ADLER, the new band led by former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Steven Adler, has postponed its previously announced summer tour due to Steven checking into an undisclosed rehabilitation center to continue working on his sobriety.
“We are truly sorry to all of the fans and promoters who were looking forward to seeing us on the road, but right now Steven‘s health is the most important thing,” states ADLER frontman Jacob Bunton. “We hope to make it up to everyone when Steven recovers.”
U.S. dates are currently being rescheduled to early fall.
Adler appeared on season two of on the “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew” show and the first season of the spin-off program “Sober House” back in late 2008 and early 2009. Adler then went on to stints in real rehab centers after being ordered to by a judge as part of a DUI bust. He subsequently returned for Season 5 of “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew” alongside Michael Lohan, Dwight Gooden and Bai Ling, among others.
“Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House” included footage of Adler being arrested on July 18, 2008 after he showed up at a sober-living home high and in possession of heroin.
Having been kicked out of his mother’s house on numerous occasions before he was old enough to vote, Steven Adler reportedly started skipping school and doing drugs when he was 11.
Steven Adler was the drummer for GUNS N’ ROSES from 1985 to 1990. He was eventually fired from the band due to his drug addiction, which caused him to spiral down into depression and more drug use.
Steven Adler‘s autobiography, “My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N’ Roses”, came out in July 2010. In the book, Adler tells all, fearlessly addressing his struggles with heroin and crack addiction; his financial ruin after being kicked out of GN’R; his shattered marriage; and the severe health problems that nearly claimed his life on several occasions.
DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED, the band led by VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N’ ROSES bassist Duff McKagan, and ADLER, which features in its ranks GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Steven Adler, joined forces for two shows in Japan on March 7-8 at Duo Music Exchange in Shibuya.
Video footage of Adler performing two GUNS N’ ROSES classics — -“It’s So Easy” and -“Sweet Child O’ Mine” — with DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED during the March 7 concert can be seen below.
DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED‘s latest album, “The Taking”, was released in April 2011 via Eagle Rock Entertainment. The CD landed at position No. 12 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
ADLER‘s debut album, “Back From The Dead”, was released in North America on November 26 via New Ocean Media. The CD was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Jeff Pilson (FOREIGNER, DOKKEN) and was mixed by Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STONE SOUR).
ADLER is comprised of Adler, Bunton, guitarist Lonny Paul (ADLER’S APPETITE), and bassist Johnny Martin (CHELSEA SMILES).
Joe Daly of The Nervous Breakdown recently conducted an interview with ADLER members Steven Adler (drums; also formerly of GUNS N’ ROSES) and Lonny Paul (guitar). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
The Nervous Breakdown: You recently said that you haven’t been this excited about playing music since your days in GUNS N’ ROSES. What is it about this lineup that’s so different?
Steven: It’s just a great team. Growing up and having Slash as a best friend, I couldn’t have been more blessed. But to meet someone when you’re forty seven years old, like I did with Lonny Paul, to have another best friend when you’re forty seven is a double-blessing. I just love being part of a team. I love that camaraderie where we’re all on the same page, we’re all after the same goal… we’re like a Super Bowl team! We’re trying to get to the Super Bowl, which for us is the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
The Nervous Breakdown: Speaking of that, the last time I saw you was on the day that you received word that GUNS N’ ROSES had been nominated for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. You walked into the Rainbow that morning, having just received the call. Looking back now, having been inducted, how did it all go down for you, personally?
Steven: I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end that chapter of my life. And now, with this new record and new band, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the new chapter of my life.
The Nervous Breakdown: When you sat down to put ADLER together, did you give any thought to how it might relate to your GN’R legacy? Specifically, was there a conscious decision to avoid sounding too much like “Appetite For Destruction”?
Steven: It didn’t even enter my thinking. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with the GUNS sound; I love the GUNS sound and I’m proud of the GUNS sound. But that was five different guys. And now there’s four different guys that I’m working with now, and this is what we came up with and we had a blast making it. I just hope that the people listening to the record can hear the fun and the excitement and the passion that we had making this record. We’re hoping you can hear that.
The Nervous Breakdown: Slash guested on this album (on the song “Just Don’t Ask”). Steven, didn’t you teach Slash his very first guitar chord?
Steven: Yeah, I first met Slash in junior high school. After we met up, we went to my grandmother’s, where I lived off of Fairfax and Santa Monica. I had a little amplifier and a little cheap guitar and I knew two chords and two scales and he came over my house and we went into my grandpa’s room and put my KISS record on, turned the little amplifier up and I did these crazy little Ace Frehley moves. I showed him the two chords and two scales that I knew and within a week he was already playing and writing songs. He’s brilliant, and I couldn’t have asked for a better best friend growing up.
The Nervous Breakdown: With everything that you guys have been through, together and separately, what was it like to finally play with him again?
Steven: It was the best way to start this new chapter of my life. He wouldn’t let me watch him record… once he got there, we said hi, and he said, “Get out!” [laughs] But I didn’t get out. I was hiding in the laundry room, right next to him. I was right next to his room! It was great. It made me feel good because he’s very particular about who he works with. He wouldn’t work with me in the past because of my addiction problems, and he just doesn’t want to be around it. So for me, to have got myself to a place in my life where he’s willing to come around me and wanting to be around me, I couldn’t be happier and more proud. Things have changed. I’ll tell you, the biggest change was when Dr. Drew got a hold of Slash and I got the opportunity to apologize to Slash for blaming him for everything that happened in my life. Once I took responsibility for my own actions and started making amends, everything in my life became so much easier. Of course, I still have issues but that’s to be expected; I did drugs for thirty five years! It’s like going in the ring with Manny Pacquiao; it’s gonna take some time to heal after they kick you out of the ring. [laughs] It’s just nice that I got to the point of my healing where Slash is wanting to be a part of my life again, and to have him work with me is a plus.
Bloody-Disgusting.com recently conducted an interview with ADLER and LYNAM frontman Jacob Bunton. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Bloody-Disgusting.com: How’d this all come about with ADLER? Did you know Steven [Adler, ADLER drummer] beforehand?
Jacob Bunton: No, I’d never met him before. I was actually at Jani Lane‘s [WARRANT] memorial, and he was actually a friend of my whole band LYNAM‘s, and I was with a producer friend of mine, a guy named Jay Ruston, and he knew Steven and the guys. They were looking for a singer, because Steven was tired of doing the ADLER’S APPETITE thing. He had been doing it for a while where they just played GUNS N’ ROSES cover tunes for all of the fans, and he wanted to do something brand new from scratch. So he was also looking for pretty much a new band from scratch, and Jay said, “I know the guy to sing,” and Steven had heard LYNAM‘s song “Is This A Heartbreak Or A Loaded Gun?”, and he really liked it. He also didn’t think that I sounded like anybody else, and that’s what he liked; he wanted a singer that didn’t sound like anybody else so that when the song came on the radio people would be like, “Oh, well that’s THAT band.” And a lot of the bands on the radio now, depending on what format, if you turn on an Active Rock station, it’s hard to tell who’s who. And if you turn on a Top 40 station it’s hard to tell who’s who; It could be Katy Perry, it could be Pink, it could be Britney Spears, you never know these days because everything pretty much sounds the same. So that was that, and then he came to my hotel a day or two later, and we really hit it off. We started talking about different bands that we both love, music that he grew up on and music that I grew up on. It was funny, because obviously the music that he grew up on was ’60s and ’70s rock, you know, everything from the RASPBERRIES to QUEEN to THE DOORS. And, of course, the music that I grew up on was GUNS N’ ROSES and MÖTLEY CRÜE and all of that. [laughs]
Bloody-Disgusting.com: So the album’s first single, “The One That You Hated”, which is excellent by the way, tell me a little bit about how that came to be.
Jacob Bunton: Thank you! Yeah, that was actually the first song that me and Lonnie [Paul], wrote together, and the last song that we recorded. How it came about was we were just sitting in Lonnie‘s living room with a couple of acoustic guitars, and I had the music and the verses, I just didn’t have the chorus, and once it got to the chorus, Lonnie just started singing “I’m the one that you hated,” and I was like, “That’s it, that’s awesome!” So it came together really naturally and really quick. And the funny thing is, it’s the first single, but it’s not like it’s the best song on the record or anything like that. Literally, Steven was about to go into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and he said, “You know, Slash has got his thing and Duff [McKagan] has got his thing, but nobody’s heard anything from me for a long time. I would like my fans to know what I’m up to.” So, literally, we just pointed at a piece of paper with all of the songs that we had recorded on it, and went, “Eeny meeny miny moe,” and that’s the one that we picked. And we shot the video, and the cool thing about it is VH1 just added the video two weeks ago. So they’ve been playing it, which is very cool.
Bloody-Disgusting.com: And as far as the ADLER album goes, is there a release date for that yet?
Jacob Bunton: Yeah, as far as ADLER goes, there’s no release date for it. The record’s been done now for a little while, but it’s still getting mixed and mastered. I think half of the record is now mixed, so we’re probably looking at early next year before the record is actually released.
ADLER, the new band led by former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Steven Adler, will release its debut single, “The One That You Hated”, via iTunes on April 10.
In addition to Steven, ADLER features Lonny Paul (ADLER’S APPETITE) on guitar and Jacob Bunton (LYNAM, MARS ELECTRIC) on vocals/guitar. The group has been recording its debut album in Los Angeles with producers Jeff Pilson (former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER/TOOTH AND NAIL bassist) and Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, ADRENALINE MOB).
ADLER‘s CD will feature guest appearances by ROB ZOMBIE/ex-MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5 and Steven‘s former GUNS N’ ROSES bandmate Slash (guitar).
“I love the music that we’re creating!” states Adler. “I haven’t been this excited about my band since the GN’R days. Jacob is exactly the singer I have been searching for. He has an amazing range and is a great writer and frontman. Lonny is an amazing guitarist and songwriter and the vibe is amazing!” He added, “I’m so excited for everyone to hear this record!” Source: Blabbermouth.net
