14. Duff

I never liked the LA thing
the glam peacock thing.

I was always more of a Seattle guy
give me rain, coffee and reality any day.
I was in this band called
Ten Minute Warning
who then became The Fartz.
We made some good music for groovin’.
That’s how I described us on the flyer
“we make good music for groovin’”
but no-one was interested.
Then this English band Angelic Upstarts
asked me to join them
but England is worse than LA
the chicks are uglier for starters.
So I went on tour
roadie-ing for the Fastbacks
and in January ’85
I’m like, fuck it, LA is a living hell
but it’s still where it’s at.
I guess I wanted more from life.
Wanted a spotlight to call my own.
I lived in this crummy apartment
scoured the Classifieds
went to a few auditions
switched to bass
joined a band called Road Crew
with Slash and Adler
which last precisely five months
before we met Axl and the Guns guys
and a week later we debuted
at The Troubadour.

This was June 1985.
But don’t quote me on that.