When you think front men, singer Phil Lewis conjures up the image of a sexy Englishman who took America by storm in the late 80's, with his energetic stage persona and raspy, passionate vocals.
During the 80's, LA Guns burst onto the Sunset Strip with their Glam-rock sleaze sound that is still going strong today. In late 2002, Tracii Guns left the band and many fans wondered what would become of the 80's rockers. With the backbone of the band still intact, consisting of front man Phil Lewis and drummer Steve Riley, L.A.Guns are alive and well, and are true rock and roll survivors. With the addition of new bass player Scott Griffin and guitarist Stacey Blades, L.A. Guns are back on track, and ready to prove that this line-up is the strongest yet. On January 19th, LA Guns will celebrate their 20th Anniversary at The Whisky in Hollywood. Phil Lewis says, "L.A.Guns are a third generation band. We are descendants of Motley Crue and Ratt.”
HOW HAS THE LA SUNSET STRIP MUSIC SCENE CHANGED SINCE YOU FIRST STARTED BACK IN THE DAY? I would say Motley Crue started it all. Then later Ratt. Then we are like a third generation Hollywood band like Guns N’Roses, Faster Pussycat. We are pretty much descendants of Motley Crue and the people in Ratt. It was good to be part of that kind of legacy.
I moved over from London in 1987, when I joined the band. That tour for me was the most amazing way to see America. It was a dream, the band was doing great. We got played on the radio. People were coming out seeing us. They were incredibly friendly. I must have liked it, because I am still here.
THE 8'0'S LOST ONE OF THEIR OWN A WEEK AGAIN, WHEN KEVIN DUBROW PASSED AWAY. DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL MEMORIES OF KEVIN? Yes, it is very sad. Up to fairly recently we were doing shows together.
I remember he was doing the Rock Never Stops Tour sometimes-Quiet Riot or Twisted Sister would join the bill. He was always quite fun to be around. I remember one time watching him from the side of the stage and Carlos amp went down. So Kevin started improvising with an old Small Faces song, he was kind of having fun and struggling a bit up there. So I was heading out, and he looked over and winked at me to come over. I got up and helped him with his song, without any kind of backing just the two of us singing and then the guitars kicked in and everything sounded great. It was a real magic moment being up there with Kevin and doing a Small faces song. I got to say the whole time that I have known him, we were not like super close or anything, we were friends that I never saw him getting fucked up or being unprofessional. He seemed really straight and music was his high.
YES, HE WILL BE MISSED.
IT HAS BEEN A GREAT YEAR FOR LA GUNS SO FAR. YOU HAVE A NEW BASS PLAYER SCOTTY GRIFFIN. HOW IS HE WORKING OUT AND HOW DO YOU FEEL THIS LINE-UP COMPARES TO PREVIOUS LA GUNS LINE-UPS? Scotty is working out really good. Scotty and Stacey, I call them the bookends.
drawing by Mandy Komlosy
ARE YOU GOING TO BE GOING INTO THE STUDIO, ANYTIME SOON TO RECORD? We got new songs that we are working on. It would be awesome to make another CD. To be honest with you. I am waiting to see what happens when the Dokken album comes out. If there is any interest in doing a CD. Do people buy CD's anymore, where do they buy them? Is it better to put them out yourself? Everything is changing the music business is really in it's death rows right now. It is in its last breath. I would hate to put the time into a new record and have it come out and not do anything. So, I don't know? It might be good for us to put a track out at a time on I tunes. Don't get me wrong. I like making albums, and I like doing the artwork and the graphics and the photos. I love all that. But, I don't know? It could be obsolete. If Don's record does well, it is very encouraging. We pretty much have the same audience. So we will just have to wait and see.
LA GUNS RECENTLY TOURED AUSTRALIA IN OCTOBER. WHAT WERE SOME OF THE LAND FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER? Yes, that was actually end of October, November. It was absolutely amazing. It was a mad dash to the bottom of the globe. We did four shows in five days. They are the friendliest people ever. We traveled 28,000 miles in five days. The world is only 27,000 miles around. (Laughter) So we basically went around the world, 28,000 miles in five days. We were delirious. It was great fun. The crowds were amazing. I guess it is something we are going to do every year now.
ANY PLANS TO GO ON TOUR IN 2008? We are getting dates coming in for January and February. I got some stuff that I am doing at the Oneida Casino, some solo stuff that I am doing. I am to Japan for Christmas to do some solo shows. I got an all-girl Japanese band that I play with every year. I am looking forward to that. We are going to do four or five shows in Japan. It is called Phil Lewis Band. The Oneida Casino thing is in April, and that is in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The all girl Japanese band is in Japan at Christmas time. This time of year, it is kind of quiet. We got a private Christmas show in Vegas on the 22nd. That will be the last show of the year.
Rip The Covers Off
PHIL, THERE ARE 2 LA GUNS ON THE SCENE. I KNOW SOMETIMES IT HAS BEEN CONFUSING FOR SOME OF THE FANS, WHEN TOUR DATES ARE ANNOUNCED BUT IT IS DIFFICULT TO KNOW WHICH LA GUNS IS GOING TO PERFORM. WHAT ARE YOU THOUGHTS ON THIS SITUATION? It is not our fault. Don't blame us. We have been going along just trying to do our thing for the last four or five six years. It is not our fault another version just reared it's ugly head. There is a difference. One is really good and it sounds like all the releases and the CD's. It sounds like "Cocked and Loaded". The other one simply doesn't.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW COMING UP AT THE WHISKY ON JANUARY 19TH. WHAT CAN THE FANS EXPECT TO HEAR AT THIS SPECIAL CONCERT? Yes, we have the 20th Anniversary show on January 19th. It being our 20th Anniversary, and it was 20 years ago that I played The Whisky for the first time. We are going to be doing a lot of old stuff that we haven't done in awhile. We are still doing some stuff off of,” Waking The Dead" and "Tales From The Strip". Songs like that. We try and keep it interesting for ourselves and for our fans too.
PHIL, DID YOU EVER THINK 20 YEARS AGO, THAT LA GUNS WOULD STILL BE TOURING AND STILL PERFORMING ON SUNSET STRIP? HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS SHOW TO YOU? I have mixed feelings. I wasn't sure if I was going to be around 20 minutes after the first show. I arrived in LA with 200 bucks and a hairdryer in 1987. I didn't expect to stay here two weeks. Here I am 20 years later. So, yes I am kind of surprised. The reason that we are doing it, is because we are having fun doing it. In the end, we are making great music. We are making people happy. Nothing can change that.
Phil & Stacey
AS 2007 IS COMING TO A CLOSE, AND YOUR 20TH ANNIVERSARY IS COMING UP ON JANUARY 19TH, WHAT HAS THE MUSICAL HIGHLIGHT BEEN FOR YOU THIS YEAR? Iwould have to say Australia. We have been looking forward to it for a long, long time. We had pretty high expectations and we went over there and we weren't disappointed at all.
THANKS TO PHILFOR TALKING WITH SAVIOURS OF ROCK. HE'S A GREAT GUY AND WE WISH HIM ALL THE BEST FOR THE FUTURE. GO CHECK HIM AND THE BOYS OUT AT:
Rare video of Phil with Filthy Lucre performing Some Lie 4 Love
Interview
by Debby Rao
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