Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan sat down with Bass Player and revealed his bandmate Axl Rose was never there during the creative process.
The rocker talked about drinking before a recording session and if it ever affected his writing. “My drinking never got in the way of writing bass parts,” the bassist explained. “‘I was writing music with other drunks at the time! So we were all on the same playing field.”
The rocker mentioned similarities in drinking habits but highlighted creative differences when working with Axl Rose. “Axl was never a drunk, but he was never around for the writing of the music. He would come in once something was done. On ‘Appetite’ we didn’t have a PA in our rehearsal room, so he couldn’t sing stuff even if he wanted to. But Slash and I have been songwriting partners for the major part of my career,” he added.
Still, McKagan thinks Rose is a great band leader. He shared his bandmate’s work schedule in another interview. “He has a lot of levity, he takes it very seriously. He warms up for an hour and a half, warms down for an hour and a half. And we go on on time and we play forever.”
“If there’s a curfew at 11, we’ll hit that curfew, and so that means we’re gonna go on at 7:30 or else we don’t get to play all the songs. If we’re going on at 8:00, we’re playing less time, so he doesn’t wanna do that. I’ve enjoyed watching his triumph over the last eight years,” he added.
In other news, the rockers are trying to get into making a new album. The band hasn’t released a full album since 2008’s Chinese Democracy, but while talking about his most recent solo album ‘Orgy Of The Damned,’ Slash revealed that GNR was working on new music.
