Duff at the top

Next month sees the arrival in Dublin of Loaded, the side-project of Velvet Revolver bassist and former Guns N’ Roses member Duff McKagan. Though VR finished touring their second album, Libertad, in April, Duff says the plan had already been in place for quite a while to head out on the road with Loaded.
“We always get together to play a show in Seattle at Christmas,” explains Duff. “When we did that last year, I thought, ‘Well, the Velvet Revolver tour is going to be finished in April, why don’t we make a record and do a tour?’ It’s nice for me because having played for a few years in a huge group like Velvet Revolver, I get to go back to what’s almost like an indie set-up. All of the guys in the band are totally committed, and we head into the studio each day and work. Then I drive home to my big house in a BMW (laughs).”
When I enquire about song titles on the upcoming Loaded album, Duff mentions that there’s a track called ‘Mother’s Day’. However, don’t let the title fool you into thinking it’s a syrupy, sentimental pop tune.
“The subject matter is fairly gritty,” notes Duff. “It’s about someone who gets hooked on crack and dies.”
Christ, even when you write a song called ‘Mother’s Day’, it’s about crack!
“Well, you know, people’s struggles with crack have unfortunately been a feature of the past year for us.”
Earlier this year, of course, Scott Weiland was relieved of his duties as Velvet Revolver vocalist. What exactly were the circumstances of his departure?
“Well, when Scott joined the band, it was understood that you couldn’t ask for a better environment, in terms of guys who understood addiction,” Duff proffers. “We’ve all been through the mill and we all support each other 100%. All through the recording of Contraband and the subsequent tour, everything was fine with Scott. Then, over the past year or so, that started to change.
“We just found Scott to be more difficult to deal with, and eventually it felt like a kind of impossible situation for us. It got to the point where, in January, we decided that we were going to let him go at the end of the tour.”
Despite the recent rumours that Royston Langdon, lead singer of newly reunited glam rockers Spacehog (the band responsible for the memorable hit ‘In The Meantime’), was in pole position to replace Weiland, Duff is keeping mum on the subject, saying only that the group expect to make an announcement before the end of the year.
Moving on to other topics, in 2007 Duff made an appearance in the BBC documentary The Last 48 Hours Of Kurt Cobain. Then still a member of Guns N’ Roses, McKagan sat beside the Nirvana singer on his flight back to Seattle after an aborted stay at the Exodus rehab centre in LA. Days later, Cobain committed suicide, making Duff one of the last people to see him alive.
“I suppose, at the time, we were in the same boat in a lot of ways,” he reflects. “We were both in huge groups, and we were both completely lost to our addictions. He did seem down, and he was definitely at a crossroads, although I’m not sure he would have confided in me just how bad he felt. Still, when we got off the plane, I did say to my friend who picked me up that maybe we should invite Kurt back to the house. He went to talk to him, but he’d already left.”
When Hot Press spoke to Ian Astbury earlier this year, The Cult singer expressed the opinion that Axl Rose was “articulate and really sensitive”. Would Duff agree with this assessment?
“Actually, I would,” he replies. “He was always an intelligent guy; I believe he was very smart in school and so on. He’s very loyal too. You know, a lot of emphasis was put on how much we drank, or how many places we trashed, or whatever. And while that’s all true, our main focus was always on developing the band, growing as young men and all that stuff. Axl was an incredible frontman. And articulate and sensitive, for sure.”