Duff McKagan: ‘Axl Rose Was Never There During GN’R’s Creative Process’

Bassist Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses recently had a conversation with Bass Player, during which he disclosed that his bandmate Axl Rose was never there throughout the creative process. The rock musician discussed whether or not he ever drank before a recording session and whether or not it had an effect on his writing. In his explanation, the bassist stated that his drinking did not interfere with his ability to compose bass parts. “At the time, I was making music with a fellow intoxicated individual! Therefore, we were all competing on an equal playing field.

The rocker mentioned similarities in drinking habits but highlighted creative differences when working with Axl Rose. Although Axl was never observed to be intoxicated, he was never present during the composition of the music. Now that something had been completed, he would come in. On ‘Appetite’ we didn’t have a PA in our rehearsal room, so he couldn’t sing stuff even if he wanted to. With that being said, Slash and I have collaborated on songwriting for the majority of my career,” he went on to say.

Despite this, McKagan believes that Rose is an excellent band leader. In another interview, he told the interviewer about the work schedule of his bandmate. “Despite the fact that he is so serious about it, he has a lot of humor. An hour and a half is spent warming up, and then another hour and a half is spent warming down. And we continue to play for an indefinite amount of time.”

“If there’s a curfew at 11, we’ll hit that curfew, and so that means we’re gonna go on at 7:30 or else we don’t get to play all the songs. Even though we will be playing for a shorter amount of time if we go on at 8:00, he does not want to do that. During the past eight years, I have had the pleasure of witnessing his success,” he continued.

In other news, the rockers are trying to get into making a new album. The band hasn’t released a full album since 2008’s Chinese Democracy, but while talking about his most recent solo album ‘Orgy Of The Damned,’ Slash revealed that GNR was working on new music.