Superstar Facts & Pix - No.16 - 1988

One-on-one with Guns N' Roses' drum dynamo Steven Adler.


Q: How's the tour going?
A: Great. I love meeting all the different people in the different cities. I really get into how everybody's so unique and yet so much the same. Meeting them all and being onstage and playing for them and seeing them clap their hands and stamp their feet is the greatest. When I see them scream and have such a good time, it makes me give 150%.

Q: The kids really went wild for you guys tonight!
A: That's right, man. These kids go to the show and they don't want to think about their jobs or their mother or their teachers. They come to have a good time and get everything out of their head... not think about a damn thing! And that's what I like.

Q: Your early live shows are legendary. Do you feel the band is more controlled onstage now that you're such big stars?
A: Not at all. It's even crazier now. And better. We're a much better band now than we were when we were playing in Los Angeles.

Q: Usually when a band gets big...
A: It gets lazy. I know. But not us. We're not toning it down for anybody! I go out there and have a damn ball every night. And it keeps on getting better. Practice makes perfect, y'know? Every night I get better and so does the band. It's getting crazier and crazier too!

Q: I've heard you were self-taught. True?
A: That's right. I never took a drum lesson in my life. I learned from watching and listening very closely to other drummers. That plus wanting it real bad and believing in myself.

Q: There's a lesson there somewhere. Who are some of the people you watched and learned from?
A: Roger Taylor of Queen... John "Bonzo" Bonham of Led Zeppelin... Keith Moon of The Who... and jazz drummers Gene Krups and Buddy Rich.

Q: Out of those great drummers, Roger Taylor's the only guy still alive!
A: (laughing) Yeah, I guess so. I learned more from watching a five-minute drum solo that Buddy Rich once did on "The Tonight Show" than almost anything else ever. He tore that snare drum right up!

Q: Let's switch tracks. What do you look for in a girl?
A: Right now, I just scored bigtime on a real nice girl. I like a smart girl who can take care of herself and who doesn't have to look up to me or expect me to give her anything. I like a girl who wants to go out and pursue her own thing, not rely on me all the time.

Q: What would be your idea of a dream date?
A: I haven't gone on a date in so long! I guess my dream date would be to go to Las Vegas. I just like going to drive-in movies or out for a good dinner. I like to do the things that the girl likes to do. I'm not always the super bad guy, y'know!

Q: What is your earliest music recollection?
A: The first record I remember ever putting on was "Working My Way Back To You, Babe" by The Four Seasons. I love The Four Seasons, man! I met 'em all! I got to meet Frankie Valli in Las Vegas once. Mr. T was there and it was the best! I been into The Four Seasons since I was five years old.

Q: What would you be doing if you weren't doing this?
A: I'd probably be an actor. I love to entertain. I got to do a movie recently but I didn't get to do much acting in it.

Q: Which movie?
A: The new Clint Eastwood film, Dead Pool. The whole band's in it. We didn't have that great or that big of a scene. I got sick the day we did it so Slash, Duff, and Izzy got to do most of it. They got to harpoon some dude. They were super bad guys! I played a dude at some musician's funeral and I was hanging out by the coffin.

Q: What turns you on more than anything else?
A: The lights going out just before we hit the stage. Hearing that energy from the crowd before we even start. That turns me on more than anything else in the world. I really love playing live. There's nothing like it. When those kids start screaming, I get a serious rush. Drugs ain't got a clue on what a good time really is.

Q: How 'bout a self-description?
A: I'm pretty down-to-earth. I really don't care too much about causing problems for other people. I just want to do my own thing and if I can help somebody, I'll do what I can. I'm just a nice guy, I guess. I have no enemies... that I know about. I like to take it easy when I have the chance. I like to relax.

Q: That's different from all the badboy press you guys have been generating.
A: It's sorta good we had all those stories because it made people very skeptical about what we were and who we were... but they did want to hear our music because of it. I mean, we have done some crazy things, but never really bad things to hurt anybody or screw anybody up. We're not into that. We're into having fun. As long as we don't hurt anybody or rip anybody off, there's nothing wrong with having a good time.

Q: How 'bout all those stories about you guys wrecking furniture and breaking windows and stuff?
A: So what? We didn't hurt anybody. So we broke some stuff. So we had a few too many drinks. So what of it? I personally have thrown everything out of my hotel window. I got twisted, man! It's like the golden rule of rock: if you get this far in the business, you have to do these things. You have to break things. You have to go to jail. You have to throw everything out of your hotel window. It's just one of those things. You have to do it. We never hurt anybody. I went to jail in Chicago once. We got into this big fight, a major fight in the bar of a hotel. But I better not say anything else about that.

Q: The kids love you.
A: We know what the kids want to hear and we know what they want to see. 'Cause we're kids too! We may be a little older than them now... but not that much older. Hey, we've been 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 years old before. I've been to rock 'n' roll shows and I know what I liked and I know what I didn't like. Now, maybe I got more responsibilities. Maybe the kids don't have a lot of responsibilities yet but they will. They'll have plenty soon enough. Hey, we eat, drink, sleep, burp and fart just like the rest of 'em. There ain't no difference.

Q: Speaking of sleep, how do you ever get any?
A: Y'know, you get so wound up and so excited after a show that it's really hard to sleep at all. You keep thinking about those faces in the crowd. Each city is another trip. The faces change. The halls change. Yet all our crowds basically get down the same way. There's only one way to clap your hands!

Q: What can you tell us about the upcoming album?
A: There'll be stuff both old and new on it. We recorded "I Used To Love Her But I Had To Kill Her," "Patience" and an acoustic version of "You're Crazy," with congas, maraccas, tambourines and a little bit of light drums I put in there. It's pretty cool. Plus, there's gonna be some real surprises: songs that you'd never expect us to do. There's one about 15 minutes long with strings, synthesizers, piano, and a lot of big drums.

Q: Wasn't "Anything Goes" 12½ minutes at one time?
A: Yeah, I used to get tired playing that song! We shortened it for the first album. It was totally different too. We put it on our demo tape. Y'know, we did that demo tape for only $300 in five hours and that's how we got our record contract.

Q: I bet you never thought your audience would be as diverse as it is.
A: Did so, man. I knew it right from the jump. I wanted the 15-year olds to get into us as well as the 30-year olds and that's exactly what happened. We got fans 10 years old and 40 years old. Some of the old guys at Geffen Records are past 60 and they're digging it! They play the LP all the time. And my mom! It's so weird! She turns all her friends on to it. They play my tape at her beauty salon.

Q: Your mother must be a hero to all her friends by now.
A: Oh yeah, you got it, man. She's a waitress at a deli in the valley and kids come in there just to meet her and get HER autograph. It's really funny! My mom's having a better time out of all this than I am! And my dad! He works at the railroad and all the older dudes, they get into it. They say, "So what's your son doing? I saw him on MTV." These guys are 70 years old! Even my grandfather who's past 70. He loves it.

Q: Well, thanks for the interview, Steve. We know how busy your schedule is.
A: Oh no problem, man. I always wanted to be in those teenage magazines. I used to read 'em all the time and fantasize about how great it would be when I'd be featured.

Fast Facts

Name: Steven Adler
Instrument: Drums
Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio
Birth Date: January 22, 1965
Height: 5 foot 10
Weight: 135
Currently Lives: Hermosa Beach, California
Favorite Band: Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Favorite Musicians: Slash and Duff "I look up to those two guys more than anybody else."
Favorite City: New Orleans
Favorite Actor: Marlon Brando
Favorite Actress: Raquel Welch
Favorite Movie: The Poseidon Adventure/The Bad News Bears
Favorite TV Shows: Cheers/Taxi
Favorite Food: Italian
Favorite Sports: Football/Hockey
Favorite Book: The Hardy Boys
Least Favorite Thing About Traveling: Not enough to eat/no sleep
First Concert: KISS
First Favorite Band: KISS
Former Jobs: Mopping bowling alley lanes/sweeping floors/washing dishes/waiting on tables/warehouse worker/paperboy - "I had a lot of goofy jobs."

©Copyright Alan Hylands 2001