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Matt Sorum's Autobiography


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1 hour ago, Crazyman said:

IIRC they ran into each other in a bathroom or something at a hotel and it didn't go as well as the later meeting did. This was right around the time Live Era came out and I think they got into it over that. 

Oh fair! Thanks for sharing, had never heard that one before! Matt is still fuming about the ‘additional musician’ credit now, so I can only imagine how raw it was back then!

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18 minutes ago, CAFC Nick said:

Oh fair! Thanks for sharing, had never heard that one before! Matt is still fuming about the ‘additional musician’ credit now, so I can only imagine how raw it was back then!

I got the impression from the book that there was some money issue surrounding the Live Era credit and not just the way it was listed on liner notes. Matt worded it as “being screwed out of his royalty” on the album. At that point, he was still paying back the monthly advance he’d gotten from 94-97 and that was being credited against UYI royalties. 

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3 hours ago, LA_0013 said:

Why did he was removed from the album ?

So the way Matt tells the story:

Slash called Duff to tell Duff that Axl fired Gilby. Duff called Matt to let him know. Duff told him he doesn’t know why Gilby was fired but Axl didn’t think Gilby could write music.

Matt to this day says he doesn’t know why Gilby was fired and wonders if it’s because Gilby had started a solo project.

Around that time, Axl stopped by Slash’s to listen to the demos Matt and Slash had written. No lyrics. Just riffs.

Matt said Axl was expressionless while listening. Then Axl said it sounded like a cross between AC/DC and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Matt asked him why would that be a bad thing, but  Axl didn’t reply and then left.   

This pissed off Slash. When Slash said “fuck, Axl,” Matt agreed and suggested they start their own band. Slash said he’d call Geffen and get them a deal. And then Slash said the band would be called Snakepit. 

Matt said he is the one who suggested the bassist. Mike Inez. And Gilby joined them. 

They rehearsed all the music and recorded the album without a singer. Matt said he helped out with all the arrangements. He then flew to New York for something. He was furious upon returning to find out Slash, Gilby and the guys brought on a singer without consulting him and had the singer record vocals for all the songs. Gilby told him the record was done.

Shortly after, Matt said he was blindsided when the name of the band changed to Slash’s Snakepit. He confronted Slash, who told him it was the record company’s decision because they were worried no one would know who Snakepit was.

That’s the moment Matt said he stopped trusting Slash and saw him for who he is, whatever that means.
 

Slash convinced Matt to listen to the record. Matt said all he needed to hear was one song to know the singer sucked. Slash asked him to listen to at least one more song. But Matt told Slash to replace the drums with someone else and to take his shit off the record.

Edited by GnR Chris
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1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

Yeah, I'd seen these translated interviews posted on various places without a reference to a source (e.g. a magazine) or an exact date, and I saw that other fans, like you, questioned their authenticity (and I could see why). 

Then, as I was collecting articles for our huge GnR database at a-4-d.com  (https://www.a-4-d.com/t2861-interview-and-article-index ), I tried to find the sources of these interviews and dug into Brazilian sources, and finally I found the sources and the original interviews in Portuguese (except for the Fernando interview where I couldn't find the Portuguese text but I found the source) and re-translated them here with the help of google (I think the first one wasn't translated - I haven't seen it circulating):

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4741-2001-01-16-o-globo-interview-with-doug-goldstein-and-beta-lebeis

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4758-2001-01-22-bolsa-de-mulher-interview-with-beta-lebeis

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4692-2001-07-01-o-estado-de-s-paulo-interview-with-beta-lebeis

(Btw, proofreading of the translations by Portuguese speakers would be appreciated :) )

EDIT: On topic, in the second interview Beta says "The drummer was drunk" which makes some sense now with what Matt wrote in his book about his last days in GnR.

Im brazillian, Ill check the translations out tomorrow and give you a heads up if anything is out of place!

Edited by default_
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1 hour ago, loke212 said:

Yeah, she seems like the exact opposite of "fun". Definitely doesn't strike me as someone you could have a good laugh or even a decent conversation with.

 

I didn't know that. It was a long time ago, but I still remember reading these translated interviews with Beta (and also Fernando I think) because it was the first time I felt a bit weirded out by TB. The way they talked about Axl sort of made it sound like they were talking about a child rather than their boss (might have had something to do with the translations I read though). And man, I'm glad for Axl if Beta and family can provide him with the family atmosphere and affection that had been lacking in his life, but these interviews still struck me as somewhat strange, enough that I wasn't even sure if they were real. Always kind of suspected they were made up, but good to know there is at least some kind of source for these (or at least that specific interview), thanks.

If @Blackstar says it is very credible, you are right that Beta talk about Axl like an kid.

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43 minutes ago, GnR Chris said:

So the way Matt tells the story:

Slash called Duff to tell Duff that Axl fired Gilby. Duff called Matt to let him know. Duff told him he doesn’t know why Gilby was fired but Axl didn’t think Gilby could write music.

Matt to this day says he doesn’t know why Gilby was fired and wonders if it’s because Gilby had started a solo project.

Around that time, Axl stopped by Slash’s to listen to the demos Matt and Slash had written. No lyrics. Just riffs.

Matt said Axl was expressionless while listening. Then Axl said it sounded like a cross between AC/DC and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Matt asked him why would that be a bad thing, but  Axl didn’t reply and then left.   

This pissed off Slash. When Slash said “fuck, Axl,” Matt agreed and suggested they start their own band. Slash said he’d call Geffen and get them a deal. And then Slash said the band would be called Snakepit. 

Matt said he is the one who suggested the bassist. Mike Inez. And Gilby joined them. 

They rehearsed all the music and recorded the album without a singer. Matt said he helped out with all the arrangements. He then flew to New York for something. He was furious upon returning to find out Slash, Gilby and the guys brought on a singer without consulting him and had the singer record vocals for all the songs. Gilby told him the record was done.

Shortly after, Matt said he was blindsided when the name of the band changed to Slash’s Snakepit. He confronted Slash, who told him it was the record company’s decision because they were worried no one would know who Snakepit was.

That’s the moment Matt said he stopped trusting Slash and saw him for who he is, whatever that means.
 

Slash convinced Matt to listen to the record. Matt said all he needed to hear was one song to know the singer sucked. Slash asked him to listen to at least one more song. But Matt told Slash to replace the drums with someone else and to take his shit off the record.

Matt gets upset in every band with Slash because he doesn’t feel like an equal. 

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2 minutes ago, The Holographic Universe said:

Matt gets upset in every band with Slash because he doesn’t feel like an equal. 

Sadly to Matt the drumers never will have equal status like an frontman and guitar player.

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In a normal circumstance, the drummer would be lucky to get as much attention as the singer and lead guitarist, but when the other guys in the band are Axl (or Scott) and Slash, it's just never gonna happen :lol:

I can only think of a few drummers who are as famous, or more famous than their lead singer/guitarist: John Bonham, Lars Ulrich, Mike Portnoy, Neil Peart, Joey Jordison, Travis Barker, and Tommy Lee. That's about it, as far as big bands go.

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11 hours ago, CAFC Nick said:

Are you referring to him meeting with Axl in 2006? For anyone not familiar, here is the story:

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/matt-sorum-hangs-out-with-axl-rose-in-new-york-city/

Reason I ask is because in 06 Matt said he hadn’t seen Axl for 6 years, so quite intrigued to know what happened when they met in 2000! Hadn’t heard any info on that before.

Yep, exactly that. 

Edited by jamillos
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5 hours ago, Ratam said:

Sadly to Matt the drumers never will have equal status like an frontman and guitar player.

Maybe in general, but it's still a certain simplification. E.g. sometimes it can be more about guitar than vocals (AC/DC), sometimes the other way around, and other times it's rather equal - see Rush. Those three were undoubtedly equal. 

Edited by jamillos
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12 hours ago, Drexl said:

The Evil Empire and the Schutzstaffel. That's why Axl believed these two wanted to kill him in a previous life. :lol:

Speaking of being killed, I peaked into the WAR room on discord. I know they are all douchebags, but they're actually saying that they wish Axl would have died instead of Kurt. That made my heart hurt 😢.

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9 hours ago, Old_school_gnr_fan said:

It is.

To think just four years ago, we looked at Duff and Slash's return as sort of a rebirth of the classic Guns N' Roses.

Unfortunate that Alan Niven is not the manager of this band in 2020. He's the only guy that forced them to work.

We should be talking about whether GNR are going to release a 2nd album since the return of Slash N Duff. 

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16 minutes ago, MurielWeathers said:

Speaking of being killed, I peaked into the WAR room on discord. I know they are all douchebags, but they're actually saying that they wish Axl would have died instead of Kurt. That made my heart hurt 😢.

What a fucking horrible thing to say about anybody, my god obviously a bunch of high IQ's over there.  No wonder Axl keeps himself to himself there are so many empty heads out there whose agenda's are just plain weird.  

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45 minutes ago, MurielWeathers said:

Speaking of being killed, I peaked into the WAR room on discord. I know they are all douchebags, but they're actually saying that they wish Axl would have died instead of Kurt. That made my heart hurt 😢.

 

22 minutes ago, DurhamGirl said:

What a fucking horrible thing to say about anybody, my god obviously a bunch of high IQ's over there.  No wonder Axl keeps himself to himself there are so many empty heads out there whose agenda's are just plain weird.  

I am on that Discord (I know there are a few folk from here on there too). I must admit that the WAR room can be a tough gig and some folk can be either controversial for the sake of it or just can’t articulate sarcasm well.....I haven’t seen that chat TBF. But not everyone is a bad egg - the Civil War room is very relaxed and not too dissimilar to here in many respects.

I guess what I’m trying to say is - its not all full of crazies! 😂

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23 minutes ago, DTJ80 said:

I guess what I’m trying to say is - its not all full of crazies! 😂

There are crazies + some premium racists in the war room. There's this guy who's into Hulk. His racist comments are so horrible that can be easily taken into court imo. 

but anyway back to subject.

Edited by ©GnrPersia
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14 minutes ago, ©GnrPersia said:

There are crazies + some premium racists in the war room. There's this guy who's into Hulk. His racist comments can be taken into court imo. 

but anyway back to subject.

Dunno who that is and TBF, I spend most of my time in Civil War or Reckless Road - cool chat with good folk (RR in particular has been great recently with potential release of new material). No time for racist chat - I hate that.

So yeah - back on topic...😂

I wonder if Amazon will get a kicking for accidentally releasing the e-version?? That’s a big mistake and pretty much renders any actions to close this book down as pointless!

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18 hours ago, jamillos said:

- The story where he met Axl in the 2000s 
- Slash banging on Axl’s door in 2000s 
- Izzy filling in for Gilby in 93 
- The end of the 93 tour 
- Spaghetti sessions 
- SFTD sessions 
All this stuff is missing. 

However, I don’t think Duff threw Frank under the bus – it was just a private conversation after all. In fact, it was Matt who now threw Duff under the bus by publishing it, when you think about it. 
In general, I think they might have been quite a bunch of friends even with Slash in the 2000s, but Matt got butthurt a lot by not having been included in the reunion. So he’s burning the bridges. 

Excellent points - and those 6 points should be first in line to be discussed (after ‘why was the book canned’) on his next AFD podcast appearance.

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