Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Sky Dog

From MyGnr....apparently lots of Chinese talk after the 1 hour mark
http://idhitthatpodcast.podomatic.com/e … 1_28-07_00

He says he was excited about having co-written 3 or 4 songs that were on the potential master list (they had a master list of 20 songs and a 'b' list of 20 other songs). He said he was happy for them to do whatever with his drum takes he was just excited to have taken part in the writing of the songs. He said he was a bit surprised that Brain supposedly re-did his drum parts note for note but says that's a typical thing to do for someone who wants to feel like they're working on a record but is really procrastinating.

I set Guns N' Roses up with Buckethead. We could do a whole separate podcast on Buckethead, man. [...] The other day, I was working with a band in the studio, talking about Buckethead, and I go, "You know dude, I've known Buckethead for 20 years". They were online and they were showing me pictures, "Is this him?". All these different pictures of guys. And, "No, no, no, no." They finally found an ad that he had posted, like when he was 16, [...] with a picture of him, but you can hardly see his face, and he was 16, so it hardly looks like him. But every photo it was like, "No, that's not him, that's a tall guy with long hair, and that's a tall guy with long hair, but not Buckethead". When I finally re-tracked him down -- I hadn't talked to him for five years -- the joke I had with Axl is that no matter who you mentioned that I knew, it became an ongoing joke, he'd go, "Yes, so my first girlfriend, Linda, that I met back in Indiana when I was 14", and I'd go, "Oh yeah, I know Linda!". It got that weird almost, so he, "Yeah, sure kid, you know everybody". When Robin Finck left to rejoin Nine Inch Nails, we were looking for a guitar player, had auditioned a few people, and weren't really sure what we would do, and one day I walked into the studio and Axl goes, "Buckethead! Do you know him?" And I go, "I've known him since 1991, man!" And he's like, "I knew you'd know him! How do we get hold of him?" "Last I talked to him he was hanging up in San Francisco with the Primus crew. Let me call my buddy Dave, the manager of Primus, Dave Leftwood (?)." So I called Dave and the first thing I asked was, "Do you think Buckethead would be into this, he's such a quirky, weird, artiste?" And Dave goes, "Yeah, I think he is tired of the starving artist routine, I think he is ready to make a living". It's funny, but when I talked to Buckethead on the phone the first time [...something about Buckethead asking Josh about not referring to him as 'Brian'] All his friends call him Buckethead. [...] The first time I met him [...] in 1990 or 1991, my friend Warren calls me, "Dude you have to come own and meet this guy, he's a freak, he's incredible, lightning fast, this weird funk-slap style, he's like completely outshining Flea" [...] "He really wants to meet you, he is really impressed that you used to play drums at Disneyland!". Because he is a Disneyland freak. [...] My dad conducted the Disneyland band when I was a kid, [...] and he still does this [...]. And Buckethead was like, "Oh my god!" When I was a kid I played my first gig for three years in a cover band every weekend, at Disneyland, when I was 12 till I was 15, so Buckethead knew that, Warren had told him that, and he was like "Oh my god, my dream is to work at Disneyland" [...] So I didn't see Buckethead for years until I connected with him for the Guns N' Roses thing. [...] He is such a trip, man. He kinda jammed with Guns N' Rsoes 2 or 3 times before he got the job. He played and got a call back and came again. [...] To the audition he came without the stuff [mask and bucket] on. A longs story's short, he was really nervous one night, and I told my dad, "Dad, you should really come up and meet some of the guys tonight [...]". My dad had got in a car accident a few months prior to that, and Axl sent this really nice...kinda as a nice gesture and as a joke -- 'cause he is a funny dude -- he sent this nice, like giant, expensive skateboard and signed it, and made some joke about maybe you should try riding this for a while [...]. So I was like, "Dad, you should come up and meet Axl and meet Buckethead, he is such huge Disney freak." And Buckethead knew my dad was Mr. Disney. So that night, Buckethead was up there, and he was, we were going to do some more playing, "Man, I am really nervous, I'm really nervous about playing tonight," and I go, "Dude, you are all good, you practically got the gig already. You wouldn't be asked to come down the fourth time." "No, no, not so much that! You're dad's there!" [PodOmatic, April 2013].

First meeting with Axl after being asked to audition with GN'R in 1997: At this point he'd been our of the limelight for a while, he'd been out of the spotlight, and there were all these weird rumours about him, "Oh, I hear he is 300 pounds", and, "He is bald". You know what, I should go meet him. I like to form my own opinion about the guy rather than hearing all these rumours about him, right? Is he driving himself there? Is he taking a helicopter? Or a limo? What's he rolling up in these days? So I went down there to do it and he was cool. Actually, the first time I went down there he wasn't there. I auditioned, and, oddly enough, the two guys auditioning me were guys I would later be in two separate bands with. The guy playing bass, because they didn't have a bass player at the time, was Guns N' Roses' pro-tools engineer at the time, Billy Howardale (?) who would later do A Perfect Circle, but he was just the pro-tools guy and he strapped on a bass and I had no idea. Who's this weird bass roadie? Who's this bald bass roadie that's going to jam with us? later, he and I, would have A Perfect Circle with. And on guitar was Robin Finck, the guitar player who had just left Nine Inch Nails to do Guns N' Roses, and who would later leave Guns N' Roses to rejoin Nine Inch Nails, and I played with Nine Inch Nails for a bit. Anyways, so we're down at the complex [...] and I auditioned and it went well and they said "We want you to come back" and "Axl wants to meet you,", "Cool!". So I came back and I met Axl, and I liked him. He seemed like a cool guy. And I had so many people telling me not to do it, and actually, not to bring him up again, but I remember talking to Paul Westerberg, and Westerberg was the only one who said, "You should do it. Go do it! If everyone's telling you not to do it, you should go do it". [...] You know, tt wasn't [a pain in the ass working with Axl], it wasn't for me. You might talk to other people who will say it was. Everybody's always looking for a good Axl story from me, but I don't really have any, man, I know they are out there, but my personal experience, and experiences with him...he was always cool to me. I don't have anything bad to say about the guy. His reality is different than yours and mine, and most everybody's. he's had a weird run, from what I know about him, you know, as a kid [....] becoming famous and having all that power and money and shit, it's gotta be weird. [...] It's just the way it worked out, you can't even blame him for it. Even when I do hear stories about him, I don't go, "Oh, man," I just feel bad for him, you know, sometimes. I like the dude, never had any issues with him. No, [I didn't leave because of him], I left because we were in year two of sitting in the studio and the records till wasn't looking as it was going to be done anytime soon. [PodAMatic, April 2013].

I love Buckethead, but one of the funniest things about him is his love for Disneyland. When I first met him, I go, "So Warren says you like Disneyland, you go there often", "Yeah", "When was the last time you went there?", "I went there on Monday." It was, like, two days ago. "You know what I do there sometimes, man, I have recorded my own versions of the soundtracks to certain rides with me playing guitar and I go in there with my own walkman or whatever and I listen to me playing "Pirates of the Caribbean [etc ...]" [PodOmatic, April 2013].

smoke

This stuff is awesome, I wish we had more info like this.

misterID

Cool shit.

Me_Wise_Magic

Awesome story from Josh. Seems very classy to respect and defend Axl after all these years and looked like he had a ton of fun working on the original demos. Cool insight on Bucket and the Disneyland thing.

otto

Thanks for posting!

metallex78

Listened to most of the interview, its nearly 3 hours long...!

Josh seems like a really cool guy. I wish he would've given more insight as the actual songwriting process, but it was a cool interview still.
I like his attitude as well. He treats everyone with respect, no rock star bullshit, which given the long list of performance credits he has to his name, he could easily be that way.

He also mentioned about recording with Slash, and how it wasn't done as a "getting back" at Axl, just that he was available for the gig, and is friends with the producer of the Slash solo album. He reckons that him and Slash didn't even talk about the fact that he'd worked on Chinese Democracy.

misterID

I remember Axl saying that some of his best personal memories were going to Disneyland/Disney World with Bucket.

See, if Axl could have swung a deal where Bucket could have officially released all his Disney tunes he'd be back in the band today.

apex-twin

Found some time to transcribe it more fully, using the existing stuff as a basis (thanks to SoulMonster for doing them) and streamlining the stories a bit. Josh has a self-admitted way to getting carried away with his stories, so I rearranged some things to make it easier to read. I left tiny bits and pieces out and there's a whole bunch of other stuff he goes into in the interview, but I think this pretty much covers the Guns content.

AUDITIONING FOR GUNS (97)

So, the Guns N' Roses thing happened. I liked Guns N' Roses. What happened was they were looking for a drummer, the whole band was falling apart, basically. There was some feuding or getting fired or both, who knows what happened. It was in '97... My pager goes off and I call this number, it was the manager (of GNR). I told him I'd call them back and when I called back and went, 'Dude, I should just go out and meet Axl.'

At this point he'd been our of the limelight for a while, he'd been out of the spotlight, and there were all these weird rumours about him, "Oh, I hear he is 300 pounds", and, "He is bald". You know what, I should go meet him. I like to form my own opinion about the guy rather than hearing all these rumours about him, right? Is he driving himself there? Does he take a helicopter? Or a limo? What's he rolling up in these days?

So I went down there to do it and he was cool. Actually, the first time I went down there he wasn't there. I auditioned, and, oddly enough, the two guys auditioning me were guys I would later be in two separate bands with. The guy that was playing bass, because they didn't have a bass player at the time, was Guns N' Roses' Pro Tools engineer at the time, Billy Howerdel, who would later do A Perfect Circle, but he was just the Pro Tools guy and he strapped on a bass and I had no idea. Who's this weird bass roadie? Who's this bald bass roadie that's going to jam with us? later, he and I, would have A Perfect Circle with.

And on guitar was Robin Finck, the guitar player who had just left Nine Inch Nails to do Guns N' Roses, and who would later leave Guns N' Roses to rejoin Nine Inch Nails, and I played with Nine Inch Nails for a bit. Anyways, so we're down at the complex [...] and I auditioned and it went well and they said "We want you to come back" and "Axl wants to meet you,", "Cool!". So I came back and I met Axl, and I liked him. He seemed like a cool guy.

And I had so many people telling me not to do it, and actually, not to bring him up again, but I remember talking to Paul Westerberg, and Westerberg was the only one who said, "You should do it. Go do it! If everyone's telling you not to do it, you should go do it".

WORKING IN GUNS (98-00)

I went and did it, and I signed a two-year contract, and ended up writing one of the songs on the record. ... They wanted me to sign something saying that they're the priority. It was more like, 'Hey, we want to know that if you sign on this thing, you're not going to split in three months. Unless you want spend some time and money in hassle, or if you have a real reason to get out of it in a year, you're going to be in here and we can count on you.'

I quit before the record was done, I spent two years in the studio with them. The first year ('98) I was there five nights a week, I'd drive from Long Beach up to the Valley. 9-10 at night and worked until 4, 5, 6 in the morning.

And Axl's cool. 'The Vandals want to go to Europe in November for like, two weeks, are you cool with that?' 'No problem. Go do it.' 'Hey man, Devo's going to go to New York at the end of January for three gigs. Can I go to New York?' 'Cool, no problem.'

I was playing records and doing sessions during the day, and then going there at night to do his thing. I didn't get a big signing bonus and I was not shopping for Ferraris on the next day.

The second year I was down there, '99, it was way looser. I was running out of things to do. The record was undone... You know, it wasn't [a pain in the ass] for me. You might talk to other people who will say it was.

BRINGING BUCKETHEAD TO GNR

I set Guns N' Roses up with Buckethead. We could do a whole separate podcast on Buckethead, man. [...] When I finally re-tracked him down -- I hadn't talked to him for five years -- the joke I had with Axl is that no matter who you mentioned that I knew, it became an ongoing joke, he'd go, "Yes, so my first girlfriend, Linda, that I met back in Indiana when I was 14", and I'd go, "Oh yeah, I know Linda!". It got that weird almost, so he, "Yeah, sure kid, you know everybody".

When Robin Finck had left to rejoin Nine Inch Nails, we were looking for a guitar player, had auditioned a few people, and weren't really sure what we would do, and one day I walked into the studio and Axl goes, "Buckethead! Do you know him?" And I go, "I've known him since 1991, man!"

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The first time I met Buckethead, my friend Warren, the guitar player of The Vandals was producing him in 1990 or 1991. Warren calls me, "Dude you have to come own and meet this guy, he's a freak, he's incredible, lightning fast, this weird funk-slap stuff, he's like completely outshining Flea" [...] "He's really excited about meeting you, he is really impressed that you used to play drums at Disneyland!". Because he is a Disneyland freak.

I love Buckethead, but one of the funniest things about him is his love for Disneyland. When I first met him, I go, "So Warren says you like Disneyland, you go there often", "Yeah", "When was the last time you went there?", "I went there on Monday." It was, like, two days ago.

" "You know what I do there sometimes, man, I've recorded my own versions of the soundtracks to certain rides with me playing guitar and I go in there with my own walkman or whatever and when I go to the "Haunted Mansion" I listen to me playing the 'Haunted Mansion', and when I go to 'Pirates of the Caribbean' I listen to me playing 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

And I am like, "Shit, man," sitting there, trying not to crack up, "That's cool!" And I go, "What do you do on 'Space Mountain', man?" I was trying to trip him up because there is no music on 'Space Mountain'. "Ah, there's no themes off that ride so it's just me going off, man, it's just me soloing." [Laughter] He's the best, I love him.

[...] My dad conducted the Disneyland band when I was a kid, [...] and he still does this [...]. And Buckethead was like, "Oh my god!" When I was a kid I played my first gig for three years in a cover band every weekend, at Disneyland, when I was 12 till I was 15, so Buckethead knew that, Warren had told him that, and he was like "Oh my god, my dream is to work at Disneyland"

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And (Axl)'s like, "I knew it! I knew you'd know him! How do we get hold of him?" "Last I heard, he was hanging up in San Francisco with the Primus crew. Let me call my buddy Dave, the manager of Primus, Dave Lefkowitz."

So I called Dave and got (Bucket's) phone number. The first thing I was like, "Do you think Buckethead would be into this, he's such a quirky, weird, artiste?" And Dave goes, "Yeah, I think he is tired of the starving artist routine, I think he is ready to make a living".

It's funny, but when I talked to Buckethead on the phone the first time [...something about Buckethead asking Josh about not referring to him as 'Brian'] And I'm like 'Holy shit, he's freaking out on me for humanizing him too much!' All his friends call him Buckethead. [...]

[...] So I didn't see Buckethead for years until I connected with him for the Guns N' Roses thing. [...] He is such a trip, man. He kinda jammed with Guns N' Rsoes 2 or 3 times before he got the job. He played and got a call back and came again.

[...] He's got that white kabuki face mask with no expression on it and the bucket, and he doesn't talk when he's in character. He'll nod 'yes' or shake his head 'no'. Because Buckethead doesn't have a voice, he doesn't talk. [...] To the audition he came without the stuff [mask and bucket] on.

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The other day, I was working with a band in the studio, talking about Buckethead, and I go, "You know dude, I've known Buckethead for 20 years". They were online and they were showing me pictures, "Is this him?".

All these different pictures of guys. And, "No, no, no, no." They finally found an ad that he had posted, like when he was 16, [...] with a picture of him, but you can hardly see his face, and he was 16, so it hardly looks like him. But every photo it was like, "No, that's not him, that's a tall guy with long hair, and that's a tall guy with long hair, but not Buckethead".

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A longs story's short, he was really nervous one night, and I told my dad, "Dad, you should really come up and meet some of the guys tonight [...]". My dad had got in a car accident a few months prior to that, and Axl sent this really nice...kinda as a nice gesture and as a joke -- 'cause he is a funny dude -- he sent this nice, like giant, expensive skateboard and signed it, and made some joke about maybe you should try riding this for a while [...]. So I was like, "Dad, you should come up and meet Axl and meet Buckethead, he is such a huge Disney freak." And Bucket knew my dad was Mr. Disney.

So that night, Buckethead's up there, and he was, we were going to do some more playing, "Man, I am really nervous, I'm really nervous about playing tonight," and I go, "Dude, you are all good, you basically got the gig already. You wouldn't be asked to come down the fourth time." "No, no, not so much that! You're dad's there and he hires the musicians in Disneyland!"

... I introduced him to Axl, but when he was going to audition, I said 'Listen man, you have to know that I might not be here in six months.' My contract was going to up and I said, 'I don't want you to take this gig with me being your connection to this thing and me being your buddy in the organization. You sign on, and two weeks later I go, 'Later, dude!''

I wanted to be real honest with him about it, so I said, 'Listen. This is a cool thing, and if you want to do it, do it. But I don't want you to be angry if I'm not here in a month.' And that's how Brain got the gig, because Brain and Buckethead are super-super-good friends.

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ON BRAIN

Brain knows (Bucket) a lot better than I know him, and so when I left, I could've told you that Brain was going to come play, because they had already auditioned a bunch of guys in LA and didn't like any of the ones they'd found. I was the one they had settled on, and it was now two years later and I was like, are they going to audition the same ten dudes there? And Brain's a great drummer, and he wasn't doing a lot, so it only made sense. He's one of Buckethead's best friends.

...It didn't surprise me that they had somebody replay my stuff. What surprised me is that they supposedly had Brain re-do my drums note for note. I've never actually asked Brain about it, I wasn't sure if he was allowed to talk about it or how it worked, but... he's done some interviews where he says that.

I get the whole 'You're the new drummer and we want you to feel like a part of this, we want you to re-do some of the drums'. I also got the part that Axl loved what I did, or had gotten used to hearing the songs in a certain way and liked them.

It was strange to me that he had him supposedly re-do them, almost note for note. But also, it didn't really surprise me, meaning sometimes, what people do in the studio if they're procrastinating is, you can do stuff also that makes it look like you're busy... Supposedly, they hired a guy to transcribe all the drums parts, including the 'shut up and play your guitar' drum parts.

...Anyway, the Guns N' Roses thing had, kind of, ran its course. They didn't use my drums and like I said, I was fine with it.

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LEAVING GNR (2000)

I left because we were in year two of sitting in the studio and the record still didn't look like it was going to be done anytime soon. So I said, 'Ok, I've sat here for two years, I like everyone down here, I like Axl, I like some of the record we've been making... Do I think it's going to be out in a year from now? I don't know.'

So I was getting frustrated and discouraged like a lot of people. In the meantime, on the weekends, I'd been messing around with Billy Howerdel and Maynard James Keenan. (With CD), there wasn't really a light at the end of the tunnel yet. Once again, 'Like everyone here, I don't want sit around here, I don't know how much more time is going to be wasted down here.'

My two-year contract was coming up and I didn't see (the album) leaving that room any time soon. So, I had to make that decision; Am I going to sign up for another two years, am I OK with sitting in this room for another two years?

...What I was more excited was that I'd written three of four songs. When I left, there were two lists, the Master list ('Here's the 20 songs we're concentrating on') and the B list ('Here's the other 20 songs, we'll finish them one day and we'll see what happens').

I had three or four songs in the running. And so I was like, that's pretty cool. I'd put enough time down playing drums and made some money doing it, and got a chance to record some songs with these guys. Whatever they want to do with my drums after I leave, it was their business.

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MEETING FRANK FERRER

I met Frank before he got the gig. He was playing with Psychedelic Furs when they were opening up for Devo, 2006-7 or something. Devo was playing some shows down in Texas. The night before the string of shows, it was like four or five gigs, Jerry from Devo and I are sitting in a hotel bar. There's this guy sitting across the L-shaped bar.

(Frank) comes up and he goes, 'Hey Jerry, what's going on, man?' He had an old programme, 1983 Devo New Traditionalist Tour. 'My mum took me to see you guys when I was 10! This is the programme, I'm a huge fan!' 'Aw, shit; cool, man!' 'Will you sign this?' 'Yeah, sure.' And (Jerry) signs it, and (Frank) turns to me and I think, 'Ok, he's some old fan and he's pissed the original drummer is not here.'

He goes, 'Hey, Josh!' 'Yeah?' 'Hey man, will you sign it, too?' 'Yeah, sure!' And then he said, 'I'm friends with so n' so', and I'm like, 'Oh yes, he told me about you!'. The next thing I knew, he was playing in Guns N' Roses - it's just funny how shit works out, man.

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SEEING GNR IN 2009

I did go see (GnR). I was in Japan a couple of years ago, and they were there at the same time. I keep contact with the bass player, Tommy Stinson. I e-mailed Tommy and said, 'Dude, you're in Tokyo Thursday, I'm in here, I got the night off and I want to come see you play.' 'Great.'

I went to dinner with him the night before and I said something like, 'So, are you allowed to put my name on the guest list, or does it have to be hidden from anybody?' 'No, not at all, man!'

And I stayed for the show, but of course they went on stage at midnight and I stayed until 1 or 2(am), and I left towards the other set. It was like 2 in the morning.

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ON THE SLASH ALBUM

It's hard enough to run into me, because I'm in my little bubble in Long Beach, but it's way harder to run into Axl... I worked with Slash a couple of years ago, on his solo record, and I heard that'd bummed (Axl) out. I felt bad about that.

... I hadn't seen Axl in 13 years. I have nothing to do with him and music, I don't know him anymore personally, I don't do business with him, you know what I mean? I'm a studio drummer, man. If I'm in town and I can do it and I don't hate you, I'll go play with you, play your stuff.

Slash called me to play on stuff. My friend, Eric Valentine, was producing it. He was having all these different singers, like Iggy, Ozzy and Lemmy, Chris Cornell, the dude from Wolfmother. It was this cool thing, but I heard that (Axl) was kind of... I don't know.

I don't even know what (Axl and Slash) had going on between them, and I don't even care. Definitely wasn't doing (the Slash album) to get back at (Axl) or something... (laughs)

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ON AXL

Everybody's always looking for a good Axl story from me, but I don't really have any, man, I know that they are out there, but my personal experience, and experiences with him... he was always cool to me.

I don't have anything bad to say about the guy. His reality is different than yours and mine, and most everybody's. he's had a weird run, from what I know about him, you know, as a kid [....] becoming famous and having all that power and money and shit, it's gotta be weird.

[...] It's just the way it worked out, you can't even blame him for it. Even when I do hear stories about him, I don't go, "Oh, man," I just feel bad for him, you know, sometimes. I like the dude, never had any issues with him. [PodAMatic, April 2013].

Me_Wise_Magic

Very interesting read to hear some more details on what was going on through Josh's head during the last year in Guns and what happened afterwards. Awesome funny Frank encounter story and that's cool that he still wanted to support and see the band despite the lack of communication over the years back in 09.

Communist China

Very cool to have all of this here. I remember talking to Josh in 2009 (he had a solo album out with a special package where you could pay a little extra and get a phone call with him, a t shirt, an autograph and some other stuff) and he said the same general stuff. No crazy Axl stories, thought he was a cool/nice guy, was happy to record but things were just not really happening so he moved on. He had a lot more to say about other groups he had played with.

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

Re: Freese talks Bucket, Axl and Chinese....SIC (GOOD STUFF FOR WHISPERS)

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