MATT SORUM On His Time With GUNS N' ROSES: 'I Look Back' On It 'With A Lot Of Pride'

During an appearance on the January 12 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Matt Sorum reflected on his time as the drummer for GUNS N' ROSES. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I said this 10 years ago, I said something to the effect of, it's like watching somebody else's movie. I was there, but I look at it and I'm, like, it's a bit of a dream — it's like a dream sequence. And I've said this a couple times, and it's come out in the press, that gave me legs for the rest of my career, that band. The amount of time I was in it, which was up until '96, but still, that moniker lives with me, and it's given me a level of cache that's taken me around the world doing other things, if that makes sense. And the credibility it gives me as a musician with other musicians, because it's such a rock and roll moniker. It's just such a strong stamp of approval, if you will. But, obviously, I got in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with 'em [in 2012], and I appreciated that nod. A lot of times in those situations with the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, you have to be on an album to get inducted. So luckily I was on those records ['Use Your Illusion I' and 'Use Your Illusion II', both 1991], and 'The Spaghetti Incident?' [1994], that got me the approval of being part of that regime. Obviously [former GUNS N' ROSES drummer] Steven Adler was there [at the Rock Hall] with me, and he was very gracious. We didn't get along in the early days, but we worked it all out as older men. So, I look back, in retrospect, with a lot of pride and happy I did it when it was at the highest level. [GUNS N' ROSES singer] Axl Rose probably the greatest frontman of that era and probably years after. But I was on stage with them. I see videos pop up on Instagram. I'm, like, 'Wow, we were pretty good.' So, yeah, it was just great."

Sorum also looked back on VELVET REVOLVER, the band he formed in 2002 with fellow GUNS N' ROSES members Duff McKagan and Slash. Sorum, McKagan, Slash and guitarist Dave Kushner held an exhaustive singer search after VELVET REVOLVER's formation that lasted for almost two years, during which they issued an open invitation to the public to send in demos. Eventually they settled on former STONE TEMPLE PILOTS singer Scott Weiland. VELVET REVOLVER released two full-length albums through RCA/Sony BMG — 2004's "Contraband" and 2007's "Libertad" — before dismissing Weiland in April 2008.

"VELVET REVOLVER spawned from [GUNS N' ROSES] too, and that was a great run," Sorum said. "It didn't last as long as I wanted it to. I was hoping it'd be more of a long thing and we'd still be here, but unfortunately it didn't go that way. But I think we could have really developed into a great rock and roll band, which I felt like we were on 'Contraband'. But when we first came out, I definitely felt youthful and on fire again. Because when you form a new band out of coming out of a band like GUNS N' ROSES, it wasn't about competition. It was about we have to compete in a younger market now. We were older guys then; we were in our forties at that point — which sounds young now. [Laughs] But we had to fire up. And when we made 'Contraband', I felt like I was 20. If you look back, we all got in great shape. We all got cleaned up. We weren't doing the hard-hitting party nights like we did, and we made a great record. 'Contraband' came out and sold three million copies. We got three Grammy noms. We won one. But we were on fire again."

Recounting an encounter with a fan which made him feel like VELVET REVOLVER had established its own footing after his run with GUNS N' ROSES, Sorum said: "I remember one time me and Duff were in New York, and we were at the gym or something — not like the old days. We were coming out of the gym. We walked out into the street somewhere in Manhattan, and this guy looks at us. He goes, 'Hey, you're Duff and Matt from VELVET REVOLVER.' And me and Duff had never heard that. We looked at each other [and thought that was so cool]. It was always 'GUNS N' ROSES, GUNS N' ROSES.' But at that point in time, GUNS N' ROSES wasn't there. We were. And GUNS N' ROSES is always gonna be there, but they weren't out, they weren't doing much. And we felt very proud of that. We had created something new. You can call it a supergroup or whatever, but that wasn't our intention. We just needed a great frontman, and Scott Weiland was that; he was a great frontman, with his quirks and everything else that went with it. Still, if you look back, in my opinion, he was one of one of the greatest rock and roll frontmen that I've been honored to work with, along with Axl and Ian Astbury [THE CULT] and all the great frontmen I've been in bands with."

More than four years ago, Matt revealed in his book "Double Talkin' Jive: True Rock 'N' Roll Stories" that he learned of the 2016 partial reunion of GUNS N' ROSES' classic lineup via the rumor mill even though he was on a South American tour with Slash and Duff when the Internet chatter first reached him. After he confronted Duff, the bassist told him: "Axl wants to use his drummer [Frank Ferrer]." "Go to Axl and tell him you want me on drums," Sorum responded. "Period. Now's the time." "Oh, man," Duff replied. "I already signed the deal."

Sorum told Rolling Stone in a 2021 interview that he had gotten over the fact that he will probably never play with GUNS N' ROSES again. "I've come to terms with the fact that they're doing their own thing, and I'm doing mine," he said. "I can't say that when it went down, I was completely happy with the circumstances. At the same time, I feel really good about my time in the band."

Weiland was found dead on his band's tour bus in December 2015. The vocalist, who was 48 years old at the time of his death, was on tour with THE WILDABOUTS in Minnesota when he was found unresponsive.

In the past, Sorum had made it clear that he and his bandmates were very aware of Weiland's drug-addiction battles and chronic tardiness when they first joined forces with him to launch VELVET REVOLVER.

Weiland and his former VELVET REVOLVER bandmates said all kinds of nasty things about each other after their acrimonious split in 2008. But Sorum later said he wasn't bothered anymore, partly because he said he had a chance to talk things out with the frontman a couple of years before Scott's death.

VELVET REVOLVER reunited with Weiland for a four-song set in January 2012 at a Los Angeles tribute concert for late songwriter John O'Brien, but the band has otherwise remained inactive.

At one point it was reported that VELVET REVOLVER was going to team with STONE SOUR and SLIPKNOT vocalist Corey Taylor, but the idea was ultimately vetoed by Slash. The group and Taylor recorded demos of 10 songs together.

Photo credit: Michael Segal (courtesy of Ken Phillips Publicity Group Inc.)