Fresh off a hit studio album and a well-regarded and well-received live album, California rockers L.A. Guns are feeding off the love and adulation they have been getting in the press and from their legions of fans worldwide to continue to tour to sold-out crowds around the world, as well as continuing to work on a new album.
The band, best known for late 1980s radio and video hits such as Sex Action, One More Reason, The Ballad of Jayne and Never Enough, released four albums in the 1990s, undergoing seismic shifts in their roster over those years, including more than one attempt at reforming the classic lineup. After a break, the band reformed in one form or another, to release Man in the Moon in 2001, Waking the Dead in 2002, Tales from the Strip in 2005, and Hollywood Forever in 2012.
Last year, the band’s album The Missing Peace, which saw long-time frontman Phil Lewis reunite with guitarist and band founder Tracii Guns, was a solid success and rejuvenated the band’s fortunes and enlivened their fan base. The band is currently in the midst of a summer tour, which will see them play two shows in Ontario, on July 16 at the Rockpile in Toronto and July 17 at the Brass Monkey in Ottawa.
The band is officially billed as L.A. Guns with Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis, and for most of the bands fans, those are the two key names. The current lineup is rounded out by rhythm guitarist Adam Hamilton, who recently returned to the fold, having previously played in the band from 2001 to 2007, while bassist Johnny Martin and drummer Shane Fitzgibbon both joined in 2016.
For many years, particularly the last couple of decades, there were multiple lineup changes to the band, and at one point two bands playing under some form of the L.A. Guns banner, which created not only rancour between long-time band members, but also great confusion and consternation within the fan base, blunting any possible positive momentum the band hoped to have.
“It’s common knowledge that L.A. Guns had two versions touring at the same time and it confused the f*** out of everybody. And it was not a good time; it was a dark time for us to be honest. It was nothing to be proud of and I am glad we got through it. It was the worst thing in the world for the band, the brand and the fans. It was pitiful, but unfortunately that’s the nature of our profession sometimes. That’s what we do, but we finally decided we just need to kind of suck it up and deal with it,” said Lewis, a native of the United Kingdom who joined the band in 1987 in time to begin work on the band’s sensational self-titled debut album which came out in 1988.
Tracii Guns had actually begun a version of the band in Los Angeles in 1983, and the band had a short-term merger with another fledgling band called Hollywood Rose in 1985, which called itself … Guns ‘N Roses. Guns left that band to reform his own band, L.A. Guns, eventually bringing in Lewis on lead vocals, former WASP drummer Steve Riley and bassist Kelly Nickels to create what is considered to be the band’s ‘classic’ lineup.
Riley actually headed up the competing version of the band, and Lewis was part of its lineup for a period of time but stepped away from that agglomeration when he officially reunited with Guns.
On the subject of the current tour, Lewis said he has fond memories of playing in Canada, particularly Toronto, back in the late 1980s when L.A. Guns was first started to make a name for themselves.
“Of course, I remember playing there. I remember Rock and Roll Heaven in particular. I think that was the first place we ever played in Toronto and it’s just been fantastic coming back there ever since. We have been back with big bands playing big rooms, including playing the arena there too,” Lewis said from his home in Las Vegas.
“The last time we were in Toronto, which was not that long ago, it was a hell of a gig. It was a great, great turnout and we played our asses off. And it was the day before we were to head to Italy to do the Frontiers Festival where we recorded the Made in Milan live record. So, the band was in tip top shape that night. And the Toronto show, and the Toronto crowd was absolutely amazing. I am really looking forward to coming back to Canada and repeating that experience, it was magic.”
It seems based on the conversation with Lewis and reading press clippings over the last couple of years with Guns that the magic has continued. And it’s interesting to note that the Lewis/Guns reunion began innocuously enough – at a fundraising concert in Las Vegas to raise money for the popular Christmas time charity Toys for Tots.
“It was in 2014 and I got a call from the guy putting together this event, which is an annual thing out here. Tracii and his band had already agreed to do it. And Jason Green, the guy putting on the event called me up and said, ‘look Tracii is already doing this thing, would you be interested? It would really be a good thing for the event.’ And I couldn’t think of a good reason why I couldn’t do it. I was already here in Vegas and it was a good cause. Nobody was getting paid, there was no cynicism to it and was just a request to come out and help a good cause,” said Lewis.
“And if course I do go and help. And we didn’t rehearse. We didn’t even sound check. We did agree what songs we were going to do and that was easy enough, but I just showed up about 10 minutes before the show. Tracii went on stage first and I stayed back for about 10 or 15 seconds because people didn’t know; they had no idea what was going on. They heard rumours, but nobody knew if it was true because, bear in mind, we hadn’t even seen each other getting on 15 years.
“But it went well. It was a good feeling being on stage with him, playing with him. He’s got that tone and he’s got that attitude. I have played with a lot of people, a lot of musicians and a lot of guitar players, but Tracii is the best. He gets the best out of me anyways. He’s a thousand per cent when he plays, and he expects anyone that is playing with him to be that way.”
The success off the one-off show led to discussions of continuing the good vibrations and the emotional and creative momentum it created, eventually leading to discussions about writing and recording a new album. It was a fruitful discussion as it led to the critically acclaimed 2017 album The Missing Peace, which was followed just a year later by a live album Made in Milan.
“We started talking about new songs and new music and he started playing me some of his ideas. And that was it, that was the thing that really got me. I thought wouldn’t it be exciting to make a new record in the vein of [1989 hit] Cocked and Loaded, something that is absolutely incredible. And that’s what we did. The Missing Peace is the aptly titled record that we released last year, and it’s a good feeling to be back,” Lewis said.
“I know it didn’t sell millions of copies and that’s to be expected these days. But it did really well for us. It got critically acclaimed. We got lots of ‘album of the year’ recognition from lots of media outlets, including from Eddie Trunk. And that’s commendable for a band that’s been in the wilderness for the last decade. There is still a lot of chemistry. There is chemistry between Tracii and I and there’s that chemistry when people see us playing together. It’s kind of hard to put into words, its sort of like that expression the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s like for L.A. Guns we are the Townshend and Daltrey, the Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Lennon and McCartney, Plant and Page. When it works it really does work.
“And he will tell you that he has played with hundreds of other singers and it’s not the same. We’ve got this thing going and we did from the moment we first started playing together. And it’s good to have that back. And the reason why it’s working, and why there isn’t the sort of problems that there used to be is that I think we have become better people. We’re better people than we were 15, 20 years ago. You grow up, you have kids and responsibilities. You don’t take life for granted like you did when you were in your 20s and you act accordingly.”
Lewis said he and his bandmates and thrilled and grateful that there are still so many people who want to see the band play live, who treasure the back catalogue but who are also interested and intrigued by the newer material – especially younger fans who would not have even been a glint in their parents’ eye when L.A. Guns first launched itself on the scene.
“We are doing good. We’re making a good living and we’re making records and we’re playing shows and selling them out, so it definitely feels like we’re doing the right things. We do have a younger audience and we appreciate that. A lot of the next generation of fans are the children of the people who originally grew up listening to us and they have introduced us to their kids,” he said, adding that while the industry has shifted monumentally since the heady days of the 1980s, there is some benefit to having your fan base grow up with you.
“One of the advantages I think of being in this band at this stage is that now our fans have a lot more money than they used to when they were teenagers in the 1980s. And they’re happy to spend money on meet and greets and buy merchandise and maybe even buy the new album. That, and the fact that we are getting more and more young people at our shows and interested in our band is all good – it’s good to be in L.A. Guns right now.”
Lewis said he is heartened by the fact that many of the younger fans know the music, both old and new, although he is unsure if they are actually buying it as a download or physical copy, or simply finding it on online platforms such as YouTube. He is encouraged that there is a small and growing number of so called millennials who are choosing to buy physical copies of recorded works, especially vinyl.
“It’s a tangible thing and that’s why it was really important for us to put The Missing Peace album out on vinyl and have a double gatefold and lyrics sheet – something that is worth owning. It’s a good thing. Turntable sales have been going through the roof every year and they have been for about five years, and that’s very encouraging. It’s why we want to get a new album out as soon as possible,” he said.
“We’re about 2/3 of the way through finishing this new record, which should be out early next year on Frontiers, and they’re thrilled that we haven’t rested on our laurels for a second. And we could: it would be easy for us to not put anything out for two or three years and just coast off The Missing Peace. But that’s not the kind of band we are. And we love the recording process as much, if not more, than we did back in the day.
“Technology has made parts of it easier. In the old days it would be me sitting by the pool with a cassette recorder up to my ear and a notebook, listening to the tracks that had been already laid down in order to come up with melodies and lyrics. Things are better now. I have a four-track digital recorder that has a microphone that I can pretty much overdub right away. But when we went into the studio, we recorded real drums and instruments on a real tape recorder – real mics in a real room so it’s a real record. But the convenience of file exchange and not having to wait for a copy of a cassette definitely helps the process along nicely.”
As for the new music, Lewis said fans should love it, and that he, Guns and the rest of the band are excited about what has already been recorded and what is yet to come during this current session.
“It’s going to be like The Missing Peace 2. Dare I say it, I think it’s a little bit better. Of course, we have to think that way because there’s no point in doing it if you don’t think it’s better than what you have done previously. But I get a really good vibe from it, and it’s an example of the band firing on all cylinders. We are capturing all this new energy and its great.”
For tickets and information to the July Toronto show, visit the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1738401202906609. For the Ottawa show, visit https://www.ticketzone.com/e/11641/la-guns-july-17-brass-monkey/16577.
For more information on L.A. Guns, visit https://www.lagunsmusic.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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