"I'm certainly not a one-dimensional rock guy," explains a relaxed, down-to-earth Duff McKagan. "I grew up listening to Sly and the Family Stone, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Stones, James King. And then punk rock came when I was 14 years old, and it was perfect -- it was my music. But," he laughs, "I also listened to a hell of a lot of Prince."
McKagan played bass in one of the most prolific rock bands to come off the Sunset Strip (ahem, Guns N' Roses) and one of the highest-profile rock supergroups ever (Velvet Revolver), in addition to collaborating with many punk musicians on fleeting side projects and cover bands over the years. He's now back again with alt-metallers Loaded, and we caught up with the legend on the set of That Metal Show and got the eccentric soundtrack to his pre-show, backstage antics.
Read what he had to say about each song he picked, and listen to his full playlist after the jump.
Gutter Twins, "The Stations"
"Mark Lanegan: a true artist. Gutter Twins is him and Greg Dulli from Afghan Whigs. I saw them in Spain last September at a festival; they were in a tent, and it was like a religious revival ... my kind of religion. I almost cried a few times -- it was that good."
Queens of the Stone Age, "Feel Good Hit of the Summer"
"Great party song that makes me want to break sh*t, too. It's a good morning song to wake up to with coffee, ya know?" [Laughs]
OutKast, "Love Hater"
"Andre's disc -- I would listen to that whole record on tour with Velvet Revolver and play to it. Those guys were sick of that record! I would listen to it cranked for an hour before we went onstage."
Prince, "The Beautiful Ones"
"We [Loaded] like to make ourselves feel a little sexy before we go on. There's nothing less sexy than four dudes who've been living on a bus together for 21 days straight without hotel rooms. It smells, and you've got like bad deli food that's been sitting there all day long, so 'Beautiful Ones' -- amazing song off the Purple Rain record. We all sing that high falsetto of his, and it helps warm up your voice. Of course we all feel like sexy motherf*ck*rs when we do that."
Fergie, "Glamorous"
"It makes you feel good. Fergie is shakin' off the road dust kind of stuff. You gotta feel good about yourself onstage -- you wanna feel sexy."
Beyonce, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
"It's f*ck*ng killer. We'll line up and do the dance like they do in the video backstage."
Cameo, "Word Up"
"I have a history with this song, and it's great. Still not sick of it after all these years. It's a good party song. Way back in the day, we used to cover it. Steven Adler was kind of a metal drummer -- two kick drums and a bunch of toms and cymbals. Izzy [Stradlin] and I stole all of his drums and made them into like a Ramones kit: floor tom, snare and two cymbals -- bare bones. Steven and I would play 'Word Up,' funkier stuff, and Steven got this killer groove down and it became a huge part of that first [Gn'R] record."
Killing Joke, "Wardance"
"We go from the playful stuff, and then 'Wardance' is the one that focuses us. We're getting ready to rock; shenanigans are behind us for the day."
Motorhead, "Ace of Spades"
"Just because it's Lemmy [Kilmister]. You've gotta have this on any playlist, I don't care what it is. A romantic playlist? I don't care. 'Ace of Spades.'"
Refused, "New Noise"
"That's a band I never got to see -- [they were] done way too soon. If you've seen the video for 'New Noise,' that dude [Dennis Lyxzen] is like a James Brown motherf*ck*r, he really is. You listen to the whole record The Shape of Punk to Come and there's some really cool Euro-disco stuff in there. They're really musical guys, and it really gets us ready."
Slipknot, "The Blister Exists"
"That's probably the song I like to listen to the most right before I go on. It's not like a fast, pump-you-up song; it's a slow, mesmerizing, powerful thing that kind of makes you feel larger than life. I just love that band and that record."
Isaac Hayes, "Theme from Shaft"
"We [Loaded] have the Shaft theme song as our intro music because we are badasses, and we're kind of international pimps. Crime-fighting pimps in fact. If you didn't know that about us, then now you know."
"Mark Lanegan: a true artist. Gutter Twins is him and Greg Dulli from Afghan Whigs. I saw them in Spain last September at a festival; they were in a tent, and it was like a religious revival ... my kind of religion. I almost cried a few times -- it was that good."
Queens of the Stone Age, "Feel Good Hit of the Summer"
"Great party song that makes me want to break sh*t, too. It's a good morning song to wake up to with coffee, ya know?" [Laughs]
OutKast, "Love Hater"
"Andre's disc -- I would listen to that whole record on tour with Velvet Revolver and play to it. Those guys were sick of that record! I would listen to it cranked for an hour before we went onstage."
Prince, "The Beautiful Ones"
"We [Loaded] like to make ourselves feel a little sexy before we go on. There's nothing less sexy than four dudes who've been living on a bus together for 21 days straight without hotel rooms. It smells, and you've got like bad deli food that's been sitting there all day long, so 'Beautiful Ones' -- amazing song off the Purple Rain record. We all sing that high falsetto of his, and it helps warm up your voice. Of course we all feel like sexy motherf*ck*rs when we do that."
Fergie, "Glamorous"
"It makes you feel good. Fergie is shakin' off the road dust kind of stuff. You gotta feel good about yourself onstage -- you wanna feel sexy."
Beyonce, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
"It's f*ck*ng killer. We'll line up and do the dance like they do in the video backstage."
Cameo, "Word Up"
"I have a history with this song, and it's great. Still not sick of it after all these years. It's a good party song. Way back in the day, we used to cover it. Steven Adler was kind of a metal drummer -- two kick drums and a bunch of toms and cymbals. Izzy [Stradlin] and I stole all of his drums and made them into like a Ramones kit: floor tom, snare and two cymbals -- bare bones. Steven and I would play 'Word Up,' funkier stuff, and Steven got this killer groove down and it became a huge part of that first [Gn'R] record."
Killing Joke, "Wardance"
"We go from the playful stuff, and then 'Wardance' is the one that focuses us. We're getting ready to rock; shenanigans are behind us for the day."
Motorhead, "Ace of Spades"
"Just because it's Lemmy [Kilmister]. You've gotta have this on any playlist, I don't care what it is. A romantic playlist? I don't care. 'Ace of Spades.'"
Refused, "New Noise"
"That's a band I never got to see -- [they were] done way too soon. If you've seen the video for 'New Noise,' that dude [Dennis Lyxzen] is like a James Brown motherf*ck*r, he really is. You listen to the whole record The Shape of Punk to Come and there's some really cool Euro-disco stuff in there. They're really musical guys, and it really gets us ready."
Slipknot, "The Blister Exists"
"That's probably the song I like to listen to the most right before I go on. It's not like a fast, pump-you-up song; it's a slow, mesmerizing, powerful thing that kind of makes you feel larger than life. I just love that band and that record."
Isaac Hayes, "Theme from Shaft"
"We [Loaded] have the Shaft theme song as our intro music because we are badasses, and we're kind of international pimps. Crime-fighting pimps in fact. If you didn't know that about us, then now you know."
Portions of album content provided by All Music Guide © 2011 All Media Guide, LLC ® 1999-2011 Rhapsody International Inc.
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