Legendary drummer Matt Sorum recently sat down with Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation, offering an in-depth look at his career-defining years in Guns N' Roses, the formation of Velvet Revolver, and his unforgettable experience performing with Geezer Butler in Deadland Ritual.
Reflecting on his time in Guns N' Roses, Sorum described it as surreal: "It's like watching somebody else's movie. It feels like I was there, but I look at it and I'm like… it's like a dream sequence."
He highlighted how the band shaped the rest of his career: "That band… gave me legs for the rest of my career. The credibility it gives me as a musician with other musicians, because it's such a rock and roll moniker, it's just such a strong stamp of approval."
Sorum expressed gratitude for his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and the recognition it brought: "Obviously, I got in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with them, and I appreciated that nod… luckily I was on those records and The Spaghetti Incident, that got me the approval of being part of that regime."
Even relationships with former bandmates evolved over time: "Steven Adler was there with me, and he was very gracious. We didn't get along in the early days, but we worked it all out as older men… I look back in retrospective with a lot of pride and happy I did it when it was at the highest level."
He praised Axl Rose's talent and reflected on the highs of performing with the band: "Axl Rose is probably the greatest frontman of that era… I see videos pop up on Instagram, and I'm like, 'Wow, we were pretty good.'"
Sorum also recounted the formation of Velvet Revolver, describing the thrill of starting fresh: "Velvet Revolver spawned from that too. That was a great run… it didn't last as long as I wanted it to. I was hoping it'd be more of a long thing, we'd still be here, but fortunately it didn't go that way. I think we could have really developed into a great rock and roll band, which I felt like we were on Contraband."
He shared the excitement of recording Contraband and the sense of rebirth it brought: "When we first came out, I definitely felt youthful and on fire again… We all got in great shape, we all got cleaned up. We weren't doing the hard-hitting party nights like we did… and we made a great record. Contraband came out and sold 3 million copies, and we got three Grammys, two Grammy noms. We won one… we were on fire again."
Turning to his experiences with Geezer Butler in Deadland Ritual, Sorum shared humorous and revealing backstage stories: "I remember when we went on at Download and me and Geezer were walking to the stage… I looked over to Geezer and I said, 'When was the last time you went on stage when it was still light out?' He goes, 'Oh, 25 years ago,' or something… Black Sabbath in the daylight."
He also reflected on the camaraderie and behind-the-scenes moments: "Geezer, we had a blast… I shared a bus with Geezer. The crew had to tighten the budget, so everyone was on one bus… Geezer goes, 'The one thing you did is, hey, I'm gonna get a bus.' I said, 'When was the last time you were on a bus?' He said, '25 years ago and 30 years ago…'"
Sorum recounted legendary stories from Butler about Black Sabbath's early touring days: "He told me stories about when Sabbath first started out in Germany… they'd play a music club that turned into a dance club at night. The club owner let them play the show and sleep in the attic… Tony, Ozzy, Bill Ward, and Geezer… sleeping in the attic. We'd put our hands on the bed to not get bitten by rats. I was like, 'Oh my God.' And the songs were written there… like The Beatles went there too."
Sorum called the chance to perform with his rock heroes a personal milestone: "That's been the greatest part of my life—getting to play some of my favorite songs with some of the original guys. I get great satisfaction… if we raise some money, that's great too."
