Velvet Revolver bass player Duff McKagan has denied a report that former Spacehog frontman Royston Langdon is in line to become the band’s new singer.
McKagan told Billboard.com that Velvet Revolver did play with Langdon, and that he’s “he’s f–king awesome,” but “at this point I’d have to say no” on him replacing ousted singer Scott Weiland.
“We just have to make sure it’s the right guy,” he said. “Karmically, we deserve the right guy. It’s a tough thing, man. We make a pretty big noise.”
Entertainment Weekly reported this week that Langdon, the estranged husband of actress Liv Tyler, was in the running for the gig after several successful jam sessions. Langdon’s glam-inspired band Spacehog enjoyed a hit in the mid-1990s with the song “In the Meantime.”
Velvet Revolver isn’t so much auditioning vocalists as “just seeing how it feels,” McKagan said.
For now, McKagan and bandmates Slash, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner are taking inspiration from their recent drama with Weiland and channeling it into new material.
“We have a bunch of stuff finished. It’s great. It’s killer,” McKagan said. “We started getting really productive when a ton of drama started happening on the road. It was like our safe place to go to. Sometimes that’s how you get some feelings out.”
One thing McKagan hasn’t done is listen to any of the online leaks from his former band Guns N’ Roses’ long-awaited “Chinese Democracy.” “I wouldn’t even know where to look,” he said, chuckling. “Slash said he heard a couple of tunes. I wish singer (Axl Rose) all the best.”
