BayFest

When Velvet Revolver first got together, there were mixed reactions from both fans and the media. Some viewed this band as a time bomb ready to explode in a fury of chemical abuse and “creative differences.” Others were ecstatic that this combination Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum of Guns N’ Roses and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots could very well create “the” rock super group of a generation.

Other rock fans were excited Dave Kushner (unfairly labeled “The Other Guy”) had been tapped for this project. Kushner is no stranger to the industry. He has lent his guitar skills to such legendary groups as Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves and Zilch. With Velvet Revolver’s latest album “Libertad” breaking the top ten on charts around the globe, Kushner had some choice words for those non-believers who scoffed at this band’s very existence.

SC: When you guys were just starting out, some media outlets labeled y’all as a self-destructive novelty band that could fall apart at any minute. With this tour going so well and your second album out, what do you have to say to all those people?

DK: (Laughing) Suck it! You know, it’s funny. You try not to pay attention to people like that. There’s this one guy I can remember specifically, only because I remember him from the beginning, and he was there for the whole time. He was the most vocal of the naysayers. Whenever we would have some kind of press conference or something, I just remember always seeing the same guy. He turned out to be a nice guy, you know. What you do is try not to pay attention. Because on the flip side, if you say, “Hey, fk you” too early, then your band falls apart the next day, then you look like an idiot. If people thought we wouldn’t make it up to this point, then I can say, “Fk it” to you.

SC: Whenever you guys got together for your follow-up album, it’s been said that it started out as a concept album, and it got pushed off to the side. What kind of concepts were you guys working on?

DK: That would probably be a question for Scott. That was more of a thing that Scott came up with at a certain point. I don’t know how far along that idea got or if it just got blown out of proportion in the press. I think that he had mentioned it one day. He kind of mentioned it to us, that was kind of his idea, and he didn’t really get real into what the concept was. I think it was more of a passing comment than it was an actual whole plan as far as what the band was gonna do.

SC: You guys originally tapped Rick Rubin to produce the album before settling with Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine). What was it about Rubin that made you lose interest in his participation?

DK: Well, I think that we’ve all known Rick for a long time. I think that even though we know him and kind of knew what his style of producing is; we thought it might be different with us. Maybe we just didn’t think about it. At first, we were like, “Wow, Rick Rubin! He’s a f**king amazing producer. Let’s get him!” He came and met with us, and the vibe was great. He had some pretty inspiring ways of looking at making a record, you know what I mean?

We got past that stage, and it seemed good. I think the thing was that it came at a time when we needed, and only realize this in hindsight, someone at that point to pull us by the ear into the studio and get us started on making a record. Whereas Rick’s technique was more of, “Just keep writing songs and let’s pick the best songs.” I think we had felt like we had been just meandering for year. The easiest way to put it is we were like five kids out at recess in kindergarten, and where Rick was standing at the door saying, “OK, kids, come on. You gotta come in now” or “I’ll be in here when you’re ready to come in.” Brendan O’Brien was the guy who actually walked out to onto the playground and grabbed us all by the ears and pulled us into the studio.

SC: I read an interview a couple of days ago where you were talking about how “Libertad” is more individualist. Could you elaborate a little more on that?

DK: I think because everyone in the band spent more time writing songs on their own. On the first record, we didn’t even know that we were a band yet. The four of us got together and wrote songs for 10 months. Then, we got (pause), aw sh*t, hold on, that’s the guy from Gibson Guitars. I’m gonna tell him, I’ll call him back. So, what were we talking about?

SC: The individualism on “Libertad.”

DK: The fact is that when we first started we wrote songs together, and it just happened that way. On the second record, we’ve toured for a year and a half, we made a record already and then we stopped and had a year in between. So, we had the touring in when we made our next record. You made a record, and you made your stamp on the record industry. Then, you write songs where you’re like, “OK, cool, I’m gonna just write whatever songs I wanna write,” but you also kind of understand where you band lies as far as you’ve established a certain sound. Sometimes, I think you know not to go too left of center of what you’ve already established.

Obviously, you’re not going to write 14 pop songs from an outside writer. I had more time to write songs on my own at home. I was programming drums and playing bass and guitar and doing everything myself, and so did everyone else. Matt had time to write songs in his home studio where he was playing guitar or having someone else play guitar on it. He would have Duff come over for some stuff. I know Duff wrote some on his own where he played everything at some studio in Seattle and the same with Slash.

SC: What can the audience at BayFest expect from your live show?

DK: This really is a whole new level, and I say this in all honesty, of production and performance. We’re still the same band, but there’s a lot more going on around us on the stage to keep the whole vibe of the songs and the show moving along, instead of it being just five guys running around sweating playing their asses off. You get that still, but now there’s a lot of other stuff to look at visually. There’s some new songs and some parts of the set where we take it down a little. Put it this way, when we put together the set for the last show, we didn’t know for sure if it was going to work. We really haven’t changed anything about the set from the first day that we wrote it to after playing the first few shows and seeing how the crowd responded and the ebb and flow of the set. Everything worked out perfectly.

Stephen Centanni is Lagniappe music editor. Contact him at scentanni@lagniappemobile.com.

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