MICHAEL MONROE Says SLASH And DUFF MCKAGAN 'Never Changed': 'They've Only Gotten Nicer Over The Years'

In a brand new interview with Kaaos TV, former HANOI ROCKS frontman was asked about the experience of opening for GUNS N' ROSES at the July 2017 stop of the "Not In This Lifetime" tour in Finland. "We're old friends," he said (see video below). "Slash and Duff [McKagan], we did a… There's a documentary in the making of me, which won't be finished for a while yet, but they were kind enough to do an interview — both did separate interviews backstage for the documentary — and they're sweet guys. They never changed. Slash and Duff, for example, they've got such great character and they're such sweethearts, and they've only gotten nicer over the years. And they never changed — heart of gold and really down to earth. I appreciate that in people.

"To me, the important thing in the whole career was no matter how famous or rich I could become, if I turn into an asshole in the process and I lost my soul, then none of the money or fame would be worth it; I would have screwed up," he continued. "That was the first and most important thing. My integrity has to be intact before anything else. Doing things on my own terms, my own way — not compromising for the wrong reasons. That was more important."

Back in December 2015, just weeks before the GUNS N' ROSES reunion was officially announced, Monroe said that a comback of the classic lineup of GUNS N' ROSES "wouldn't make any sense" unless Slash and Axl Rose were able to "reconnect" on a personal and creative level first. He told Eddie Trunk's podcast "Reunions suck. People ask me, 'Do you think GUNS N' ROSES will reunite?' It wouldn't make any sense unless Slash and Axl would reconnect and really get into a new kind of thing and start creating something new. Who wants to see guys put together forcibly and then go through the old stuff…? It doesn't make any sense to me."

Monroe went on to say that a GUNS N' ROSES reunion wouldn't be the same unless one key ingredient was involved in the mix. He explained: "One thing we must not forget was Steven Adler, the original [GN'R] drummer. The first album [1987's 'Appetite For Destruction'], there's a chemistry that is unlike anything they've done since. Because Steven Adler, he's maybe not technically as great as [his replacement] Matt Sorum, who is also brilliant, but he had a kind of vibe; he was pushing, and he was playing a bit ahead of the beat. He had a style that was part of the chemistry, to me. The sound, the original sound of the band, he was an integral part of that."

Even though HANOI ROCKS was formed in Finland, their trashy, hedonistic, decadent hard rock/pop-metal boogie influenced many Los Angeles acts, including GUNS N' ROSES and MÖTLEY CRÜE.

Monroe will release his new album, "One Man Gang", on October 18 via Silver Lining Music. Recorded and mixed by Petri Majuri at E-Studio in Sipoo, Finland over three weeks in March 2018, the 12-song record was mixed that following autumn with Monroe and bandmates Rich Jones and Steve Conte on production duties.