Q&A with Richard Fortus

[SoulMonster]

I recently got Richard to answer a few questions. I've copied the whole Q&A from my forum, Appetite for Discussion:

Q: Congratulations on the kick-ass tour! What's your personal highlights so far?

Thanks, So far Moscow, Lima, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires have been stand-out cities for me. Amazing crowds and great shows.

Q: This was GNR's first concert in Peru, Equador, Panama, Uruguay and El Salvador. How has the response been from these "neglected" audiences?

It's very expensive and hard for a lot of bands to travel to those countries. It was a great opportunity for us to play there and the audiences were very responsive. They were incredibly energetic audiences and gave so much back to us. That type of reaction always makes for great shows.

Q: GNR seems to have a special bond with Brazil and the Brazilian fans, is this obvious from the concerts?

Absolutely, i don't know why, but all over South America, it was just crazy. The love and support we felt from the fans was pretty overwhelming.

Q: On the Asian "warm-up" concerts in 2009 the setlists were longer and contained songs that were not played in Canada and South America. Why was that?

The Asian ticket prices were higher and we felt they deserved more songs (just kidding). I think we were trying a lot of the new songs out to see how they felt to play them in front of an audience and also to see the response. I think some of the newer songs will re-appear on the next legs.

Q: How has DJ Ashba worked out and how has his entry in the band changed the dynamics of the live guitar playing?

DJ is working out great. He's a great guy and is very easy to get along with. He's brought so much to the live show and has been really well received by the audiences.

Q: With three extremely adept guitar players, how do you choose which ones get to play what parts of the songs? No fighting over who gets to play what?

For the most part, we are playing the parts that were handed down to us from our predecessors. DJ is covering most of the parts that Robin used to cover, Ron is covering Bucket's parts (as well as the parts he did on the record), same with me.

Q: Are there any guitar parts that are more tricky or have required more care in getting right live?

Some of the new songs are pretty tricky. Scraped and Shacklers can be pretty tricky.

Q: Your James Bond theme solo has been very popular. Will you stick to it or choose another solo for the coming European leg?

I'll probably stick to it for Europe, as I don't know that we will have much time to rehearse before the next run.

Q: Who chooses which songs are played at each concert?

Axl usually calls the songs, however, he is open for suggestions.

Q: At rehearsals, sound checks, and general jamming in-between concerts, do you have any songs you usually play but that is never played in the concerts?

Rhiad.

Q: Any concerts on the European leg that you look especially forward to?

Rome and Zagreb.

Q: Do you know the opener bands for the European concerts?

Not yet.

Q: Do you know if the European leg will be followed by more concerts somewhere else, or does this tour end in Europe?

This tour is far from over!

Q: When touring with GNR, do you put everything else on hold or are you able to keep up with all your other projects?

I go to a lot of museums and I run every day, which is a great way to see a city. That's my favorite part of touring, being able to get out and run for 10-20 k in a new city

Q: Can you tell us a little bit of any new projects you are involved with (collaborations, guest appearances, other concerts, etc).?

There is a band called Saivu from Norway whose album i played on. I'll be playing with them at a festival in Norway in July. I recently wrote some songs with Michael Monroe for his new record. I also worked a lot on Dizzy's new record. I hope that comes out soon, there is a lot of really amazing stuff on it. Fantastic songs and his voice sounds great. I'm also working on a new video game score and some other tv catalogs.

Q: Have you discovered any new bands or artists lately that you want to tip us about?

That Norwegian band, Saivu has some great songs and I'm really proud of what i did on the record. I have been listening to

NASA

Sleigh Bells

Broken Bells

The XX

LCD Soundsystem

Caribou

Wolf Parade

The National

[Scaramouche]

Thanks for sharing. I need to check out where Saivu will be playing in Norway in July!

[ChrisMaciel]

Great interview.

[henfjel]

awesome

[ManetsBR]

Thanks for sharing! Cool interview!

[AxlIsGod.]

I recently got Richard to answer a few questions. I've copied the whole Q&A from my forum, Appetite for Discussion:

Q: Congratulations on the kick-ass tour! What's your personal highlights so far?

Thanks, So far Moscow, Lima, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires have been stand-out cities for me. Amazing crowds and great shows.

Q: This was GNR's first concert in Peru, Equador, Panama, Uruguay and El Salvador. How has the response been from these "neglected" audiences?

It's very expensive and hard for a lot of bands to travel to those countries. It was a great opportunity for us to play there and the audiences were very responsive. They were incredibly energetic audiences and gave so much back to us. That type of reaction always makes for great shows.

Q: GNR seems to have a special bond with Brazil and the Brazilian fans, is this obvious from the concerts?

Absolutely, i don't know why, but all over South America, it was just crazy. The love and support we felt from the fans was pretty overwhelming.

Q: On the Asian "warm-up" concerts in 2009 the setlists were longer and contained songs that were not played in Canada and South America. Why was that?

The Asian ticket prices were higher and we felt they deserved more songs (just kidding). I think we were trying a lot of the new songs out to see how they felt to play them in front of an audience and also to see the response. I think some of the newer songs will re-appear on the next legs.[/b]

Q: How has DJ Ashba worked out and how has his entry in the band changed the dynamics of the live guitar playing?

DJ is working out great. He's a great guy and is very easy to get along with. He's brought so much to the live show and has been really well received by the audiences.

Q: With three extremely adept guitar players, how do you choose which ones get to play what parts of the songs? No fighting over who gets to play what?

For the most part, we are playing the parts that were handed down to us from our predecessors. DJ is covering most of the parts that Robin used to cover, Ron is covering Bucket's parts (as well as the parts he did on the record), same with me.

Q: Are there any guitar parts that are more tricky or have required more care in getting right live?

Some of the new songs are pretty tricky. Scraped and Shacklers can be pretty tricky.

Q: Your James Bond theme solo has been very popular. Will you stick to it or choose another solo for the coming European leg?

I'll probably stick to it for Europe, as I don't know that we will have much time to rehearse before the next run.

Q: Who chooses which songs are played at each concert?

Axl usually calls the songs, however, he is open for suggestions.

Q: At rehearsals, sound checks, and general jamming in-between concerts, do you have any songs you usually play but that is never played in the concerts?

Rhiad.

Q: Any concerts on the European leg that you look especially forward to?

Rome and Zagreb.

Q: Do you know the opener bands for the European concerts?

Not yet.

Q: Do you know if the European leg will be followed by more concerts somewhere else, or does this tour end in Europe?

This tour is far from over!

Q: When touring with GNR, do you put everything else on hold or are you able to keep up with all your other projects?

I go to a lot of museums and I run every day, which is a great way to see a city. That's my favorite part of touring, being able to get out and run for 10-20 k in a new city

Q: Can you tell us a little bit of any new projects you are involved with (collaborations, guest appearances, other concerts, etc).?

There is a band called Saivu from Norway whose album i played on. I'll be playing with them at a festival in Norway in July. I recently wrote some songs with Michael Monroe for his new record. I also worked a lot on Dizzy's new record. I hope that comes out soon, there is a lot of really amazing stuff on it. Fantastic songs and his voice sounds great. I'm also working on a new video game score and some other tv catalogs.

Q: Have you discovered any new bands or artists lately that you want to tip us about?

That Norwegian band, Saivu has some great songs and I'm really proud of what i did on the record. I have been listening to

NASA

Sleigh Bells

Broken Bells

The XX

LCD Soundsystem

Caribou

Wolf Parade

The National

HECK YES! rock1

Edited June 13, 2010 by AxlIsGod.

[LightningBolt]

Thanks for sharing, nice read. I endorse The xx, Broken Bells, The National, and LCD Soundsystem.

[GNR123GNR456]

Great read. Cool to see their gonna have songs form CD reappear on the set-lists again. Dizzy's gonna have an album, that's something I'm gonna buy. Hopefully Fortus can have a solo album one day.

[bacardimayne]

That was a great interview. Parts that stand out:

Q: On the Asian "warm-up" concerts in 2009 the setlists were longer and contained songs that were not played in Canada and South America. Why was that?

The Asian ticket prices were higher and we felt they deserved more songs (just kidding). I think we were trying a lot of the new songs out to see how they felt to play them in front of an audience and also to see the response. I think some of the newer songs will re-appear on the next legs.

Q: At rehearsals, sound checks, and general jamming in-between concerts, do you have any songs you usually play but that is never played in the concerts?

Rhiad.

[Jordan Rose]

That's funny about Rhiad. Is it still just London and Belgium 2002 it's been played? I'm guessing it hasn't been played because it's fucking massively vocally demanding and far more suited to Axl's clean , high 2002 voice than his current old-skool voice.

[Graveyard]

great interview.

would love for the band to bust out Rhaid at one of the next shows.

[ChrisMaciel]

That's funny about Rhiad. Is it still just London and Belgium 2002 it's been played? I'm guessing it hasn't been played because it's fucking massively vocally demanding and far more suited to Axl's clean , high 2002 voice than his current old-skool voice.

Not really! They played it in the first new gnr show (House of Blues 01-01-01) and a few shows from 2002 Tour (Tokyo, Osaka). The last show it was played was in Detroit, 2002.

[Lose Your Illusions]

That's funny about Rhiad. Is it still just London and Belgium 2002 it's been played? I'm guessing it hasn't been played because it's fucking massively vocally demanding and far more suited to Axl's clean , high 2002 voice than his current old-skool voice.

Not really! They played it in the first new gnr show (House of Blues 01-01-01) and a few shows from 2002 Tour (Tokyo, Osaka). The last show it was played was in Detroit, 2002.

U'd have to imagine its because of the "illegal" intro. why else?

[highvoltage]

FYI guys, the lead singer from Saivu has been a member here for many years now. Congrats Teddy!

[batman007]

Loved the part, where he says the tour will be far from over!

[Estranged Reality]

I have been listening to

NASA

Sleigh Bells

Broken Bells

The XX

LCD Soundsystem

Caribou

Wolf Parade

The National

Good taste.

[bacardimayne]

That's funny about Rhiad. Is it still just London and Belgium 2002 it's been played? I'm guessing it hasn't been played because it's fucking massively vocally demanding and far more suited to Axl's clean , high 2002 voice than his current old-skool voice.

Not really! They played it in the first new gnr show (House of Blues 01-01-01) and a few shows from 2002 Tour (Tokyo, Osaka). The last show it was played was in Detroit, 2002.

U'd have to imagine its because of the "illegal" intro. why else?

Didn't stop them from putting it in Rock Band. They just deleted the intro.

[LightningBolt]

That's funny about Rhiad. Is it still just London and Belgium 2002 it's been played? I'm guessing it hasn't been played because it's fucking massively vocally demanding and far more suited to Axl's clean , high 2002 voice than his current old-skool voice.

Not really! They played it in the first new gnr show (House of Blues 01-01-01) and a few shows from 2002 Tour (Tokyo, Osaka). The last show it was played was in Detroit, 2002.

U'd have to imagine its because of the "illegal" intro. why else?

Didn't stop them from putting it in Rock Band. They just deleted the intro.

Is it even deleted? I've played that song quite a few times in Rock Band and I've never noticed. And it came out a while before the lawsuit, didn't it?

[bacardimayne]

That's funny about Rhiad. Is it still just London and Belgium 2002 it's been played? I'm guessing it hasn't been played because it's fucking massively vocally demanding and far more suited to Axl's clean , high 2002 voice than his current old-skool voice.

Not really! They played it in the first new gnr show (House of Blues 01-01-01) and a few shows from 2002 Tour (Tokyo, Osaka). The last show it was played was in Detroit, 2002.

U'd have to imagine its because of the "illegal" intro. why else?

Didn't stop them from putting it in Rock Band. They just deleted the intro.

Is it even deleted? I've played that song quite a few times in Rock Band and I've never noticed. And it came out a while before the lawsuit, didn't it?

The synthy intro isn't in the multis, so it's obviously not in the Rock Band song.

EDIT: You're right, it did come out first. Still, they could just take out the intro and I'm sure no one would mind.

Edited June 14, 2010 by bacardimayne

[LightningBolt]

Oh, I wasn't saying for sure. What I meant by "I've never noticed" is that I have never cared about that part of the song enough to have noticed, but I do feel like I remember a few moments pause before the guitar kicks in.

[bacardimayne]

Oh, I wasn't saying for sure. What I meant by "I've never noticed" is that I have never cared about that part of the song enough to have noticed, but I do feel like I remember a few moments pause before the guitar kicks in.

It has that bass beat and early guitar riff that the demo has, but no synth and airplanes. That's the part under investigation right?

[Daedalus]

Q: On the Asian "warm-up" concerts in 2009 the setlists were longer and contained songs that were not played in Canada and South America. Why was that?

The Asian ticket prices were higher and we felt they deserved more songs (just kidding). I think we were trying a lot of the new songs out to see how they felt to play them in front of an audience and also to see the response. I think some of the newer songs will re-appear on the next legs.

I really hope they will

Q: Any concerts on the European leg that you look especially forward to?

Rome and Zagreb.

Cool. I'll see them in Zagreb

Q: Do you know if the European leg will be followed by more concerts somewhere else, or does this tour end in Europe?

This tour is far from over!

:thumbsup:

[Mango]

Q: Any concerts on the European leg that you look especially forward to?

Rome and Zagreb.

All hail 4tuss

[makkonen]

I recently wrote some songs with Michael Monroe for his new record. I also worked a lot on Dizzy's new record. I hope that comes out soon, there is a lot of really amazing stuff on it. Fantastic songs and his voice sounds great.

That´s nice to hear

[Rose Cooper]

FYI guys, the lead singer from Saivu has been a member here for many years now. Congrats Teddy!

Glad someone else pointed this out.

Anyone else remember the first 3 demos Teddy posted here years ago? To witness the path this album has taken over the years; is really amazing. From a set of 3 demos recorded for $500 bucks - to having a full length album. From listening to the demos over the years and seeing where the song originated and ended up today really brings a lot into the behind the scenes of making an album; something I'm grateful for being able to witness.

Mr. Teddy - Congrats man; I've said it before and I'll say it again - the charts are waiting for you!