Metal Sludge — In a brand new interview with Metal-Rules, L.A. Guns frontman Phil Lewis has revealed their drum Scot Coogan has “Decided to quit” the band.
Lewis talked at length with Robert Cavuoto for Metal-Rules about all things related to the band and their new up coming release “Checkered Past” due next month from Frontiers Records.
A few excerpts from Lewis’ interview with Cavuoto can be seen below.
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Robert Cavuoto: This record seems to be more in line with The Missing Peace rather than The Devil You Know, which had a darker vibe. What’s your take on it?
Phil Lewis: I do agree. I think there is quite a unique sound to each release. I’m always focused on the new one, but just as a body of work, we put this together under difficult circumstances. We were all isolated and did it from our homes in different parts of the world. It turned out really good. With that in itself, it gives it its own personality, which is a very different procedure from recording the prior albums. When I say prior, I’m talking about the records we put together since the reunion. As far as I’m concerned, this is L.A. Guns Mark II. We do music from the last century [laughing] and put incredible focus on writing and recording new music, being fully aware that 70% of it will never be played live. That is just the nature of the band we are. I would love to come out and play this record from top to bottom in its entirety, and that would be great. I don’t think there would be much of a market for that; you have to mix it with songs that our friends and fans who have been with us since the beginning enjoy. It’s not fair that they should miss out because we have an artistic vision that we want to get across. It’s got a vibe to it, and if I had to compare it to any one of these, I would think you are right on that.
Robert Cavuoto: With members being spread all across the world, how did you get this album get recorded during the lockdown?
Phil Lewis: Technically, Tracii can knock out a song in ten minutes. He is glued in with the songwriting process with me in mind and the way I sing. I’m old school, verse, chorus, verse, middle eight, chorus, and out. That is pretty much the template that we have always done. He puts the music together pretty quickly, like two or three weeks. The next part was for us to digest it come up with ideas, and do our parts. That took considerably longer because we wanted to do it proud. We have become accustomed to such a high standard that we have to do that. We are obviously not going to get the recognition for being such a fucking amazing band because we are tied with a legacy. I love it, and we have to respect it. Sometimes I feel like we are treading water a bit, but it doesn’t matter because we have nothing else to fucking do [laughing]. I went into my studio and had to get my engineering chops back up. It was great to record in a booth. It was cool, but it had a bit of a lonely vibe. When we added all our parts and Adam Hamilton, who played drums on the album, compiled it, and we heard it back, we were like, “This is really great!” We didn’t want to come up with a pandemic title, just Checkered Past. These album titles are all sly innuendos of Tracii and my relationship. He came up with the title, and I think it sums it up really well.
Robert Cavuoto: The band has seen some member’s changes since The Missing Peace, is the band in a good place now with the right people?
Phil Lewis: Well, I would like to say yeah, but not really. Everything is cool with Johnny, our bass player, and Adam, who is our engineer. He has done everything from playing bass, rhythm guitar, and this time he played drums. Because of the pandemic, we needed to record with someone who had their own setup, and Adam had it. As much as we would have liked to have brought our touring drummer Scot Coogan in, it just wasn’t possible. He didn’t have a studio, and we didn’t have a way to get him over to Adam. So, unfortunately, he decided to quit. Which is fine; he is a busy guy and involved in a lot of other projects. We wish him well, and I understand his frustration that we have an album coming out, and he isn’t on it. So, we got Shane Fitzgibbon back on drums. He is a wonderful boy; I mean, a cool guy who played on the first two albums during the reunion. He agreed to come back and fill in for a bunch of shows. We are not sure how long he will stick around because he is committed to other projects in LA. That’s the reason he is not in the band in the first place. So, we have been in a little bit of turmoil there, finding a great drummer with a great personality. We did take a hit, and I’m really upset about it; we just have to roll with it and move on.
To read the full interview, visit Metal-Rules or listen below.
