AXL ROSE Interview Airs On VH1 CLASSIC's 'That Metal Show'

GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose's first broadcast interview in years aired on Friday night (November 11) via VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show", which devoted its full hour to the interview and the preparations for it. The talk took place at 5:30 a.m. following GUNS' performance on October 29 in Miami. The show was just the second on the band's current U.S. tour and began, in customary GUNS fashion, two hours past the scheduled starting time.

Rose, who was accompanied by guitarist DJ Ashba during the interview, seemed relatively at ease during the interview, laughing and joking, although he kept his sunglasses and a hat on for the duration.

Some of the highlights from the chat follow below.

On GUNS N' ROSES current tour:

Axl: "The band's starting to fire on the right cylinders. We're having fun together as a band."

On the band's audiences have calmed down a bit since their early shows on the Sunset Strip:

Axl: "Back in the early days, our crowds were much more violent and rowdy. There was also a sense of fighting for the songs as our songs and how we're putting them out there. I'm watching the people last night, it's also their songs and their memories and I really want to put as much into it as I can for them."

On the new possibility of a new GUNS N' ROSES album:

Axl: "We're working with new management. [We'll] be figuring out what we're doing with the label and feeling things out in the U.S. as we're going across the country."

On GUNS N' ROSES' possible induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, which may result in a brief reunion the group's original lineup:

Axl: "I don't know what it means in terms of me with the old band and the old lineup. If we were to be invited, I don't know what they would ask of me. It's up in the air."

On performing with former GUNS bassist Duff McKagan in London, England in October 2010:

Axl: "Duff was in the hallway and then I invited him to the show, and then Tommy [Stinson] handed him a bass It was fun, we had a good time. We're going to do some more shows with Duff."

On his performance preparation:

Axl: "I do a lot of cardio when I can, or when I can force myself to."

Asked about the band's inability to appear onstage on time, Rose said, "A lot of times, the day of show, for some reason, things start going wrong. People are making mistakes, you're making mistakes, they're making mistakes, and nobody even knows why so you're trying to sort through that, and get yourself in the right headspace and physical, whatever, that you've got to work through I think we're doing better as far as that goes (nowadays)."

Rose proceeded to give four or five other reasons for the group's consistent lateness.

The GUNS N' ROSES tour next stops in Rosemont, Illinois on Tuesday (November 15). Keyboardist Dizzy Reed, who's been with the band for 20 years, gave The Pulse Of Radio his assessment of how it's going. "It seems to be getting better, as they should, you know, when the band starts to get into a groove, and people have been into it," he said. " It's a long show, so, you know, a lot of people have to go to work in the morning and stuff, don't want to stick around for the whole thing, but for the most part it's been going great."