MATT SORUM Says VELVET REVOLVER's Recordings With COREY TAYLOR 'Sounded Cool'

Spotlight Report conducted an interview with legendary rock drummer Matt Sorum (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER, THE CULT) earlier this month after the grand opening of the Hard Rock Cafe in Sydney, Australia, where he shared the stage with some Australian music talent. You can now watch the chat below.

On VELVET REVOLVER's short-lived collaboration with SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor:

Sorum: "We made some cool recordings, but [VELVET REVOLVER guitarist] Slash just wasn't feeling it. I thought it sounded cool. I mean, it was probably a little different than what Slash was used to. But I don't know… He wasn't feeling it. I have about nine demos that are pretty cool-sounding, I think they sound kind of loose and kind of fucked up like [GUNS N' ROSES' classic debut album] 'Appetite For Destruction' — not perfect, but like, something cool about it, a little dirty. Not like perfect guitars and shit, you know?! [They were basically] live recordings, where we just jammed and Corey sang. It's not the best drum sound, but it kind of works."

On whether VELVET REVOLVER is still searching for a new singer:

Sorum: "They're home right now checking a guy out without me... I said, 'Why don't you try to just write a song and see how the guy sounds and how he writes a lyric?' Because that's been a little bit of a thing. I thought Corey had good lyrics. He's a smart guy, he writes from his background. He's gone through some stuff in his life, and he writes hard lyrics. So I liked his lyrics, I got a lot of what he was saying. So we'll see how it goes. Everyone is still into finding the guy, it's just a matter of it being [snaps fingers]."

During a recent new interview with the Too Famous To Get Fully Dressed blog, Duff McKagan's was asked about how the search for a new VELVET REVOLVER lead singer is going more than three years since the band parted ways with Scott Weiland. "I think we may be looking at somebody in December, which is fun to think about," he said. "I believe in my heart of hearts it'll happen."

Duff told OC Weekly, in October that he "played in New York [in September as part of the Road Recovery benefit concert] and Matt Sorum was there. There was a singer there [possibly referring to Jimmy Gnecco of OURS. — Ed.] we might write some songs with."

He continued, "None of us have really tried [to find anyone] in the last few years. We've all been busy with other things.

"I think once that whole thing went down with Scott, we thought we'd find a guy right away. Once a few months went by, it was like, 'Oh fuck.'"

He added, "We didn't give up on the band but you can't force a singer into a situation. It's got to just kind of happen. So playing a few weeks ago with that singer, it seemed really natural. So we'll see. I'll come back to you on that."

Jimmy Gnecco of OURS sang lead vocals on three songs ("Slither" by VELVET REVOLVER, "It's So Easy" by GUNS N' ROSES and "Hey Joe" by JIMI HENDRIX) during the Road Recovery concert with Slash, McKagan, Sorum, Gilby Clarke (ex-GUNS N' ROSES) and Dave Kushner (VELVET REVOLVER).