Post by WFA on Jun 26, 2014 23:37:28 GMT -5
Matt and Slash circa 2000
Matt, I'd like to start off by thanking you to take the time to do this interview with me for the site. This is really cool for me personally as I've gone on record several times saying that Ain't Life Grand is one of my favourite records, so getting to interview someone who was a part of that era is awesome.
My pleasure Walker!
1. How did working with Slash's Snakepit come about?
In 1997 a friend of mine told me about a fun jam night at The Baked Potato which is a famous jazz/fusion/blues club in Studio City, CA. A great drummer friend of mine (Dave Raven) was the house drummer. Dave let me sit in on a couple of songs. The rest of the house band included Guns n' Roses/Slash's Blues Ball keyboardist Teddy Andreadis, bassist for Slash's Blues Ball Johnny Griparic and a great guitarist named Alan Mirikitani. Slash happened to be there that same night and sat in with the band with me on drums. It was a thrill to get to play with him. At the end of the night the band and I traded contact info. I think a week later I got the call to join Slash's Blues Ball. A year after that Slash decided to reform Slash's Snakepit with a new line up and asked me to join the band.
2. Going in to record Ain't Life Grand, was there any particular strategy or approach that was taken?
I remember Slash saying that the songs needed to be sweated out in clubs before we recorded the record. So we booked club dates and continued writing songs to see which ones went over well in front of an audience. I think that's why bands like Guns and Van Halen's 1st records are so strong because they had their "club career" to work out the songs. Once they got that together all they needed to do was get it on tape. Snakepit didn't have a long club career but we did learn a lot from doing those gigs before tracking the record. We were all very inspired to make the best record we could….and we did.
3. With the diverse styles of songs on Ain't Life Grand, ranging from tunes like Speed Parade to Serial Killer to title track of the album, did Slash ever give much direction as to how the music was going to sound, or did someone start playing a riff, and the band would jump in with it?
No direction was set. We just wanted to make a great rock n' roll record. Ultimately it was Slash's band but that record was very much a band collaboration. Everyone brought in song ideas that we all worked on together playing acoustic guitars in Slash's living room. Once arrangements were made we went into Slash's studio and played them at full volume and continued to work on them. Sometimes a song started as just a riff and was built up from that point on. Some songs were almost completely finished but needed help from the rest of the band to complete. It was a lot of work, but fun!
4. How long did it take to write the songs that are on Ain't Life Grand?
I think it took about 2 years.
5. What would you say was the hardest part about recording Ain't Life Grand?
Anybody that has ever worked with me will tell you that I work very hard in the recording studio. We recorded drums for 17 or 18 songs in one week with no days off. I remember lying on a couch like a broken doll after finishing all the drum tracks at Ocean Way Studios when the engineer Jim Mitchell walked in and said "Matt. You look like you've just been in a war!!!" I was completely exhausted from all of the mental and physical stress that I had put myself through. Slash is a huge rock n' roll icon and I didn't want to let him or the rest of the guys down. I listen to the record today and feel very proud.
6. Are there any songs that were recorded during this period that haven't seen the light of day yet, and if so, could you try and describe them?
Yes. 1 song that comes to mind is called "I left My Soul". It had a mix of Queen's "Ogre Battle" with a funky halftime groove. There might be some live bootlegs of us in the clubs playing it before recording the record somewhere on Youtube.
7. After having been on the road with Slash during his party days, I'm sure you've got some fun stories. Would you mind sharing one with us?
Haha! Yeah. Some of the best times of my life were in that band. I gotta say though, Slash didn't party like the rest of us simply because he had already "been there, done that" years prior. The rest of us were just trying to live the dream.
8. Do you keep in contact with any of the guys in the band these days? What do you think about their current projects?
Johnny and I are still tight. I just reconnected with Slash recently after asking him if he wouldn't mind contributing a testimonial for my new website www.mattlaugdrums.com. I haven't talked to Rod, Ryan or Keri in years. No real reason other than life has just taken all of us in different directions. Love all of them and always support whatever their current projects are.
9. Do you know if there are any live recordings from the ALG tour in a vault somewhere, and if so, will they ever see the light of day?
Not sure. Any live stuff that I know of is on Youtube.
10. Would you be open to an Ain't Life Grand lineup reunion of Snakepit?
Maybe getting together to play 2 or 3 songs at a band member's birthday party or something would be a lot of fun.
11. Bonus question-For fans such as myself on a hunt to get each member of Snakepit to sign our copy of the album, how would we go about obtaining your signature? Do you have a P.O. box for fan mail?
I don't have a p.o. box but I'm currently looking into it. I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again for taking the time to answer the questions, I really do appreciate it. Do you have a Twitter account or a Facebook fan page I can put up for fans of Snakepit to follow you on?
I have a message board on my website that I check frequently. Working on getting all of my social media together. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I set them up. Thanks for the offer!
Matt Laug was the drummer for Slash's Snakepit during the Ain't Life Grand era. Matt is now a Los Angeles based session drummer, having played on records that have sold over 35 million copies with artist: Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill) Lifehouse (No Name Face) Alice Cooper, Eddie Money, Rocco Delucca, Beth Hart and more.
You can check out Matt's discography and hire him for a session at www.mattlaugdrums.com
My pleasure Walker!
1. How did working with Slash's Snakepit come about?
In 1997 a friend of mine told me about a fun jam night at The Baked Potato which is a famous jazz/fusion/blues club in Studio City, CA. A great drummer friend of mine (Dave Raven) was the house drummer. Dave let me sit in on a couple of songs. The rest of the house band included Guns n' Roses/Slash's Blues Ball keyboardist Teddy Andreadis, bassist for Slash's Blues Ball Johnny Griparic and a great guitarist named Alan Mirikitani. Slash happened to be there that same night and sat in with the band with me on drums. It was a thrill to get to play with him. At the end of the night the band and I traded contact info. I think a week later I got the call to join Slash's Blues Ball. A year after that Slash decided to reform Slash's Snakepit with a new line up and asked me to join the band.
2. Going in to record Ain't Life Grand, was there any particular strategy or approach that was taken?
I remember Slash saying that the songs needed to be sweated out in clubs before we recorded the record. So we booked club dates and continued writing songs to see which ones went over well in front of an audience. I think that's why bands like Guns and Van Halen's 1st records are so strong because they had their "club career" to work out the songs. Once they got that together all they needed to do was get it on tape. Snakepit didn't have a long club career but we did learn a lot from doing those gigs before tracking the record. We were all very inspired to make the best record we could….and we did.
3. With the diverse styles of songs on Ain't Life Grand, ranging from tunes like Speed Parade to Serial Killer to title track of the album, did Slash ever give much direction as to how the music was going to sound, or did someone start playing a riff, and the band would jump in with it?
No direction was set. We just wanted to make a great rock n' roll record. Ultimately it was Slash's band but that record was very much a band collaboration. Everyone brought in song ideas that we all worked on together playing acoustic guitars in Slash's living room. Once arrangements were made we went into Slash's studio and played them at full volume and continued to work on them. Sometimes a song started as just a riff and was built up from that point on. Some songs were almost completely finished but needed help from the rest of the band to complete. It was a lot of work, but fun!
4. How long did it take to write the songs that are on Ain't Life Grand?
I think it took about 2 years.
5. What would you say was the hardest part about recording Ain't Life Grand?
Anybody that has ever worked with me will tell you that I work very hard in the recording studio. We recorded drums for 17 or 18 songs in one week with no days off. I remember lying on a couch like a broken doll after finishing all the drum tracks at Ocean Way Studios when the engineer Jim Mitchell walked in and said "Matt. You look like you've just been in a war!!!" I was completely exhausted from all of the mental and physical stress that I had put myself through. Slash is a huge rock n' roll icon and I didn't want to let him or the rest of the guys down. I listen to the record today and feel very proud.
6. Are there any songs that were recorded during this period that haven't seen the light of day yet, and if so, could you try and describe them?
Yes. 1 song that comes to mind is called "I left My Soul". It had a mix of Queen's "Ogre Battle" with a funky halftime groove. There might be some live bootlegs of us in the clubs playing it before recording the record somewhere on Youtube.
7. After having been on the road with Slash during his party days, I'm sure you've got some fun stories. Would you mind sharing one with us?
Haha! Yeah. Some of the best times of my life were in that band. I gotta say though, Slash didn't party like the rest of us simply because he had already "been there, done that" years prior. The rest of us were just trying to live the dream.
8. Do you keep in contact with any of the guys in the band these days? What do you think about their current projects?
Johnny and I are still tight. I just reconnected with Slash recently after asking him if he wouldn't mind contributing a testimonial for my new website www.mattlaugdrums.com. I haven't talked to Rod, Ryan or Keri in years. No real reason other than life has just taken all of us in different directions. Love all of them and always support whatever their current projects are.
9. Do you know if there are any live recordings from the ALG tour in a vault somewhere, and if so, will they ever see the light of day?
Not sure. Any live stuff that I know of is on Youtube.
10. Would you be open to an Ain't Life Grand lineup reunion of Snakepit?
Maybe getting together to play 2 or 3 songs at a band member's birthday party or something would be a lot of fun.
11. Bonus question-For fans such as myself on a hunt to get each member of Snakepit to sign our copy of the album, how would we go about obtaining your signature? Do you have a P.O. box for fan mail?
I don't have a p.o. box but I'm currently looking into it. I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again for taking the time to answer the questions, I really do appreciate it. Do you have a Twitter account or a Facebook fan page I can put up for fans of Snakepit to follow you on?
I have a message board on my website that I check frequently. Working on getting all of my social media together. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I set them up. Thanks for the offer!
Matt Laug was the drummer for Slash's Snakepit during the Ain't Life Grand era. Matt is now a Los Angeles based session drummer, having played on records that have sold over 35 million copies with artist: Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill) Lifehouse (No Name Face) Alice Cooper, Eddie Money, Rocco Delucca, Beth Hart and more.
You can check out Matt's discography and hire him for a session at www.mattlaugdrums.com
