Velvet Revolver
Interview with Matt Sorum
Words: Michael Spadoni
Photos: Rocco Guarino

Appearing:
October 6, 2007
Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa

October 7, 2007
Sound Advice Amphitheater, West Palm Beach

REAX:  For years after “The Spaghetti Incident”, you were still a member of Guns N’ Roses.  What made you finally decide to leave and how did that lead up to the formation of Velvet Revolver?
Matt Sorum:  After GNR, I was pretty much gun-shy of being in a band for a while.  I was over being in a band with the personality conflicts that happened in Guns.  I took a pretty good break, got real healthy, cleaned up my act, and got into producing music.  I was really happy doing it.  Four years went by and I got back together with The Cult, toured and made an album with them.  Then Velvet Revolver kinda happened… not intentionally though.  At the time it wasn’t anything that I really wanted to put together. 

I was organizing a tribute concert for my friend Randy Castillo who passed away and I needed to bring out some big names.  I called Slash and Duff and asked them what they thought about jamming at the concert.  They were really cool about it and they agreed.  We called the singer from Buckcherry and asked him to sing… and at the last minute Steven Tyler called and said he wanted to be involved.  When the word got out that we were going to play, people saw it as a mini Guns N’ Roses, the rhythm section anyway.

Our fans went nuts once we came out on stage.  The day after, Duff called me and said he had a blast and that it was time to do something.  We’ve waited long enough to see what was going to happen with Axl.  We were all sort of thinking that we could put it back together eventually.  Once he went on the MTV awards, we all knew that the cat was out of the bag and Axl was going to use the name, Guns N’ Roses.  We were left standing there saying, “What the fuck?”  At that point we decided to form a new band and get a different singer.  Not that it was for any intention that three of us from Guns N’ Roses wanted to start a band, we just liked playing with each other.  We also have some semblance of chemistry that seems to work.  That’s when the real task became really difficult.  It was apparent that it was going to be really hard to find a great singer, being that we were with one of the greatest rock n’ roll front men in the last decade… or even before that… to try and find a guy that could stand next to us and really pull it off.

We tried out everyone from Sebastian Bach, to Brett from Fuel, and even Beth Hart.  We had talks with Scott Weiland early on, and then he disappeared.  Nine months went by until we learned that he was interested.  At that point, we were already writing songs.  Scott came in and that’s when it really kick-started Velvet Revolver.  We did two songs for soundtracks… Pink Floyd’s, “Money” for The Italian Job and a song for, The Hulk called “Set Me Free.”  The hype was on us… STP and GNR, blah blah blah…  Once the hype got started, that’s when it got really exciting.  At that point in my life and where I was at… I’m a very young man in my soul, but we’re all getting a little older and you wonder if this band is going to be a viable and modern thing.  The man that came in and said that it would be was Clive Davis.  He believed in us and said that we were going to be a rock n’ roll band to content with.  He is a smart guy. 

REAX:  I’m sure it’s extremely easy to become complacent once you hit a certain level of legendary status as a musician.  How do you challenge yourself?
MS:  Velvet Revolver is still searching for their identity and sound, which is a challenge.  I think we’re getting really close to that and when you come see us live, it’s a whole different animal.  The first time we toured we had a very punk rock sort of attitude and beat people over the head with our music.  Now we’re stepping back to our roots.  We play some nice ballads and mix it up.  It’s more like a nice ride; there is a pace to it.  We have a lot more music to choose from and I can’t wait to make another album.

REAX:  Is Velvet Revolver going to be an ongoing project and are you going to keep up a constant release schedule?
MS:  Our next album will be out sooner than the amount of time it took for Libertad.  I don’t think we’re going to tour for 18 months again like what we did for Contraband.  Back then we wanted to make our stamp, but this time we’ll probably go out for… we’ll see what the album gives us.  It will tell us how long we can tour.  Last night, the gig looked like it was sold out to me.  There were about fifteen or twenty thousand people there.  We’re getting really great crowds and great reception wherever we go.  We’ll tour, play the new music, and hopefully it catches on like wildfire. 

REAX:  You’ve been a part of some of the most influential rock bands that have ever existed.  What one experience would you say was your crowning achievement?
MS:  I’d have to say getting the Grammy with Velvet Revolver, or pretty much anything having to do with Velvet Revolver.  It’s something that I was an original member of and helped create.  I walked into GNR and The Cult.  Even though I was always treated like a member of both bands, I was the guy who replaced the guy.  This is actually my band.

www.velvetrevolver.com