{"id":63862,"date":"2017-10-13T00:00:38","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T00:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=63862"},"modified":"2017-11-13T18:45:45","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T18:45:45","slug":"feature-la-guns-10-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-la-guns-10-17\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. GUNS – Armistice (October 2017) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

L.A. GUNS – Armistice<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nOctober 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
\n

L.A. Guns (l-r): Shane Fitzgibbon, Phil Lewis, Tracii Guns, Johnny Martin and Michael Grant<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n


\nOn December 19th, 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada-based hard rock group Sin City Sinners convened at local venue Count\u2019s Vamp\u2019d. Sin City Sinner\u2019s line-up that evening consisted of Brent Muscat (guitars, ex-Faster Pussycat), Scotty Griffin (bass), Rob Cournoyer (drums), and Michael T. Ross (keyboards, ex-Hardline). Rounding out the line-up solely that evening happened to be vocalist Phil Lewis and guitarist Tracii Guns, then former longtime bandmates within Los Angeles, California-based hard rock outfit L.A. Guns. The concert marked the first occasion in a number of years the pair had performed alongside one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was around Christmas time of 2013,\u201d Phil Lewis remembers. \u201cA charity event takes place in Las Vegas every year called Toys For Tots, and it\u2019s to raise money for underprivileged kids. It\u2019s toys for Christmas \u2013 you get in for free if you bring an unopened toy. You can donate. All of the money goes to this charity, and Tracii signed up to do it – for nothing, of course. The event organiser gave me a call, and said \u2018Look, Tracii\u2019s doing this. Would you be interested in getting up and doing a few songs?\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cJust the nature of the event seemed like a nice thing, a good thing to do. We got together, and we didn\u2019t rehearse. We didn\u2019t even soundcheck \u2013 I just showed up an hour or so before. I played; it was just four songs, and we just got on great. We got on like a house on fire. We hadn\u2019t seen each other at all in over a decade, not even by accident. We hadn\u2019t run into each other in a club, or a music store, or anywhere. It was very nice, great, just talking with him briefly. When we played, I got the vibe of course. There\u2019s that magic that we have when we play together, and that was the beginning of The Missing Peace<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

October 2017 outing The Missing Peace<\/em> \u2013 L.A. Guns\u2019 11th full-length studio affair \u2013 unites the pair, two incarnations of L.A. Guns having existed between 2006 and 2012. \u201cIt was a terrible time for the band,\u201d the frontman views. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely our lowest point. As many as 47 \u2013 and it might be up to 50 now… I don\u2019t know \u2013 people out there lay claim to having been a member of L.A. Guns, and if that\u2019s not Spinal Tap then I don\u2019t know what is. None of that matters, though. Me and him are back together back working, and all of that other stuff is history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracii Guns had exited the fold in October 2002, two months following the release of eighth studio LP Waking The Dead<\/em>. \u201cTracii was a little disillusioned with the band, and he had a side project with Nikki Sixx \u2013 Brides Of Destruction,\u201d Phil recalls. \u201cHe was just fed up, and said \u2018Look, I\u2019m gonna concentrate a 100% on Brides, and you guys sort yourselves out. Make wise decisions.\u2019 As I just said, we had recorded and released Waking The Dead<\/em>. It was up to me and Steve Riley, like \u2018Are we gonna quit, or are we gonna go out and find another guitar player and promote this great record we had just produced?\u2019 That\u2019s exactly what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phil Lewis\u2019 respective incarnation of L.A. Guns, featuring Steve Riley behind the drumkit, performed its last concert on December 31st, 2016. \u201cI\u2019ve got nothing bad to say about Steve Riley,\u201d the singer ponders. \u201cWe\u2019ve done hundreds of shows together, great shows. We\u2019ve recorded many albums; the three albums that we recorded together without Tracii we\u2019re incredibly proud of. It was just that after we had released Hollywood Forever<\/em> (June 2012), one year, two years, three or four years went by, and I wanted to record another album. He wasn\u2019t very keen on it; I couldn\u2019t get him enthusiastic about going back into the studio, and it was like… I like recording, I like writing… I mean, I like the gigging and everything, and touring as well, but I got really frustrated. He was dragging his feet on recording, even before this reunion came about.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
\n

Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI had given my notice in with Steve, saying in October 2015 that I was gonna be leaving on December 1st, 2016 after the New Years Eve show at the Whisky, which is exactly what I did. It wasn\u2019t to jump from one thing onto another, though. As far as I was concerned, I was just gonna go out and put a solo band together, or even just go out and play solo acoustic. I was pretty much done, though, playing with the usual suspects and doing the same old circuit. I was a bit bored, so with this reunion thing, the timing couldn\u2019t have been better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reuniting, the duo recruited several musicians to round out L.A. Guns\u2019 line-up. \u201cTracii had been working with Shane Fitzgibbon, the drummer,\u201d Phil divulges. \u201cHe had Johnny Martin on bass. When I did that charity gig with him, I was really impressed with both of those guys when they played and their attitude, so there was no reason to change anything there. We needed a second guitar player and I suggested Michael, who had been playing with me in my version for almost three years. Tracii was delighted with that suggestion, and it has all fallen nicely into place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lyricist describes songwriting sessions in aid of The Missing Peace<\/em> as being \u2018a group effort\u2019. \u201cEverybody\u2019s contributed to the writing and lyrics, and brought in songs,\u201d he credits. \u201cIt\u2019s not just me and Tracii. We didn\u2019t say \u2018Okay, we\u2019re gonna write this record.\u2019 For example, Shane the drummer wrote the lyrics for \u2018Christine\u2019, Johnny Martin wrote \u2018Baby Gotta Fever\u2019, and Michael Grant brought in \u2018The Devil Made Me Do It\u2019 and \u2018Don\u2019t Bring A Knife To A Gunfight\u2019. They\u2019re songs that everyone contributed, but when we got together and played them, they became very typical L.A. Guns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having listened to The Missing Peace<\/em>\u2019s 12 musical offerings, certain fans and critics have arrived at a specific conclusion. \u201cWhen we started recording, we didn\u2019t wanna make a nostalgic record, but a lot of people have said that it sounds like it could\u2019ve been released after Cocked & Loaded<\/em> (August 1989),\u201d Phil tells. \u201cIt\u2019s just something I\u2019ve heard from fans and from journalists, and alike. It does have that vibe; even though we didn\u2019t set out to do something like Cocked & Loaded<\/em>, it just has that vibe. I don\u2019t know if it sounds like it that. <\/p>\n

\u201cSongs like \u2018Fever\u2019 and \u2018Speed\u2019 do sound like they could have been on Cocked & Loaded<\/em>, but musical pieces like \u2018Gave It All Away\u2019 and \u2018The Missing Peace\u2019 are musically way beyond anything we would\u2019ve done back then, so it\u2019s like we\u2019ve evolved. I mean, \u2018Speed\u2019 and \u2018Fever\u2019 could be on Cocked & Loaded<\/em>, but \u2018The Missing Peace\u2019 and \u2018Gave It All Away\u2019? There\u2019s no way, so it\u2019s quite a wide spectrum on this one. Wider than perhaps we\u2019ve ever done in the past. We\u2019ve gotten better, and with better musicians. We\u2019re better people. It\u2019s like a fine wine, and it really shows on this record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Had a reunion between the vocalist and Tracii not taken place, Tracii\u2019s musical ideas may have taken on a different shape. \u201cBefore there was even the reunion, Tracii already had had the deal with the label, with Frontiers,\u201d the vocalist notes. \u201cHe was about to embark on a solo record, but once I heard a couple of his ideas… Once he played the ideas that he had for his solo record, I was like \u2018Oh, yeah. I\u2019ve gotta be a part of this. I really like this a lot.\u2019 We started off on a couple of songs, and before I knew it, me and him were immersed in making a new record together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lyrical fare included on The Missing Peace<\/em> is largely self-explanatory. \u201cThey\u2019re not really about anything,\u201d Phil judges. \u201cI mean, I can tell you that the lyrics on \u2018Christine\u2019 are about me and Tracii (laughs), which I didn\u2019t know. I found out fairly recently, because as I said, Shane wrote them. I thought that he was writing about his grandparents, his uncle, or something like that. It was about this old couple that had been together, and were really understanding of each other. I thought that it was a love song, and I only found out recently that the cheeky bugger was writing about me and Tracii (laughs), which I think is charming. I\u2019m really happy about that, but the lyrics…. \u2018Don\u2019t Bring A Knife To A Gunpoint\u2019 is self-explanatory, and \u2018The Devil Made Me Do It\u2019. I don\u2019t really like to go into deep meanings, because I like people to come to their own conclusions of what the songs are about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n

The Missing Peace<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Recording sessions for The Missing Peace<\/em> began in a modest fashion. \u201cWe did pre-production in a rehearsal room, in a basement, just locked away without amps,\u201d the entertainer begins. \u201cWe worked in like a sweatbox, and went through the music over and over. I was tweaking lyrics. When we came to record it, we did the drums in a big, old school recording studio, which you\u2019re supposed to do for drums. Mostly all of the guitars Tracii did at his house, in his garage \u2013 his home studio. I did a lot of the vocals with Mitch Davis in his studio in New York, in Pull Studios, over a four-day period. It was recorded very quickly; once we decided on the songs, we pretty much had the album done in about eight weeks. As a fun fact, the record cost less to make than our catering budget on Hollywood Vampires<\/em> (June 1991). I don\u2019t know how much it cost exactly, but it\u2019s just a funny observation. The catering budget back then would\u2019ve been $20-25,000, easy (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

Phil has supplied vocals to a number of full-lengths across four decades, beginning with Girl\u2019s January 1980 debut Sheer Greed<\/em>, and continuing to do so 37 years later. \u201cI like to think that my singing has evolved,\u201d he observes. \u201cThey say that whatever you focus on, after about 5-10,000 years, you should become an expert in whatever it is. I have certainly put my hours in as far as singing goes. I wouldn\u2019t call myself an expert, but I\u2019ve definitely developed. My range is better, and I\u2019m stronger. In the early Girl days, I pretty much just shouted. I take care of my voice; I do warm-ups before a show. I make sure that I keep my trap shut after a show, especially if I\u2019ve got a bunch of consecutive gigs. I have to; if I don\u2019t have a voice, then we can\u2019t play. Then we don\u2019t make money and I become the bad guy, so I\u2019m very disciplined on the road, which has consequently made me a better artist I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vocally, the frontman likes to push himself to an extent. \u201cI like doing stuff that is a challenge, but I don\u2019t want to set the bar too high because I\u2019m gonna have to do it live,\u201d he clarifies. \u201cNow I\u2019m gonna have to sing maybe four or five nights a week, so I\u2019ve got to bear that in mind when I record that it has to sound the same, and not be in a different key, or me singing it an octave lower. So, yes to both of those. I do like to push myself, but not so much that I\u2019m not gonna be able to pull it off every night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the tracks Phil lent vocals to in aid of the full-length is the title cut itself. \u201cYou\u2019d have to explain the spelling of the word \u2018peace\u2019 in The Missing Peace<\/em>,\u201d he offers. \u201cIt\u2019s not like a piece; it\u2019s just a double entendre on me and Tracii\u2019s relationship. We have both been fine playing without each other and doing alright, but there was always something missing \u2013 for me, anyway. When we play, I feel that there\u2019s a certain completeness that we have. It was missing and we missed it, and it\u2019s an absolutely perfect title for the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides the title composition and a further 11 fellow tunes, three additional tracks were recorded. \u201cI think we recorded about 15 songs,\u201d the singer estimates. \u201cWe tried to make it as interesting a record as possible and not make it too same-y, so we\u2019ve still got a few in the can that we could probably put out down the line. We just wanted the best songs that we had, but there\u2019s nothing wrong with the ones that we didn\u2019t put on. We just didn\u2019t need what they were, because the 12 songs that we picked are perfect. Sometimes if you make an album too long, it puts people off. It just gets a bit tiresome. The running order is important, and the length of the record is important. It just seemed like exactly the right amount for us to do. The few in the can are all done though, and good to go. We\u2019ve started work on new ones, as well. We\u2019re not short of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leading the charge with fresh material as it were is Tracii. \u201cTracii is a consummate guitar player,\u201d Phil compliments. \u201cHe plays guitar on the road, and the first thing he does when he gets home is play guitar. He\u2019s just one of these guys; it\u2019s like an extension of his body, and he\u2019s just always sitting there playing riffs and coming up with ideas. Then it\u2019s up to me to interpret his ideas into a verse or a chorus, or middle sections. It\u2019s a lot of fun, because he\u2019s always got something interesting up his sleeve.\u201d<\/p>\n

A follow-up to The Missing Peace<\/em> will likely arrive during 2019 or so. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re looking at,\u201d the wordsmith confirms.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
\n

Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The prospect of a solo jaunt has been placed on the back-burner. \u201cI\u2019m not thinking about that at the moment, because I\u2019m so immersed in this,\u201d Phil explains. \u201cEventually I\u2019d like to do a solo record, but at the moment, the schedule on this is insane. There\u2019s just absolutely no time for me to think about doing a solo record for at least another 18 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such comments suggest that L.A. Guns will be a full-time proposition for the vocalist. \u201cBalls to the wall,\u201d he enthuses.<\/p>\n

Returning to the topic of The Missing Peace<\/em>, an official lyric video was created for the track \u2018The Flood\u2019s The Fault Of The Rain\u2019 in an effort to aid its promotion. \u201cWe did a live performance video for \u2018Speed\u2019, and that was fun,\u201d the performer reckons. \u201cWe\u2019re not actors; I don\u2019t particularly want to dress up and act for the video. The song is a little bit on the sad side, so it was best covered graphically using animation. They did a good job. It\u2019s something we\u2019ve never done before. It didn\u2019t cost that much to make, and they did it very quickly. We thought we\u2019d have a go at a lyric video, and see how we fared. It turned out great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further videos will likely be issued to promote The Missing Peace<\/em>. \u201cI reckon we\u2019ll probably do one for \u2018Fever\u2019, and maybe even one for \u2018The Devil Made Me Do It\u2019,\u201d Phil muses. \u201cIt depends on how much this thing snowballs. Right now, it\u2019s through the roof. Amazon have sold out, Best Buy sold out. Some record outlets are completely sold out. Classic Rock<\/em> voted it as one of the best albums of 2017, and Rolling Stone<\/em> voted us the top five new albums to stream this month, so we\u2019re getting a lot of attention. We haven\u2019t had too many thumbs down from people, fortunately. So yeah, we\u2019re doing something right. We\u2019ll probably end up doing at least one more video from the record, maybe more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Designing the cover artwork for The Missing Peace<\/em>, wife of the frontman. \u201cShe\u2019s an amazing artist; her and I have collaborated on a lot of stuff,\u201d he raves. \u201cIf you look at the video off of the record Hollywood Forever<\/em>, she\u2019s the sexy black widow in \u2018Ara\u00f1a Negra\u2019. She\u2019s as clever as she is cute. She was Tracii\u2019s first choice to do the cover for the record, and that was great – having it in the family. I think she did a bloody good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Missing Peace<\/em> was released on October 13th, 2017 via Frontiers Music Srl.<\/p>\n

Interview published in October 2017. All promotional photographs by Dustin Jack.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

L.A. GUNS – Armistice Anthony Morgan October 2017 L.A. Guns (l-r): Shane Fitzgibbon, Phil Lewis, Tracii Guns, Johnny Martin and Michael Grant On December 19th, 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada-based hard rock group Sin City Sinners convened at local venue Count\u2019s Vamp\u2019d. Sin City Sinner\u2019s line-up that evening consisted of Brent Muscat (guitars, ex-Faster Pussycat), Scotty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,374],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-l-a-guns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63862"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63898,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63862\/revisions\/63898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}