Phil Lewis of L.A. Guns Discusses New Album “The Devil You Know” and More

L.A. Guns are back again! In late 2017, they released “The Missing Peace,” the first L.A. Guns album to feature both Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns since the 2002 album “Waking The Dead”. After a successful world tour, the band wasted no time with getting back in the studio to record their latest album, “The Devil You Know” which comes out later this week on March 29th. Immediately following the release of this album, the band will embark on another world tour. I recently had the privilege to speak with lead vocalist, Phil Lewis about the new album and more! Enjoy!

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Legendary Rock Interviews:   Hi Phil How’s it going, man?

Phil Lewis:  Going great. Thanks, Shawn. How you doing?

LRI:     Doing pretty good! Thanks..  Congrats on the new album “The Devil You Know”, which comes out next week. I have been listening to it the last couple weeks. It sounds fantastic, almost in the vein of the first record a little bit. Was that kind of intentional? Or was it just that the fact that your voice and Tracii’s guitar just gels together to get that sound.

Phil:    Never at any point did we go “let’s try and make this sound like” anything really. We just get together and started writing some songs. And the sounds sort of developed itself. We play a lot of vinyl records and we were really going for a 70’s classic sounding 70s record. Certainly on “The Missing Piece”, the one before this. We’re children of the 70’s, this record was written on the road. It’s very stripped down, there are no keyboards or string arrangements or anything like that. Some people have said it’s almost got a punk attitude. It is a bit punky, and so was the first record. Yeah, it makes sense that people, like yourself, who know the band’s history, would pick up on that. I appreciate that.

LRI:     You’re welcome.  I think what’s really cool is, that in today’s day and age.. You guys are continuously putting out new stuff. Nearly a year and half apart and you guys have put out two records and one live record. You have some bands out there that don’t put out new material. They just keep going out and doing just the hits and not putting out new stuff.

Phil:    I’m not knocking the other guys, but you’re right, they’re going out playing hits, songs that were written in the last century. We don’t wanna be that band, we don’t wanna do that. We’re not distancing ourselves from those guys, we just don’t wanna do that.

LRI:     Right, I love hearing new stuff. I play guitar a little bit. When I was first learning, I friggin loved Tracii Guns playing when I was in high school. To keep hearing him do what he does, keeps me excited to near new music. Along with his playing and your voice.. It just belongs together

Phil:    That’s what he does all day, he sits on the tour bus, in his underwear, playing guitar plugged into rock band on his phone or an I-pad and that’s the basics of basically every song that we wrote. It’s just from being on that bus with him, while he’s riffing. I agree, its great chemistry.

LRI:     It is. In addition to these two recent records, you’ve also released the “Live in Milan” record.

Phil:    We have an Italian record company, Frontiers, and they’re based in Milan so that’s how that ended up coming about.

LRI:     Oh ok. I think there was another band, I can’t remember who, had just put out another live record from there too. So, it must be something with that.

Phil:    Probably from the same event, the same day. All the bands that are on Frontier played a festival and they recorded it. A whole part of everyone’s contract is to do that. It was a fun day, it was great.

LRI:     I saw a post you had made online about the passing of Bernie Torme. Can you say a few things about him?

Phil:    Yeah, I’ve been around for awhile, I was in a glam band in the early 80’s called “Girl”. We were together for a couple of years, we did okay. We were much more attitude than ability, but we made a dent. It wasn’t designed to last forever, after 1982 the band pretty much ran it’s course. There was really not much for me to do, I was trying to get something off the ground and put a new band together. I was having a hard time with that. Then, Bernie called me out of the blue and said that he wanted to try his line up with a singer and would I be interested. I didn’t know too much about him, but I did some research. Then, he sent me over the cassette, cause we played cassettes back then of his material, and it was just so amazing. At a time after “Girl” broke up, nobody wanted to have anything to do with me, I was industry poison pretty much. I’d run my course. Bernie was like, “Yeah, you’re the guy! I want you to do it!”. He had the confidence in me to do it and I’ll never forget that, and I’ll always appreciate it. I loved him for that.

LRI:     That’s really cool. Thank you for sharing that. Back to the new record, how did the song writing work with this one, cause I think the last one, I don’t think you had that many song writing credits on there. Was it more of a collaborative effort this time?

Phil:    Oh yeah, definitely!. A lot of the stuff from the last record had been written before the reunion. So, that explains that. We all started on the same page with this record. I like that. It shows, you can tell, as well. It’s a bit more solid, for me anyway.

L.A Guns – Rage (Official Video)

LRI:     One of our readers wanted to ask you a question.  You did a number of cover songs over the years. Do you have a favorite cover song you’ve done?

Phil:    You know, I like my version of “Cry Little Sister” A lot, the song from “The Lost Boys” movie. I think I did a great job on that, that’s probably one of my favorites.

LRI:     That is cool. I remember back in the mid 90’s when there were tons and tons of cover records coming out.

Phil:    I was doing one every week, it was great.

LRI:     I know you guys are going full speed ahead with the new album and tour… and now we got Steve Riley doing his “LA Guns” thing with M3.

Phil:    He’s not.

LRI:     Oh, he’s not now?

Phil:    No, he doesn’t have a band.

LRI:     Okay, I remember saw it advertised. I knew he didn’t have a singer.

Phil:    He doesn’t have a band, he fucked up. M3 got mad at me because we couldn’t do it, because logistically it was impossible for us to make the event by three o’clock the following day. So, we politely passed and said please consider us for the next one. They got really pissed off and knowing full well that Riley does have a legal right to the name, they called him up and they told him, “would you be interested in a slot on the festival?”..principally, just to fuck me over! and stupidly he agreed to do it before he even realized that he needs a band before he can agree that a bands gonna play an event. We’re five weeks out and I haven’t heard any announcement about how the rehearsals are going or how the new singers working out. You’d think by now they would have something, nothing.

LRI:     Right. It’s been a while since I heard anything about it too.

LRI:     So the tour starts in a couple weeks. I will be seeing you guys in Flint, MI.

Phil:    At our favorite venue in Michigan.. The Machine Shop.

LRI:     Yes!! it’s one of my favorites, too. I love going there. Even though I’m from the Detroit area, I do make the trek up there to see shows often.

Phil:    It’s a little bit of a pilgrimage, but it’s limited, where we can play in Detroit nowadays. The people at The Machine Shop just take such good care of us, and we draw a great crowd there, so that’s kind of become our new Detroit.

LRI:     How many new tracks are you gonna be doing Live this tour?

Phil:    Three.

LRI:     Do you have a favorite new song off this new record?

Phil:    I like Gone Honey, but changes. I like Rage a lot too. They’re all great.

LRI:     Indeed! Any chance of the band pulling off some stuff like from Waking the Dead? I’d love to hear that title track, which I’ve never heard live, with you and Tracii.

Phil:    Yeah, we try, it’s just very difficult. We have to play certain songs. We have to play “Never Enough”. We have to play “The Ballad Of Jayne. We have to play “Sex Action”. There’s certain nuggets of compulsory and we try to mix some new stuff in and around it. That’s our focus at the moment, B cuts are fine, we love them, but right now, unless we’re gonna be doing what we like to do, playing two nights consecutively in the same venue. B cuts are going to have to go on the back burner for awhile till we get this new record going.

LRI:     Right, that’s cool. Are there any new bands out there that you’re listening to now, or do you stick to listening to the classics?

Phil:    I like Greta Van Fleet, I know they get a lot of shit from people.

LRI:     Yes. They do. They’re well loved here in Michigan though.

Phil:    Good band. Anything that inspires a 12 or 13 year old to pick up a guitar or learn to play bass or drums, is okay with me.. That’s exactly what they’re doing, so right now they’re my favorite. Great hope that they might be the ones to change everything, get kids off their phone, wanting to be DJs and wanting to do real rock instead. There’s nothing sexier, nothing cooler than a guy who can pick up a guitar and sing a song, or a bunch of guys in a band.

LRI:     Exactly.

Phil:    Look at this Motley Crue movie, it’s gangbusters. People are going crazy, this doesn’t exist anymore and bands like Greta Van Fleet are making an effort. I notice that, I think it’s great and I wish them all the best in the world.

LRI:    Me too. When I see them, as young as they are, jamming. I mean they’re in their late teens, early twenties. Then I look at these kids playing Rock Band and stuff with these fake guitars.  These guys are playing the real thing, I think that might be an influence for younger kids, maybe getting into them to pick up an instrument and play it themselves instead of playing the video game thing.

Phil:    That’s exactly my sentiments to these guys. It’s gotta be a little more satisfying than that fucking stupid game, the playstation game. There’s no satisfaction in that.

LRI:     Right. I agree

Phil:    You play, you win, you lose. You learn how to play a song on guitar, you know that for life.

LRI:    Very true!

Phil:    That will serve you a lot better than how quickly you can move your thumb.

LRI:     Right. Alright, Bud! I’m gonna let you get going. I just wanna say thanks again for taking time to talk to me.

Phil:    Appreciate it. I like talking to you. Good questions and once again, we really appreciate your support.

LRI:     Your very welcome, and I’ll see you in a couple weeks at the Machine Shop.

Phil:    Come say Hi, we’ll take care of you.

LRI:     I will.

Phil:    Alright, bro.

LRI:     Alright. Take care!
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A few hours after this interview took place, It was announced that drummer, Shane Fitzgibbons has left the band to pursue a great opportunity and is being replaced by Scot Coogan who previously played with Tracii Guns in Brides of Destruction and most recently, Ace Frehley, Lita Ford and Stephen Pearcy. Best of luck to you Shane! \m/

Click Here To Pre-Order “The Devil You Know” Today

L.A Guns Tour Dates: 

29 Mar Yost Theater – Santa Ana, CA
04 Apr RocHaus – West Dundee, IL
05 Apr Riverfront Live – Cincinnati, OH
06 Apr The Machine Shop Concert Lounge – Flint, MI
08 Apr Sellersville Theater – Sellersville, PA
09 Apr Debonair Music Hall – Teaneck, NJ
11 Apr Tupelo Music Hall – Derry, NH
12 Apr Fish Head Cantina & Rocking Sushi Bar – Halethorpe, MD
13 Apr Greasy Luck Brewpub – New Bedford, MA
16 Apr Iridium Jazz Club – New York, NY
18 Apr Beacon Theatre – Hopewell, VA
19 Apr The Firmament – Greenville, SC
20 Apr Chameleon Club – Lancaster, PA
24 May Marquee Theatre – Tempe, AZ
14 Jun Whisky A Go Go – West Hollywood, CA
15 Jun Whisky A Go Go – West Hollywood, CA
21 Jun The Village Door – Seascape Miramar Beach, FL
28 Jun Poopy’s Pub – Savanna, IL
29 Jun Delmar Hall – St Louis, MO
11 Jul Rock the Roses/Hair in the Fair Welland, Canada

L.A Guns:
Phil Lewis – Vocals
Tracii Guns – Guitar
Johnny Martin – Bass
Ace Von Johnson – Guitar
Scot Coogan – Drums

Visit L.A Guns On The Web:
https://www.lagunsmusic.com – Official Website
https://www.facebook.com/L.A.GunsOfficial – Official Facebook
https://www.instagram.com/laguns – Official Instagram
https://www.twitter.com/laguns – Official Twitter

Also visit https://www.lagunsmusic.com/vip-soundcheck for Meet & Greet/Soundcheck viewing opportunities!

 

Tags: Ace Von Johnson, full-image, Johnny Martin, la guns, Phil Lewis, shane fitzgibbons, the devil you know, tracii guns

Category: Interviews