L.A. GUNS Parts Ways With Drummer SHANE FITZGIBBON, Announces Replacement

L.A. GUNS has parted ways with drummer Shane Fitzgibbon and has replaced him with Scot Coogan (LITA FORD, ACE FREHLEY, LYNCH MOB, BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION).

According to L.A. GUNS frontman Phil Lewis, Fitzgibbon quit the band "for an amazing studio gig building rooms for [producer] Rick Rubin." The singer added: "We wish him all the best and welcome Scot Coogan, who, along with Ace [Von Johnson, rhythm guitar], Johnny [Martin, bass], Tracii [Guns, guitar] and myself, will continue our world-domination objective."

L.A. GUNS guitarist Tracii Guns added: "I knew the day would eventually come where my most talented best friend Shane would move on to something spectacular that gives him serious stability, and that day has come. And, of course, he brings so much with him wherever he goes and I am very proud of him and excited for him, and, of course, he will still be playing drums on the new SUN BOMB record . Well, now enter my former bandmate Scot Coogan from BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION. He will bring that insane energy and pristine drumming and vocal that is required these days in L.A. GUNS and I love him dearly."

L.A. GUNS will release its new album, "The Devil You Know", on March 29 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Lewis told Icon Vs. Icon about the follow-up to 2017's "The Missing Peace": "To be honest, my head is still spinning from it. I couldn't believe how quickly we rallied together to start work on this second record. It's the second record with this lineup, and I believe it's the 12th L.A. GUNS record. It just goes to show the enthusiasm and energy that is happening for us at the moment. We're on a roll, and there is no doubt about it. It's great to do new music and it's also great to see that the reunion has been so appreciated. I wish we would have gotten together sooner, but maybe we needed some time apart to grow up and do our own thing. It just feels right, and we're doing it all for the right reasons. We're not doing a nostalgia tour. We didn't get back together and put together a covers record or a greatest-hits record with a new song at the end. This is legit. It's a new, hungry band. The nucleus is the old band but it's very much the same feeling I had when Tracii and I first partnered up back in the late '80s."

Asked what the biggest obstacles were that he faced during the making of "The Devil You Know", Phil said: "It's always a little bit terrifying when all the tracks are recorded and it's like, 'All right, Phil. You're up!' It's daunting because the tracks are so good and beautifully recorded. Like the last record, I flew to New York to record with Mitch Davis. We got down to a week's worth of serious monastic, hyper-focused eight-hour days in the studio. There was no socializing, no drinking or partying. It was simply a week's worth of intense recording. Sometimes I would be so scared that I'd throw up before I got on the subway to take the 16 stops into Manhattan from Long Island. I was scared because I didn't want to fuck it up. I knew I was going to be singing stuff higher, louder and better than I had ever done. With that said, I know it was going to take a lot of work, so I was a little bit scared of it. By golly, about halfway through it, there was no greater feeling than when I nailed it. We wired the tracks back to Tracii and the guys and they said, 'Yep, that's it! That's what we want.' It was the greatest feeling in the world. I've got to say, when it's all done and it's my job and I have to do a whole record's worth of vocals in four days, it's slightly terrifying! [Laughs]"