Guitarist DJ Ashba Quits Guns N’ Roses
For years, guitarist DJ Ashba has balanced his time between Guns N’ Roses and Sixx: A.M. successfully, but he’s just revealed that he’s decided to exit Guns N’ Roses.
In a heartfelt letter, Ashba details how he first got the call to audition for Guns N’ Roses and reflects positively on his time in the band with Axl Rose. In the early stages of Sixx: A.M., it was primarily a studio band who rarely played shows, so it was easier for him to balance his time with GNR.
However, as noted in last week’s Buzzcut, Sixx A.M. plans to produce two new albums in 2016 and embark on a 24-month world tour, making it more difficult for Ashba to split his time between the two bands.
You can read DJ’s letter in full, here.
Metallica Immortalized in New Comic Book
Metallica are perhaps the biggest heavy metal band of all time, and now, some of those 30-plus years as a group have been commemorated in a 28-page comic book about the band. It’s called Orbit: Metallica and will give fans an illustrated history of how the group formed.
Interior artist Jayfri Hashim was instrumental in assisting with much of the research necessary to craft the book and says, “Metallica’s formation marks the beginning of metal, breeding thrash metal which progresses to heavy metal during the glam rock era. Many people get it wrong when they say Metallica is a rock band. They’re not. They are the very definition of a metal band. They were daring, innovative, and the story of their beginning fascinates me.”
David Frizell, rock artist famous for his work with Avenged Sevenfold and Wednesday 13, jumped at the chance to illustrate the cover. “It’s Metallica! What rock artist wouldn’t jump at the chance to draw them? I’ve followed them their entire career. They are the most influential metal band ever.”
The full color print edition is available here for $3.99.
Metallica’s Robert Trujillo Reveals New All-Star Side Project
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo announced back in February that he was collaborating with Torche drummer Rick Smith on a new project.
Noisey spoke with Brent Eyestone of Harmonic Cross, who said the other members are his bandmate Graham Scala and Nate Newton from Converge. “We’re doing this record,” he said. “It’s just going to be a couple of tracks that we’re going to put out digitally and on vinyl.”
As for any proceeds generated, Eyestone said that it’s going to a cause that is close to Trujillo’s heart, the Tony Hawk Foundation. “We all like to skate and we believe in that charity; making free skateparks for lower-income areas,” he continued. “There’s no name and no release date, but once it’s done all proceeds will go to public skateparks.”
Anvil Turn to PledgeMusic To Finance New Album
Anvil is teaming with PledgeMusic to offer a pre-order and direct insight into their next release.
On their PledgeMusic page, the band states, “After years of having record labels being in between the band and our fans, we’re finally at a point in our history to directly connect.”
They add, “We are proud to announce to our fans that they can keep in personal touch with the band and be directly involved in the process of creating the next Anvil album. This will be the first time that we’ve used a crowd-funding approach and we are fully confident in our fans to really pitch in and help. Considering that almost anyone aware of Anvil knows our long and sometimes brutal history, we’re hoping you would be honored to help and prove us right in our belief in you…and we promise another top notch Anvil recording that we can enjoy for many years into the future….”
Rewards for fans who pledge include everything from the autographed CD with bonus tracks, to a signed drum head, drum sticks, t-shirts and the pledger’s name in the liner notes.
Lita Ford On Runaways Bassist Jackie Fuchs’ Rape Allegations: “I Believe Her”
Last week, former Runaways bassist Jackie Fuchs told the Huffington Post that she was raped by the band’s manager Kim Fowley back in the ‘70s. Now, former Runaways member Lita Ford has commented on the story, saying that while she wasn’t there when it happened, she believes Fuchs. Ford said, “Jackie’s not a liar, and if she says that somebody was watching her, and if she says that this happened, then I believe her; I do.”
Check out the full interview on video:
Iron Maiden’s New Double CD “The Book of Souls”
No matter what your favorite Iron Maiden song is, Maiden guitarist Janick Gers thinks the band’s new double album, The Book of Souls, will meet with your approval. This will be the 16th studio album from the band, and it’s due in early September.
Gers looked back on the making of the album during a recent interview with Glide Magazine, insisting that the band didn’t set out to make a double LP — they’re just so filled with ideas that they couldn’t fit everything onto a single disc.
“We just brought so many ideas into the studio and they were all good ideas. Some of the songs weren’t that long when they came in but they ended up that long when we finished them. Everybody always brings in probably an hours worth of music. You might only want to use 15 minutes of it but you’ve got an hour of stuff that’s really good. It’s indicative of how creative everybody in the band is,” he pointed out. “This band’s been going a long time and we never have to scrape around because there are always so many ideas to use – melodies, tunes, themes.”
Slayer’s Kerry King Takes Heat For His Mayhem Festival Comments
Vocalist Dave Matrise of Wisconsin death metallers Jungle Rot (shown above left) has slammed Kerry King (shown above right) over the Slayer guitarist’s controversial comments (read them here) about the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, saying that Kerry “could’ve waited until he was done after the tour to open his mouth.”
Jungle Rot is one of the bands performing on the Victory Records Stage each night on Mayhem, and Matrise told Live Metal that he was not happy to read Kerry’s comments about the lesser-known talent on this year’s traveling festival.
“I’m gonna be truthful — I take it very personal,” Matrise said. “I’m a longtime Slayer fan, and I hate to say it, but now I’m gonna change my thoughts about Slayer over this. It’s because of the simple fact that there’s a lot of people, including myself, and a lot of bands here that have a lot of money invested in this tour, and we’re trying to make our money back, and we’re trying to keep this thing rolling. And here’s this guy, and he opens his mouth and sabotages the tour, in my opinion. And then he talks shit about Victory and that’s our label as well, and calls it a ‘shit stage.’ Well, if it wasn’t for Victory probably getting this stage, this tour would’ve never even happened.”
He continued: “That’s just my opinion, and if he would get off the bus once in a while instead of charging $20 for a picture or a signing or whatever the hell he does, he’d probably see that there’s some really good talent out there, man. So yeah, I take it very personal. I think he stuck his foot in his mouth and I hope this turns on him and I hope for the worst. I have had enough — the guy’s been runnin’ his mouth enough and this is the final straw.”
Quiet Riot’s Frankie Banali Talks About QR Documentary
Following the critical success of “The Quiet Riot Movie, Well Now You’re Here There’s No Way Back” Frankie Banali is enjoying a newfound appreciation both for his contributions to music and his devotion to keeping the memory of his friend and former frontman Kevin DuBrow alive.
Banali sat down with Steve Lacy, the 10 o’ clock anchor at Fox 5 in NYC for a wide-ranging discussion about his rock ‘n roll roots, drinking all night with Alex Van Halen before the US Festival and Kevin Dubrow’s brother, famous plastic surgeon and reality tv star Dr. Terry Dubrow. When asked about the current state of rock music, Banali summed it up about as well as you can, saying, “…being in a band should be something that’s organic. It should not be something that’s corporate or you put in the microwave for 30 seconds. You’ve gotta bake it for a number of years.”
As for Quiet Riot, the band is still going strong and continues to play for crowds hungry for a connection to an era whose music continues to ring true to headbangers of all ages.
Check out the video, here.
Metalheads Say The Damnedest Things
“To be honest? I think it’s one of the most retarded things ever, because no one involved with the Grammys has any idea, anything about metal, let alone hard rock. I mean, the first time a Grammy was awarded to a metal band was Jethro Tull. Are you serious? Last year? Tenacious D. They’re a fucking joke band. That’s what I’ve gotta say, first and foremost.
When we won ours, I think it was probably cool for my parents, you know, ’cause they understand what a Grammy is. They don’t understand the bullshit involved with it, but to be able to come home with that big-ass heavy award and show it to my parents, that was important to me.”
~ Slayer Guitarist Kerry King spouting off again, this week about Slayer’s Grammy Awards
(Slayer have two Grammy awards, winning Best Metal Performance in 2007 for “Eyes of the Insane” and in 2008 for “Final Six.”)