{"id":928191,"date":"2026-07-11T16:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T16:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/928191\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T16:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T16:38:16","slug":"frank-ferrer-guns-n-roses-drummers-first-interview-since-leaving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/928191\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank Ferrer: Guns N’ Roses Drummer’s First Interview Since Leaving"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDrummer Frank Ferrer<\/a> was at his then-seven-year-old daughter\u2019s talent show in 2006 when his phone rang. On the line was his friend Tommy Stinson<\/a>, the Replacements<\/a> bassist who was in the middle of a long tenure in Guns N\u2019 Roses at the time. \u200a\u201dHey, man, there\u2019s this thing happening,\u201d Stinson told him. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you learn a bunch of Guns songs? I\u2019ll give you more info later on.\u201d As it turned out, Guns drummer Brian \u201cBrain\u201d Mantia\u2019s wife was due to have a baby while the band had a tour booked, and the idea was to recruit a sub for two weeks until Mantia returned.<\/p>\n

\n\tFerrer ended up playing in Guns N\u2019 Roses for 19 years, longer than Steven Adler and Matt Sorum combined, becoming the longest-serving drummer in the band\u2019s history. He played on Chinese Democracy, and performed with multiple line-ups of the band \u2014\u00a0when Slash<\/a> and Duff McKagan<\/a> came back, Rose kept Ferrer on board. Then, in March of 2025, the band announced<\/a> his exit, thanked him for his service, and named Isaac Carpenter as his replacement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFerrer is currently playing in two bands, the Slax (with guitarist Brett Smith-Daniels, Band of Skulls guitarist Russell Marsden, bassist Stefan Bielik, and singer Chris Payn) and One Night Only (with Hanoi Rocks and Electric Boys guitarist Conny Bloom, bassist Johnny Griparic of Slash\u2019s Snakepit, keyboardist Bob Fridzema, and Swedish singer Matti Alfonzetti). He recently jumped on a Zoom with Rolling Stone for his first post-Guns interview, looking back \u2014 with an admirable degree of gratitude \u2014\u00a0at his years with Axl Rose<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhy don\u2019t we start by talking about your new bands and what\u2019s going on?
<\/strong>I kinda hooked up with Brett through Matt Sorum, who introduced us. And Matt Sorum apparently told Brett, \u201cHey, Frank is around. You might wanna talk to him.\u201d And then Brett was able to bring in Chris, the singer, and Russell from Band of Skulls, who\u2019s pretty awesome. And Brett also found the bass player, Stefan. He said, \u201cHey, I got a group of musicians that might wanna do stuff when everybody else isn\u2019t busy. We have some quiet time. Let\u2019s get together and play.\u201d And I was like, \u201cYeah, let\u2019s give it a go. I\u2019m up for anything nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tTell me about the sound of the band and where you are in the process.
<\/strong>Right now, basically we got together and we decided to play a bunch of our favorite songs. We did some Band of Skulls songs and Chris, the singer, had a couple of originals that we did also. And Brett had an original we did. So we did a few of their songs, and then we did some covers. Everything from Free, Aerosmith, some Joan Jett. We picked out a bunch of songs that we like to play, and the crowds in London and in Europe in general, they just love to hear classic rock & roll, so they\u2019re very open and receptive to that.<\/p>\n

\n\tAre you recording an album with them?
<\/strong>What we\u2019re gonna do is we\u2019re gonna try to put a package together so we can get more gigs. We\u2019re gonna record a couple of covers and then one or two originals that we could send out to people if they wanna get an idea of what the band sounds like. It\u2019s not an album, but we\u2019re gonna record a few songs. It\u2019s just to give people an idea, if you wanna come out to the show and see what kinda band it\u2019s gonna be, it\u2019s gonna be that kind of vibe.<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you know what covers you\u2019re gonna record?
<\/strong>I\u2019m not sure yet. We\u2019ve done \u201cDraw the Line\u201d by Aerosmith, and the Joan Jett one we played was \u201cI Hate Myself for Loving You.\u201d I love that song. I love that drummer, Thommy Price.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd you said that\u2019s not your only project?
<\/strong>No, I\u2019m working with some Swedish musicians, kinda doing the same thing. Conny Bloom was in Hanoi Rocks and the Electric Boys, and Johnny Griparic who plays in Slash\u2019s solo blues band, but was also in Snakepit back in the day. They brought in a keyboard player, Bob Fridzema, and Matti Alfonzetti, a Swedish singer who\u2019s super great, super soulful. David Coverdale, Paul Rodgers kinda vibe. But with that band we do a Guns song and we play an Electric Boys song, and we play a Slash song. With that band we\u2019re doing more of a, \u201cHey, come and celebrate the stuff that this band\u2019s legacy is part of.\u201d And we throw some covers in there too, obviously. We\u2019re calling that band One Night Only.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tIt is a transition, from a long, steady gig to this new life. What\u2019s that transition been like?
<\/strong>It\u2019s been really good, actually. I\u2019ve been able to spend a little more time at home, just a little bit more. Still trying to keep busy. It\u2019s 50\/50, how can I say? Guns is such a big, huge, high-energy, global thing. And now even though I\u2019m playing a lot in Europe more than in the States, I\u2019m doing more of a smaller local thing, but I get to play with some of my favorite people. I did a tribute thing for Clem Burke<\/a> who passed away recently, the drummer of Blondie. Got to play with Glen Matlock of the Pistols, and Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go\u2019s, some members of the Fleshtones, Tommy Stinson, who I haven\u2019t played with since Guns 11 years ago or whatever. I did a couple songs with him. I\u2019m gonna go do a Psychedelic Furs run later this year, late October into November. So it\u2019s not so much a big, giant touring stadium thing, but it\u2019s great. I get to work with some of my favorite people. It is a transition, but it\u2019s a good one.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow much of a fan of Guns N\u2019 Roses were you early on? How much were they on your radar?
<\/strong>They were big in New York\u2026 I remember when I first heard \u201cIt\u2019s So Easy,\u201d I thought they were a New York City band, \u2019cause they sound like the Dictators or something like that. They didn\u2019t sound like an L.A. glam band. They sounded like a New York City punk band. They were more like New York Dolls and Dictators than they were like Poison or any of those. It sounded mean and raw, ripped jeans and T-shirts. I used to see them in New York all the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2006, you were at a talent show and you get a call.<\/strong>
<\/strong>Yeah. I was at my daughter\u2019s talent show. It\u2019s funny because my friend Anthony Esposito, bass player that was in Lynch Mob, he was putting a band together for Ace Frehley. So Anthony, this New York City guitar player Rob Bailey, and I were rehearsing Ace songs. And I was thinking, \u201cOh, this is gonna be great. I\u2019m gonna get to play in\u00a0 Ace\u2019s band.\u201d And then I got a phone call from Tommy. I found out later on that Brain was gonna have a kid, and they had this big tour. So I was gonna step in for about a two-week period.<\/p>\n

\n\tWas that first rehearsal like playing with any other band?
<\/strong>No. It was huge. It was a big deal. I definitely saw it like that. Like I said, I had a couple of songs in my back pocket, and I remember thinking, \u201cI\u2019m letting it go. I\u2019m just gonna play as hard and as mean as I possibly can. I\u2019m leaving it all out there.\u201d I played as if I was playing a gig, for sure.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow many rehearsals did you actually get before the first show?
<\/strong>My soundchecks were kinda like rehearsals, for lack of a better word, and remember, they\u2019re doing festivals and stuff, so they\u2019re not soundchecking every show. I think I had maybe three rehearsals before I played the gig. Maybe four altogether. Because also, Brain has to soundcheck also, so we only got very limited times to work on music, and I\u2019m also at this point also learning all the new Chinese Democracy stuff that we\u2019re playing on tour. It was kinda stressful, but exciting-stressful, not \u201cOh, my God, what am I gonna do?\u201d It was more like, \u201cOh, fuck, I gotta get this down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd that stuff wasn\u2019t released. How did you learn it?
<\/strong>No. They gave me the demos. They gave me the tracks. I remember [guitarist] Robin Finck<\/a> being super supportive. A couple times I went into his room, him and I, and I would play on my lap, and he played on his guitar not plugged in. And we\u2019d run through all the stuff. It was pretty cool, actually. And that\u2019s how we learned it. They were playing four or five songs off the unreleased record at that point.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat do you remember about your first interactions with Axl?
<\/strong>Him being really super nice and friendly. I think he saw it too that this is a big deal. \u201cHey, this guy\u2019s jumping on kinda raw,\u201d and I\u2019m sure he felt, \u201cThis better work.\u201d And when I got up onstage, he was like, \u201cGreat job.\u201d If I did a fill that he liked, he\u2019d [say], \u201cThat was fucking awesome.\u201d Like that. He acted with me as I\u2019ve been in the band the whole time. And I would thank him every day, and he\u2019d be like, \u201cYo, chill out, bro.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo Brain steps away for good and you\u2019re coming in. How did they actually tell you?
<\/strong>His kid was brand new. And there was another huge U.S. tour coming up, and he was like, \u201cMan, I don\u2019t feel right about leaving the wife and the baby on this huge tour.\u201d So he\u2019s, \u201cHey, man, would you wanna jump on and do this next tour also?\u201d I was like, \u201cHell yeah, motherfucker. You kidding?\u201d Brain sat me down and said something to me that I\u2019ll never forget, and I think that\u2019s probably another part of why it was able to work. Brain said to me, \u201cHey, this is a big deal, and they have a couple of records in the can. But the most important thing is that you have to somehow make it feel like it\u2019s your own. That\u2019s the only way you\u2019re gonna be able to continue. Don\u2019t worry too much to play like this guy or play like that guy.\u201d Try to find your sweet spot and try to make the music your own, and that\u2019s what I tried to do. I tried my damnedest to do that.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the pre-Chinese Democracy stuff you had two very different drummers, Adler and Sorum. What was it like approaching those two different things?
<\/strong>The way I thought about it was, let me see if I could grab some of that Adler, off the rails, punky, edgy, almost falling apart feeling, which makes the first record sound fucking scary as fuck. But also have that steady, professional, Matt Sorum thing. I try to be somewhere in between. I don\u2019t know if I accomplished it every time. So I would try to be an aggressive drummer, but a steady, aggressive drummer, was the only way that could work. And then the Chinese Democracy stuff was the way it\u2019s played. Brain-style. That funky rock style.<\/p>\n

\n\tMore technical.
<\/strong>Way more technical. But the Adler, dude, the first record, might be the best debut drummer record ever. Ever. You could put it up against any other debut-record drummers. John Bonham for Zeppelin, Bill Ward for\u00a0Sabbath. Pick whatever first you want. That drumming on that record is fucking brilliant. Brilliant. It\u2019s mean and aggressive and funky and punk rocky and off, right on the edge, man, teetering. You\u2019re like, \u201cMan, am I gonna fall off this building.\u201d Rollercoaster, your heart is pumping, it fucking rocks, man. His playing on \u201cJungle,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s So Easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019re credited on five songs on Chinese Democracy. Did you just overdub parts, or did you fully replace Brain\u2019s drums?
<\/strong>The only song that I play all the way through by myself is \u201cChinese Democracy.\u201d And there were some drum fills, some parts that I was doing live that Axl loved and wanted them on the record. So there\u2019s parts, I can\u2019t remember off the top of my head, but I know \u201cBetter\u201d was one of the songs that is just me and Brain, and \u201cIRS\u201d is me and Brain.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhere and when did this take place?<\/strong>
<\/strong>It was during the rehearsals when we started that fall tour in 2006, during rehearsals. It was a recording studio, and they had everything set up. And I went in there and played the parts. At this point I\u2019d been playing them for three or four months, so it didn\u2019t take that long, probably two days, maybe one day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s 2006, and you\u2019re playing on Chinese Democracy, already one of the most legendary, mysterious albums of all time. Here you are on an almost-finished version of it.
<\/strong>Crazy and nutty is the right word. And mind you, I\u2019m still riding this wave of \u201cIs this really happening? Is this really going on?\u201d But dude, I was so happy and proud to play on it, so that whole period was a whirlwind, man. My whole life changed within the matter of months. I was playing local gigs with local bands and doing these small tours to being in this big giant machine and trying to fit in, and happy to be fitting in, man. Happy to be fitting in.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you played on the title track, did they play you what had been there before?
<\/strong>Yeah. They played me some stuff and I heard a version that I think Josh [Freese] played on, and then I listened to a version that Brain played on. And then we talked about, oh, maybe I could do this. Maybe I could do that. There was [producer] Caram Costanzo that was there already, and I already had established a relationship with him. So it wasn\u2019t a super tough deal.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKate Green\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tDid you have a sense of what Axl was looking for that the two previous monster drummers couldn\u2019t accomplish?
<\/strong>I don\u2019t think it was that they couldn\u2019t accomplish. I just think it was more like\u2026 \u2018Cause the playing\u2019s insane. I just think it was a feel thing, like I\u2019m more of a groove kind of drummer. I\u2019m not a super technical type of drummer. All my favorite drummers are groove drummers. So it was more like that, just finding a groove, and I think that\u2019s what they really liked about it.<\/p>\n

\n\tWere you ever wondering, \u201cIs this thing actually coming out?\u201d
<\/strong>I never really wondered. I knew it was coming out. I was having a ball, so I was just happy to play on it, but I never really wondered, \u201cHey, when is this coming out?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBetween 2006 and 2008 when the album finally dropped, what was the vibe in the band?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I don\u2019t remember that well, to be honest with you. I know Robin went out and started playing with Nails again, and everybody was doing their own thing, and it was like that vibe, just waiting for it to come out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen it came out, there was no interview, no videos. Axl wasn\u2019t ultimately happy with the way it was released. How much of that were you privy to?<\/strong>
<\/strong>No, I wasn\u2019t part of all that, I wasn\u2019t. At this point I\u2019m just waiting for the record to come out and hoping to work soon, so I don\u2019t know about that stuff.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou were one of the first people officially allowed to hear this stuff. What was your opinion of it?<\/strong>
<\/strong>First off, I thought it was a great record, personally. I thought the songs were really good. I remember thinking like \u201cStreet of Dreams,\u201d for example, I thought that song was fucking amazing, and I like the growth. At this point, the band is a different band. It\u2019s not the two previous versions of the band. I think it got a lot of hate because of the whole process and who Axl was, but the record\u2019s slamming. I think the record\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd then you hit the road again.<\/strong>
<\/strong>Yeah. Eventually. A few months later. And then we didn\u2019t stop touring for three years.<\/p>\n

\n\tI saw you a few times, and if you closed your eyes you\u2019d think, this band is destroying. Despite not having anybody from the original band besides Axl.
<\/strong>Dizzy [Reed]. I would consider Dizzy an original member, he\u2019s in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Fair. But none of the rhythm section, no guitarist. And nonetheless you were manifesting the spirit of Guns N\u2019 Roses, which is the hardest thing of all.
<\/strong>The voice, man, the voice. That puts everything right. The minute you hear that man\u2019s voice you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, this is Guns. It\u2019s Guns.\u201d Your favorite guy might not be in the band, but it\u2019s Guns. And we forgot to mention that [guitarist] Ron \u201c\u201d Thal had to jump in. We had to gel. We had to learn and gel as a band, so that\u2019s one of the reasons it took a while. I felt that band, we pulled for each other and a lot of support, and we really worked hard at making it feel and sound like a band, for sure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m a big fan of Bumblefoot\u2019s playing.<\/strong>
<\/strong>He knows every song. Literally every song. You\u2019ll talk about a TV commercial \u2014 \u201cOh, you remember that old Captain Crunch commercial over there?\u201d And he\u2019ll play the theme of the Captain. You\u2019re like, \u201cWhat the fuck? This guy is insane.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat do you think the world misunderstands about Axl?
<\/strong>That he\u2019s a mean guy. I think the world thinks that he\u2019s a scary, mean guy. And he\u2019s the complete opposite. He doesn\u2019t suffer fools, so that might piss people off. But he\u2019s generous and super funny, and worried about us all the time, worried about, \u201cHey, you guys, how you guys doing?\u201d \u201cHey, is Frank OK? Hey, Frank, are you OK?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m doing fine.\u201d He\u2019s, \u201cOh, OK, cool.\u201d It\u2019s that kind of stuff constantly. I wish they could know him the way I know him. That\u2019s the only way I could say it. He\u2019s a great musician, great singer, all that stuff that goes in the pot, but he\u2019s a good man.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe had to go onstage every night with something to prove without the original members.
<\/strong>He\u2019s out there busting his ass, trying to make everything sound great, be great every night. He\u2019s under immense pressure, and he delivers. He would lead the way. We would go up there and even if you\u2019re feeling like, \u201cOh, man, I don\u2019t know if I feel that great tonight,\u201d and then he comes out and starts singing and, I don\u2019t know, turning into the Hulk out there. You\u2019re like, \u201cFuck this. I better get to where he\u2019s at.\u201d And everybody would push. He loves being up there. He loves giving a good show. And we had to rise to the occasion.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Izzy Stradlin returned in 2006, were you in the band already?
<\/strong>I did a few shows with him. Izzy was fun. He was part of the band, and we spent a lot of time together. It\u2019s funny \u2019cause those guys are so chill. You\u2019re just sitting there going, \u201cOK, these rock stars,\u201d and it\u2019s not that at all. It\u2019s super chill and a lot of laughing. But it was great to see Izzy and Axl together. It was always super great.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2014 Tommy has to miss some shows and Duff fills in. Did any bells start ringing, like maybe I\u2019m gonna be out of a gig soon?
<\/strong>I figured if those guys ever came back, everybody would come back. The only thing I thought was, \u201cOh, this is cool. Duff is playing with us.\u201d \u2018Cause I didn\u2019t think I was gonna be part of anything. It\u2019s not so much being out of a gig soon because I was still at, \u201cI can\u2019t believe I got this gig and I\u2019m still there.\u201d Guns is iconic, bro. It was like, \u201cOh fuck, they might come back and that\u2019d be cool.\u201d If you\u2019re a Guns fan, you\u2019re gonna lose your mind. And dude, even though Guns is the biggest thing I\u2019ve ever done, it\u2019s not my band, you know what I\u2019m saying? It doesn\u2019t belong to me, even though I\u2019m a part of it and part of the legacy and stuff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSo Axl called you and was like, \u201cWe\u2019re getting Duff and Slash back in. Would you play with us?\u201d That\u2019s a crazy call. It\u2019s like a rehiring.<\/strong>
<\/strong>That\u2019s who he is, bro. He\u2019s super-courteous. He\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know if Frank might even wanna do it.\u201d You know what I\u2019m saying? And I was surprised and grateful. And I\u2019m like, \u201cYeah, just call me when we\u2019re ready and I\u2019ll have everything learned, and we\u2019ll throw down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019d been playing in the band for a decade at that point, but this was a whole new thing. You walk in that day. What was that like?
<\/strong>I don\u2019t know how to put it into words. But it was super exciting. Stressful too. I don\u2019t wanna suck in front of these guys. But it took work because those guys, it\u2019s their music. So I had to find my way. I wasn\u2019t doing it like the Chinese Democracy stuff \u2014 it had to be more of a Steven and Sorum thing. So it took me a minute to find my way with them, \u2019cause it\u2019s their music, they wanna hear it a certain way. So the three of us just woodshedded for a couple of months, just going in there and playing every day, playing all this stuff. And also them learning some of the Chinese stuff too. The three of us were really working hard to make it sound as good as possible.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuff and Slash both said they kinda wanted you to play it more like the recorded versions. Which is strange, because you\u2019d been playing those songs more recently than they had.<\/strong>
<\/strong>It\u2019s their music. It\u2019s the way they wrote it, the way they heard it. It\u2019s their music.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first gig was a club gig, then Coachella.<\/strong>
<\/strong>I remember being in awe of it. I remember really working hard not to fuck up the songs. When Slash started the riff to \u201cSweet Child O\u2019 Mine,\u201d that\u2019s when the enormity of it hit me, when I was like, \u201cHoly fuck, I\u2019m playing in Guns N\u2019 Roses with Slash, and Duff, and Axl.\u201d \u2018Cause he\u2019s out by himself playing that riff, and you look out in the crowd and their faces just light up, if somebody set them on fire, and you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, shit, this is the real fucking deal right now. This is really real.\u201d And then he breaks his foot after the first or second song. And he still runs around the stage the rest of the night. I can\u2019t even imagine that, man.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf someone was cynical, they\u2019d say: Did it become a money grab as the reunion went on and on?
<\/strong>I don\u2019t know about the business side, but I know that those guys love doing it. They just love it. It\u2019s their band. It\u2019s their music. All I saw was three gentlemen that love and have a passion for doing what they do. That\u2019s gotta be special that everybody loves your music and wants to hear it. I haven\u2019t felt that. I\u2019ve played in a lot of bands. We\u2019ve written a lot of fun songs, great songs that I love, but not songs that anybody else loves. And they get to do it. That\u2019s why they do it.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe songs they\u2019ve released since Chinese Democracy all have Brain playing on them. It\u2019s a bummer you never got to record with them.
<\/strong>Again, I don\u2019t look at it that way. I just look at it that they can continue doing it, and the fans get to hear newer songs. I never looked at it like I\u2019m bummed out that I didn\u2019t play on it, no. I love Brain\u2019s drumming, man. Brain is a great drummer.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat, if anything, do you want to say about the circumstances of your departure?
<\/strong>Everything comes to an end. Everything just comes to an end. And I\u2019ve said this before, I knew this thing wasn\u2019t gonna be forever. I was just so happy I got to do it when I got to do it, and now I\u2019m doing other stuff. It\u2019s really that simple.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo nothing dramatic. Just one day there\u2019s a phone call.<\/strong>
<\/strong>Nothing dramatic, no. We didn\u2019t get into a fight or anything like that. No.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt seems like you dealt with it as well as anyone could.<\/strong>
<\/strong>I don\u2019t have a lot of expectations. I don\u2019t go through life thinking that things are a certain way. I kinda just take \u2019em as they are. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s because I grew up poor in New York City. If you have expectations, you have disappointments, and I try not to have disappointments. Sometimes I miss it and sometimes I don\u2019t, just like with anything in life. Just because I\u2019m not playing with them anymore doesn\u2019t mean that I don\u2019t have all those people in my life. That\u2019s how it was yesterday and this is how it is today, period.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat were your greatest moments with Axl, offstage and onstage?
<\/strong>One time we had to get to a show and he let me jump on his private plane with him. I had never been on one, and I remember the stewardess came up to me and she was like, \u201cHey, do you want anything to eat?\u201d And she goes, \u201cWe have everything.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cOK, I want a piece of New York City cheesecake.\u201d And she was like, \u201cHold on.\u201d And brought me a slice of New York City cheesecake. So that was pretty awesome. But I always tell everybody my favorite moment. So when we do Coachella they were like, \u201cHey, Angus [Young]\u00a0 is gonna play with us. He\u2019s gonna play \u2018Riff Raff.’\u201d So we go into this little dressing room and Angus has the jeans and T-shirt on. And I\u2019m sitting there, the whole band is there, and we\u2019re running through the song. They\u2019re playing it on the guitars, but they\u2019re not plugged in. And I\u2019m playing on my lap. Go out, start the show. Axl introduces Angus. Angus comes out in full-blown 1977 schoolboy gear. Before I was just hanging out with this guy in his jeans. And when he came out with the big A on his hat, my mind was completely blown. And he walks up to the front of the stage, takes a bow, turns around, stares at me, and puts his hand up, like to start the song. Classic Angus, and I\u2019m just staring at him. I froze. And I look down, \u2019cause if I\u2019m sitting on the kit and I\u2019m staring out into the audience, Slash is on my left. So from the corner of my eye, I see Slash going, \u201cCome on, start the song. Start the song.\u201d That\u2019s probably my super-favorite Guns N\u2019 Roses story. But that moment was like, \u201cAm I dreaming? I must be dreaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat were your relationships like with Slash and Duff? <\/strong>
We\u2019re not best friends, but very good. I thought we had a really good relationship. We had group texts going, stuff like that. I felt like I was a little closer to Duff. We had a lot more in common, like punk rock. We went and saw, when Walter Lure of the Heartbreakers did the L.A.M.F. tour, we went and saw that together, stuff like that.<\/p>\n

\n\tDid you ever play with a click track?
<\/strong>Some of the earlier tours, some of the Chinese stuff, \u2019cause there were intros and there\u2019s pyro cues, and a lot of that stuff, so sometimes I had to play with a click track.<\/p>\n

\n\tIs that not your favorite?<\/strong>
<\/strong>Me personally? I\u2019d rather always play with a click track. My biggest worry as a drummer is tempo. So once we have the tempo locked in, I feel free. I could do a roll, and if I\u2019m ahead of the click, I could pull it back. If I\u2019m behind the click, I could push it. If it\u2019s a quote-unquote pro gig, I\u2019d rather play with a click all day. I don\u2019t wanna worry about tempo. As a drummer, speeding up and slowing down, it\u2019s a pet peeve.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the whole reunion, you were off click?<\/strong>
<\/strong>Oh yeah. Pretty much. There was a couple times I put the click on. If there might be a long jam session in a song I might tell my tech, \u201cYo, count this out so we stay locked in, so I don\u2019t speed up.\u201d But everything is their feel. Guns is feel. It\u2019s locking into the feel.<\/p>\n

\n\tA lot of times you wouldn\u2019t have a set list. Axl would just call the songs?
<\/strong>We would have a set list, but we wouldn\u2019t stick to it. It\u2019s whatever he feels like singing. He might feel like, \u201cHey, I wanna sing this now,\u201d so we play it. If he feels like singing a different song we play a different song. We have like a 40-song body, and then we probably at the time have in the actual quote-unquote set list might be like 23 songs. But anything out of that could be added. \u201cHey, we haven\u2019t played this in a while. Let\u2019s do that.\u201d On the fly. That\u2019s the kind of band it was, or is. I shouldn\u2019t say was. Is.<\/p>\n

\n\tIs there anything I didn\u2019t give you a chance to say?
<\/strong>I\u2019m grateful for the love that the fan base has given me, how they accepted me and made me feel like I was part of the legacy. A big thank you to the people that supported the band and that viewed me as a band member. I think that\u2019s kinda cool.<\/p>\n

\n\tEmotionally, are you able to go see them now or look at them on YouTube? Or do you need a little bit of a break?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s anything emotionally. It\u2019s Guns N\u2019 Roses, bro. You know what I\u2019m saying? It\u2019s just this machine that exists whether I\u2019m in it or not. And like I said before, sometimes I miss it, sometimes I don\u2019t, but always grateful that I got to do it. I still keep in touch with some of those guys, for sure.<\/p>\n

\n\tHave you seen clips of Isaac playing with him?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I\u2019ve seen clips of Isaac playing with him. And he\u2019s a great drummer. He\u2019s cool, and him and Duff lock in, and they seem like they\u2019re happy playing together, so it\u2019s cool.<\/p>\n

\n\tYour attitude could teach everyone how to have a good attitude.
<\/strong>I don\u2019t have any expectations and I\u2019m lucky. I\u2019m like this about everything in my life, except my girlfriend. Her name is Daniella Peters. She was like, \u201cYou never mention me in interviews.\u201d So her name is Daniella Peters. She\u2019s an awesome woman, and I live with her here in the desert. I still have my house back east, though. I have a house in Maplewood, New Jersey. So I go back and forth.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tWere you able to have a last heart-to-heart with Axl?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I don\u2019t think it was a situation where we needed to have a heart-to-heart, and I\u2019m sure that him and I will get together again. I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll get together. I think it was just, things change. Nothing stays the same, that\u2019s all.<\/p>\n

\n\tMaybe there\u2019ll be circumstances where you can play with him again. Who knows?<\/strong>
<\/strong>Yeah, man. Maybe. Maybe. Again, I\u2019m not expecting it. I don\u2019t expect anything. But I\u2019m sure that one day Axl and I will hook up, hang out and maybe play together, maybe not. I don\u2019t know. There\u2019s no animosity. None.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drummer Frank Ferrer was at his then-seven-year-old daughter\u2019s talent show in 2006 when his phone rang. On the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":928192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[9349,374358,185,101768,171,374359,9344,374360,101767,374361,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-928191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-axl-rose","tag-bumblefoot","tag-celebrities","tag-duff-mckagan","tag-entertainment","tag-frank-ferrer","tag-guns-n-roses","tag-robin-finck","tag-slash","tag-tommy-stinson","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116902332196117366","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}