Funky.Monkey Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) DJ Ashba was recently interviewed for HANGIN w LAVS in Las Vegas. I've transcribed some of the interview below. HANGIN w LAVS 4 DJ Ashba Published on Feb 7, 2017 TJ Lavin: What band do you play for (when we first met)? DJ Ashba: At the time I played for Guns N' Roses. I did about 6 years with them, I was the guy that came in and took Slash's spot. To have somebody like Axl believe in you and give you a really great shot in life is something I'll never forget. When I was on my way down there, Katie McNeil great longtime friend, gave me a call. At the time she was working with Irving Azoff who managed Guns and she gave me a call and said hey, would you want to audition. I said yeah of course. So I went down, I never thought anything of it, I didn't think I was going to get the gig. I didn't really think much I just wanted to go jam some Guns song who cares and meet the guys it would be great. I had met Axl years before when I was doing the Beautiful Creatures album on Warner Bros. and Sharon Osbourne walked me in and introduced me to him. And we're both from Indiana so we kinda had a cool little bond that way. The night before I remember calling Katie my manager saying, you know, I think I'm going to back out, I was just kinda getting cold feet, you know it's going to be a lot of work, I don't know. She said you can't screw me over you've just gotta show up. I said OK for you I will. I showed up and I get in my car and she calls me and she basically said you got the gig. And it didn't set in for a while, it was very surreal. And then I remember going into rehearsals it was still surreal because Axl never showed up I was just jamming with the band it's cool. And I think the first show Tokyo Dome sold out like 60,000 people I can't remember, it was a massive show. Still no Axl, I was like this is kinda weird, you get used to rehearsing with the guys without Axl there. Sure enough, the lights go down and here comes Axl. That started a six years journey, we played a ton of show, had a lot of fun. It's a time in my life I'm never going to forget and I'll always cherish. Edited March 15, 2017 by Funky.Monkey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moreblack Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Thing I liked about him is he played the Slash solos closer to right, than Robin ever could. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gunsguy Posted March 15, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted March 15, 2017 This is a nightmare please someone make this go away. Can he please stop talking already 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Jay Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Must have been surreal but also lots of pressure to play that first show with Axl for the first time. It wasn't Tokyo though, it was Taipei. Beautiful Creatures rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxlRoseCDII Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 So we had to suffer with Ashba for 5 years because he was bullied into the role by his manager? #Demented 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexC Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 So Dj never even spoke to Axl since joining until the first show? How the fuck did Axl know he was good enough to get the gig if he never heard him play any Guns material? Maybe Dj being hired was a giant mistake after all and Axl didn't know until he saw him onstage o_O 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsfan Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Katie McNeil, you B*tch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsfan Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 1 hour ago, moreblack said: Thing I liked about him is he played the Slash solos closer to right, than Robin ever could. #Shotsfired The guy doing the interview looks really familiar. He also looks really into it. Also, I can't recall what number one hit Dj had while debating joining GNR. Anyways... cool interview, nice guy. Glad he left GNR when he did though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Jay Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 YHe sure knows how to make a living outside music, and always has some great shit to say about it. You guys should check out his company Ashba media, they've done killer stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Billsfan Posted March 15, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted March 15, 2017 18 minutes ago, AlexC said: So Dj never even spoke to Axl since joining until the first show? How the fuck did Axl know he was good enough to get the gig if he never heard him play any Guns material? Maybe Dj being hired was a giant mistake after all and Axl didn't know until he saw him onstage o_O I could see why Axl wanted to hire Dj. 1 - Looks like Slash, with the top hat 2 - Wrote a grammy winning album for Motley Crue. Worked with Nikki Sixx. Maybe Axl was trolling Vince Neil...? 3 - Overly positive and happy, something Axl likes in people he hires. Only going to say positive things and promote the band in a good way. And a yes man, I mean he went everywhere with Axl. Hell, Axl couldn't be interviewed on camera with Eddie Trunk unless Dj was there too. Crazy, all of it but hey, in the world of GNR one must think outside of the box...really, really outside of the box 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknroll41 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 11 minutes ago, Billsfan said: #Shotsfired The guy doing the interview looks really familiar. He also looks really into it. Also, I can't recall what number one hit Dj had while debating joining GNR. Anyways... cool interview, nice guy. Glad he left GNR when he did though. number one hit? Probably Life Is Beautiful, I guess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Jay Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Billsfan said: #Shotsfired The guy doing the interview looks really familiar. He also looks really into it. Also, I can't recall what number one hit Dj had while debating joining GNR. Anyways... cool interview, nice guy. Glad he left GNR when he did though. I believe it was Sixx AM Lies Of The Beautiful People with John 5, Life Is Beautiful peaked at #2 in 2007 and was the most played rock song of 2008 and Saints of Los Angeles went #5. Edited March 15, 2017 by Silent Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreakDown2014 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 1 minute ago, rocknroll41 said: number one hit? Probably Life Is Beautiful, I guess? http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/sixx-a-m-s-life-is-beautiful-named-rock-song-of-the-year/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknroll41 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 3 minutes ago, Billsfan said: I could see why Axl wanted to hire Dj. 1 - Looks like Slash, with the top hat 2 - Wrote a grammy winning album for Motley Crue. Worked with Nikki Sixx. Maybe Axl was trolling Vince Neil...? 3 - Overly positive and happy, something Axl likes in people he hires. Only going to say positive things and promote the band in a good way. And a yes man, I mean he went everywhere with Axl. Hell, Axl couldn't be interviewed on camera with Eddie Trunk unless Dj was there too. Crazy, all of it but hey, in the world of GNR one must think outside of the box...really, really outside of the box He didn't wear the top hat until after he was hired by gnr, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Jay Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 4 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said: He didn't wear the top hat until after he was hired by gnr, though. Well we're not getting into that, but that is incorrect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaguns1982 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Didn't like the guy back then.... Still don't now. ill admit he had a decent stage presence, but... What a hack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bucketfoot Posted March 15, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted March 15, 2017 "I was the guy that came in and took Slash's spot" Yes DJ, of course you were. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Jay Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 53 minutes ago, AlexC said: So Dj never even spoke to Axl since joining until the first show? How the fuck did Axl know he was good enough to get the gig if he never heard him play any Guns material? Maybe Dj being hired was a giant mistake after all and Axl didn't know until he saw him onstage o_O Total nonsense, the rehearsals in 2009 were video taped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Malcolm Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 The problem with DJ Ashba is he has no artistic credibility and is incredibly uncool. Ashba joining GNR signalled that Axl had effectively gone in the direction that led to Vegas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Jay Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Just now, bucketfoot said: "I was the guy that came in and took Slash's spot" Yes DJ, of course you were. That's true, Bumble replaced Buckethead and Dj replaced Robin, so he took Slash's spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorderlineCrazy Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 18 minutes ago, Silent Jay said: That's true, Bumble replaced Buckethead and Dj replaced Robin, so he took Slash's spot. Well, both Bucket and Robin were playing Slash's stuff so Dj only took half of Slash's spot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexC Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 16 minutes ago, Silent Jay said: Total nonsense, the rehearsals in 2009 were video taped. Yeah I was joking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychoKiss344 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Worst guitarist in the history of GNR 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Jay Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickS77 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 43 minutes ago, bucketfoot said: "I was the guy that came in and took Slash's spot" Yes DJ, of course you were. Well. He was the one wearing the top hat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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