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Old radio interview where Axl talks about his musical philosophy


ITW 2012

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Thanks for posting this. I listened too one part but will have to listen to the other parts later. This is kind of where I have always been coming from when I have supported the direction Axl has taken GNR. He always seemed pretty open and honest with what he intended. Never surprised me where he took the band. good listen even with the poor reporters equipment.

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such a fucking great interview, he is such a chill dude and he definitely has his priorities set and has been to true to his beliefs for decades...art comes first...fuck yeah!

it's pretty cool when he talks about producers he considered, saying smth. like: Roy Thomas Baker is said to be kind of a sicko, so I've been excited to meet him :D lol, I guess that's why he was working on CD for a while, really cool to trace these things back

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such a fucking great interview, he is such a chill dude and he definitely has his priorities set and has been to true to his beliefs for decades...art comes first...fuck yeah!

it's pretty cool when he talks about producers he considered, saying smth. like: Roy Thomas Baker is said to be kind of a sicko, so I've been excited to meet him :D lol, I guess that's why he was working on CD for a while, really cool to trace these things back

Axl is genuine. One thing he has always stood by is not selling out. Gotta respect a person like that in a business where most people will whore themselves out(lady gaga) and release brain dead simple music just to bring in the numbers.

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it's pretty cool when he talks about producers he considered, saying smth. like: Roy Thomas Baker is said to be kind of a sicko, so I've been excited to meet him :D lol, I guess that's why he was working on CD for a while, really cool to trace these things back

the label ditched sean beavan and brought RTB in

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This old interview is great, it's awesome how close I feel to Axl (as a lot of your probably feel to), what he says is exactly what I've always admired about Guns n' Roses songs: no fucking compromise. It's kind of funny to hear him talk about Queen and Zeppelin the way some of us are talking about GNR, sometimes I forget Axl is a human being like us (and if I want too many thiiiings don't you know it's cause, I'm a human beeeeeeing!!!)

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such a fucking great interview, he is such a chill dude and he definitely has his priorities set and has been to true to his beliefs for decades...art comes first...fuck yeah!

it's pretty cool when he talks about producers he considered, saying smth. like: Roy Thomas Baker is said to be kind of a sicko, so I've been excited to meet him :D lol, I guess that's why he was working on CD for a while, really cool to trace these things back

Axl is genuine. One thing he has always stood by is not selling out. Gotta respect a person like that in a business where most people will whore themselves out(lady gaga) and release brain dead simple music just to bring in the numbers.

How has Lady Gaga whored herself out?

A sellout is someone who compromises something they love and believe in to make a lot of money. Everyone who is a recording artist is a sellout, otherwise they'd be busking or passing the hat around at the local coffeeshop. You can argue GNR sold out when they allowed their songs to be edited for radio. You can argue playing stadiums are all about the money, when people who are serious about music should be playing theaters. Who you license your song to - Bob Dylan licenses his songs to lingerie and insurance companies. I guess Dylan's a sellout.

I don't see a prob. with GNR licensing their song to a product - after all, they do sell products at concerts.

To me, when I see Diddy or Jay-Z selling product, or Gwen Stefani, Britney and J-Lo - it might be cashing in on fans and selling out, but they have final say, not some manager that thinks it might get them ahead in their career.

KISS - Gene Simmons in particular, are the biggest whores, maybe Aerosmith are second, but Simmons doesn't hide being a manwhore or a money whore. He's not married for that reason, but his kids are making a living being reality TV stars, and Shannon Tweed is getting her face on TV before she goes into looking like The Joker with plastic surgery.

Flaming Lips did a live tour sponsored by Southern Comfort - the shows were free to the crowd. That is selling out, but they justified it - "as long as they don't tell us what to say about the president and say what the f--k we want, and do what we want on stage, we're fine with it". A company like Pepsi, Nike, Wheaties or Mickey D's has way more of an image to protect, and sometimes the big companies have pretty close ties to powerful moguls and political figures.

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Oh man that California sinks comment in part 4 cracks me up! Also love how you can hear Torque in the background. The reporter seems only half interested, sad. A big theme in this interview is simply Believe.

Thanks again for this link. I never heard this interview before. I sat and listened to all the parts.

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such a fucking great interview, he is such a chill dude and he definitely has his priorities set and has been to true to his beliefs for decades...art comes first...fuck yeah!

it's pretty cool when he talks about producers he considered, saying smth. like: Roy Thomas Baker is said to be kind of a sicko, so I've been excited to meet him :D lol, I guess that's why he was working on CD for a while, really cool to trace these things back

Axl is genuine. One thing he has always stood by is not selling out. Gotta respect a person like that in a business where most people will whore themselves out(lady gaga) and release brain dead simple music just to bring in the numbers.

How has Lady Gaga whored herself out?

A sellout is someone who compromises something they love and believe in to make a lot of money. Everyone who is a recording artist is a sellout, otherwise they'd be busking or passing the hat around at the local coffeeshop. You can argue GNR sold out when they allowed their songs to be edited for radio. You can argue playing stadiums are all about the money, when people who are serious about music should be playing theaters. Who you license your song to - Bob Dylan licenses his songs to lingerie and insurance companies. I guess Dylan's a sellout.

I don't see a prob. with GNR licensing their song to a product - after all, they do sell products at concerts.

To me, when I see Diddy or Jay-Z selling product, or Gwen Stefani, Britney and J-Lo - it might be cashing in on fans and selling out, but they have final say, not some manager that thinks it might get them ahead in their career.

KISS - Gene Simmons in particular, are the biggest whores, maybe Aerosmith are second, but Simmons doesn't hide being a manwhore or a money whore. He's not married for that reason, but his kids are making a living being reality TV stars, and Shannon Tweed is getting her face on TV before she goes into looking like The Joker with plastic surgery.

Flaming Lips did a live tour sponsored by Southern Comfort - the shows were free to the crowd. That is selling out, but they justified it - "as long as they don't tell us what to say about the president and say what the f--k we want, and do what we want on stage, we're fine with it". A company like Pepsi, Nike, Wheaties or Mickey D's has way more of an image to protect, and sometimes the big companies have pretty close ties to powerful moguls and political figures.

You make some very good points.

Lady Gaga whored herself out(not literally) when she was making The Fame, she went out of her way to make a radio friendly record, even working with the record label to do so. There was no "art" aspect to it really, it was all about the money and fame. Even without this she still whores herself out(posing nude on many magazine covers) just to make headlines and whatnot.

I didn't know Bob Dylan licensed his songs to lingerie and insurances companies.. If true then i am disappointed to say the least.

Yes Kiss are the biggest sell-outs/money hungry band ever, its an absolute joke what they turned into. Kiss coffins anyone?

Whenever i see someone doing a Pepsi ad or whatever i lose respect for them, like they don't have enough money(Beyonce, MJ, Pink, Britney).

When it comes to radio edits etc, then your probably right, GnR did compromise the music to get it played on radio... i can't argue with that. Alot of bands do this but not all. I don't have a problem with playing stadiums etc as they are still playing their music to the people. Also being sponsored for tour equipment(guitars, amps, etc) is ok as long as you don't mention it in every single interview or promo.

The Southern Comfort sponsored tour is selling out, but your right, its free to the crowd so its fine. If it was sponsored and cost the crowd something, that would be pretty sad..

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such a fucking great interview, he is such a chill dude and he definitely has his priorities set and has been to true to his beliefs for decades...art comes first...fuck yeah!

it's pretty cool when he talks about producers he considered, saying smth. like: Roy Thomas Baker is said to be kind of a sicko, so I've been excited to meet him :D lol, I guess that's why he was working on CD for a while, really cool to trace these things back

Axl is genuine. One thing he has always stood by is not selling out. Gotta respect a person like that in a business where most people will whore themselves out(lady gaga) and release brain dead simple music just to bring in the numbers.

How has Lady Gaga whored herself out?

A sellout is someone who compromises something they love and believe in to make a lot of money. Everyone who is a recording artist is a sellout, otherwise they'd be busking or passing the hat around at the local coffeeshop. You can argue GNR sold out when they allowed their songs to be edited for radio. You can argue playing stadiums are all about the money, when people who are serious about music should be playing theaters. Who you license your song to - Bob Dylan licenses his songs to lingerie and insurance companies. I guess Dylan's a sellout.

I don't see a prob. with GNR licensing their song to a product - after all, they do sell products at concerts.

To me, when I see Diddy or Jay-Z selling product, or Gwen Stefani, Britney and J-Lo - it might be cashing in on fans and selling out, but they have final say, not some manager that thinks it might get them ahead in their career.

KISS - Gene Simmons in particular, are the biggest whores, maybe Aerosmith are second, but Simmons doesn't hide being a manwhore or a money whore. He's not married for that reason, but his kids are making a living being reality TV stars, and Shannon Tweed is getting her face on TV before she goes into looking like The Joker with plastic surgery.

Flaming Lips did a live tour sponsored by Southern Comfort - the shows were free to the crowd. That is selling out, but they justified it - "as long as they don't tell us what to say about the president and say what the f--k we want, and do what we want on stage, we're fine with it". A company like Pepsi, Nike, Wheaties or Mickey D's has way more of an image to protect, and sometimes the big companies have pretty close ties to powerful moguls and political figures.

You make some very good points.

Lady Gaga whored herself out(not literally) when she was making The Fame, she went out of her way to make a radio friendly record, even working with the record label to do so. There was no "art" aspect to it really, it was all about the money and fame. Even without this she still whores herself out(posing nude on many magazine covers) just to make headlines and whatnot.

I didn't know Bob Dylan licensed his songs to lingerie and insurances companies.. If true then i am disappointed to say the least.

Yes Kiss are the biggest sell-outs/money hungry band ever, its an absolute joke what they turned into. Kiss coffins anyone?

Whenever i see someone doing a Pepsi ad or whatever i lose respect for them, like they don't have enough money(Beyonce, MJ, Pink, Britney).

When it comes to radio edits etc, then your probably right, GnR did compromise the music to get it played on radio... i can't argue with that. Alot of bands do this but not all. I don't have a problem with playing stadiums etc as they are still playing their music to the people. Also being sponsored for tour equipment(guitars, amps, etc) is ok as long as you don't mention it in every single interview or promo.

The Southern Comfort sponsored tour is selling out, but your right, its free to the crowd so its fine. If it was sponsored and cost the crowd something, that would be pretty sad..

Axl's comment on Whitesnake being sellouts.... has to do with going from Slide it In (which is still a great rock record) or Live in the Heart of the City, to putting crazy ass Tawny in his videos, as well as getting a hit producer to remix and make your songs sound like Bon Jovi's who set the bar on all things in the hard rock genre circa 1985. He's still got a good voice, opened for Judas Priest.

Licensing a known song to a product- if it's a hit song that will be forgotten in a few months, I don't see a big deal in it. But do people want to see "Sweet Child Of Mine" as background music for Pampers? Or Welcome to the Jungle being played in a mosquito repellent ad?

Led Zep licensing "Rock and Roll" to Cadillac. I don't see the problem, because rock music and cars go together.

Biggest sellout in rock though? Ozzy.

Lady Gaga performs music targeting a club crowd, and she has as much explicit songs on her CD as GNR do on all of theirs. Someone trying to cater to a mainstream audience does a little bit of self censorship, or put clean versions out. Which I'm sure she did to sell her CDs in Wal Mart. But she's not an established act. Maybe in 10 years she'll go "fuck Wal Mart" the way GNR and Green Day did. And like Trent Reznor had said - why does Wal Mart sell r rated video games and movies, but not r-rated music, or books with just as much explicit content as any rock or rap CD?

But anyone's show your show where there's a product being sold, it should play a part in lowering ticket prices if you're not going to be in the first section center at a show. And I never saw a prob. with Sammy Hagar pitching his tequila at concerts, or Jimmy Buffett selling margarita mixes. But none of it ever offsets ticket prices. U2 could've had the tour sponsored by Apple, because they did the promotion for the ipod, but no.

If a rock band did a tour that was sponsor heavy, they could practically give tickets away (or just keep the stupid "service charge" in there), because it frees up spending on concessions and swag.

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