L.A. Guns founder and guitarist Tracii Guns was recently interviewed by Andrew Daly for Metal Edge Mag. Guns was promoting L.A. Guns‘ upcoming studio album Black Diamonds, which will be released via Frontiers Music Srl on April 14, 2023.
Over the years, Guns has collaborated with a number of other artists including with Nikki Sixx in Brides of Destruction, with Poison drummer Rikki Rockett in Devil City Angels and with Stryper frontman Michael Sweet in SunBomb. Guns apparently has a new album recorded with Todd Kerns (Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Bruce Kulick Band, Heroes & Monsters) on vocals, which will be coming out in the fall.
Daly commented that it’s not a stretch to say that Black Diamonds holds up to L.A. Guns‘ previous classic records to which Guns added (with slight edits):r
“I see this record as a bookend. I’ve got this other record that comes out in the fall with Todd Kerns on one end, and now this record that’s holding the whole thing together on the other side of that. I honestly think that Black Diamonds is one of the best things I’ve ever recorded in my life, man. I truly do.
Like I said, I recorded another record with Todd Kerns at exactly the same time I recorded this one. I see them as parts one and two, which everyone will understand when they hear the other record. They’re like an extension of one another, except Todd is singing on one, and Phil [Lewis] is singing on the other. Adam [Hamilton] plays drums on both, so in some ways, they’re very interchangeable musically.
And so, for me right now, those two records are like crack. It’s all I can listen to. I put on some of my favorite shit, and I’m like, “Yeah, that’s cool. But man, I gotta hear these two records right now.” There’s a slow blues jam on the Todd Kerns record, and I don’t know where I pulled this shit from, but it’s the best guitar solo I’ve ever played. I can’t even come close anywhere else. It’s that special.
I don’t even remember doing any of it. That’s the crazy thing, man, I did it, and then I walked out of the room to the balcony, smoked a bunch of cigarettes, and then I’d go on to the next track. I don’t think about anything until I start getting mixes back, and then I’m like, “Whoa, fuck, that’s great.” We don’t rehearse this shit every morning. I just write it and record it.”
You can read the rest of the interview with Tracii Guns via Metal Edge Mag‘s website.