Guitar hero Tracii Guns talks L.A. Guns, Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin

Tracii Guns

L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. (Courtesy Rock Symposium/Heather Warren)

The guitars sound like the metallic score to some pagan ceremony. Or maybe the music they play on the elevator that takes you down to hell.

They overspill from the title track off L.A. Gun’s latest album, “The Devil You Know,” released this March.

It’s crazy (and reassuring) a half-century after Led Zeppelin’s and Black Sabbath’s debut albums - and countless bands those albums inspired - rock guitarists are still coming up with new rad riffs.

Thirty years into his own notable recording career, L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns is still pulling them out of the ether.

"When I was younger," Guns says, "I was always trying to force myself to come up with stuff that was my personality. Now I just kind of let things flow through. I can go, 'Oh that sounds like Black Sabbath' or 'that sounds like Van Halen' or 'that sounds like Randy Rhoads' and just embrace it. It's taken that psychological warfare out of the process, which really helps."

Against all odds, L.A. Guns' 11th and 12th studio albums have been two of the Los Angeles band's best, along with their sinewy 1988 self-titled debut, searing sophomore LP "Cocked and Loaded" and broader-palette 1991 disc "Hollywood Vampires."

Tracii reunited with singer Phil Lewis - following a period when both classic-lineup stars each had their own version of L.A. Guns on the road- for 2017 LP "The Missing Peace" and "The Devil You Know." On those records, the band has focused on straight up wallop. Hard-rock/heavy-metal tastemakers like radio hosts Eddie Trunk and Mitch Lafon have sung the records' praises.

Tracii attributes at least part of L.A. Guns' latter-day renaissance to him taking a long break from the band. "So, when Phil and I got back together, Guns says, "I had a few things that I thought were really special and we worked on those first and it was nice. At that point I had a really objective point of view about L.A. Guns music and about L.A. Guns fans and what they like, and they like it really nasty and heavy and sexy." This describes many vintage L.A. Guns essentials too, like "Electric Gypsy," "Rip and Tear" and "Never Enough."

Not that L.A. Guns isn’t capable of subtly. Twangy 1989 heart-breaker “The Ballad of Jayne” is a better Americana song than most Americana songs Nashville has released in 2019.

In addition to Guns and Lewis, a gifted British glam throat, the band’s current lineup features bassist Johnny Martin, guitarist Ace Von Johnson and drummer Scott Coogan. Since the band formed in the mid-80s, there have been many musicians in and out of L.A. Guns, including Axl Rose, the explosive singer with whom Tracii also joined forces with in an early version of Guns N’ Roses. Yes, as astute rock fans know, Tracii was the “Guns” in GN’R, as well as with L.A. Guns. [Classic-era L.A. Guns bassist Kelly Nickels and drummer Steve Riley also are out currently on the road with their own version of L.A. Guns. Gigs for Lewis and Guns’ version is billed as “L.A. Guns starring Phil Lewis & Tracii Guns.” Double versions of some rock bands have been around for a while now, fellow Sunset Strip vets Ratt are another example.]

On a recent afternoon, Tracii Guns checked in for the following phone interview from the Hollywood residence he shares with his wife, their cats and lots of guitars and records.

Tracii, who’s a guitarist that’s been an influence on you many listeners might not be able to pick out easily?

Maybe Dave Murray from Iron Maiden. A lot of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal guys, even Gary Moore, guys like that, I don't talk about them that much but they had such an impact. Even Pete Willis and Steve Clark from early Def Leppard, Michael Schenker, that's probably more where I fit than the Hendrixes and the Pages. Definitely blues-based, but it's obviously a lot more metal influence, I would say.

There's a clear Allman Brothers influence in your playing on the 1991 L.A. Guns song "It's Over Now." What did Southern-rock guitar players like Duane Allman and the Skynyrd guys mean to you?

That's the stuff that my parents were listening to and I was rebelling against, which also included The Stones. Because those guys were really writing songs about women and fighting, and at the time I was listening to songs about dragons and Tolkien. [Laughs] So I rebelled against all that stuff when I was really young.

And my mom played pedal-steel guitar, what I call real country-music. So I grew up with this background - country, Southern blues, Southern rock - and I wanted to be Johnny Thunders and Randy Rhoads, and all those influences were really sneaky. They snuck into my psyche. I didn't want them in there. But then they had such an impact on playing, especially playing in major-keys and things like that. Once I started writing more, like for instance "It’s Over Now," songs like that, finding the difference between country-rock and heavy-rock. Country-rock tends to be written in major-keys whereas heavy-rock is more of a pentatonic-blues or pentatonic-minor kind of feel.

When I listen to that (Southern rock and roots music) stuff now it's such a wealth of feeling and all those things. And emotions and feelings and vision are just as much a part as knowing the notes on the guitar, when you're creating. Sometimes you picture yourself driving across Texas into The Deep South and that feeling certainly comes out in your music.

I recently got into this album from 1980 called "Sheer Greed" by Phil Lewis' earlier band Girl (which also featured future Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen). Before Phil joined L.A. Guns back in the day, how familiar were you with that album and band?

Oh man, that record … Izzy (Stradlin, classic-era Guns N' Roses guitarist and songwriter) turned me on to that record and it floored me. I was like 17 years old when I got turned on to that record and the thing that was really cool about it is it was during that New Wave of British Metal but it wasn't really metal. It was something else. Songs like "Hollywood Tease" obviously really impacted me. "Oh, so that's the perception of the Hollywood music scene?" Which I was living and breathing every day. (L.A. Guns recorded a version of "Hollywood Tease" for their 1988 debut.) Every song on that record … And the other (Girl) album too, "Wasted Youth," is very similar and even a little bit darker, so when the singer we had (in L.A. Guns, Paul Black) that we lost due to heroin, he didn't die but the label said, "Hey you can't have a junkie in your band," so our (then) manager, this guy Alan Jones he said, "If you could have anybody sing for you, who would it be?" And I just said, "Well this guy Phil Lewis, and he said, "I know Phil," and he went and got him and brought him back and that was it.

Is there a cool story putting together the guitar solo for "The Ballad of Jayne"? People love that song.

That was at a time where my major-key guitar skills were pretty infantile and there's something to be said for that. If you have a couple tools to work with instead of a million tools to work with you tend to construct something that's just putting together something basic. I was able to construct these little blocks and put them all together that made something. Might be my most memorable solo. I don't know. But it's certainly simple, and it speaks very easily. [Laughs]

What's giving the guitar its icy tone on the "Ballad of Jayne" solo? Is that a Uni-Vibe (an effects pedal guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower popularized) on there?

Oh, on that song? On the solo? That's just my fingers wobbling, man.


I literally played a Strat through a Fender Bassman and that's it. Some reverb. Maybe the spring reverb's a little washy on it but yeah there's nothing fun on it.

If you could have any well-known artist cover "Ballad of Jayne" who would you like to hear cover that?

Wow. Who's that fellow with the hat? (Country star) Brad Paisley. That would be awesome. I can see him doing that.

I’ve seen you use a Theremin onstage before. (Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page used a Theremin, an electronic musical instrument, during Zep live shows.) What are your thoughts on Greta Van Fleet a young band that’s gotten dinged for a heavy Zeppelin influence. And it’s weird because bands can be influenced by the Velvet Underground and people don’t mind.


What’s your take on that whole Greta Van Fleet thing?

I think first of all the singer sounds more like Geddy Lee than Robert Plant. It's difficult when you go into comparing things to Led Zeppelin because Led Zeppelin's mastery of music and that chemistry is very special. So, you can say a lot of great things about Greta Van Fleet, but they in no shape or form rival or compare to the use of Eastern influence and folk music of Led Zeppelin. Beyond that, they're (Greta Van Fleet) a really cool band, there's lots of room for growth.

And let's face it Robert Plant and Jimmy Page up front, maybe Axl and Slash, maybe David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen, that's some pretty sacred territory when you're trying to make comparisons. Like, "Hey you should come see this band Greta Van Fleet they're like Led Zeppelin" and then you go and - and I get the maple drums, I get the cool shirts and the singer sings in a high falsetto - but there's nowhere near the danger of "these guys are going to beat my ass after they f--- my girlfriend." And Led Zeppelin had that.

And that's the thing about rock & roll, it's psychological, it's about the stories, it's about things that are attractive. The things Greta Van Fleet has going for them, they're good looking guys, they sound cool, they've got a rough, vintage-y sound. But there's another band out there called The Darbies that is even a little bit younger than Greta Van Fleet and these guys will scare they s--- out of you.

I tend to lean more towards extreme metal and black metal and stuff like that when I'm listening to my hard-rock these days because I really need that danger. Those bands have more danger, in the same way Jimi Hendrix had danger then the so-called "rock bands of today." The rock bands of today they're very safe. It's not … Nothing flips me out. But The Darbies really do. And Greta Van Fleet, that's a great success story for rock & roll and that benefits everybody. But people should be careful with their comparisons.

You mentioned Axl Rose. What's your most vivid memory from the first time you ever jammed with Axl, back in the day when you guys were first coming up?

Well, we spent so much time together that before I ever jammed with him we were at a soundcheck together where Hollywood Rose (a GN’R precursor band) and L.A. Guns were playing together. That was the first time I heard him sing, and it was him just checking the mic. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I was like, “Oh s--- who is this guy?” [Laughs] And that’s a very vivid memory.

Earlier you also mentioned Izzy Stradlin. Izzy's such a reclusive dude. Everyone I've ever interviewed that worked with him, played with music with him, talks about how cool he was. What made Izzy so cool?

What makes most cool guys cool is a certain insecurity. They don't want to be judged, they don't want confrontation so they choose their words carefully and when they finally put out an idea, it's a great idea and well thought-through. And he's certainly one of those guys. Even when we were teenagers Izzy was the coolest guy in town. I got in a fight with him and it was the coolest fight I'd ever been in, you know? [Laughs] He was so methodically about the way he bitch-slapped me, it was awesome. There's certain people that have personality like that and you can equate cool with careful, and I believe Izzy's a very careful person. And he's very well read, he's a smart guy and that's why he's probably always been kind of out of the public eye other than onstage because he knows better.

When you were first learning to play lead guitar what was the first solo you learned how to play really well?

"Whole Lotta Love," for sure. I started working on that when I was 7 and I think by the time I was 11, I got it.

If there's a hypothetical situation where your house was on fire and you only had time to grab one guitar out of your collection, which do you save?

It's this one I call The Lemon, it's a custom shop Les Paul '59 reissue. Yeah that's the one. It’s not my most valuable guitar but it's my best friend.

From dealing with all the L.A. Guns lineup changes over the years what's a way you've evolved for getting along with other musicians in a band? I always thought being in a band was like being married to four ugly chicks.

Right. And it is. The thing is, when I started I had exactly that mentality: Led Zeppelin, four guys; Aerosmith, five guys. That's the way it is. But we weren't put together in the late '60s, early '70s, you know? For me, I was really at least six years younger than the next guy in age, so it's my band, I put a band together with all these older guys, and the older guys had different ideas and different manipulation tactics and control issues and things like that.

So, very little of my overall vision for L.A. Guns really came into play until after our first four records. And then through the process of playing with different people, like you said, improvements. That's likely why our newer records are really critically looked at because of the players. Almost every great guy you'd want to play with, I've played with, so inserting new members into this band, especially drums and bass, I'm just used to a different standard now. Of guys that are virtuosos, they can sing, they understand music.

For me I've always benefited from the bad relationships and bravado of a subpar musician because a subpar musician, they make up for it by being a--holes. [Laughs] It's like, yeah, I believe you're the greatest drummer in the world. Yes, because you're telling me over and over again. Until I went and played with another drummers. There's only so much of that in your life that you can handle and then you've got to walk away.

So, when inserting new players in a band like L.A. Guns, the first requirement is like, "Are you better than the last guy? The second requirement, "Can I live with you? Are you nice? Are you sensible? Are you smart? Are you humble? Do you have a good sense of humor?" And those are the types of things that make a marriage to four ugly guys bearable. You all get along and you're on a mission. And finally at 50 years old, I'm 53 now, I could take control of my band and do exactly what I've always felt the band needed to do musically and the way we conduct our business. And we're very successful now and I'm very happy.

L.A. Guns starring Phil Lewis & Tracii Guns will play a 7 p.m. July 14 show at Huntsville’s SideTracks Music Hall, address 415-E Church St. N. Tickets are $20 advance $25 day of show, via More info: