By Aaron Small
Duff McKagan, former bassist for Guns N' Roses is ready once again to step onto stages the world over, this time with his new band Loaded. Consisting of Duff on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Geoff Reading (ex-New American Shame) on drums, and two former members of Alien Crime Syndicate, Mike Squires on lead guitar and Jeff Rouse on bass.
Loaded's debut album, Dark Days, produced by Martin Feveyear, was recorded in about a month, as Duff recalls. "It took six weeks from beginning to end. Not a hell of a long time. It's been out in Japan on EMI since August 2001. People in the States kept asking about the record and it was like, f**k, I don't know when it's coming out." So Duff and the boys printed up copies on their own label, Pimp Records, and sold them at shows and over the Internet via www.loadedonline.com. Recently inking a deal with Artist Direct, Dark Days will be released in North America this June, causing the website sale to be withdrawn.
The first song on the album, 'Seattlehead' was initially released in 1996 as the b-side to the Neurotic Outsiders' single 'Jerk'. Duff played in the Neurotic Outsiders with Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), John Taylor (Duran Duran) and Matt Sorum (GN'R). "That was a killer f**king band. But nobody knows the song 'Seattlehead'. It was just a b-side and I love that song. No one ever really got to hear it. It's very rare that you know about it."
