Former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke discussed his time in the band in a new interview with Sheldon Ang.
“I didn’t feel great in the sense that it felt like I accomplished something; I didn’t. I felt good in the sense of this is what I love to do — to play guitar. I love to play great music, whether it’s my or somebody else’s music. It just felt good to be doing what I love to do and have people appreciate it.”
“I’m not an idiot,” he said. “I know that it’s Slash, and it’s Axl [Rose] — it’s Guns N’ Roses. But still, I’m doing my part. And my part was an important part too. It’s not like I was the security guy. It was important to me. But it felt good. There were moments on that tour, like when I’d do my ‘Wild Horses’ thing” — referring to GNR’s cover of The Rolling Stones classic — “I came out by myself and started playing, where you take a moment and you go [takes a deep sigh]. ‘Okay.’ I did.
I did have those moments. But it’s also because when I got the gig, I was 30 years old. I had already been through the wringer, man. I knew what it was like to play a shitty club in front of three people. So when I got that gig, I appreciated what was special and unique about that gig.”
He was asked if Axl is still his friend, and revealed he sends him notes, “I’ll always be friends with Axl — absolutely. I haven’t talked to him in a long time. But he still sends notes every now and then.”
