Guns N'Roses' bassist Duff McKagan has praised the band's new drummer, Isaac Carpenter.
McKagan spoke about the myriad of rockers he has served with over the years, including current bandmate Slash, as well as Richard Fortus, Melissa Reese, Dizzy Reed and Jerry Cantrell, along with Joe Perry and Alice Cooper.
As McKagan said so himself: "I observe and learn and soak in their talent, and try to learn something from it".
He went into more detail about Isaac, who came in for a particularly glowing reference.
"So, Isaac I've known since he was 19. He's 45 now. So, I knew him when he was in [late 1990s / early 2000s band] LOUDERMILK. I'm from Seattle. LOUDERMILK's from the same region. So they were about to make it big. Everybody thought they were great. They put out that record. It was on Interscope. Nothing really happened for them", he said.
He continued: "And Isaac and I, we started — he was in [Duff's band] LOADED for a record. He toured with LOADED. He started playing with Adam Lambert and then AWOLNATION. He plays on TOOL records. He plays on a lot of stuff. And he's just the best drummer I know. And so when we were trying out drummers, I said, 'We've gotta put Isaac in there.' We're his favorite band, so he knows every song better than us".
In a previous interview, Duff McKagan also spoke about what Carpenter brings to Guns N'Roses that has been different from previous sticksmen.
"I'll tell you what Isaac brings to the band. No commentary on Frank, 'cause Frank's a lovely guy. Isaac has got this ability, though, to swing and groove that only a few drummers have", he said.
"Steven had it as well, Steven Adler, and Matt Sorum is a great, solid drummer with amazing fills — and Matt's amazing. They're both amazing drummers. And Isaac somehow blends both of those two guys and adds his own thing. So he adds a new sort of excitement to the songs. And the groove and swing of the songs right now with Isaac is super impressive and super fun".
Speaking of Guns N'Roses, McKagan's bandmate Slash had teased a new Guns N'Roses album, saying it is "coming because everybody is thinking about it". More on this from Nova here.
