Ashba says Axl didn't do anything with his demos

[Blackstar]

In a new interview (Eddie Trunk via Blabbemouth) he confirms that it didn't go further than him sending demos to Axl and implies that Axl was probably not interested in most of them. He also repeats the claim that Axl wanted him to be part of the reunion:

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In a new interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", DJ Ashba once again spoke about his decision to leave Guns N' Roses more than six years ago. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm a huge GN'R fan. The only reason I joined the band is because I grew up on the music, I have a ton of respect for the guys who wrote the music.

"[Singer] Axl [Rose] called me and said, 'Hey, I just wanna give you a heads up, Slash is coming back, but I want you to be a part of this,'" Ashba claimed. "Which was a really cool phone call to get. And at the time, I was going through a lot of different things with Sixx:A.M. too; Sixx:A.M. wanted to really pick up the pace and go nuts.

"For three and a half years, I played — 85 [or] 90 percent of my parts [with Guns N' Roses] were the Slash parts. So I didn't feel I had the brain capacity to relearn — 'cause at this point, it's muscle memory — to relearn a three-and-a-half-hour show differently than I'd been playing for the last six, seven years, it's gonna take some work. Plus I was, like, if Slash is coming back, man, this is his gig. I can happily step out. Because it's kind of the best of both worlds — I can go be in the band I helped create with [Nikki] Sixx and [James] Michael and go back to what I'm really good at doing, and that's Sixx:A.M.

"I've never been great at playing other people's stuff; it's never been my thing," Ashba added. "But if Slash was coming back, that was like the best of both worlds. It's, like, fuck, we get most of the band back, and I can go do what I wanna do too. So it worked out great. I backed out — bowed out, I should say — and I think Richard [Fortus] was the guy for that slot anyway. That was more the Richard role, I think. He fits that way better than I would have."

When DJ was asked if he ever attempted to work on new music with Axl during his time with Guns N' Roses, Ashba said: "Yeah, I attempted. By nature, I'm a songwriter/producer, so, of course, I'm gonna keep writing. And I wrote probably eight to ten songs with Guns in mind, but a lot of 'em were too 'Appetite [For Destruction]' sounding. To me, as a fan, I'm, like, that's what I'd wanna hear. And so I was, like, 'I wanna write something that sounds like it came right off of 'Appetite'.' I think they hit a little too close to home, but there was a couple where he absolutely… He was, like, 'This song is dope.' For whatever reason — we were touring a lot — we never got a chance to get him in the studio or whatever. But they didn't go anywhere further than just me sending him some tracks and him going, 'Ah, this one's dope,' 'This one's cool.' Sebastian [Bach], though, heard one of them — I played [it for him] — and to this day, even when we were together last week, he's, like, 'I want that fucking song. That song is insane.'"

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/dj-ashba-why-i-bowed-out-of-guns-n-roses/

 

[Stay.Of.Execution]

Good.

[SoulMonster]

Respect to DJ.

[StrangerInThisTown]

Respect to Axl for not doing anything with DJs demos

[Lies They Tell]

To be honest, I'd like to hear the song that both Axl and Bach thought was really cool. I assume Axl still has the rights to that song? So I guess in theory it could be one of those songs that this current band has been working on.

[drlaban]

22 minutes ago, Lies They Tell said:

To be honest, I'd like to hear the song that both Axl and Bach thought was really cool. I assume Axl still has the rights to that song? So I guess in theory it could be one of those songs that this current band has been working on.

I assume it’s 100% Ashba rights. 

[Lies They Tell]

2 minutes ago, drlaban said:

I assume it’s 100% Ashba rights. 

Why hasn't he given the song to Bach then? Why hasn't he used it himself? Kinda dumb to just talk about how cool the song is, if you're not going to use it. Unless of course it's in Axl's vault, which would explain why he hasn't done anything with the song.

[Stress Fracture]

So Ashba was Axl’s first choice over Richard for NITL. Pitman was given the chance of staying on too.

Things could have been so much worse.

[El Guapo]

Ashba praising Ashba. Nothing to see here.

[rumandraisin]

Thank god.

[Blackstar]

1 hour ago, Stress Fracture said:

So Ashba was Axl’s first choice over Richard for NITL. Pitman was given the chance of staying on too.

Things could have been so much worse.

When Fernando was asked the last time he was on here, he seemed to rather mock the notion that DJ Ashba was ever considered for the reunion, so I don't know what to believe about it:

 

[Seb91]

I'm glad Ashba wasn't part of the reunion. If there was going to be another guitarist then I'd have much rather have had Bumble stay but he was out at that point anyway. I think the reunion lineup has shown that Fortus' chops are much better than Ashba's (something his tour with Thin Lizzy in 2011 also showcased) and I'm sort of baffled why he wasn't made the second lead guy in 2009, with Ashba mainly handling rhythm. It always struck me that Ashba was mainly brought in for his writing chops, considering the success of his work with Crue/Sixx AM. I think he could have written a radio friendly hit song for Guns. 

It's interesting re the rights to demos. I wonder if there are any barriers to Tommy releasing Going Down on a solo record. I guess there's nothing stopping him playing it live if he wanted to. The fact that Ron said (if I remember correctly anyway) that some of the songs on Little Brother is Watching were originally Guns ideas implies they can do what they want with them. Having said that, there's a difference between an idea you just have and a demo that's submitted to Axl.  

Edited January 6, 2022 by BassistSeb

[Dean]

3 hours ago, Stress Fracture said:

So Ashba was Axl’s first choice over Richard for NITL. Pitman was given the chance of staying on too.

Things could have been so much worse.

I'd assume that Axl would have wanted 3 guitarists as I doubt he'd have kicked Richard to the curb for DJ. Ability speaking, of course. Pitman was IN the band until he got on the drink and went on Twitter rambling about everything about the band and affectionately calling the forum 'Dildoes'.

[CubanSkies Dummy]

So, Ashba has a great gem in his hands (even Bach and Rose praise that tune). But well, that's life. 

 

I would prefer Bumblefoot to Richard.

And I certainly prefer Pitman to that girl.

[Coma16]

"For whatever reason" when asked about Axl not making it into the studio for 7 years 

[rocknroll41]

"I've never been great at playing other people's stuff; it's never been my thing,"
 

[rumandraisin]

2 hours ago, CubanSkies Dummy said:

So, Ashba has a great gem in his hands (even Bach and Rose praise that tune). But well, that's life. 

 

I would prefer Bumblefoot to Richard.

And I certainly prefer Pitman to that girl.

I liked Pitman, he was just so... Pitman. 

[MaskingApathy]

7 hours ago, Stress Fracture said:

So Ashba was Axl’s first choice over Richard for NITL. Pitman was given the chance of staying on too.

Things could have been so much worse.

Can you imagine? Would've been even more of a joke than what we ended up getting.

Although I will say that I feel bad for him that Sixx A.M. never ended up doing what he thought they would do, that must've been really disappointing. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by MaskingApathy

[ShadowOfTheWave]

7 hours ago, Stress Fracture said:

So Ashba was Axl’s first choice over Richard for NITL. Pitman was given the chance of staying on too.

Things could have been so much worse.

Pitman would have been a million times better than Melissa, he has actually co-written good GNR tracks.

[Jw224]

I very much doubt Axl actually wanted him to stay on, seems like he was just letting him know tbh. I've also always been under the impression that Axl wasn't impressed with most of what was handed over and this confirms it. Was the same with Bumblefoot it seems.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Jw224

[Blackstar]

4 hours ago, BassistSeb said:

It always struck me that Ashba was mainly brought in for his writing chops, considering the success of his work with Crue/Sixx AM. I think he could have written a radio friendly hit song for Guns. 

My guess is that the reasons Ashba was brought in didn't have so much to do with either his writing ability or his guitar chops. I think he was chosen because he was a relatively known name and had an image that could be appealing to a younger audience, so that he could be a "star" in the touring band. The fact that he's from Indiana may have had something to do as well; Axl seems to feel a bond with people who are from there.

4 hours ago, BassistSeb said:

It's interesting re the rights to demos. I wonder if there are any barriers to Tommy releasing Going Down on a solo record. I guess there's nothing stopping him playing it live if he wanted to. The fact that Ron said (if I remember correctly anyway) that some of the songs on Little Brother is Watching were originally Guns ideas implies they can do what they want with them.

Tommy said he wished he could take Going Down back, so he doesn't own the rights to it.

4 hours ago, BassistSeb said:

Having said that, there's a difference between an idea you just have and a demo that's submitted to Axl.  

Yes, that's it.

[The Matinator]

Yeah the reason Tommy can’t get Going Down back is probably because it was written & recorded on Guns time. I highly Doubt DJ or Ron have any songs like that because I highly doubt any new songs were written/recorded since they joined the band, especially not any written by them.

[ZoSoRose]

I don’t believe him but even if that call happened, DJ still looks stupid with that over dramatic letter then

[mystery]

I'm imagining Axl running over the demos with his car in the driveway like he did in the 90s when some when some record exec gave him CDs to listen to. Think it might have been for possible producers.

[Original]

What a nightmare that woulda been having Ashba a part of the reunion.