Joe Elliott (DEF LEPPARD), Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION), Duff McKagan (GUNS N’ ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER), Matt Sorum (GUNS N’ ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER), Gilby Clarke (GUNS N’ ROSES), Steve Stevens (BILLY IDOL) and Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW) have called for an end to bear bile farming in Asia in a new video produced for Animals Asia.
Bear bile farming sees more than 10,000 bears — mainly moon bears — kept on bile farms in China, and around 2,400 in Vietnam. The bears are milked regularly for their bile, which is used in traditional medicine.
The video below was put together for the charity by Matt Sorum, who was moved to action on finding out about Animals Asia just a few weeks ago.
Animals Asia has named Matt as their newest Ambassador for the United States.
Matt commented: “Watching the Animals Asia movies was a shock and an education for me. I previously had no idea of the issue but felt compelled to do anything I could to help. I was inspired further when I met [Animals Asia founder] Jill [Robinson], and when she later asked me to be the U.S. Ambassador for Animals Asia, I was honored to accept. This is all about those of us in the west standing up, alongside those who inspire positive change in China. We must continue to grow the number of voices in opposition to this cruel, horrific industry.”
Vision Films, a worldwide distributor of independent films, has announced that the company has secured worldwide distribution rights to former GUNS N’ ROSES bassist Duff McKagan‘s autobiographical documentary “It’s So Easy And Other Lies”. Based on the New York Times best seller about Duff‘s life, the film, which is written and directed by Christopher Duddy (“Cougar Club”), and is produced by McKagan, Duddy and Rainstorm Entertainment‘s Steven G. Kaplan (“The Big Empty”). The film is executive-produced by Daniel Zirilli (“Locked Down”), Joe Mundo (“Sunset Strip”) and Kati Thomson (“Sunset Strip”).
“It’s So Easy And Other Lies” features Duff McKagan and exclusive rare archive footage of his early days with original GUNS N’ ROSES members Slash, Steven Adler, Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose, as well as later members Gilby Clarke and Matt Sorum, and contemporaries Mike McCready (PEARL JAM), Krist Novoselic (NIRVANA), Nikki Sixx (MÖTLEY CRÜE) and much more.
This authorized biographical documentary takes the audience on an incredible cinematic journey through the unbelievable rise of a driven teenager’s meager beginnings on the streets of Seattle, to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The man is Michael McKagan, better known to the world as Duff. The band is GUNS N’ ROSES. The band became the ultimate icons of sex, drugs and rock and roll, causing pandemonium in their wake, but the lifestyle caught up with Duff, leaving him close to death. Follow Duff‘s journey through original archival footage and interviews with many of the people who took this wild ride, including a constellation of rock stars that rose to fame alongside him, and the people who inspired him to overcome his addictions.
“It’s So Easy And Other Lies” began production this past March by filming one of Duff‘s book readings at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, and recent performances with his bands WALKING PAPERS and LOADED. The film will contain rare archive footage from Marc Canter, who filmed all the early footage of GUNS N’ ROSES behind the scenes and performances, as well as an ultimate collector’s soundtrack for the fans.
“Vision Films is excited to begin sales of ‘It’s So Easy And Other Lies’,” said Lise Romanoff, managing director and CEO of worldwide distribution. “The title is a one of a kind look into one of the most iconic bands in rock history.”
Vision Films will be screening a teaser and some selected clips from “It’s So Easy And Other Lies” to buyers at their stand in the Riviera in Cannes.
In a 2011 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, McKagan stated about the “It’s So Easy” book, “It’s not really my story, it’s really not even my autobiography or memoir. I think that term is overused. It is a story of some shit that happened to me, but probably not the typical [things] what people might expect. It’s not my story of GUNS N’ ROSES or VELVET REVOLVER. All of those things are sort of in it, because they’re things I bounced through as I was getting deeper and deeper into addiction and finding my way out. It was challenging going through some of these things that I hadn’t thought about for a long time. And writing forces you to take your own part of your life, of what role you actually played — as opposed to the one you make up later on.”
Duff‘s VELVET REVOLVER/GUNS N’ ROSES bandmate Slash has published his own book, as has ex-GUNS drummer Steven Adler, who released his life story, “My Appetite For Destruction: Sex And Drugs And Guns N’ Roses”, in July 2010.
Vision Films is a worldwide distributor of over 800 independent feature films, TV movies, documentaries, and music specials, and licenses all available rights from theatrical, video/DVD/Blu-ray, television, and VOD/digital media rights to both the international and domestic marketplaces.
Seattle musician Duff McKagan (VELVET REVOLVER, DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED, GUNS N’ ROSES) will be this year’s Grand Marshal of the Alaska Airlines Seafair Torchlight Parade in downtown Seattle, Washington.
This year’s parade takes place tonight (Saturday, July 28) at 7:30 p.m. As always, it starts at Seattle Center and heads downtown along Fourth Avenue on a 2-1/2 mile route.
A couple of photos of Duff being “knighted” as Grand Marshal of the parade can be seen by following the links below.
“Duff is a huge Seattle fan, he loves all things Seattle, including Seafair. He grew up enjoying the hydroplane races and coming to the Torchlight Parade,” Seafair President Beth Knox said in a statement. “He’s just a big advocate for all things Seattle. One of the things he’s most excited about is being knighted by our Seafair Queen and King Neptune.”
Musicians Institute Conversation Series will welcome Duff McKagan (VELVET REVOLVER, DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED, GUNS N’ ROSES) on Thursday, May 24 at 6:00 p.m.
Recently inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with other original members of GUNS N’ ROSES, McKagan will discuss the early years of hard rock with 98.7 FM‘s Darren Rose, offering valuable insight to Musicians Institute students and an online audience.
The event will be streamed live for the public. Viewers may submit questions online through the chat room feature.
Duff McKagan‘s (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N’ ROSES, DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED) has announced via Twitter that his book, “It’s So Easy (And Other Lies)”, will be released in paperback on March 20.
“It’s So Easy (And Other Lies)” landed at position No. 17 on the New York Times “Hardcover Nonfiction” best sellers list. The book arrived on October 4, 2011 via Touchstone Books (formerly Touchstone Fireside), a division of Simon & Schuster.
The first 80 pages of “It’s So Easy (And Other Lies)” can be read at this location.
In this raw, utterly candid memoir, McKagan, the rock legend and founding member of rock supergroups GUNS N’ ROSES and VELVET REVOLVER, shares his story of excess, angst, struggle and triumph. “It’s So Easy” details Duff‘s rise to the pinnacle of fame and fortune, his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, his personal crash and burn, his phoenix-like transformation via a unique path to sobriety, and his success as a savvy business investor and loving husband and father.
In a voice that is as honest as it is indelibly his own, Duff — one of rock’s smartest and most articulate personalities — takes readers on his harrowing journey through the dark heart of one of the most notorious bands in rock-and-roll history and out the other side. Source: Blabbermouth.net
Duff McKagan (VELVET REVOLVER, DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED, GUNS N’ ROSES) has penned the latest installment of his column, which appears on Reverb at SeattleWeekly.com. An excerpt follows below.
“Sitting in my usual chair, watching my usual a.m. updates on CNN‘s Headline News, Wednesday morning, I, like every other American tuned in to at least one form of media, was inundated with verbiage about anti-piracy legislation known as PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) and SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).
“The legislation’s meant to combat theft of creative works like movies and music from overseas web sites. But when I turned to the Twitter and Facebook, I saw an overwhelming dog pile of support against the bills. Excuse me, but where were you all when piracy started to decimate the music industry? Why didn’t you take a stand against that? Those free records felt good, huh?
“The fury from the Internet class is that the broad language in the pieces of legislation will be bad for start-ups, might prevent the next YouTube, or give the government the ability to take down a whole site because of one link to copyrighted works. In short, they’re opposed to the legislation because they think it will be bad for the Internet business.
“Bad for business. Anti-piracy legislation could be bad for the Internet business. It almost takes my breath away. Internet piracy has claimed half of the recorded music business, and made the prospect of making a living as a musician harder for artists of all rank and file. Why didn’t Google, or Facebook, or Wikipedia ever stand in solidarity with musicians, actors, and writers — most of whom have never known fame and fortune — as their works were stolen with no recourse on their sites?”
Read the entire column at at SeattleWeekly.com. Source: Blabbermouth.net
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