Hit Parader: How did the 5 or you get together?

Axl: This lineup has been together for two years. Izzy and I have been playing together for about 12 years. He started out on drums, then switched to bass and finally guitar. At one point he was singing and I was playing keyboards and bass.

Izzy: I couldn't sing, so that didn't work out! (laughs)

Axl: Then, about three years ago, I was in a band called Hollywood Rose and then another one called LA Guns, which is how I got to know the rest of the guys. Eventually we decided that this was the right lineup and that we were gonna stick together.

HP: But isn't LA Guns still around?

Axl: Yeah, but during the time I was in LA Guns, Izzy and I started doing stuff on the side and calling it Guns N' Roses. Meanwhile, the other band I was in got sick of me sitting around saying "Slash would be great for this..." Finally, I got myself kicked out of the band by putting on a pair of ripped up black jeans and a spray-painted pink and black biker jacket, doing my hair, putting full makeup on and running all around the stage and out into the crowd one night. The guitarist freaked out 'cause it was his band and he was used to getting all the attention. So, before I could say "I quit", he kicked me out. I said, "yeeahhh!" It was so great!

Izzy: Some of the songs on our EP were written during that time.

HP: Speaking of Live Like A Suicide, why did you release a 4-song EP on your own when you'd already signed to Geffen for a full-length LP? Why not just put out an album with some of the songs from the EP included?

Slash: Because we wanted an inexpensive dedication to all the kids who helped us get by when we were really low and had no money and were living in abandoned apartments. The kind of record that not everyone will have, because we're only printing 10,000 copies initially.

Izzy: Also, there was some material which won't be on the Geffen album that …

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HP: Well, what is the truth behind the rumor that Paul Stanley of Kiss was going to produce the EP?

Axl: Well, we worked with Spencer Proffer on our demo tape, then Paul came to us because he was interested in producing. Slash had him come over and I sat down and talked production with him and played him the demo. He wanted to rewrite two of our very favorite songs, so it was over right then and there.

HP: Is it because you don't want anyone tampering with your individual style?

Izzy: We do what we want. We have a raunchy type attitude. I don't wanna say "punk" attitude, but we definetley are raunchy. Now that we've gotten signed, there are all these bands coming out trying to be tough. We've already changed the music scene in LA.

Axl: But we don't do something specifically because we know it will work. We just go out and do what we want. We walk into any place we play and kick ass.

HP: You mentioned that the EP is a tribute to those who helped you when you were broke. How tough was it in the beginning?

Slash: We lived in a one room studio with holes in the ceiling. We got rained on a lot.

Izzy: Which is good 'cause we had no shower.

Axl: We stole wood, we built a loft and slept above the equipment. But, yo know, we almost miss it. Every weekend, the biggest party in LA was down in our place. We'de have 500 people packed in an alley and our old roadie was selling beers for a buck out of his trunk. It was like a bar and everyone had their whiskey. We could get away with whatever we wanted, except when the cops came.

HP: Did things ever get carried away?

Axl: If there was a problem with someone, we'd escort them out. By "escort", I mean we'd drag 'em out by their hair down the alley, naked.

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