Original Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler discussed writing a new song with Richard Fortus in a new interview with Mitch Lafon.
“Dude, Richard rules! Are you kidding me? It was so freaky to be on stage with him, because he looks like Izzy. Like from 10 feet away, it’s Izzy. I’m playing, I’m going yay! Oh, holy shit, that looks like Izzy! But it’s not Izzy, Izzy doesn’t play like that, but Richard is amazing! Actually, we even wrote a song backstage together before a show in Nashville.”
Adler also discussed Guns N’ Roses in an interview with Eddie Trunk.
On why he thinks he wasn’t allowed to play more songs and at more shows:
Adler: “Dude, I was in Argentina. Why would they let me play [only] one song? I have no idea. And out of respect for Fernando [Lebeis, who is part of Guns N’ Roses’ management team], I have nothing negative to say, ’cause I was just so glad to be able to do it. And even though it wasn’t what it could be and should be, I got closure. And I feel so much better — like there’s a billion-ton weight lifted off of me, where I can move forward again. I can play with other people, I can do other things, and it’s the greatest thing. I’ve been practicing the four agreements [essential steps on the path to personal freedom] for the last three years, and it’s changed my life. I’m a totally happier person. I’m the person when I was young, a teenager, and excited, and had dreams and goals and wanted to do things. And I like it. Before, all I wanted to do was do a fucking reunion. And I got to do what I got to do, and I’m thankful for that.”
On whether he ever asked the Guns N’ Roses management team why he couldn’t play more songs:
Adler: “Of course! I’d start playing another fucking song, and they’d tell me to get off. They’d say, ‘Okay, you’re done.’ And I’d start playing another song, and they’d just turned the sound of. ‘Beat it. You’re done.’ I was, like, ‘Okay. Cool.’ I got to do that. It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, and I got to rock with those guys. And I love Slash and Duff and Axl, and I got to meet some great people that are working with them. And Fernando, who is GN’R’s main guy, he’s got some good ideas for hopefully this summer, for the thirtieth anniversary [of ‘Appetite For Destruction’] in July, something for the fans. I don’t know what it is, but he’s a good guy, and I think he’s gonna do the right thing… And there never will be an explanation [for why I can’t play more songs with them]. It is what it is, and that’s that.”