“There were things in the band that we just couldn’t get around”: Duff McKagan reflects on why Velvet Revolver broke up
Duff McKagan has taken a look back on his time in supergroup Velvet Revolver, sharing that he doesn’t think the outfit will ever come back together since the passing of vocalist Scott Weiland.
McKagan and his Guns N’ Roses bandmates Slash and Matt Sorum formed the group with Weiland and Dave Kushner of Wasted Youth. They began releasing music in the early 2000s, and broke up in 2008 following a number of relapses among its members for issues with drugs and alcohol, and disagreements.
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Despite the inner struggles faced by the band, it seems McKagan looks back on the whole experience as a large positive, noting that they came along at the perfect time to prove rock was far from on its last legs.
Speaking to Metal Hammer in its new print issue, McKagan shares, “Velvet Revolver were a perfect band for the time. Around 2003, you started hearing this ‘Rock ‘n’ roll is dead’ chat and it’s like… fuck that! It ain’t dead. To who?! We formed that band and once Scott [Weiland] joined it really became a fire-breathing, ‘fuck you’ kind of band. We put that first record out and went on the road with a chip on our shoulders.”
He adds, “A bunch of years with Velvet Revolver were logistically challenging. I’d be somewhere like Des Moines, Iowa and it’d be like, ‘I miss my family and that gig we just did was… OK, but not worth me being gone.’ My kids are grown now, so being out with my wife, for the last eight or nine years and not worrying about the kids, we’ve really got into travelling. We see a lot of stuff – museums, attractions… you name it, we do it!”
McKagan continues, “We actually did some of that with Velvet Revolver; Scott, Slash and I might have our kids with us at the same time, so we’d end up going to a swimming pool or whatever and really seeing stuff. That was such a change from Guns N’ Roses when I was drinking and might not even leave my hotel room.
“We had a great relationship in [Velvet Revolver] and with the audience. We took Velvet Revolver around the world, but there were things in the band that we just couldn’t get around. I don’t dwell on that stuff – I remember those days fondly – but I don’t think we’ll ever come back together with Scott gone.”
Duff McKagan embarks on a solo tour on 30 September in support of his record Lighthouse. Tickets are still available.
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