Bravewords.com: You might be right about an album. You’d get a few curious people to check it out, but the live show can be brought to the fans and I think you’d get a great reaction…
MS: “The problem with the whole thing is to get everyone to clear their shit (schedule). We didn’t even know if Steven Tyler was going to make it to the gig. That’s how it goes down. It was like ‘is he coming?’ This film crew wanted to come in and we were like ‘we don’t even know if he’s coming’. They wanted to make a DVD and we’re like ‘hold on. Now we have to clear the music?’ That’s a whole other animal that people don’t realize.”
Bravewords.com: Mechanical rights. Those cost a fortune.
MS: “Now we have to call
LED ZEPPELIN and ask ‘is it cool if Steve Tyler sings
‘Whole Lotta Love?’
Bravewords.com: Exactly. So, you end up with a DVD that has three songs on it because all the other songs couldn’t get cleared.
MS: “You get a couple of random hits (laughs).”
Bravewords.com: If you could ever figure out how to tour with the live show (even if it’s only for two weeks), I think a lot of fans would come check it out.
MS: “It’s really crazy. Every Christmas we put on this show and the fans… We got into doing a lot of corporate events you know. There’s a lot of that going on with musicians. Last year, we put the tickets up for sale and people didn’t know what they were going to get and at the end of the day we had Ozzy and other great artists up there and people we like ‘shit, I missed it.’ So, this year it sold out in like five minutes… All four shows gone. Last year, we also had Billy Idol and Billy Gibbons and people know ‘they are going to deliver’. Amongst the core band of Dave Navarro, Billy Morrison, Donovan and myself we’re constantly trying to outdo ourselves, but after last week ‘we’re like shit. How do we outdo that?’ We call Mick Jagger (laughs)!”
Bravewords.com: Or maybe get
Axl Rose.
MS: “I swear to God we called him.”
Bravewords.com: Just before we wrap up, let’s get back to
Velvet Revolver. With the line-up change, do you keep the name Velvet Revolver or is this a new beast that needs a new name?
MS: “We’re going to keep the name and let me explain. People are like ‘why are they keeping the name?’
Bravewords.com: Well, it is an established brand.
MS: “Well, that’s the thing. If people realized the amount of work that goes into branding... Once we got the name Velvet Revolver, we had to sell a record. Then our name became, not a house hold name, it’s not Guns N’ Roses by any means, but then we had to go out and tour the world and do a lot of press. We had to keep dropping the name Velvet Revolver and then, at the end of the day, you have a tangible sellable vehicle that you can tour comfortably. We all looked at each other when Scott left and said ‘what do we do about the name?’ I’m not willing to go out and build another brand at my age. We built a good brand and we were originally the guys in the band and let’s take what we have and go on with it as Velvet Revolver. Scott gave us his blessing. He’s got Stone Temple Pilots.”
Bravewords.com: When you say ‘Scott gave you his blessing’. Is it because he still has a legal interest in the band? Is he still a partner?
MS: “Hmmm (pauses). He’s still got a little bit of an ingredient. It’s like the special sauce on a Big Mac. He deserves that and that’s cool. That’s the agreement we made and we’re cool with that. To go out and create an entire new thing that’s a beast.”
Bravewords.com: It is. That means you have to get new t-shirts, new logos, register a new trademark, etc… It may seem silly to a fan that picks up an album on Amazon, but it’s a lot of hassle behind the scenes before it gets to that point.
Are you guaranteeing new Velvet Revolver in 2011? Be that a tour, album or both?
MS: “I would like to say ‘yes’ as a guarantee and the only reason I’m saying that is because if it doesn’t happen by 2011 were definitely going to pack it up. But it will happen because that’s our goal. We’ve known each other over twenty years and it’s like a gentlemen’s agreement. It’s like ‘ok, let’s do this’.”
For more visit:
Velvetrevolver.com Mattsorum.com (All photos courtesy of Matt Sorum)