“I almost bought a pair of pristine slippers today, like white slip-ons” admits the Velvet Revolver bassist as he sips a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Suffice to say, any preconceptions are already well on their way out of the building via the nearest possible window. Dressed in a blue college t shirt and a pair of faded tracksuit bottoms, it’s a pleasure to find Mr McKagan in such relaxed, amiable form on the eve of Loaded’s debut London show. Not that one would necessarily expect to see him in any other mood of course, but in an age where prats such as Donny Tourette can act like prima donnas and still receive critical acclaim, it is extremely encouraging to be able to sit down with a real living legend to talk about the important things in life, such as Girls Aloud.

 

 

    “I’m over here a lot.” concedes McKagan, “And I always put on [music channel] The Box and they’re on there. I think it’s great! Tits and ass and catchy pop music, what’s not to like? They’re on like a hundred times a day; it’s basically become my warm up music. Well, either that or Prince…” Such a diverse interest in music is certainly heartening when considering the brave step Duff has taken in bringing Loaded to these shores for the first time. After all, without the endless hype that his work with Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver has produced to fall back on, his latest (although not newest) musical endeavour will have to rely on merit and merit alone to make the grade with hard rock’s notoriously cynical fanbase. Of course, the flipside to this is that he and his band – topped off by lead guitarist Mike Squires, bassist Jeff Rouse and drummer Geoff Reading – can now play the kind of buildings that Revolver have completely bypassed in the UK thus far. Such a prospect is not lost on Duff, who is evidently relishing his chance to go back to touring the smaller venues. In all honesty, the guy’s almost abusing it.

    “We’re having some great fun” he continues with the smallest of smirks. “The fans are really enjoying it. We’ve been breaking off into pieces of songs we don’t know in the middle of a set, and by the end the dirty jokes start coming out and shit, and we’ll fuck around with songs a bit, before doing some random solos and stuff. By the end of it all it’s like ‘Who gives a shit? Let’s play ‘Purple ‘Rain!’ It’s great fun, and people seem to be cool with it.”

 

    “Honestly, who’d care? People have to be willing to come along for the ride, and they seem to be ok with it. It’s not like we take ourselves seriously; you can’t play ‘Living After Midnight’ and then ‘Beat It’ and expect to. At the end of the day, we play our sets with our songs and have some fun. We’re a rock n’ roll band -what you see is what you get with us, there’s no bullshit or vanity or whatever, we’re the real deal.”

    Such a refreshingly honest and laid back approach to touring is extremely welcome at a time where many established rock acts are judged on the scale and expense that their live shows have to offer. After all, one only need look at McKagan’s own former bandmate in Axl Rose to see just how much an impressive stage show can be undermined by the wrong attitude. Whereas Axl’s ‘Guns N’ Roses’ performance at Donington in 2006 was a bewildering mix of astonishing visuals, pyrotechnics and huge screens and temper tantrums that very nearly ruined the festival, Loaded’s Islington appearance this very evening is a fantastic example of back-to-basics rock ethics and likeable showmanship. This in itself is an impressive aspect of Loaded’s status as a band - especially given that Duff is renown by many (admittedly ignorant) individuals as a bass player and little else. 

    “I grew up playing drums, guitar and bass, so people who have been ‘my fans’ have always known that I play guitar and other instruments” muses the Seattle-born musician. “I don’t think many people will look at me and think ‘Wait, he’s a bass player, why isn’t he playing bass?’, [Loaded] is what it is, I suppose it gives me a different viewpoint in that I can play bars and stuff, which is awesome! The record’s done, but we wanted to tour before we released it, so we’re doing an old-school promo tour with an EP [‘Wasted Heart’] preceding the actual album release. What can people expect? Pure fucking anarchy! You can expect some variety I think…it’s a pretty deep record. Jeff Rouse [bass] added some really interesting elements - in fact I’d say he became the best bass player in rock on this one!”

 

 

    High praise indeed from the man who formed one of the most prolific rhythm partnerships of the last twenty five years, but are we likely to see Loaded take another long break before seeing them again on these shores?

    “We’ll be back next year to tour the new album but by then we’ll be, you know, headlining Donington and Glastonbury” Duff jokingly claims. “This band can play all sorts of music to all sorts of audiences. I think we could play with Metallica, we’ve played with Motorhead, but then we’ve also played with the Gutter Twins. Hey, we could even go on tour with Girls Aloud!”

    Pop-fixations aside, it’s not difficult to see just how much Duff is enjoying the chance to go out on the road with a band and a tour that is his to play with. Fair’s fair: Loaded will never attain the kind of status that his previous work has achieved, but then again, that’s probably not the point. The point is making music fun again, and if McKagan’s current attitude is anything to go by, the dude’s having the time of his life.