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Appetite for Distortion - Ep 50: Rob Gardner, ORIGINAL GNR DRUMMER


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Nice! Awesome “get”. 

Tracii went on to other successes (though not GNR-level), and Ole (RIP) drown in a lake- possibly from being depressed about leaving GNR. Rob’s seemingly the guy in between those two extremes. Have always wanted to hear his perspective...

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I'm really excited about that interview! I hope that he will tell how it was to work with the band and share some stories about Ole (R.I.P).

I wonder what he thinks about the other GN'R eras.

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Where was the first time he heard Jungle? What was the first AFD song he heard? What did he think? Did he ever try to contact Ole again after GNR became successfull to talk about what if they hadn't left the band?:P This guy must be living one hell of a "what if.." life with a story like that! The question if he regrets leaving GNR..who doesn't want to be a legendary drummer in one of the biggest bands of history?..isn't the answer quite obvious? Really a wasted question IMHO. Even if he says no it'll just come across as 'yeah right' kinda thing. Also I wouldn't hold back calling him founding original member of GNR in the introduction:lol:

Edited by StrangerInThisTown
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Why did he leave ?

Did they work on any songs that ended up on the GNR albums ?

How aware was he of Slash/Adler and what were his thoughts when they joined ?

Did he notice much of a shift when Duff joined ? If so, in what way ?

How does he think the band and things generally would have been different if he remained a member ?

Did he go back to L A Guns and if so, what happened there ?

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i am very curious about what rob gardner has to say about everything he can remember about that time

but id say that the big question for anyone involved in that era would be "did you record and did you keep the music you produced in that era in any capacity?"

by all accounts axl and izzy were very hungry/driven on those days and based on that id say it would be fair to assume that they were playing and writing music "all the time"

i suppose they must have done a lot of writing with acoustic guitars at "home" (wherever "home" they had), and in other people's houses and wherever they happen to be

i also suppose that they must have done a lot of rehearsals with full equipment (guitars, drums, microphones etc) in studios or wherever they could play their instruments

i also suppose that they must have recorded these "sessions" to be able to remember the songs later

so id ask you this to Rob

did you guys record rehearsals and/or writing sessions, be it like with acoustic guitars or with full equipment in the studio?

did you guys record those live shows you did back when you were in the band?

who did that recording?

do you happen to have any recorded music from that era with you?

a lot of GNR fans consider that a piece of the "Guns n' Roses Holy Grail", would you consider sharing this music?

if you dont have any of that, do you know if anyone has it?

===

additionally, i would ask him

are there original songs that were written back then (or covers) that GNR never played again and were "forgotten"?

do you know anything about the song "Indiana Aint My Kinda Town"?

did you play "We're an American Band" with GNR?

 

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1 hour ago, DieselDaisy said:

Gardner was only in the band for about one month. 

He spent time with Axl, Izzy, Ole and Tracii for over two years (1983-1985). I'm sure that he could tell a lot about those guys.

Edited by Sosso
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18 minutes ago, Sosso said:

He spent time with Axl, Izzy, Ole and Tracii for over two years (1983-1985). I'm sure that he could tell a lot about those guys.

I'm not sure about that. Rose and Stradlin first worked with Gardner when they joined LA Guns circa October 1984, and they were only in LA Guns for a brief period (we only know of two played shows). Johnny Kreis was the drummer for the original Hollywood Rose and Adler was the drummer for New Hollywood Rose however Gardner was the drummer at the Hollywood Rose reunion.

Edited by DieselDaisy
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If he has any regrets, well... Too late.... But what was not supposed to be just wasn't and I hope this guy moved on from that and built his life without bitterness. It's going to be really interesting to know how he's doing so thank you @Gambit83 for this.

What I understood from what the real GNR said in the old days is that these guys who left the band were not responsible or really driven and hungry for success, therefore, they didn't give it all to be a part of it. That's how guys like Slash and Duff joined and the band continued with that lineup, because the five of them were in sync with what they wanted for their lives and also, they were the five right people who gelled perfectly for this phenomenon to happen.

 

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Great interview partner! Congratulations, this should be really interesting. 

I’d be curious to learn more of the music writing process, on the Axl/Izzy dynamics as well as Axl/Tracii and Izzy/Tracii. Also how close he was to GnR during all this time and what his take is on the reunion. If he is in contact with anybody from that time and what it’s like.

Also I would be interested how he coped with the dissapointment of not sticking to the band and become one of the lucky and succesfull ones. I really am interested how he dealt with that, if he is open to talk. What helped him to accept his life choices (leaving the band) and how he went on. Just because I am always interested in how people are coping with the challenges they have/had in life and what helped them, how they helped themselves. Depends on if he wants to share stuff like that.

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I posted this in the Alan Niven thread but I might as well post it here again! :)

"Rob Gardner, that's awesome! 

There's been some discussions about if Ole Beich actually played live with the band or if Duff joined the band prior to their first show on the 26th of March '85 but after the posters/flyers advertising the show were made, does Rob remember anything about this?

If Ole played, how come he only played one show and how did the bands sound change when Duff joined?

When was the last time Rob talked to any of the other band members?

Did he follow the bands carrier after he left?

Does he know if any recording, audio or video wise, exists of him playing with Guns N' Roses? :)"

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10 hours ago, Sosso said:

"Don't Cry Tonight, it's song Axl and just I learned a couple weeks ago..."

I'm going to include a clip of Izzy introducing the band. It's something else. Raz will have the whole 1986 KPRK radio interview on his website razcue.com.

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3 hours ago, Gambit83 said:

"Don't Cry Tonight, it's song Axl and just I learned a couple weeks ago..."

I'm going to include a clip of Izzy introducing the band. It's something else. Raz will have the whole 1986 KPRK radio interview on his website razcue.com.

Posted this as a comment to your Facebook post as well but if the interview includes Ole and Rob then it should be '85. If it's just Axl and Izzy then it gets a bit harder to know for sure unless any other members are mentioned. Don't Cry was played on Slash and Adlers first show in June of '85 so the quote about them "learning it a couple of weeks ago" should date the interview to '85 unless their definition of "a couple of weeks" is about a year! :lol:

Edited by youngswedishvinyl
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