L.A. GUNS vocalist Phil Lewis has hit out at drummer Steve Riley’s “shitty” version of the band.
Phil Lewis’ comments come off the back of a January lawsuit which saw him and guitarist Tracii Guns accuse Riley of creating “unfair competition” by launching a rival version of L.A. GUNS.
According to Blabbermouth, the complaint alleges that Riley’s version of the band is unauthorised use of the L.A. GUNS trademark, which has led to Lewis and Guns seeking relief from and against false advertising, breach of contract and unauthorised usage of their likenesses.
In addition to their claim of Riley’s unauthorised usage of the band’s name and logo, Lewis and Guns also allege that Riley has embezzled substantial earnings from the band’s publishing proceeds.
When asked on Tulsa Music Stream for an update on the lawsuit, Lewis said it is in its “wrapping up stages.”
He began: “It’s a tricky process. Here’s the thing: Riley had it good. He had a piece of the name, and he was pulling in a decent amount of dough just on merch — just on independent merch. And, you know, nobody really had a problem with that. But as soon as he put another lineup together, and then started using ex-band members, that was enough. That was, like, ‘Oh, we’ve gotta do something about that”
He continued: “I [reconnected with] Tracii for the right reasons — musical reasons,” the singer said. “And it’s what L.A. GUNS is — me and Tracii. And we proved it with these two phenomenal records. And they [Riley’s L.A. GUNS] come out and they try to play this lame fucking sort of Billy Idol-wannabe soupy terrible songs.
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“We’ve got so much invested in this now, we can’t have another shitty version going out diluting the brand. It has to be squashed. I don’t wanna put anything out until it is taken care of.”
“We have a case coming up in October, and we’ll get a final judgment. And it’s looking good… We have a very strong case, and we’ve thrown a lot at it. So there’s no way we’re gonna lose this,” he concluded.
Along with Riley, three musicians who perform as part of the rival version of the band; that band’s manager, booking agent, and merchandiser; and Golden Robot Records are all also defendants in the case.
As reported by Blabbermouth, Guns and Lewis are seeking a “permanent injunction” that prevents each of the named defendants from using the L.A. GUNS name, logo and likeness.
Check out ‘The Ballad of Jayne’ by L.A. GUNS:
