GUNS N' ROSES Bassist: Thousands Of People Will Come See AXL Every Night Because He's AXL ROSE

January 11, 2012

Ben Westhoff of LA Weekly last month conducted an interview with GUNS N' ROSES bassist Tommy Stinson. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

LA Weekly: How has this [GUNS N' ROSES North American] tour been going?

Stinson: Pretty good. Compared to all our tours in the past 10-12 years, this one's gone pretty smoothly. I hate to say that because I don't want to jinx it, but we're near the end. I think everyone has a better mindset. The addition of DJ [Ashba, guitar] helps — him and Axl [Rose, vocals] have a pretty good relationship. All of us have pretty good relationships, actually. The shows tend not to be so bagged down with the baggage of the past. We don't give a shit, just go out and have fun and move on.

LA Weekly: What kind of baggage, specifically, are you referring to?

Stinson: There was always an underlying thing of trying to compete with the past. I never really felt that, I never gave a crap. I joined this band because it sounded like a good idea. Whether it was Axl [competing with] it or whatever, I don't think it's there anymore. It's not like we need to compete anymore. We've been a band now longer than they were the old band.

LA Weekly: What do you think drives Axl nowadays?

Stinson: I think he wants to go out and put on a good show and have a good time. It's what you're supposed to do in the first place. Trying to compete with the old band — fucking Slash, all that stuff — is extraneous. Thousands of people will come see him every night because he's Axl Rose.

LA Weekly: Do you ever get tired of trying to explain why Axl is the way he is?

Stinson: Yeah, because there's really nothing to explain. He's been doing the same thing his whole career. Going on late — what's new about that? It's sort of rote at this point. He does his thing, and he works really hard to put on a good show every night. He prepares a lot to be the best he can be, and I think that's commendable. This guy can still fucking wail.

Read the entire interview from LA Weekly.

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