MATT SORUM: 'I Haven't Really Got The Energy To Go And Try And Create A Band'

The AU Review recently conducted an interview with drummer Matt Sorum (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER, KINGS OF CHAOS). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On KINGS OF CHAOS, the touring project featuring former GUNS N' ROSES members Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke and Duff McKagan. along with former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach, DEF LEPPARD's Joe Elliott, Glenn Hughes from BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION and DEEP PURPLE, and COLLECTIVE SOUL's Ed Roland:

Sorum: "I'm at that stage of my career where I haven't really got the energy to go and try and create a band. I mean how many bands do I have in my back pocket? I'd rather just get a bunch of great guys together that everybody knows and go and play a bunch of shows to 60,000 people, like whoa. Even VELVET REVOLVER, it took us 18 months to build that up, and we we're on the road like 20-year-old kids. So my thing was, number one I don't really want to go on the road for 18 months anymore, which will basically kill you unless you're doing hard drugs and I don't do hard drugs anymore and I don't drink anymore and the rest of it's just kind of boring. So I'd rather go and do great festivals and do two- or three-week tours, go out and just have a blast and then go home and then think about the next thing. This idea that I came up with, this is like a release for all the other guys because it's fresh for them, even though we'll be playing all our hits, it's all with all our friends and the buddies that we've met through years and years of rock n roll."

On the difficulties supergroups and conflicting schedules can create:

Sorum: "Well, you know, everyone's always so busy so it can be hard with everyone all over the place. But you know, It's weird I talk to Glenn all the time and Steven Tyler and Billy Idol, you know and it's kind of strange, it's surreal you know, even now sometimes I sit back and go to myself, shit, Steven Tyler just texted me, that's just bizarre. Or, like, Iggy Pop called me the other day and I was like, this is fucking weird, Iggy's like a friend, you know, and it's really great, I'm really blessed. I look at it, like I'm a kid that grew up listening to and wanting to play rock n roll and now I'm in this community of all these great musicians. So I said, well, fuck it, why don't I take advantage of that and put a band together and go play?"

On his upcoming solo album:

Sorum: "My album is very kind of scaled down. I play acoustic on it and I play piano on a couple of songs, and there's orchestration. The closest comparison I would say is that is a cross between WILCO and THE DOORS. I'm the kind of guy that likes to do a lot of different styles of music. I'm a musician and a fan of great music and to me there are two types of music, there's good music and there's bad music."

On his his philanthropy:

Sorum: "I'm really a lot more spiritual now, whereas I was more rock and roll spiritual before. I'm just in a place where I'm thinking more about the planet and I'm a lot more open to world problems. I'm doing a few charity projects, with The Cove, and Animals Asia with moon bears up in China. I'm really into animal activism now. You know, the planet is really on my mind and the ocean and Mother Nature and all that stuff. I wrote a song called 'Land Of The Stone', and I think people will love the lyrics; they're pretty heavy. Then the Land Of The Pure started in Pakistan with Malala, but there's 350 million women in the world that aren't getting access to education; it's really bad and it needs to be addressed and people need to know about it. I mean, so many of the guys like John Lennon got their message out through music and they're my kinds of influences."

Read the entire interview at The AU Review.