Phil Lewis not proud and finds it “kind of embarrassing” that there were two versions of L.A. Guns
Phil Lewis not proud and finds it “kind of embarrassing” that there were two versions of L.A. Guns
L.A. Guns frontman Phil Lewis was recently interviewed by Russia’s Good Times Rock and spoke about reuniting with Tracii Guns, which led to the new L.A. Guns studio album The Missing Peace.
Photo by Christopher Carroll ROCK Photography
When it was pointed out to Lewis that it is quite funny that he quit L.A. Guns [the version led by drummer Steve Riley] to join L.A. Guns [the version spearheaded by Tracii Guns], the singer stated (with slight edits): “Yeah, it’s true. As you know, there was two versions of L.A. Guns for a while and I’m not very proud of it – it’s kind of embarrassing. Also there are something like 47 musicians who claimed they were in L.A. Guns. It’s funny. I think that we have a record for the most members getting close to 50. But none of that matters because me and Tracii are back together, the nucleus of L.A. Guns. Michael Grant came along with me and we used Tracii’s drummer and bass player – Johnny Martin and Shane Fitzgibbon. And we put together a perfect band.”
In terms of whether The Missing Peace shows the real spirit of L.A. Guns like on the earlier albums, Lewis opined (with slight edits): “Yeah, but without trying to be nostalgic. It never been adjective to make a record that sounded like “Cocked & Loaded” or “Hollywood Vampires”. It just kinda turned out that way. But yeah, it does have elements of those records and that’s a good thing and obviously it would because it’s me and him [Tracii]. But this record goes musically to places that we never ever went in the early days of L.A. Guns. Like for example the title track. It sounds in the vein of pure metal song like Dio or Rainbow and that style and we didn’t do that style at all back in those days. I really enjoy it and I think it shows a new and refreshing side of the band that we perhaps didn’t have back then.”
You can read the entire interview with Lewis at Good Times Rock.