Steve Riley states Phil Lewis ranted about Tracii Guns for years before rejoining him for a little bit more $

Steve Riley states Phil Lewis ranted about Tracii Guns for years before rejoining him for a little bit more $

L.A. Guns‘ long-time drummer Steve Riley was interviewed by Ruben Mosqueda for Sleaze Roxx earlier this week. The interview will be posted on Sleaze Roxx later this weekend. Riley spoke during the interview about the two versions of L.A. Guns and his perceived right to carry on with his version of L.A. Guns.

It’s no secret that there is now two versions of L.A. Guns with the original version continued by drummer Steve Riley and the new version of the band spearheaded by guitarist Tracii Guns who ironically was the founder of L.A. Guns.

Riley‘s version of the band includes classic line-up bassist Kelly Nickels, lead guitarist Scott Griffin (who previously played bass for the band in 2007 to 2009 and again in 2011 to 2014) and lead vocalist / rhythm guitarist Kurt Frohlich.

Guns‘ version of L.A. Guns was restarted in 2016 (after a stint from 2006 to 2012) and includes classic line-up lead vocalist Phil Lewis along with bassist Johnny Martin, guitarist Ace Von Johnson and drummer Scot Coogan. Lewis was previously in Riley‘s version of L.A. Guns from 1999 to 2016. During the time that Lewis and Guns were in different versions of L.A. Guns, Lewis was not shy about voicing his displeasure of Guns‘ version of the band.

During his interview with Riley for Sleaze Roxx earlier this week, Mosqueda pointed out that years ago when Guns was on That Metal Show, he went off on Riley, which made for an uncomfortable moment. Mosqueda noted that Riley didn’t take the bait to which the drummer replied:

“You know what Ruben? When I saw that show with Eddie Trunk who’s a good friend, going back to my days in W.A.S.P. — when I saw that show and Trace said what he said, Eddie Trunk asked me if I wanted to go on his [show to] reply back to him. I accepted, but I wanted Phil to come on the show too. It was only fair as we were ‘classic’ members of the band. Eddie was in favour of it. So Phil and I appeared on That Metal Show, but it was like two-three months after Tracii’s rant had aired. I thought it was funny that everyone was expecting me to go after Trace [laughs]!

They were prepared for me to dig into him and say all sorts of shit! If you recall in the episode, I was basically only able to say that I was disappointed that he said those things, before Phil went off on Tracii [laughs]! I didn’t get to say much! I wasn’t going to. I didn’t need to stoop to that level. Pull up that episode and watch it again. I didn’t say much, then Phil who was seething goes off on Tracii. It’s unbelievable that he said all that about Trace on camera and a few years later, he goes back with the guy for a little bit more money? It’s just so disappointing.”

Stay tuned for Ruben Mosqueda‘s interview with Steve Riley, which will be posted on Sleaze Roxx later this weekend.