Adler’s Lonny Paul talks about making the new album with Jeff Pilson at the helm, live debuts and plans for the new year. As one of our favourite albums frm the latter part of 2012, this year could well be a big one for ADLER.
ADLERS APPETITE produced one of the best albums of the latter part of 2012 a blistering album of exciting modern rock that to be honest was of a quality that really surprised us. It’s great to see Steven Adler back in a band producing such great music and we are expecting big things for these guys in 2013. We caught up with guitarist Lonny Paul at home in LA.
Mark: Hi, how are you? We love the new album “Back From the Dead” was one of our albums of the year for 2012, what’s the response been like so far?
Lonny: We can’t find a bad review! Everybody really seems to dig it.
Mark: Yeah, the guys at New Ocean Media seem to be really getting behind it. One of our favourite tracks you’ve got on there is the one with John 5 on, “Good to be bad”; I think that’s the one.
Lonny: Yes that one’s getting great feedback everyone seems to love “Good to be bad”.
Mark: Are you getting particular feedback on individual tracks, or do people just generally like the album as a whole like us?
Lonny: Fortunately, everyone seems to dig the whole record.
Mark: It’s a good position to be in. Tell us a little bit about yourself, how did you meet Steven Adler?
Lonny: I met Steven through his old guitar player from Adlers Appetite; I was the singer in a band called Tilterworld, and my guitar player was Stevens’ guitar player, and when they needed a second guitar player to go on a two month tour, Michael Thomas asked me if I would be interested, and I said “sure”. So, I learned a couple of Guns ‘n’ Roses songs, went down there and after the first song, Steven stood up and said I want you in my band, and I said OK. Two weeks later, we were out on the road for two months.
Mark: You had your debut on the Kiss Kruise, how did that go?
Lonny: That was fantastic! After the first show the best compliment that we got, by a handful of people, was, you know we came to see some Guns ‘n’ Roses songs, but by the end of the set we couldn’t have cared less about hearing Guns ‘n’ Roses! I think that was the best compliment we could have got.
Mark: That’s great. Listening to the album I have to say that the band really does sound so together; it’s great that you’ve managed to put together such a great record with a big name in there that doesn’t try to be his former band, It’s pure quality man, where do you go from here?
Lonny: Hopefully a lot of touring, and at least a second record.
Mark: Have you got anything lined up for 2013, as far as touring is concerned?
Lonny: I literally, have just got off the phone with one of our booking agents, we are going to be doing some in state things for the next month, and then in early March we are going to Japan, with Duffs’ band Loaded, but we’re going to be doing some clubs before we go over there.
Mark: You also worked with Jeff Pilson on the album, what was he like to work with?
Lonny: A dream come true! Jeff is the best producer I have ever worked with, and he also played bass on the whole record, because we didn’t have Johnny at the time. Initially I got in touch with Jeff, to see if he would be interested in playing bass on a couple of songs to demo for the record. We ended up recording them over at his house, and we said, this is right, we don’t need to go to another studio, and so we did the whole record at his house. It felt right after the first song, and it was how we wanted to make the record, exactly like this with you producing, and engineering it, so it was just the four of us there. Of course, Slash, and John 5 came in to do extra guitar work.
Mark: He had some great things to say when I spoke to him just before the record came out in November; he was a bit cagey as he didn’t want to steal any of your thunder, but he said there was a fantastic album coming out! I think he was right.
Lonny: He is very humble, and that’s one of the things we love about him!
Mark: What’s the scene like in LA at the moment? I get over there once a year, and each time the rock scene seems to be a bit fragmented.
Lonny: Well, it’s hit and miss, there’s always going to be some bad bands, but there’s also some new bands popping up, you just never know on any given day of the week, on The Strip you can either find something great or terrible! But, it doesn’t seem like there’s nearly the scene there was back in the eighties, it was like a parade back then, down on The Strip, there were people passing out fliers, it’s definitely not like that.
Mark: Looking at a few songs from the album, the ballad is amazing, “Just Don’t Ask”, how did that one come about?
Lonny: That particular song is a Jacob song. He was in town, he’s from Alabama, and he was staying in my guest house when we were recording the record. We would both wake up at six in the morning and work on ideas, and then we would pick Steven up around eleven to go to the studio at Jeff’s. So, one morning he came in and picked up my acoustic, and said, hey, I have this idea, and we recorded it right then and there. Steven was texting me, as we were late, and I said wait, you got to believe me, it’ll be worth it! As soon as we got to his place we popped the CD in that we had just recorded, played it for him on our way to Jeff’s, and he loved it, and Jeff loved it too. When we had recorded it, Jeff said, I think Slash would be great on this, do you mind if I reach out to him, and we said, of course!
Mark: “Good to be Bad”, is probably our favourite, what can you tell us about that one?
Lonny: Nice. That was one I brought to the table, and coincidentally, that was one of the first songs I played for Steven. I didn’t know which kind of direction he wanted to go in, or which one he was willing to go in. Jacob and I are both prolific writers, and as soon as I wrote that one, I knew it had the groove and I knew Steven would like it. So, we recorded it, and when it was done, I wasn’t really happy about the solo, and I knew john 5, had said he wanted to do a solo on a track, and so that had to be the one as it would be right up his alley with that groove. When he came in with that sound and laid it down, it was like, wow, that’s so cool, so while he was here, we said why don’t you put some other stuff down, so that weird sound right at the beginning is all him. I really think he made that song what it is.
Mark: He did, and to have two guitarists like John 5 and Slash on a debut album is very special!
Lonny: Of course!!
Mark: As far as your career is concerned, you mentioned the band you were in prior to Adlers Appetite, was that an LA based band? What were you guys doing?
Lonny: Yeah, just LA based. We could spend the next thirty minutes talking about all the LA bands I’ve been in, there were a few, but obviously nothing really took off! That’s why you probably never heard of me before!!
Mark: As far as having someone like Steven in the band, obviously it’s great from a publicity point of view, but do you think people under appreciate him as a drummer? I mean, it’s pretty solid stuff on this album.
Lonny: I don’t know that he is under rated, even as a kid when I first heard “Appetite for Destruction”, I think he’s always been considered a pretty slamming drummer! I know he’s had his problems over the years. It’s funny, even when we were tracking the drums on the first couple of tracks, Jeff, who is so fun to work with, because he gets so excited, and when Steven would get in that zone, we could hear those magic drums and that magic feel! Jeff would get excited and shout, “He’s in the zone!!!” I think he’s always had that magic, but just not had the opportunity to put something out.
Mark: The CD’s been getting some airplay on the rock radio stations over here, and everyone seems to love it. The word is spreading, and the guys at New Ocean Media really get the publicity out there. They are even talking to people like us, out here in Australia. Now, for our final questions. If you could have been a fly on the wall for the recording of any piece of music, in the history of rock and roll, what would it have been and why?
Lonny: Wow! That’s a great question! There are just so many wonderful songs out there, and such a broad question! I suppose, any Beatles song, good lord, I can’t even narrow it down to one song! It would have been cool to be around, the first time Bon Jovi met up with Desmond Child, and they wrote, “You Give Love a Bad Name”, and some of those tracks, I would have loved to have been there.
Mark: Now, the easy one, what is the meaning of life?
Lonny: Hard as shit!! I don’t know!! I guess, just to find your purpose, and your spot in the world. That’s the meaning of life to me.
Mark: Well, we’d love to see you in Australia, are you doing any festivals this year?
Lonny: We have a handful of festivals, we spoke to our booking agent a couple of nights ago, and they were talking about festivals, so, as many as we can get.
Mark: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, keep in touch, and good luck with everything.
