MATT SORUM On Second VELVET REVOLVER CD: We Fell Prey To More Of What WEILAND Wanted

Blistering.com's Greg Dixon conducted an interview with VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES drummer Matt Sorum on September 16, 2009 when Sorum played the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida as the temporary replacement for MOTÖRHEAD's Mikkey Dee. A few snippets from the chat follow below.

Blistering.com: How did you get on this tour with MOTÖRHEAD?

Matt Sorum: I have no idea…[laughs] No, I just happened to be at the Rainbow, [laughs]. No, I have played with Lemmy a few times out in L.A. guess he liked the way I played "Ace of Spades". So he figured I could play the rest of the stuff [laughs]. He called me up, well, he texted me first, 'cause he does not do e-mail, and he asked would I be up to coming out and playing. I thought that was a real honor, you know, so I called him back right away, asked when can we get together and rehearse.

Blistering.com: Lemmy rehearses?

Sorum: We don't have time to do that. So I flew out, met the band on the road, watched some of the shows and I joined the band in Washington, D.C. and started the tour with them.

Blistering.com: What were you doing before the tour?

Sorum: Not much… waiting to get VELVET REVOLVER back, doing some film scores, producing my girlfriend's band, DARLING STILETTOS, and playing in my band CAMP FREDDY. It was really cool to get the phone call. I was very happy to get the call!

Blistering.com: Do you think VELVET REVOLVER will get back together?

Sorum: I think it will. We have been e-mailing back and forth, in search of a singer, so we have high expectations. We want to make sure this singer will work and be a better thing. We looked a long time before we got Scott [Weiland], and I don't know if we got Scott because it seemed like an easy way to fill the bill. I know we want to take it up a notch and make it better. When we got Scott, we jumped into it pretty quick. Even though Me, Slash, Duff [McKagan] and Dave [Kushner] have been working together on the first record before Scott came on, then Scott jumped on and we went on the road and did the record pretty quick. The second album, I think, we fell prey to more of what Scott wanted to do and we wanted to straight-up rock and roll. I think this time around we would like to make a real strong rock album and stick with more of our roots.

Blistering.com: I know you, Slash and Duff had your own chemistry. Was it hard to mesh with Scott when he came in?

Sorum: No, not really. The first record, he picked the songs. We had about fifty songs written. He just started to sing on them. That album happened real organically and really quickly. When we went to write the second album, it seemed to take different road, which I always wanted to make a harder record, but I think we went a little lighter and the fans didn’t really care for [it] that much. I think the second record is a good one but we did what we did. I think it was a weird chemistry between us.

Read the entire interview from Blistering.com.