's life in a band as big as GNR.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Nostalgia^

[Rovim]

4 hours ago, Nostalgia^ said:

I do understand him but him recognizing that he won't ever go back just seems to say that he knew all along that he was just a stand-in for Slash - and no matter how hard he tried it was all he would be.....I mean, now that the reunion has happened, all of the members Axl surrounded himself with between 1994 and 20016 with are largely forgotten/blocked out by everyone except the hardcore fans. No matter how hard Ashba tried no one really gives a fuck about that now. That's a tough pill to swallow for ANY musician...but that's life in a band as big as GNR.

I don't think he knew shit. He was stupid enough to actually believe Axl would use his 12 shitty songs and together they will make the "best Guns N' Roses album ever".

In reality, Axl just missed going to Vegas and hit bars across the world and thought why not make more money while I'm there? let's hire a clown without an audition. I'm starting to believe it was a cruel joke to mess with the fanbase and then Axl played with Duff and he convinced him Slash was human and could still make him a ton of money so DJ walked cause he knew no one could stand him with Slash back in the band.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Rovim

[MYWIFEMYLIFE]

He spoke well, I cant understand all these insults.

He's a nice guy, maybe a good guitarist, but aint our kind. Wish him all the best. GNR should only have two other guys, u all no who!

Btw, I like Stars by Sixx AM a lot. He's in it

[Asia]

Regardless of how nice this guy might be, he's an idiot and a talentless one. Nothing can change that. Also he should finally realize he wasn't getting all that hate for not being Slash, well, maybe half of it the rest was for being DJ.

[darknightfan]

I never really saw him as a part of GN'R anyways.

[RONIN]

It shows you how far this band had fallen and how low Axl's standards were to even consider hiring this clown for GnR.

That's why his critique of Adler's drumming, and Izzy and Slash's careers in those post-CD interviews were laughable.

He went from recruiting Dave Navarro, Zakk Wylde, Buckethead, and Robin Finck .... to DJ Ashba.  The perfect guitarist for a bloated raincoat wearing Axl who no longer cared.

[Billsfan]

On 11/18/2016 at 8:39 PM, wasted said:

Slash is having his revenge on the This I Love solo these days. 

Nostalgia is alive and well my friend 

[wasted]

2 hours ago, Billsfan said:

Nostalgia is alive and well my friend 

It's like it's 1996 all over again. 

[ZoSoRose]

On 11/17/2016 at 6:06 PM, BorderlineCrazy said:

Leaving the almighty Bucket aside, of all the people Axl played with, Robin had the most ridiculous image. I'd say Dj comes right after. I'm not comparing one's style with the other's, I don't even care about their image, they're musicians, not models.

Its different imo. Bucket and Robin looked like lunatics in 2001/2002 with GNR, but it seemed sort of genuine in a theatrical sort of way to me. They were just who they were and focused on the show. DJ as time went on just turned into a living, breathing commercial for his shitty brand and energy drinks. Its his image as a whole- his look, social media, antics, behavior (who could forget the hotel maid story?) etc that just got unbearable as time went on. He was always a cardboard cutout of the worst rock n' roll stereotypes, but I was fine with DJ in the band in like 2010. He wore more "normal" stuff like flannel and torn jeans and focused a little more on his playing while still putting on a show for the more casual crowd. From 2011 onward he just descended into a cartoon caricature and during the past few years he was in the band, his playing even deteriorated.

Just look at the dude now, his "package deal" is worse than ever. Can you imagine that playing with Axl right now? Fuck no. He craves attention, too, and it makes him seem so ingenuine and off putting off the stage. The moment I really "got" the Ashba hate more than ever was when he made a youtube video of him giving McDonalds to homeless people. Helping the homeless is AWESOME, but the way he did it screamed "LOOK AT ME!"

At the same time, I can't bring myself to totally hate DJ. He was one of the lead guitarists in NuGNR when I first got super into all things Guns N Roses related and he was a part of 3 concerts I really loved. He was also fine the single time I met him. However, I can also look back and still think he was a horrible fit for any incarnation of GNR, and am thrilled he is gone. It is especially hilarious when you compare him to Slash right now.

[Kickingthehabit]

I can't believe this actually happened. Holy cow.

[DieselDaisy]

DJ Ashba sort of epitomises that whole Vegas era, c. 2011 - 14, a period high on Sunset strip nostalgia, replete with strippers, endless pointless hits tours - going back and forth between Brazil and Vegas, and levitating pianos. He is partially being scapegoated for it I feel, but is himself (partially) culpable being a sort of Sunset strip construction, but then, who hired him?

[BorderlineCrazy]

1 hour ago, ZoSoRose said:

Its different imo. Bucket and Robin looked like lunatics in 2001/2002 with GNR, but it seemed sort of genuine in a theatrical sort of way to me. They were just who they were and focused on the show. DJ as time went on just turned into a living, breathing commercial for his shitty brand and energy drinks. Its his image as a whole- his look, social media, antics, behavior (who could forget the hotel maid story?) etc that just got unbearable as time went on. He was always a cardboard cutout of the worst rock n' roll stereotypes, but I was fine with DJ in the band in like 2010. He wore more "normal" stuff like flannel and torn jeans and focused a little more on his playing while still putting on a show for the more casual crowd. From 2011 onward he just descended into a cartoon caricature and during the past few years he was in the band, his playing even deteriorated.

Just look at the dude now, his "package deal" is worse than ever. Can you imagine that playing with Axl right now? Fuck no. He craves attention, too, and it makes him seem so ingenuine and off putting off the stage. The moment I really "got" the Ashba hate more than ever was when he made a youtube video of him giving McDonalds to homeless people. Helping the homeless is AWESOME, but the way he did it screamed "LOOK AT ME!"

At the same time, I can't bring myself to totally hate DJ. He was one of the lead guitarists in NuGNR when I first got super into all things Guns N Roses related and he was a part of 3 concerts I really loved. He was also fine the single time I met him. However, I can also look back and still think he was a horrible fit for any incarnation of GNR, and am thrilled he is gone. It is especially hilarious when you compare him to Slash right now.

I understand why people dislike his style, I dislike it too, I could never dress go outside dressed like him. I don't think that's a good reason to hate someone, though.

I agree about his playing too but maybe when he first joined the band, that was a dream come true for him and he worked his ass off to learn the material as well as he could. As time went by maybe he got tired of not releasing music and playing someone else's stuff (even as fan of it) and he started lacking interest and it showed and that's why he decided to quit and focus on a band where he could actually create new music.

And he definitely loves attention more than anything else in the world but I can't help and see it as a silly harmless thing. Even if for the wrong reasons, I wish there were more people feeding the homeless. If he was kicking them to earn attention, I'd want to kill him but he actually had a nice gesture.

Anyway, to me Dj is a pretty idiotic dude but not a bad one, I feel I could never hate him.

Ps: Comparing him (or anybody else) to Slash is cruel, especially when it comes to playing GNR stuff, you're being unfair 

[AxlRoseCDII]

3 hours ago, BorderlineCrazy said:

Ps: Comparing him (or anybody else) to Slash is cruel, especially when it comes to playing GNR stuff, you're being unfair 

That's what you're up for though if you sign up for Guns n' Roses with a position Slash currently held 

[liers]

On 11/16/2016 at 7:20 PM, AlexC said:

It sounds like Dj had a really hard time in GN'R and is over the moon to be out. It must suck going onstage every night for like 5 years and getting hated on because you're not Slash. Imagine if he were to play alongside Slash now! Wearing that stupid fucking hat! He would get terrorized and he knows it. That's why he'll never go back.

I swear, the more you hear the more terrible it appears to be being a member of that band. Poor Bumblefoot was acting as if he had PTSD from working with Axl when he was interviewed by Loudwire hahaha!

Except for Tommy. Tommy seemed to be above all others and got treated pretty good while everyone else was his subordinate.

[liers]

On 11/16/2016 at 1:33 AM, Billsfan said:

I just don't think he had any intention of firing anybody. To be fair, he never did replace Ashba. As much as I've argued that it appears to still be axls band, this had to have been a Slash and Duff call not to replace Ashba and go with the guys they had. Anybody Axl has had I  gnr was replaced position wise

Personally, I'm over any hate for Ashba just because he stepped aside. It was the classy thing to do. It all worked out

Ashba's replacement would've likely been Fortus if Izzy returned.

[Billsfan]

3 hours ago, liers said:

Ashba's replacement would've likely been Fortus if Izzy returned.

Not sure about that. There was a rumor about the guitarist from evanescence when Bumblefoot quit. Plus, I'm not so sure Ashba quits if Slash returning isn't in place... I'm also not so sure Izzy comes back unless slash and duff do anyways.

[BorderlineCrazy]

29 minutes ago, Billsfan said:

Not sure about that. There was a rumor about the guitarist from evanescence when Bumblefoot quit. Plus, I'm not so sure Ashba quits if Slash returning isn't in place... I'm also not so sure Izzy comes back unless slash and duff do anyways.

In conclusion, you're not sure 

[Billsfan]

On 11/23/2016 at 6:50 PM, BorderlineCrazy said:

In conclusion, you're not sure 

Without facts, we only have speculation 

[Silent Jay]

New Interview on Trunk Nation

"Well, there [were] multiple reasons [why I left GN'R] — a couple that I won't go into — but the biggest reason was I needed to get back to my roots, back to what I really truly believed in, and that was playing songs I helped write with [SIXX:A.M. bandmates] James [Michael] and Nikki [Sixx]. We [SIXX:A.M.] have five albums out [and] we have a ten-year career together. So we did a tour, 'Modern Vintage' tour, where it was, like, nineteen shows, and that tour really changed my life and put my career back into perspective — you know, being out on the stage and connecting with the fanbase."

Ashba also once again claimed that he was approached about being part of GN'R's "Not In This Lifetime" tour, but that he declined, citing his desire to pursue SIXX:A.M. full time.

"Axl called me and he really wanted me a part of the reunion, and I turned it down," Ashba said. "I felt if Slash is coming back, that's great — that's what the fans want, and I can go off and do what I really wanna do now… And we left [off on good terms]; everything is good. And I couldn't be happier for the fans out there. I'm a fan. Half of the band reunited, which excites me, but at the same time, it's the best of both worlds — I get to do what I really love to do, and that's play in SIXX:A.M."

DJ added that he hasn't been in contact with Axl since his exit from GUNS N' ROSES and hasn't had a chance to see the reunited GUNS N' ROSES on the "Not In This Lifetime" tour. He explained: "My focus has been SIXX:A.M. a hundred percent . We went in and wrote a double album — 'Prayers For The Blessed' and 'Prayers For The Damned' — and we've been on tour ever since. So we've been incredibly busy ourselves."