Q&A Discussion with Guns N' Roses Manager Fernando

[soon]

"Something" is the new "Soon." No more, no less

[cremefraiche]

There was a definitive answer as to new music coming out, which has plagued the minds of much of the community, as well as a definitive yes they will be touring in the years to come still. That's more clarity for what the future holds than we've had in a long time, I am grateful for that at least.

I get that he didn't answer ALL of the questions with a straight answer, but it seems like the ones he did answer are being overlooked or straight ignored which is a little unfair.

[Propaganda]

Can I post a constructive critic here? Please don't take this the wrong way.

I wasn't here for the "chat" but I think you guys should work on your questions, and focus on other things.

I can't believe there's so many people making questions about a Bootleg from 93 that we already got, or a boxset that will answer all of our questions on the 29th June. Who cares?!? We got that already! The bootleg is out there, the Box will be out within a month...We will get everything answered by itself.

Fernando suggested to clarify about being accused of leaking CD and stuff like that... That's the melting pot...Let the man speak about that! Let the man speak about what's unreleased. What's to come. See if he can estimate a time frame as well for future releases. 

My two cents.

[F*ck Fear]

Thanks for the wonderful Q&A! Everything I've been curious about regading GN'R has been answered!

More tour dates!!

I'm so excited!!

I love that after 10 years there's a NEW single! Fucking awesome!

[ludurigan]

8 hours ago, downzy said:

I'm not saying that some of your questions aren't interesting, but let's get real, you're not going to get answers to these questions.  Your third question isn't really even a question and more you stating your opinion.

For those paying attention, most of the responses from Fernando have been fairly casual in tone and only speak to what he can reasonably say.  If you're expecting deep analytical responses from the current GNR manager at this time and place, you're going to be disappointed. 

My advice would be to keep questions limited to topics that Fernando can likely touch upon.  

i agree 100% with your analysis about my questions i dont expect any of them to be answered

you have no idea how much i refrained myself from doing other questions -- i wrote quite a few of them and then just deleted them because i have a lot of respect for this board

finally I disagree with your analysis "most of the responses from Fernando have been fairly casual in tone and only speak to what he can reasonably say" but i will keep my opinion about "the responses from Fernando" to myself this time

[CAFC Nick]

Takes balls to come here and talk considering he gets absolutely slated so fair play Fernando.

[uzi your illusion]

Agree with all the points above about limiting the scope of the questions. We know he won't be able/willing to answer the biggest questions on everyone's mind about new music and inter-band workings, and so fourth, so let's go for lower hanging fruit.

He seemed excited about new merch.

 

Soooooooooo,

@Fernando  You brought up the lithos before, I love them and have collected over 20 myself. The idea has been tossed around here about having a coffee table book with all the lithos compiled. Some info about each gig, the print number, artist info, etc on each page. It would be the ultimate companion piece for us litho collectors after the tour officially wraps up. Do you have a favorite litho so far? And do you think this is something worth exploring?

[Litti]

My broad take on this: Fernando knows nothing, and if he does he's not allowed to give a REAL answer, so what good is he?

[EvanG]

Why did my question get deleted? It was a fair question.

[Ratam]

2 hours ago, soon said:

"Something" is the new "Soon." No more, no less

"Something" is the "word"

[AxlSlashthebest]

sorry for this stupid question but I'l French and my English, as you guess, is not perfect !! does this answered means : yes you will have new music ???

 is there any plans to release new music in the future? I don't mean remastered songs like 'Shadow Of Your Love' or 'Crash Diet' or any other old demo we've been listening to for years... will songs like Atlas Shrugged or The General ever be released? Is there a plan to re-write Chinese-era songs with Slash and Duff? Are they writing anything new from scratch?

I know you can't give specifics but it'd be nice to know if 'something' is in the works. 

something.

[Litti]

1 minute ago, AxlSlashthebest said:

sorry for this stupid question but I'l French and my English, as you guess, is not perfect !! does this answered means : yes you will have new music ???

 is there any plans to release new music in the future? I don't mean remastered songs like 'Shadow Of Your Love' or 'Crash Diet' or any other old demo we've been listening to for years... will songs like Atlas Shrugged or The General ever be released? Is there a plan to re-write Chinese-era songs with Slash and Duff? Are they writing anything new from scratch?

I know you can't give specifics but it'd be nice to know if 'something' is in the works. 

something.

We knew this already, years ago they said they have 2/ 3 albums worth of new music

[Gackt]

3 minutes ago, AxlSlashthebest said:

sorry for this stupid question but I'l French and my English, as you guess, is not perfect !! does this answered means : yes you will have new music ???

Considering the fact Fernando considers SOTL a "new" single, no.  Anyone who thinks newly recorded music with the band was confirmed is a fool.  

This is a fashion, posters and trucks band now.  

Edited May 19, 2018 by Gackt

[double talkin jive mfkr]

i personally think axl was writing most of his answers 

[Kittiara]

Hiya @Fernando!

Argh, was doing a show last night so I missed all this. But thank you very much for stopping by and shedding some light on things!

I am probably way too late, but just in case you stop by again...

* As you are in charge of the fashion designs, would it please be possible to have some more ladies' shirts with designs that don't involve skulls, blood, robots etc? I am not dissing them, and I am sure a lot of people like them, but I have also discussed this with some other female Guns fans and it would be cool to have some different designs to choose from. And also a choice between a deeper neckline and a regular neckline, as preferences for this differ. If you need some ideas, hit me up.

* I understand that no extra European dates will be added for this year, but if you are touring for several more years, could you please consider Manchester in the UK/ the north of the UK again? We love you guys up here.

* What are you most looking forward to on the upcoming tour?

 

[default_]

So, to summarize: 

We r still clueless about GNR. What a bunch of idiots we are. 

Nobody fn cares for your clothes and trucks, you can just slip em to your ***.

Edited May 19, 2018 by default_

[Tucknroll]

I get not pissing him off cause it's the only direct line to axl we have but people acting like he hung the moon because he took an hour or so to address our " clueless little world"  is annoying . His message was basically was I'm not telling anything but buy our merch

[downzy]

I get the frustration, but let’s check some of the rudeness to someone who doesn’t need to be here.  I’ll post more on this later but some of the posts are a clear example of why the online community can’t have nice things. 

[RageKage]

6 minutes ago, default_ said:

So, to summarize: 

We r still clueless about GNR. What a bunch of idiots we are. 

Nobody fn cares for your clothes and trucks, you can just slip em to your ***.

A little spoiled, are we?

[vloors]

Theres alot of keyboard warriors and whingers on here. Be grateful.

I dont see managers or band members ever bothering to chat to any fans be it official or unofficial boards. 

Some people on here I have never seen say anything positive. Makes me wonder if you are even fans of the band or just fans of complaining or ruining things for everyone else. 

[ZoSoRose]

34 minutes ago, Tucknroll said:

I get not pissing him off cause it's the only direct line to axl we have but people acting like he hung the moon because he took an hour or so to address our " clueless little world"  is annoying . His message was basically was I'm not telling anything but buy our merch

I agree. Sorry, I am not trying to be disrespectful but why bother coming here? Especially after calling us out in public. He doesnt like what strangers say in the internet about one of the most famous bands of all time? Boo hoo, differing opinions (yes, that includes complaining) are what make this place decent. Are some comments out of line? Sure. This is also a website with 100s of users active in a given year. That is a lot of people. 

I am grateful for NITL. I have repeatedly heaped praise at Axl and the band's direction. That includes 2006-2014 when Slash wasnt in the band. That doesnt mean I cant bitch and moan sometimes on an internet board. This stuff doesn't affect my "real life", but hey, this site is about GNR and Ive been here for 10 years so I'll complain when I want. Likewise, I'll express happiness towards the band when I see fit. 

 

Edit- I obviously have zero issue with Fernando posting. That's great, hope to see more. I guess I just didnt like the blanket statement regarding fans via twitter

Edited May 19, 2018 by ZoSoRose

[username]

4 hours ago, lukigol said:

yuup, actually he didnt answer for any question. Sounds like corpo-shit-language that means nothing

Asking Fernando questions is a lot like playing tennis with a brick wall. 

Edited May 19, 2018 by username

[Tom-Ass]

18 minutes ago, downzy said:

I get the frustration, but let’s check some of the rudeness to someone who doesn’t need to be here.  I’ll post more on this later but some of the posts are a clear example of why the online community can’t have nice things. 

seriously.... The dude just stopped in and started communicating with the fans.  I am sure it was partially damage control but he didn't need to do it.  I honestly don't think this thread helps either. It makes it look like there was an official Q&A.. If ithere was then maybe I could see why some people may have been a bit disappointed that he didn't share anymore news, information or whatever than he did.. But it wasn't an official Q&A... 

[Nicklord]

12 minutes ago, vloors said:

Theres alot of keyboard warriors and whingers on here. Be grateful.

I dont see managers or band members ever bothering to chat to any fans be it official or unofficial boards. 

Some people on here I have never seen say anything positive. Makes me wonder if you are even fans of the band or just fans of complaining or ruining things for everyone else. 

Grateful on what exactly? He literally didn't say anything we didn't know and he got questioned about it. He came only cause someone close to him told him to cause he wrote those disgraceful things on twitter

Edited May 19, 2018 by Nicklord

[downzy]

1 hour ago, tremolo said:

This whole thing reminds me of a comment I read here a few years ago: the gnr/fans relationship and dynamics are just like those of an abusive co-dependant relationship.

It’s silly how all it takes is for Fernando to post once here for most fans here to get on their best behaviour... maybe this time if I don’t make him upset he won’t beat me up with the mop handle and will tell me he still loves me... and all he does is not answer any questions and everybody is thankful and appreciates him dropping by.

The only things that are clear so far:

- Things are not ok between Fernando (or TB, or Axl, or GNR) and Marc Canter.

- More tour dates coming.

- Fernando considers SOYL a brand new single... which it is, a brand new single that is actually a song that’s 30 years old and that we all had already listened to. And he says that SOYL was all restored from the original tapes, no overdubs, no re-recording parts, etc. That’s like saying GNR just had a brand new release of HOURS of music (refering to the afd box). Semantics... right?

- Management has a strong focus on selling stuff that is not music: merch, mostly t-shirts, lithos (some of which are pretty cool), and toy trucks.

And that’s it, I think.

I guess you missed this:

7 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

He has told us the tour will continue for years, that more dates will be announced for 2018 (already happened), but not in Europe, that he is sure new music will be released at some time, that they have no immediate plans about boxsets for UYIs or CD, that the 2016 Troubadour set will not be released, that the Shadow of Your Love single was based on original tapes (or something to that effect), that he is not Marc Canter's hugest fan, that he felt it like a burden off his chest when Axl asked for Slash's telephone number, that he loves Izzy dearly, and -- to those of us who always struggled with understanding the role of a manager vs a band -- that it is the band who calls the shots in regards to new music and lineups and not him, and, hey! aren't the lithos great?

As for the remainder of your post that seems to summarize some of the sentiment around here:

Quote

What Fernando doesn’t seem to get is that we’re all fans of the band here and we fucking love Axl and gnr (in different ways, from different eras, etc), and that despite the fact we all hope/expect different things, at the end of the day we do care a lot about gnr.

Fernando gets that we're all fans.  He said so himself when he said the diehards are the first to show up and the last to leave.  He also knows that diehard fans are the ones who attend the most shows, spend the most money while at shows, and are most likely to push the band when new product gets released.  If you want to say that GNR hasn't done as good of a job at reaching out to diehards the last few years, well, that's likely a fair assessment.  But having spoken to him personally about this, he and the rest of the band are not unaware that diehard fans, for the most part, are the biggest fans of the band and simply want more.

Quote

And yeah, we all here talk based on pretty much nothing but assumptions that we make based on nothing but conclusions we draw from past experience and the behaviour of the band. We have NO real information, we are not insiders, so all we can do is speculate what sort of makes sense to us and talk about it here among peers. So i don’t really get what he expects given the circumstances... should we just not comment on anything if we don’t have confirmed official information? Should we be more like the forum next door and reduce ourselves to a handful of yes-men that won’t dare voice an unpopular opinion that might upset someone in the gnr camp? We all get it: we are not entitled to anything and we should just appreciate what we can get, but that’s not the way it works. Is expecting new music from a music band such a crazy thing 10 years after their latest release? Apparently we are a bunch of ungrateful demanding fans who just can’t have enough.

The issue isn't commenting, but a small few who speak with such certainty despite the fact they know nothing.  It's one thing to speculate and comment (I do it all the time, or at least I use to before some of my comments were taken out of context and published at various online trash news sites); to state one's beliefs and opinions.  It's another to suggest that one's opinion is also fact.  Now, I personally think GNR and its representatives would be better off to just ignore those people since they don't represent the entire online fan community.  But at at least he manned up and came here to further explain himself rather than just hide behind his twitter account.  

I've had this discussion with GNR management several times so I feel like I'm good footing to make things clear on this issue.  They don't care about people being critical of them, the band, and so on.  What they object to is how sometimes criticism transforms into angry vitriol that isn't worth a response.  It's the ugliness that bothers them.  You're welcome to believe whatever you want, but some of the name calling and outright scorn sent their way from what should be the band's biggest supporters is difficult to explain.  I'll be the first one to admit that Fernando's tweets the other day help to fuel that sentiment, but I think credit is due for the fact that he spent time on an unofficial fan forum to try to clarify the matter and explain himself fully.  

At this point with GNR, why would anyone expect anything.  It seems like some haven't been paying attention to how this band has operated for the past 25 plus years.  This is who they are and have been for quite some time.  Is it ideal for fans?  No.  I've long said that GNR is a difficult band to be engaged with as a fan when compared to many other bands.  But at this point, you've either got to accept it or move on.  Nobody is calling anyone ungrateful.  What's being asked is to accept who the key players are in this band (Axl, Slash, Duff), the history of the band, how it's operated for decades, and accept what it is.  Railing against GNR for not being like other bands at this point is kind of absurd.  It is what it is.

Quote

The biggest responsibility for misinformation falls on the band and their management for their lack of communication. We are fans, we follow the band, we go to shows, we pay for tickets, we buy merch, we try to introduce people to gnr... expect us to wonder and speculate and guess and draw conclusion given the lack of information. It’s like they expect unquestioned devotion just because.

And back to the community: a lot of fans here seem satisfied with Fernando dropping by and clearing up things. Now we finally know those GNR tour toy trucks will be available for purchase! I know the important questions have not been answered, but that should never lead to misinformation, shame on us if we dare speculate and come to the wrong conclusions.

Again, no one is taking issue with fans wondering and speculating as to what is going on.  Fine to draw your own conclusions as well, so long as you don't assume them to be absolutely facts.  Essentially, perhaps not take this entire endeavour so seriously.