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GILBY CLARKE: ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA 'Wasn't Good Enough'

February 19, 2012

Metal Sickness conducted an interview with former GUNS N' ROSES and ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA guitarist Gilby Clarke prior to his February 11 solo concert at L'Empreinte, Savigny Le Temple, France. You can now watch the chat below.

When asked about the status of ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA, the reality television-formed supergroup he launched with Tommy Lee (MÖTLEY CRÜE),Jason Newsted (VOIVOD, ex-METALLICA) and Canadian vocalist Lukas Rossi, Gilby said, "When we did the TV show ['Rock Star: Supernova'], for us, it was really about the band. Myself, Tommy and Jason, we were really excited about getting the band together. The TV show was just a way for us to look around and find a singer. Even for guys like us, you can't just go, 'Oh, let's find a singer.' All the good singers are in bands and they're busy. So we thought that we would try and look throughout the world to find [a singer] and the TV show came along. So we were happy. I thought Lukas did a great job on the record, when we picked him from the show. After the show, we did do a tour — we did a full U.S. tour, went down to Australia and everything — but it was really clear that it wasn't good enough. It happened so fast that I don't think that we really had time to develop a band sound — like, play together. It's really hard when you have three guys that are successful to get together and just start a new band like it's in the garage — it's impossible. And I think that, because of that, it was something that wasn't going to last. Because, after doing the shows, I didn't wanna do it anymore. I didn't like Lukas' commitment, and Tommy was still in MÖTLEY CRÜE, he was still DJing and everything. To me, I gave up everything to do that band, and I wanted to see the same from everybody else."

ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA lost Newsted in October 2006 after an accident that resulted in a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and bicep tear in the right (bassist Johnny Colt of BLACK CROWES/TRAIN filled in during the aforementioned trek). Newsted suffered the injuries while trying to catch a 90-pound bass head that had fallen from atop his amp. The combination of surgery and a lengthy rehab assignment left him sidelined for up to nine months.

ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA's seflt-titled album failed to break into the Top 100 of the Billboard album chart after its November 2006 release. The CD was certified gold in January 2007 for Canadian sales in excess of 50,000 copies.

The video for the ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA song "Headspin" — about Rossi's rocky relationship with his mother — can be seen below. The track is an original RISE ELECTRIC (Lukas' pre-SUPERNOVA band) song that Rossi wrote with guitarist Dominic Cifarelli and performed on the "Rock Star: Supernova" TV show when the contestants were asked to sing one of their originals.

Interview:

ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA - "Headspin" video:

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