Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver is a
hard rock supergroup with three former members of
Guns N' Roses —
Slash,
Duff McKagan, and
Matt Sorum (who also played with rock band
The Cult) — plus
Scott Weiland, the lead singer of
Stone Temple Pilots, and
Dave Kushner of the
80s
hardcore punk band
Wasted Youth.
Velvet Revolver was formed when three
Guns N' Roses alumni —
Slash (guitar),
Duff McKagan (bass), and
Matt Sorum (drums) — joined to play a
benefit concert for fellow musician
Randy Castillo in
2002. They subsequently decided to form a new band that would bring back the spirit of rock to the mainstream. When
Izzy Stradlin declined an invitation, the band recruited guitarist
Dave Kushner, who had previously played with
Wasted Youth and
Dave Navarro. Kushner had gone to school with Slash and had worked with McKagan in Loaded, the band he'd played with before joining Velvet Revolver. The quartet were referred to under the temporary moniker "The Project" for a short period pending the selection of a permanent name.
The quartet then set about recruiting a lead singer with
VH1 filming the recruitment process. A number of lead singers auditioned, including Canadian Todd Kerns (formerly of
Age of Electric),
Josh Todd (of
Buckcherry),
Sebastian Bach formerly of
Skid Row, Kelly Shaefer of
Atheist/Neurotica, and
Travis Meeks of
Days of the New, but were unsuccessful.
Scott Weiland had become friends with McKagan and had played on the same bill as Kushner when
Stone Temple Pilots were known as Mighty Joe Young and Kushner was in Electric Love Hogs. Weiland heard the material and offered his services as the lead singer and the band clicked.
Slash suggested the name "Revolver" for the project and Weiland suggested the addition of "Black Velvet" to the title. Slash thought this sounded too similar to "
Stone Temple Pilots," so the name was abbreviated to simply "Velvet Revolver." Many people believe that the name "Velvet Revolver" is a play on words of Slash, McKagan, and Sorum's former band "
Guns N' Roses", since the word "Revolver" relates to "Guns", and the material "Velvet" is soft like a "Rose." Another interpretation is that "Velvet Revolver" is both a tribute to and the antithesis of
The Velvet Underground, the influential New York proto-punk band whose moniker is a euphemism for the vagina, while "Velvet Revolver" (like punk pioneers
The Sex Pistols) is a reference to the penis.
Velvet Revolver recorded its first track "Set Me Free" for
Hulk soundtrack in
2003 and was also responsible for a cover of
Pink Floyd's "
Money," featured in the movie
The Italian Job. The band played its first live gig at the El Rey in
Los Angeles in June 2003. It recorded its first album,
Contraband, in the latter part of 2003 with recording complicated by Weiland's court appearances for drug charges and his subsequent sentencing to undertake rehabilitation.
The marketing campaign for Velvet Revolver in the run-up to the release of the first album was profiled as part of the
Frontline (PBS) program
The Way the Music Died, which included interviews with the band members and producers.
Contraband was released in June
2004, debuting at #1 on the
Billboard album charts, #11 on the
British album charts, and #2 on the
Australian charts. The first single, "
Slither," topped a composite world modern rock chart in June, reached #1 on the
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #5 on the
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Slither," which is also the band's first music video, has also reached #64 on the
Billboard Hot 100, gone top 20 in
Finland and top 40 on a
European composite chart, in
Canada, and in
Australia. Since then, the band has released three more singles: the ballad "Fall to Pieces" the hard-rocker "Dirty Little Thing,", and "Come On Come In", all of which have videos featured for them. "Fall to Pieces" has been remarkably successful not only on rock stations, but also on modern music stations.The band consequently declined an invitation to tour with
KISS after learning that Poison would be a part of the bill, in an effort to distance themselves from being lumped in with bands from the 80's who had re-grouped at the time to make a buck, Velvet Revolver were out to make a statement that they were a new band. The members of Poison were far from impressed naturally.[
1]
As of August
2005, "Contraband" had sold more than 2 million copies in the United States, and the rigorous touring in support of the album has reached global scales. Already, the band has toured both the
United States and
Europe twice, while also hitting Australia and
Japan. For the Spring of 2005, the band has several
Canadian dates lined up as well as a headlining arena tour for the U.S. In addition to this, they are slated to open for
Black Sabbath in Europe this summer, before likely finishing a second album sometime this fall. The CD has
SunnComm's
MediaMax DRM rootkit on it, exposing users to a security vulnerability.
Velvet Revolver performed at
Live 8, playing "Do It For the Kids," "Fall to Pieces," and "Slither." However, only "Fall To Pieces" appears on the Live 8 DVD.
In 2005, a part of
Contraband's "Dirty Little Thing" was inserted in
Universal Studios'sequel to
XXX, ""
The band also recorded a new song entitled "Come On, Come In" for the
2005 movie
Fantastic Four.
Also during 2005, the group announced its sophomore album, which is due out in
2006. Scott Weiland announced at the 2005 Radio Music Awards that it will be a concept album, and will be less single-driven than its previous effort, but later in the summer of 2006 Matt Sorum dismissed the claim that it will be a concept album. In
December 2005, the band set
Libertad (Spanish for "freedom") as the working title of the album.
*
Scott Weiland - Lead Vocals (ex-
Stone Temple Pilots)
*
Slash - Lead Guitar (ex-
Guns N' Roses,
Slash's Snakepit,Tidus Solan,
Black Sheep,
London,
Road Crew)
*
Dave Kushner - Rhythm guitar (ex-
Wasted Youth,
Infectious Grooves, Electric Love Hogs,
Cyco Miko,
Suicidal Tendencies,
Zilch, Loaded,
Dave Navarro)
*
Duff McKagan - Bass guitar (ex-
Guns N' Roses,
Neurotic Outsiders, Loaded, 10 Minute Warning, The D.T.'s, Crisis Party,
Our Gang, Thankless Dogs)
*
Matt Sorum - Drums (ex-
Guns N' Roses,
The Cult,
Y Kant Tori Read,
Neurotic Outsiders,
Slash's Snakepit)
Contraband (
June 8, 2004); (U.S. #
1, CA #
1, UK #11, Aus #2), Certified 2x Platinum US, 2x Platinum Canada
Libertad (
Working Title) (Spring
2007 rumored)
Production Credits
Josh Abraham, Producer (Contraband 2004), Rocco Guarino, Assistant Engineer (Contraband): http://www.roccosongs.com
Official Websites
*
The Official Website*
Velvet-Revolver.com*
All Music Guide Velvet Revolver page*
VH1 Velvet Revolver biography*
Velvet Revolver Italian Fans Site*
Polish Scott Weiland Fansite
