Frank Ferrer has discussed the drumming styles of his fellow Guns N’ Roses drummers Steven Adler and Matt Sorum, explaining how he tried to blend their approaches in his own playing, speaking on Drum For The Song.
Ferrer addressed a question about how the three drummers compare, noting that each brought a different feel to the band across different eras. He explained his goal was to find a middle ground between their distinct styles while maintaining his own identity.
“I’ve been asked this question before,” Ferrer said. “I tried really hard to be somewhere in the middle, because both drummers… Guns N’ Roses are eras of Guns N’ Roses. So you had the Adler era, you had the Sorum era, and then you had the Brain [Bryan Mantia] era.”
“The Brain era was kind of set in stone more, because it was cut to a click and the drumming was more proggy, a little more proggy than what Adler and Sorum did. And then Adler’s off-the-rails feeling on that first record that makes you wanna get up and throw something against a wall, that feeling, and then Sorum’s nice, steady foundational feeling.”
“So I was trying to be somewhere in the middle. I don’t know if I accomplished it a lot of times, but I wanted that funky, punk rocky, edgy this-is-about-to-fall apart feeling, but also keeping, the foundational thing.”
Ferrer pointed to one song as his best example of achieving this balance. “I think the best song that I was really able to accomplish that in was ‘You Could Be Mine’,” he said. “Because, from what I understand, they were playing it with Adler, and then they recorded it with Sorum. And I think that song signifies the best version of both, where you have the [loose vibe], but then you have the steady thing at the same time. I loved trying to conquer that, because that first [Guns N’ Roses album, 1987’s ‘Appetite For Destruction’]… I mean, Adler’s going — he’s going off, bro.”
He elaborated on what made each drummer’s work distinctive. “That record is slamming. It’s so punk. And then Sorum comes in and makes it — like, ‘Locomotive’ is slamming. The drumming on that is ridiculous — just real steady, funky, mean attitude.”
Ferrer made these comments while discussing his approach to drumming with Guns N’ Roses. The remarks highlight how different eras of the band had different musical identities.
Ferrer left Guns N’ Roses in March 2025 after serving as the band’s longest-serving drummer. He had joined the band in June 2006 as a temporary fill-in and remained with the group for 19 years, contributing drums to five tracks on the 2008 album Chinese Democracy and appearing on the live portion of 2022’s Hard Skool EP.
The split was described as amicable by the band. In a statement, Guns N’ Roses said, “The band thanks Frank for his friendship, creativity, and sturdy presence over the past 19 years, and they wish him success in the next chapter of his musical journey.” Ferrer’s last appearance with the band took place at Mexico’s Hell & Heaven Metal Fest in November 2023.
Steven Adler served as the band’s original drummer before being replaced by Matt Sorum in 1990, a change that shifted the band’s drumming approach. Bryan Mantia, known as Brain, became Guns N’ Roses drummer in 2000 and was eventually replaced by Ferrer. Each drummer brought distinct qualities to the classic rock band during their respective tenures.
