New Matt Sorum 2018 Interview on LA News Show

[RONIN]

8 hours ago, PatrickS77 said:

You should check your facts. They were constantly working with him here and there after VR fizzled out.

This is as per Arlett Vereecke, former publicist for GnR and VR.

 

[RONIN]

12 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

I seem to recall that there was some residual conflict between Slosh and Sorum following the former's infamous drunken road trip to Rose's house escapade.

We've only gotten bits and pieces of that story but it sounds to me like that very nearly broke up the band. What the heck was going in 2005/2006? Did we almost get a GnR reunion? 

Edited January 29, 2018 by RONIN

[DieselDaisy]

14 minutes ago, RONIN said:

We've only gotten bits and pieces of that story but it sounds to me like that very nearly broke up the band. What the heck was going in 2005/2006? Did we almost get a GnR reunion? 

Slosh was in the ''dog house''!!

Quote

"In October of 2005, [...] not appearing to be under the influence, [...] Slash made an unannounced 5:30 AM visit to Axl Rose's house." (Howard Weitzman, press release, 03/06/06)

Quote

"I did go by his house but I was drunk - Perla wasn't and she was driving. I walked up the door and delivered a note that said something like 'Let's work this out. Call me. - Slash.' But I didn't give it to Axl, I gave it to his assistant." (Slash, Autobiography)

Quote

"I was the one whom Slash spoke with when he came to Axl's house in 2005 and expressed his negative comments regarding the others in his new band." (Beta Lebeis, 05/09/07)

Quote

"Slash came to inform Axl that: 'Duff was spineless,' 'Scott was a fraud,' that he 'hates Matt Sorum' and that in this ongoing war, contest or whatever anyone wants to call it that Slash has waged against Axl for the better part of 20 years, that Axl has proven himself 'the stronger.'" (Howard Weitzman, press release, 03/06/06)

Word got back and there was a big confrontational band meeting. 

Slash was really angling for a rapprochement with Rose mid '00. According to Adler he refused to get onstage (he was in the crowd) at the Appetite 20th anniversary at the Key Club with Izzy, Duff and Adler for fearing of it worsening his relationship with Rose.

Edited January 29, 2018 by DieselDaisy

[Modano09]

4 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

Slosh was in the ''dog house''!!

Word got back and there was a big confrontational band meeting. 

Slash was really angling for a rapprochement with Rose mid '00. According to Adler he refused to get onstage (he was in the crowd) at the Appetite 20th anniversary at the Key Club with Izzy, Duff and Adler for fearing of it worsening his relationship with Rose.

Axl and Slash come off like a couple who broke up and both wanted to be together but couldn't just say that and make it happen. 

[RONIN]

1 hour ago, DieselDaisy said:

Slosh was in the ''dog house''!!

Word got back and there was a big confrontational band meeting. 

Slash was really angling for a rapprochement with Rose mid '00.

Quote

According to Adler he refused to get onstage (he was in the crowd) at the Appetite 20th anniversary at the Key Club with Izzy, Duff and Adler for fearing of it worsening his relationship with Rose.

Ahh - right, I vaguely remember reading this here back in the day. 

One wonders what exactly was happening to Velvet Revolver during the making of Libertad to set these events in motion. Even Arlett sort of hints that post-Contraband, the internal affairs of that band were a mess especially in relation to Scott, Sorum and their management. Maybe the writing was already on the wall and Slash was instigated by his pushy ex-wife Perla to get back into GnR. Wasn't there news around that time that Slash was really pissed w/ Scott's letter to Axl where he called him a fat botoxed has-been?

I'd also be curious to know what Axl's angle was there and why he chose to throw Slash under the bus publicly. He lost his star guitarist Buckethead - Slash basically offered himself up on a silver platter. Axl's sort of hinted in those old Chinese Democracy interviews that reunion talks may have been on the table around this time. Something must have kiboshed those initial plans - and if we go by Canter's recent interview, it very well may have been people in Axl's circle. God there are so many questions with this band and no answers anywhere in sight -- all we can do is piece together rumors. 

Now that the corporate entity is back together, expect even less dirt to be revealed about this era. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by RONIN

[DieselDaisy]

Weiland's ''fat, botox-faced, wig-wearin'' comment was a direct response to Slash's drunken escapade. Slash managed to persuade them and win them over in this tumultuous meeting: he admitted that he had indeed gone up thereto Rose's house but had not bad mouthed any of them, the implication being that Rose/Beta were blatantly lying. Weiland then produced this,

Quote

 

"Get in the ring. Go to the gym, motherfucker, or if you prefer, get a new wig, motherfucker. I think I'll resist the urge to 'stoop' to your level. Oh shit, here it comes, you fat, botox-faced, wig-wearin' fuck! O.K., I feel better now.

"Don’t think for a second we don't know where those words came from. Your unoriginal, uncreative little mind — the same mind that had to rely on its bandmates to write melodies and lyrics. Who's the fraud now, bitch?

"Damn, I couldn't imagine people writing for me. How many albums have you put out, man, and how long did it take the current configuration of this so-called 'band' to make this album? How long? And without the only guys that validated the name.

"How dare you! Shame on you! How dare you call our bass player 'spineless?' We toured our album over a year and a half. How many shows have you played over the last ten years? Oh, that's right — you bailed out on your long-awaited comeback tour, leaving your remaining fans feeling, shall we say, a trifle miffed?! I won't even list what I've accomplished because I don't need to. What we're talking about here is a frightened little man who once thought he was king, but unfortunately this king without his court is nothing but a memory of the asshole he once was."

 

 

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/scott-weiland-says-axl-rose-is-a-fat-botox-faced-wig-wearin-f-ck/

The irony of ironies was that Weiland and Slash would soon have a massive falling out which basically spelled the end for Velvet Revolver.

Incidentally, I'm not sure if this was before or after the incident between Slash and Beta but irrespective, it couldn't have helped the relationship between the two bands haha,

 

Edited January 29, 2018 by DieselDaisy

[killuridols]

1 hour ago, RONIN said:

Wasn't there news around that time that Slash was really pissed w/ Scott's letter to Axl where he called him a fat botoxed has-been?

Slash talked about the whole thing in his biography book. Yes, he was pissed off at Scott for writting that letter. Slash thought no one else but him had the right to tell anything about Axl because he was the only one who knew Axl very well.

[DieselDaisy]

Do you believe Slash got caught lying, had to lie again to his bandmates, then had to follow through with the lie when Weiland wrote that letter, expressing mock outrage haha?

 

[Top-Hatted One]

1 hour ago, RONIN said:

Ahh - right, I vaguely remember reading this here back in the day. 

One wonders what exactly was happening to Velvet Revolver during the making of Libertad to set these events in motion. Even Arlett sort of hints that post-Contraband, the internal affairs of that band were a mess especially in relation to Scott, Sorum and their management. Maybe the writing was already on the wall and Slash was instigated by his pushy ex-wife Perla to get back into GnR. Wasn't there news around that time that Slash was really pissed w/ Scott's letter to Axl where he called him a fat botoxed has-been?

I'd also be curious to know what Axl's angle was there and why he chose to throw Slash under the bus publicly. He lost his star guitarist Buckethead - Slash basically offered himself up on a silver platter. Axl's sort of hinted in those old Chinese Democracy interviews that reunion talks may have been on the table around this time. Something must have kiboshed those initial plans - and if we go by Canter's recent interview, it very well may have been people in Axl's circle. God there are so many questions with this band and no answers anywhere in sight -- all we can do is piece together rumors. 

Now that the corporate entity is back together, expect even less dirt to be revealed about this era. 

PERLA stood in the way and Axl wanted nothing to do with her

[Top-Hatted One]

lol Perla probably wanted to strangle Scott for sharing that open letter

[RONIN]

18 hours ago, killuridols said:

Slash talked about the whole thing in his biography book. Yes, he was pissed off at Scott for writting that letter. Slash thought no one else but him had the right to tell anything about Axl because he was the only one who knew Axl very well.

Sounds plausible. Another reason he may have been pissed could be Scott throwing a wrench into Slash's plans to get back into GnR. 

18 hours ago, Top-Hatted One said:

lol Perla probably wanted to strangle Scott for sharing that open letter

She must be kicking herself for divorcing Slash before the reunion. 

 

[RONIN]

19 hours ago, DieselDaisy said:

Weiland's ''fat, botox-faced, wig-wearin'' comment was a direct response to Slash's drunken escapade. Slash managed to persuade them and win them over in this tumultuous meeting: he admitted that he had indeed gone up thereto Rose's house but had not bad mouthed any of them, the implication being that Rose/Beta were blatantly lying. Weiland then produced this,

 

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/scott-weiland-says-axl-rose-is-a-fat-botox-faced-wig-wearin-f-ck/

The irony of ironies was that Weiland and Slash would soon have a massive falling out which basically spelled the end for Velvet Revolver.

Incidentally, I'm not sure if this was before or after the incident between Slash and Beta but irrespective, it couldn't have helped the relationship between the two bands haha,

 

Ahh - that's right, you've refreshed my memory now. Yeesh - Weiland's response is cringeworthy. My initial impression back then was that Slash's silence after Axl's press release meant that Beta was probably accurate in what she said and Slash had thrown his own bff Duff under the bus...allegedly .

I remember that picture. Funny - Matt looks like a wanker (as you brits would say) even with a mask. The pic is probably before the Slash/Beta incident near Contraband's release iirc. 

The question is - whose version of events are more credible? Beta or Slash? 

Edited January 30, 2018 by RONIN

[Blackstar]

At the time of Scott Weiland's open letter, Slash was still in full denial/"I don't know what they're talking about" mode about the visit - Scott was apparently the only one who believed him at that point, as Duff had issued a neutral statement in which he didn't defend Slash. Slash admitted later that he went to Axl's house, drunk, but only to hand a note regarding their legal disputes (he admitted that in public only after Beta clarified that it was her Slash had talked with and not Axl).

For one thing, Scott's online rant is indicative of the shit talking about Axl that was going on among Slash, Duff and Matt . It's obvious that some of the things Scott wrote in it he had heard from them; he implied it himself in an interview he gave after the VR falling out.

But it's also true that Slash didn't like that Scott wrote those things about Axl. I think it was something like "it's my/our thing, you don't have the right to interfere" and in the end, a couple of days later I think, the letter was taken down from the VR website. Slash said something similar in his book about Stump, the biker guy from the St. Louis show: they had an encounter when Slash played in St. Louis with Snakepit, Stump started saying things Axl and Slash (says that) he told him he had not right to talk like that.

On 1/28/2018 at 3:25 PM, PatrickS77 said:

You should check your facts. They were constantly working with him here and there after VR fizzled out.

Playing a gig with him here and there is one thing, and wanting to be in a band with him again is another.

Edited January 30, 2018 by Blackstar

[Blackstar]

Duff's statement:

 

[RONIN]

12 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

At the time of Scott Weiland's open letter, Slash was still in full denial/"I don't know what they're talking about" mode about the visit - Scott was apparently the only one who believed him at that point, as Duff had issued a neutral statement in which he didn't defend Slash. Slash admitted later that he went to Axl's house, drunk, but only to hand a note regarding their legal disputes (he admitted that in public only after Beta clarified that it was her Slash had talked with and not Axl).

Yeah - I vaguely recall reading Duff's statement and thinking "Huh...he didn't deny Axl's press release or even defend Slash? What the heck?? ". I suspect Slash was probably blindsided by that press release - if he really said any of those things to Beta, he probably thought there would be enough mutual respect between him and Axl that those details wouldn't have been revealed publicly like that. It does appear that Axl took a preemptive strike to break VR by doing that. But I'm still baffled by that entire situation...

Nu Guns in 2005 was in sorry shape after the exit of Buckethead. Slash has come to your door hat in hand. AND - this is post-Contraband when Slash has rejuvenated his career and is in a position of strength. Why humiliate him like that? To what end? Was Axl toying with reuniting the band post-Bucket exit? If so, who put an end to those plans?

Why was Slash even there? I don't for one minute believe Slash's version of events - especially if he was with Perla (someone who aggressively pushed for a reunion). 

Why would Slash allegedly say all these bad things about his bandmates when they were on top of the rock world post-Contraband? Were the band dynamics that troubled during the Libertad sessions that he would have rather been in GnR?

 

Taking a wild guess here - it almost seems like perhaps the Libertad sessions were going badly and Slash was getting fed up with the management and Scott/Matt's behavior. Maybe in that moment of weakness and with Perla constantly bugging him about rejoining GnR he just decided on a lark to drive over to Axl's house and work things out. And the whole thing blew up in his face publicly and his bandmates felt betrayed by him. Who knows. 

 

Quote

For one thing, Scott's online rant is indicative of the shit talking about Axl that was going on among Slash, Duff and Matt . It's obvious that some of the things Scott said in it he had heard from them.

Ha - nice one! Yeah, you're right. Probably coming mostly from Matt I imagine. I can't believe they let Scott release that statement, what were they thinking? So embarrassing. I facepalmed reading it.

 

 

[DieselDaisy]

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

At the time of Scott Weiland's open letter, Slash was still in full denial/"I don't know what they're talking about" mode about the visit -

I just remembered that. Slash basically lied regardless as he did this massive u-turn from, ''the entire thing didn't happen'', to, ''I did go to his house''. Understand this was played out in very public interviews!!

PS

For the life of me I cannot find them but there were two statements I believe denying the entire thing.

Edited January 30, 2018 by DieselDaisy

[Blackstar]

12 minutes ago, RONIN said:

Yeah - I vaguely recall reading Duff's statement and thinking "Huh...he didn't deny Axl's press release or even defend Slash? What the heck?? ". I suspect Slash was probably blindsided by that press release - if he really said any of those things to Beta, he probably thought there would be enough mutual respect between him and Axl that those details wouldn't have been revealed publicly like that. It does appear that Axl took a preemptive strike to break VR by doing that. But I'm still baffled by that entire situation...

Nu Guns in 2005 was in sorry shape after the exit of Buckethead. Slash has come to your door hat in hand. AND - this is post-Contraband when Slash has rejuvenated his career and is in a position of strength. Why humiliate him like that? To what end? Was Axl toying with reuniting the band post-Bucket exit? If so, who put an end to those plans?

Why was Slash even there? I don't for one minute believe Slash's version of events - especially if he was with Perla (someone who aggressively pushed for a reunion). 

Why would Slash allegedly say all these bad things about his bandmates when they were on top of the rock world post-Contraband? Were the band dynamics that troubled during the Libertad sessions that he would have rather been in GnR?

 

Taking a wild guess here - it almost seems like perhaps the Libertad sessions were going badly and Slash was getting fed up with the management and Scott/Matt's behavior. Maybe in that moment of weakness and with Perla constantly bugging him about rejoining GnR he just decided on a lark to drive over to Axl's house and work things out. And the whole thing blew up in his face publicly and his bandmates felt betrayed by him. Who knows. 

Yeah, it's my guess too that Slash wasn't happy with VR at that point. I'm also under the impression that he never really liked Scott -he wasn't the kind of singer Slash likes (in an interview in 2004 he said he had never listened to STP or cared for them - a little later the same interview was reprinted for a special issue on VR and that part was omitted); he went with him just because he wanted to do something relevant and successful. And then, when things started going south, he thought that he had put himself in a situation with an egocentric singer again who wasn't even Axl.

I think Slash -also prompted by Perla- was trying to reach out to Axl, probably not aiming to a reunion at that moment, but to be in speaking terms with him again with the prospect to work something out in the future. Why he said -if he did- those things to Beta about his VR band mates? I think it was just the booze talking; he said things he wouldn't have said if he was sober.

As for Axl, maybe the idea of a reunion wasn't completely out of the question at that point, and specifically in the time frame between Slash's visit and the press release. At the time of the press release though he was setting out to go on tour again and it seems, based on what he told Eddie Trunk two months later, that he believed CD would be released in that year. I think the press release was just rebuttal for Slash/Duff's new lawsuit against him, because Slash had supposedly gone to his house to settle the old lawsuit and then he filed a new one, so to Axl that was confirmation that Slash's "olive branch" was hypocritical and he didn't mean what he said.

[RONIN]

4 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Yeah, it's my guess too that Slash wasn't happy with VR at that point. I'm also under the impression that he never really liked Scott -he wasn't the kind of singer Slash likes (in an interview in 2004 he said he had never listened to STP or cared for them - a little later the same interview was reprinted for a special issue on VR and that part was omitted); he went with him just because he wanted to do something relevant and successful. And then, when things started going south, he thought that he had put himself in a situation with an egocentric singer again who wasn't even Axl.

I think Slash -also prompted by Perla- was trying to reach out to Axl, probably not aiming to a reunion at that moment, but to be in speaking terms with him again with the prospect to work something out in the future. Why he said -if he did- those things to Beta about his VR band mates? I think it was just the booze talking; he said things he wouldn't have said if he was sober.

As for Axl, maybe the idea of a reunion wasn't completely out of the question at that point, and specifically in the time frame between Slash's visit and the press release. At the time of the press release though he was setting out to go on tour again and it seems, based on what he told Eddie Trunk two months later, that he believed CD would be released in that year. I think the press release was just rebuttal for Slash/Duff's new lawsuit against him, because Slash had supposedly gone to his house to settle the old lawsuit and then he filed a new one, so to Axl that was confirmation that Slash's "olive branch" was hypocritical and he didn't mean what he said.

Ugh.  Reading that is like reading the interviews from 1996. Another missed opportunity. So Slash filed a new lawsuit before Axl's press release? A bizarre turn of events - wonder what he was thinking there. 

Going with your Axl theory and assuming Slash had not filed a new lawsuit - if he released the album in November 2006 as intended and went on a tour to support it into 2007 - then conceivably the GnR reunion is slated for 2008. So "in theory", Axl was already toying with ending Nu Guns after Chinese Democracy's release. Agree/disagree?

[DieselDaisy]

I cannot find Slash's first statements but this blabbermouth acknowledges them: ''Slash has admitted that he visited GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose's house in 2005, despite previous claims to the contrary.''

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/slash-admits-he-visited-axl-rose-s-house-in/

If anyone finds them it is the most blatant example of Slash lying ever haha. 

[Blackstar]

4 minutes ago, RONIN said:

Ugh.  Reading that is like reading the interviews from 1996. Another missed opportunity. So Slash filed a new lawsuit before Axl's press release? A bizarre turn of events - wonder what he was thinking there. 

Yeah, the specifics of the new lawsuit were referred to in the press release itself:

http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/articles/showarticle.php?articleid=150

8 minutes ago, RONIN said:

Going with your Axl theory and assuming Slash had not filed a new lawsuit - if he released the album in November 2006 as intended and went on a tour to support it into 2007 - then conceivably the GnR reunion is slated for 2008. So "in theory", Axl was already toying with ending Nu Guns after Chinese Democracy's release. Agree/disagree?

I think it's plausible.

Another question - I coincidentally discussed it in another thread yesterday- and something that maybe supports this theory, is why Axl hired Azoff as his manager in 2008. The obvious answer is that Azoff was a very competent manager with many connections. But he was also previously the manager of VR; moreover, he was known in the industry as a "reunions manager", as he had managed to reunite The Eagles (and Van Halen too, I think).

[RONIN]

37 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

I cannot find Slash's first statements but this blabbermouth acknowledges them: ''Slash has admitted that he visited GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose's house in 2005, despite previous claims to the contrary.''

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/slash-admits-he-visited-axl-rose-s-house-in/

If anyone finds them it is the most blatant example of Slash lying ever haha. 

I remember reading his first denial on this forum - it's more than likely in the forum archive somewhere. 

32 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

I think it's plausible.

Another question - I coincidentally discussed it in another thread yesterday- and something that maybe supports this theory, is why Axl hired Azoff as his manager in 2008. The obvious answer is that Azoff was a very competent manager with many connections. But he was also previously the manager of VR; moreover, he was known in the industry as a "reunions manager", as he had managed to reunite The Eagles (and Van Halen too, I think).

Interesting point - hadn't considered that. Only potential issue there is the rumors during that time of Axl's frustration that Azoff was more interested in a reunion than properly promoting Chinese Democracy (which was an accurate assessment from Axl). Merck left at the end of '06 right? And Azoff took over Interscope's "troubled" asset shortly thereafter in '07. Did Axl change his mind about a reunion shortly after Azoff gets onboard?

Seems to me like whatever went down in '05/06 made Axl remove the reunion option off the table and he decided to soldier on with the band. But Interscope and Azoff wanted to end nu-guns and get the reunion going which explains the way CD was dumped onto the marketplace w/ the Best Buy deal. In the 2008 interviews Axl is not holding back - he's blasting Slash with a degree of anger that wasn't there previously (even in that press release from '06). Clearly something had changed in the interim. What went down with the Axl/Slash camps between the hiring of Azoff and the release of Chinese Democracy? 

I feel like we're missing a piece of the puzzle here. It appears we were on the cusp of a reunion 10 years ago. As you said, why would Axl hire Azoff, given his reputation as a "reunions manager" , and then get annoyed when Azoff starts doing his thing? If Axl had decided to continue Nu Guns in 2008, why did he bury his own decade-in-the-making album by not promoting it upon release and then decide to tour an entire year later (!) after the album had vanished off the charts. So he intentionally tanked the commercial prospects of his album/career to get back at Interscope and publicly destroyed reunion hopes by blasting Slash and Azoff? So all avenues forward are torched essentially. What was the next step forward for Axl/Nu Guns after letting Interscope twist in the wind with Chinese Democracy? Ask them to release and promote Chinese Democracy 2? I mean the mind boggles when trying to understand Axl's choices here.  

Edited January 30, 2018 by RONIN

[DieselDaisy]

37 minutes ago, RONIN said:

I remember reading his first denial on this forum - it's more than likely in the forum archive somewhere. 

You're the Guns N' Roses nerd. Fancy a bit of investigative research?

[RONIN]

8 minutes ago, DieselDaisy said:

You're the Guns N' Roses nerd. Fancy a bit of investigative research?

You're thinking of @Blackstar. She's the neutral GnR historian.

My main role here is to annoy her (and others) by playing devil's advocate and/or bring up Axl's Illusion rider if applicable. 

[shotsfired cro]

On 28. 01. 2018. at 3:03 PM, RONIN said:

This is as per Arlett Vereecke, former publicist for GnR and VR.

 

from 40 minute mark, when she talks about Matt, did anyone understand that part about '...jumping Slash fence'??  what was that about?

[DieselDaisy]

 Vereecke incidentally sued Slash for errant money in 2005,

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/slash-sued-by-former-publicist/

She blames Perla.