McKagan - Europe loves Loaded more than the States

Guns and Velvets star says US fans can be too tied up in the past to give his new band a chance

Duff McKagan believes his side-project band has more chance of success in Europe and Japan, because US fans don't give the music a chance. And he's hoping the kind of people who saw them at Download last night will help turn Sick - the new album by Duff McKagan's Loaded - into an underground hit.

He tells Noisecreep: "I think people from the States don't look at this as valid. They're like, 'Oh really? So and so from this band thinks he can put out his own record and we'll come see him play? Ain't gonna happen'.

"They don't really give music a chance - but we're going to try our best."

McKagan, who has a Harvard business education, has decided to stick to a business model which doesn't include a major label. He says: "There's not a lot of pressure like you get from a major. Major labels are becoming a thing of the past.

"Nobody sells records like Guns n'Roses did in the 80s or 90s. It's not the business any more. People get their music for free off the internet. Anybody who spends too much money on a record these days... that's fool's money spent."

He believes the other side of the balance is you have to be willing to play anywhere and everywhere to find your audience. Which is just as well, because Loaded are prepared to do just that.

He says: "We just don't give a fuck - we'll play any place. It's refreshing. It's rewarding when you become the buzz of a town when someone finds you.

"We sell records at the gigs. Who knows? By July this could be an underground summer record."

Check out Rock Radio DJ Paul Anthony's interview with Duff at Download and our live shots of Loaded playing Download's Tuborg Tent.