Richard Fortus Interview with Celestion

[Guest]

https://celestion.com/blog/guns-n-roses-guitarist-richard-fortus-reflects-on-his-storied-career-and-celestion-speakers/

Not as much to do with GN'R as I would like but still, relevant parts to do with band below... Not a Poison fan it seems.

 

How did you get the gig with Guns N’ Roses?

I got called to audition. I was scheduled to be in L.A. anyway working on an album. So that lined up, they sent me some music, we went back and forth, but then as I was departing for L.A., I couldn’t reach them. I get to the album session, and Tommy Stinson and Josh Freese, who were in Guns N’ Roses at the time, were on it, too! They said, “Oh, you’re the guy from New York!”

What had happened was, Axl Rose had found the guitarist Buckethead and called off all auditions. Nonetheless, Tommy and I became very good friends. Cut to a couple of years later. I was on tour in Europe with Enrique Iglesias. Tommy called me and said, “Would you audition for Guns? We need somebody.” I had a break of two days in my schedule. After three shows at Royal Albert Hall, I flew straight to L.A., auditioned, listened to new material with Axl in his car all night, flew back to Ireland, and finished the Enrique tour. Right after, I started rehearsals with Guns.

As a guitarist, what is it like working with Slash?

Slash and Duff and I all come from similar musical backgrounds and have a lot of the same influences. We get along very well, and the funny thing is, I wasn’t that into Guns N’ Roses as a kid because I lumped them in with all the other ’80s hair metal. I supposed I realized they were more legit than bands like Poison, but they weren’t on my radar then. Once I got into the band, I realized how much we have in common.

[SlashisGOD]

There we go again, lumping Guns in with hair metal. 

[Draguns]

Interesting that he said as a kid he wasn't into GNR. He's in the same age range as Slash, Duff and Axl. Axl is 4 years older than Richard.  To me, that's an odd statement.  

[Guest]

If I saw them in that car listening to unreleased GN'R i would drive up with a fork lift truck, lift there car up and make my gettaway with the music

[Ugly_Kid_Jose]

enrique iglesias, the lucky guy married kournikova

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Ugly_Kid_Jose said:

enrique iglesias, the lucky guy married kournikova

Oh god I loved her in the 90's lol

[Spaghetti4twenty]

3 hours ago, Draguns said:

Interesting that he said as a kid he wasn't into GNR. He's in the same age range as Slash, Duff and Axl. Axl is 4 years older than Richard.  To me, that's an odd statement.  

They were in their early 20s when appetite was booming so I guess that would make him pretty much kid? 

[Sweersa]

2 hours ago, Shacklermyrye said:

If I saw them in that car listening to unreleased GN'R i would drive up with a fork lift truck, lift there car up and make my gettaway with the music

Years ago when I was listening to Atlas in my Explorer loudly in a mall parking lot, I was wondering what a hardcore fan would do. (This was before that song leaked)

[Tom2112]

4 hours ago, SlashisGOD said:

There we go again, lumping Guns in with hair metal. 

If he was out of the band I almost guarantee he would be less than flattering. 

I like the guy, but I also appreciate that gnr to him is a comfy gig that pays well so he is quite happy to toe the line.... But I don't think he would be listening to gnr if he wasn't being paid, and I still think if you were a trusted friend he'd tell you the same. Gnr aren't cool, and he likes all those cool/hip 80/90s bands. End of the day as long as he's pulling the gig off who cares! And he definitely is doing that, without question!

[Sweersa]

11 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

If he was out of the band I almost guarantee he would be less than flattering. 

I like the guy, but I also appreciate that gnr to him is a comfy gig that pays well so he is quite happy to toe the line.... But I don't think he would be listening to gnr if he wasn't being paid, and I still think if you were a trusted friend he'd tell you the same. Gnr aren't cool, and he likes all those cool/hip 80/90s bands. End of the day as long as he's pulling the gig off who cares! And he definitely is doing that, without question!

I agree. Richard is reliable, and loyal, like Frank, and both also are pretty good about keeping their mouths shut. Both of which are attributes Axl appreciates, rightfully so. 

There's money to be made, of course. Everyone is happy.

I wish they would have toured after Buckethead left and never had Bumblefoot, they rehearsed with two leads, Robin and Richard, that was back when they had Brain on drums, Tommy on bass, Dizzy and Chris, and of course Axl. One hell of a lineup. Sort of funny, as the eventual current lineup with Slash and Richard is comprised of two leads instead of three.  Probably would have sounded close to the pre-Bumble lineup after Bucketleft, though less sloppy as the band was technically superior to the current lineup, especially the drummer.

[Tom2112]

1 hour ago, Sweersa said:

I agree. Richard is reliable, and loyal, like Frank, and both also are pretty good about keeping their mouths shut. Both of which are attributes Axl appreciates, rightfully so. 

There's money to be made, of course. Everyone is happy.

I wish they would have toured after Buckethead left and never had Bumblefoot, they rehearsed with two leads, Robin and Richard, that was back when they had Brain on drums, Tommy on bass, Dizzy and Chris, and of course Axl. One hell of a lineup. Sort of funny, as the eventual current lineup with Slash and Richard is comprised of two leads instead of three.  Probably would have sounded close to the pre-Bumble lineup after Bucketleft, though less sloppy as the band was technically superior to the current lineup, especially the drummer.

I would be very interested to have heard that pre-bumble line up. All I will say is that Bumble really improved the song Chinese, and if that's the only reason why his time in the band was worth it, then so be it. I also think it was ultimately better having a guy like Bumble in the band as Richard/Robin would have not done justice to Buckets parts

[vloors]

7 hours ago, Draguns said:

Interesting that he said as a kid he wasn't into GNR. He's in the same age range as Slash, Duff and Axl. Axl is 4 years older than Richard.  To me, that's an odd statement.  

To me shows he isnt with GNR for the love or right reasons just for a pay check and couldnt cares less for the music.

He has mentioned many times the same thing that he wasnt a fan of the bands music.

Edited February 12, 2023 by vloors

[Rovim]

6 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

If he was out of the band I almost guarantee he would be less than flattering. 

I like the guy, but I also appreciate that gnr to him is a comfy gig that pays well so he is quite happy to toe the line.... But I don't think he would be listening to gnr if he wasn't being paid, and I still think if you were a trusted friend he'd tell you the same. Gnr aren't cool, and he likes all those cool/hip 80/90s bands. End of the day as long as he's pulling the gig off who cares! And he definitely is doing that, without question!

Richard is also really into classic hard rock, not just "hip" bands. He has a varied musical taste which you can tell just by the bands and projects he was involved with. Thin Lizzy for example. What he says in this interview fits with the work he has done outside of guns like the Dead Daisies, and he's obviously having the time of his life playing live with Slash. His mind was blown by a former Whitesnake guitar player when he auditioned for Guns, John Sykes.

they do share similar influences and even his reinterpretation of the slow version of the You're Crazy riff and how he talked about it in an interview shows he is clearly proud of it. The excitement on stage, especially playingwith Slash but also with Axl and Duff seems genuine and it is possible to like music that you had an uninformed opinion about in the past cause you didn't really think you'd like it, especially if you had to go deep into the material in order to play it. Albums like AFD can do that for a guitar player like Richard imo.

Edited February 12, 2023 by Rovim

[rumandraisin]

8 hours ago, Sweersa said:

I agree. Richard is reliable, and loyal, like Frank, and both also are pretty good about keeping their mouths shut. Both of which are attributes Axl appreciates, rightfully so. 

There's money to be made, of course. Everyone is happy.

I wish they would have toured after Buckethead left and never had Bumblefoot, they rehearsed with two leads, Robin and Richard, that was back when they had Brain on drums, Tommy on bass, Dizzy and Chris, and of course Axl. One hell of a lineup. Sort of funny, as the eventual current lineup with Slash and Richard is comprised of two leads instead of three.  Probably would have sounded close to the pre-Bumble lineup after Bucketleft, though less sloppy as the band was technically superior to the current lineup, especially the drummer.

I've often thought that. Bumble was unnecessary and his contributions to the album just cluttered it. I think that's pretty apparent as it seems the majority of fans lean towards the 2006 leaks of Better, Twat etc that came from 2003ish

[SoulMonster]

There are often little correlation between how big of fans they were and how well they have fitted with the band in various ways.

Richard was no fan (and was "vehemently opposed" to the scene from where GN'R originated), but is a great guy for the band live and possibly also in the studio.

Bumblefoot was a fan of the band, very good at playing the songs live, but most fans seem to not appreciate what he did in the studio (to be fair to Bumble, he didn't have much time to work on the parts that were recorded).

DJ was a big fan of the band, fans are divided on his live performance but seems to be somewhat optimistic about what he could have done for the band recording-wise.

Tommy was absolutely not a fan, but did a good job in the studio and a very good job live. 

Robin was likely not a big fan, did a dividing job live but mostly a great job in the studio.

Buckethead was...who knows, did a great job live and a marvelous job in the studio.

What seems to be the case for all of them is that regardless of what they felt about GN'R prior to joining, they really enjoyed the salary and they seem to have bought into the vision Axl had for the band (and some eventually left in disappointment when the vision did not come to fruition).

[jacdaniel]

Most of the Nu Guns line up used Guns as a paycheck and to promote themselves. Nothing wrong with that. 

And Axl was only using them to do his solo work and tour. 

Guns today seem to mainly tour for money. 

 

The band as a proper creative rock BAND died in 1991.

[SoulMonster]

2 hours ago, jacdaniel said:

The band as a proper creative rock BAND died in 1991.

Well, that depends on what you mean with "proper", but the lineup that worked from 1997 and onwards, with Robin, Paul, Chris, Tommy, etc, was clearly very productive and creative. Too bad we don't get to hear much of that music.

[Rovim]

10 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Well, that depends on what you mean with "proper", but the lineup that worked from 1997 and onwards, with Robin, Paul, Chris, Tommy, etc, was clearly very productive and creative. Too bad we don't get to hear much of that music.

maybe he meant a proper band as in more democratic, like it is in most bands when the lead singer doesn't have as much say in it like Axl did with new Gn'R, more close to how it was in the classic lineup. I think the band members in new Gn'R were very creative and productive, seems like two different things how much it was a band and how creative that entity was.

 

[janrichmond]

1 hour ago, SoulMonster said:

Well, that depends on what you mean with "proper", but the lineup that worked from 1997 and onwards, with Robin, Paul, Chris, Tommy, etc, was clearly very productive and creative. Too bad we don't get to hear much of that music.

Because they they weren't productive and creative?

[SoulMonster]

35 minutes ago, janrichmond said:

Because they they weren't productive and creative?

The locker leaks is evidence of them being both productive and creative. They just didn't get to release much, but that's really not their fault.

[jacdaniel]

2 hours ago, Rovim said:

maybe he meant a proper band as in more democratic, like it is in most bands when the lead singer doesn't have as much say in it like Axl did with new Gn'R, more close to how it was in the classic lineup. I think the band members in new Gn'R were very creative and productive, seems like two different things how much it was a band and how creative that entity was.

 

Yeah the democratic part is certainly a big part but also back in 91 all the members were extremely passionate about the band. 

We've had both Richard and Tommy basically saying they didn't really like Guns. 

And Bucket never spoke of his time in the band in nearly 2 decades. Clear it wasn't something he's overly fond of.

[EvanG]

22 hours ago, Draguns said:

Interesting that he said as a kid he wasn't into GNR. He's in the same age range as Slash, Duff and Axl. Axl is 4 years older than Richard.  To me, that's an odd statement.  

It’s not. He was 20 years old when AFD came out. He is 56 now. It’s normal for a person in his 50’s to refer to people in their 20’s as “kids”.

[Tom2112]

6 hours ago, jacdaniel said:

Most of the Nu Guns line up used Guns as a paycheck and to promote themselves. Nothing wrong with that. 

And Axl was only using them to do his solo work and tour. 

Guns today seem to mainly tour for money. 

 

The band as a proper creative rock BAND died in 1991.

Depends on what you consider proper. But the group that put together Chinese were very collaborative and basically worked in the same way the UYI albums were made where tracks were made and then sent to Axl.

In my opinion gnr died creatively once Chinese reached stores.

[mystery]

21 minutes ago, EvanG said:

It’s not. He was 20 years old when AFD came out. He is 56 now. It’s normal for a person in his 50’s to refer to people in their 20’s as “kids”.

Doesn't apply to everyone but people who age into their 40s-50s very much see their 20 something selves as a kid. I wouldn't be surpised if Axl, Slash or Duff cringe at some of the stuff they used to do in their 20s.

[DoMw94]

He probably wasn't a fan because he was dismissive of them without hearing them. Now he knows the music and has heard it coutless times, his viewpoint's probably different, regardless of his employment situation. He basically admits it was the image he thought of that he didn't like.

I've been similar with bands I'm a fan of now – I didn't like them because I thought I wouldn't. Then I actually heard them and became a fan.

It's that old saying, 'you don't know until you try it'. Let's face it, regardless of money (he'd make a fine living playing for everyone else if he wasn't in GN'R), if he didn't like the music, he wouldn't be there.