Axl n Slash reaction to CANTER BANTER?

[alfa75]

Marc, just curious, given all the very inside info you've shared with us here, which in some cases might be perceived as betrayal of Axl and/or Slash's trust. Are you worried about what their reaction might be?

It seems like Axl is opposed to ANYONE talking about ANYTHING to do with Original Guns/Slash, and Slash too, might be seen as able to take exception to some of your comments.

While they may not follow it themselves, you'd think eventually your comments would get back to and or upset them?

[recklessroad]

Slash knows I do it but doesn't care and will never read it. Axl doesn't like anyone talking about the old band and as soon as I have anything good to say about Slash, it would most likely be seen as a betrayal. Axl thinks that I have betrayed him ever since he heard that Reckless Road was finally going to released. Also Beta thinks that I have said bad things about Axl. I almost understand that fact that my book is about the old band which shouldn't matter but as all of you know I have nothing bad to say about Axl or any of those guys. When Axl was in support of my book Steven was out of the band 4 years and there was a lot going on as far as lawsuits and lots of bad mouthing in the press by steven, yet Axl had no problem that Steven's photo was in every gig in the book. Also Izzy was out of the band for 3 years and had a few bad things to say too. As far as I was concerned it didn't matter who was still in the band or not or who had their differences. It was about sharing something that was very special to me that I put together for the fans.

Edited November 3, 2012 by recklessroad

[alfa75]

So essentially you are not worried about any perceived betrayal of Axl, as he already feels that way? Does that mean you will become a permanent addition to the "evil" list?

[ChristmasFnatic]

So essentially you are not worried about any perceived betrayal of Axl, as he already feels that way? Does that mean you will become a permanent addition to the "evil" list?

Dont worry, Marc is quite aware (and in Axl's own words): "cuz nothin lasts forever, and we both know hearts can change".

[recklessroad]

So essentially you are not worried about any perceived betrayal of Axl, as he already feels that way? Does that mean you will become a permanent addition to the "evil" list?

I don't think Axl thinks that i'm evil. I think he thinks that my head is clouded and that I can't see clear.

[ThinkAboutYou]

Hopefully you get back to being buddies again.

[Rovim]

So essentially you are not worried about any perceived betrayal of Axl, as he already feels that way? Does that mean you will become a permanent addition to the "evil" list?

I don't think Axl thinks that i'm evil. I think he thinks that my head is clouded and that I can't see clear.

Marc, I love reading your posts here, and I think you really do care about the fans, but to be perfectly honest, I think that if I was in Axl's shoes, and I told you not to publish the book, cause I was trying to move forward, even if I was doing it wrong, it's still my choice, cause it's my band, and even if you're free to do that, you were/is one of his closest friends. I think you should have not released it until Axl agreed to it, if only to protect your friendship, and his interests, cause that band is such a huge part of his life and he helped build it from nothing. You were right there so you know how huge it was for him and what it meant to build it again.

I would probably get flamed for it, but there it is. don't get me wrong: I love your book, and I really appreciate you coming here and sharing what you know.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Rovim

[recklessroad]

So essentially you are not worried about any perceived betrayal of Axl, as he already feels that way? Does that mean you will become a permanent addition to the "evil" list?

I don't think Axl thinks that i'm evil. I think he thinks that my head is clouded and that I can't see clear.

Marc, I love reading your posts here, and I think you really do care about the fans, but to be perfectly honest, I think that if I was in Axl's shoes, and I told you not to publish the book, cause I was trying to move forward, even if I was doing it wrong, it's still my choice, cause it's my band, and even if you're free to do that, you were/is one of his closest friends. I think you should have not released it until Axl agreed to it, if only to protect your friendship, and his interests, cause that band is such a huge part of his life and he helped build it from nothing. You were right there so you know how huge it was for him and what it meant to build it again.

I would probably get flamed for it, but there it is. don't get me wrong: I love your book, and I really appreciate you coming here and sharing what you know.

What kind of friend would want to hold you back from filling your dreams? I did the right thing and if I had to do it over again I would still do it. Its a shame things turned out the way they did, but there was nothing I could do about it. The only other way was to wait until a reunion or until I was dead and then my kids would have put it out. Why would I want to live my life a lie. What a waste that would have been. I was there and documented something very cool and holding that back would not be right. I'm very proud that fans got to see my work.

Edited November 4, 2012 by recklessroad

[Rovim]

So essentially you are not worried about any perceived betrayal of Axl, as he already feels that way? Does that mean you will become a permanent addition to the "evil" list?

I don't think Axl thinks that i'm evil. I think he thinks that my head is clouded and that I can't see clear.

Marc, I love reading your posts here, and I think you really do care about the fans, but to be perfectly honest, I think that if I was in Axl's shoes, and I told you not to publish the book, cause I was trying to move forward, even if I was doing it wrong, it's still my choice, cause it's my band, and even if you're free to do that, you were/is one of his closest friends. I think you should have not released it until Axl agreed to it, if only to protect your friendship, and his interests, cause that band is such a huge part of his life and he helped build it from nothing. You were right there so you know how huge it was for him and what it meant to build it again.

I would probably get flamed for it, but there it is. don't get me wrong: I love your book, and I really appreciate you coming here and sharing what you know.

What kind of friend would want to hold you back from filling your dreams? I did the right thing and if I had to do it over again I would still do it. Its a shame things turned out the way they did, but there was nothing I could do about it. The only other way was to wait until a reunion or until I was dead and then my kids would have put it out. Why would I want to live my life a lie. What a waste that would have been. I was there and documented something very cool and holding that back would not be right. I'm very proud that fans got to see my work.

Not putting out the book would have held you back, I agree, but by publishing it, maybe Axl thought you've damaged his chances of establishing a new identity for new Guns, making it even harder for the public to accept whatever he was trying to present to the world at the time.

As a fan, I understand your decision, but the truth is that without Guns, there wouldn't be a book, or as you say, a dream for you to fullfil.

Shouldn't the band come first? the actual life of the band, and protecting that seem more important to me then securing the legacy of it.

If the book came out years from now, or even never, I think the legacy would have held strong, but it seems that so many things are hindering the band's future, that fearing for it is not unreasonable on Axl's part imo.

I feel like a douche saying all those things but I don't blame you for putting it out. I just think it could have been handled better by both you and Axl.

[recklessroad]

So essentially you are not worried about any perceived betrayal of Axl, as he already feels that way? Does that mean you will become a permanent addition to the "evil" list?

I don't think Axl thinks that i'm evil. I think he thinks that my head is clouded and that I can't see clear.

Marc, I love reading your posts here, and I think you really do care about the fans, but to be perfectly honest, I think that if I was in Axl's shoes, and I told you not to publish the book, cause I was trying to move forward, even if I was doing it wrong, it's still my choice, cause it's my band, and even if you're free to do that, you were/is one of his closest friends. I think you should have not released it until Axl agreed to it, if only to protect your friendship, and his interests, cause that band is such a huge part of his life and he helped build it from nothing. You were right there so you know how huge it was for him and what it meant to build it again.

I would probably get flamed for it, but there it is. don't get me wrong: I love your book, and I really appreciate you coming here and sharing what you know.

What kind of friend would want to hold you back from filling your dreams? I did the right thing and if I had to do it over again I would still do it. Its a shame things turned out the way they did, but there was nothing I could do about it. The only other way was to wait until a reunion or until I was dead and then my kids would have put it out. Why would I want to live my life a lie. What a waste that would have been. I was there and documented something very cool and holding that back would not be right. I'm very proud that fans got to see my work.

Not putting out the book would have held you back, I agree, but by publishing it, maybe Axl thought you've damaged his chances of establishing a new identity for new Guns, making it even harder for the public to accept whatever he was trying to present to the world at the time.

As a fan, I understand your decision, but the truth is that without Guns, there wouldn't be a book, or as you say, a dream for you to fullfil.

Shouldn't the band come first? the actual life of the band, and protecting that seem more important to me then securing the legacy of it.

If the book came out years from now, or even never, I think the legacy would have held strong, but it seems that so many things are hindering the band's future, that fearing for it is not unreasonable on Axl's part imo.

I feel like a douche saying all those things but I don't blame you for putting it out. I just think it could have been handled better by both you and Axl.

As a fan, I understand your decision, but the truth is that without Guns, there wouldn't be a book, or as you say, a dream for you to fullfil.

Did you ever stop and think that maybe without Marc there would be no band? I was a stable friend that help the band stay afloat on the sunset strip.Axl's words in the AFD credits "Marc Canter without you?" With or with out the book there is nothing that can be done to stop the love that people have for the old band. Also 99% of the fans don't even know about the book. The new band can move on by putting out new music not by me not putting out my book. In 300 years from now AFD will still be selling well. Nothing to do with Reckless Road

[Rovim]

So essentially you are not worried about any perceived betrayal of Axl, as he already feels that way? Does that mean you will become a permanent addition to the "evil" list?

I don't think Axl thinks that i'm evil. I think he thinks that my head is clouded and that I can't see clear.

Marc, I love reading your posts here, and I think you really do care about the fans, but to be perfectly honest, I think that if I was in Axl's shoes, and I told you not to publish the book, cause I was trying to move forward, even if I was doing it wrong, it's still my choice, cause it's my band, and even if you're free to do that, you were/is one of his closest friends. I think you should have not released it until Axl agreed to it, if only to protect your friendship, and his interests, cause that band is such a huge part of his life and he helped build it from nothing. You were right there so you know how huge it was for him and what it meant to build it again.

I would probably get flamed for it, but there it is. don't get me wrong: I love your book, and I really appreciate you coming here and sharing what you know.

What kind of friend would want to hold you back from filling your dreams? I did the right thing and if I had to do it over again I would still do it. Its a shame things turned out the way they did, but there was nothing I could do about it. The only other way was to wait until a reunion or until I was dead and then my kids would have put it out. Why would I want to live my life a lie. What a waste that would have been. I was there and documented something very cool and holding that back would not be right. I'm very proud that fans got to see my work.

Not putting out the book would have held you back, I agree, but by publishing it, maybe Axl thought you've damaged his chances of establishing a new identity for new Guns, making it even harder for the public to accept whatever he was trying to present to the world at the time.

As a fan, I understand your decision, but the truth is that without Guns, there wouldn't be a book, or as you say, a dream for you to fullfil.

Shouldn't the band come first? the actual life of the band, and protecting that seem more important to me then securing the legacy of it.

If the book came out years from now, or even never, I think the legacy would have held strong, but it seems that so many things are hindering the band's future, that fearing for it is not unreasonable on Axl's part imo.

I feel like a douche saying all those things but I don't blame you for putting it out. I just think it could have been handled better by both you and Axl.

As a fan, I understand your decision, but the truth is that without Guns, there wouldn't be a book, or as you say, a dream for you to fullfil.

Did you ever stop and think that maybe without Marc there would be no band? I was a stable friend that help the band stay afloat on the sunset strip.Axl's words in the AFD credits "Marc Canter without you?" With or with out the book there is nothing that can be done to stop the love that people have for the old band. Also 99% of the fans don't even know about the book. The new band can move on by putting out new music not by me not putting out my book. In 300 years from now AFD will still be selling well. Nothing to do with Reckless Road

Actually, I did stop and think about it. I know you did a lot for the band. I thank you for that.

If most fans don't even know about the book, then I guess you did it more for yourself. You obviously don't see anything wrong with putting it out, and even if it didn't damage what Axl was trying to do, maybe he needed more time to see that. how can you know that your only other choice was to wait for a reunion or never release it at all?

Who knows? maybe if you've waited a few years, this whole thing could have been avoided...Axl seems more laid back and has somewhat calmed down....in a way. You paid an unfortunate price with what I believe are pure intentions.

I just don't think it was your only choice. I think you could have tried to reason with Axl, after a few years maybe.

I won't talk about this subject anymore, cause I don't want to give you the wrong impression, I think you're a very important individual in the Gn'R world, and not a word of what I said was in anyway meant to offend you.

[DownUnderScott]

Hey Rovim - show a bit of decency dude, and some respect. Marc was there, he helped the band immensely. The book is fantastic and in my opinion in no way has been detrimental to Axl's desire to forge a new identity for GnR.

Promoting Chinese Democracy (even just a little bit) when it was released, proper band photos of the current line-up, interviews and ultimately making new music with the new line-up is much more important than worrying about Marc's book. If anything Reckless Road is a great advertisement for an incredible band.

Marc put so much hard work into that book, and he deserves to get the satisfaction out of all those years of blood, sweat and tears.

[Free Bird]

Why should Reckless Road demaged Axl's chances of establishing a new identity for new guns? That book has got nothing to do with the current band. And it doesn't effect the past. All it does is telling the story of the emergence of one of the greatest bands of all time. By the time of its release, it wasn't the case that people had forgotten about the original GNR, so why should it effect anything?

[alfa75]

With all due respect, I think it's ludicrous to ask Marc to hold off with Reckless Road. He waited more than a reasonable amount of time. Axl's had 15+ years to establish an identity for NuGuns or to erase that of Old, depending on how you look at it, something that only, possibly could ever have happened with a significant body of new music and semi-stable lineup (which he now does seem to have).

It took the AFD crew one year post release to establish an identity.

It would be unfair to ask Marc to tippy toe around Axl until he was ready to give RR his blessing, a day which may never come.

"It's a miracle how long we can stay, in a world our mind's created, in a world that's full of shit"

[recklessroad]

I think the biggest problem is that the book also promotes Slash and that alone is a buzz Kill for Axl. I didn't mean to go off in my last post but, there was nothing wrong with me putting out the book when I did, I was lucky to find someone to help me get it out after 12 years of waiting. I shouldn't have to answer to anyone including people in the band. I'm sorry that Axl didn't see it as something good but everyone else that has seen it loves it. Even through it wouldn't be his first choice to put it out, I really thought he would have been ok with it knowing how much it meant to me.

[ThinkAboutYou]

I'm glad you stuck to your guns Marc and released it

[recklessroad]

I'm glad you stuck to your guns Marc and released it

I didn't really stick to my guns. I signed a deal to put the book because I found a deal when I wasn't even looking for one and then 6 months latter after the publisher put in $660.00 to make the book is when I found out Axl wanted me to hold it back. I was under a contract and couldn't hold it back anyways. I was able to stall it a bit but as you know the CD still didn't come out for another year and a few months.

[trqster]

Marc, for all the true fans of 'real' GnR including myself your book was truly an unexpected blessing!

It really portraits beautifully what GnR was all about and what you've witnessed in first person also undenyingly having contributed so much at your own personal effort for the band to be as successful as it turned out to be.

My gratitude for that and also for your still ongoing contributions to this community. It also pleases me a lot to see that you're still such as cool and down to earth guy after all these years. All the best to you and your family Marc.

Alex from Portugal

[recklessroad]

Also i'm not at war with Axl, I love him and always will. I know he loves me too. He is the one that thinks that I have choose to do bad things so he is the one that is choosing to stop seeing or talking to me. I hope maybe someday that will change. There is nothing that I can do to change that. It's just a matter of him someday seeing what I did was not wrong. And if there was something he wanted me to add or take out of the book, I would have done if he had looked at one of the latter drafts of the book. The truth is I would have even changed a few things that ended up in the book had I had the chance to.

[classicrawker]

Your book is the most amazing document of an up and comming band ever published IMHO, and I have a ton of music related books, so I for one am glad you followed through with it...I can't tell you hwo many times I have read the book and look at it often.....and hopefully the fences between Axl and Slash will be mended someday and will allow you to do the box set of your audio and video tapes from the early years you mentioned in the past as that is my GnR holy grail..

That being said you have always been very unbiased when discussing Axl or Slash and it is a shame that Axl has chosen to cut you out at this point...hopefully he will wake up someday and realize you wish him no ill will and are just being honest, are not taking sides, and care deeply for both your friends....

Edited November 4, 2012 by classicrawker

[Kickingthehabit]

A friendly reminder to all: this section is intended to be a respectful Q&A with Marc. It is not intended for members to run amok, poke, prod or otherwise antagonize. No one here is a prosecuting attorney. If you feel the need to apologize for sounding like a "douche", you shouldn't be making the post. Please remember to not overstep your boundaries.