DJ Ashba, who was the guitarist of Guns N’ Roses from 2009 until 2015, has slammed Buckethead, saying that he “took the coolness out” of the band.
Buckethead (real name Brian Patrick Carroll) joined Guns N’ Roses as the lead guitarist from 2000 until 2004. Carroll wears a mask and a KFC bucket on his head when on stage, and has revealed that wearing the costume helps lessen his performance anxiety.
Though their times didn’t overlap in Guns N Roses, DJ Ashba has said that he wasn’t a fan of Buckethead.
“I didn’t know what to expect. I was hoping that one day [original Guns lead guitarist] Slash would come back and the reason I took the gig is that honestly, I was, no disrespect to Buckethead or anybody, but seeing a guy run around with a chicken bucket on his head, it’s like, to me, that took the coolness out of the band that I grew up loving,” DJ Ashba told Antihero Magazine.
“And, that’s one of the main reasons I wanted to get in there and try to do whatever I could do to get justice, bring back that reckless rock and roll vibe of what Slash was all about and Guns N’ Roses was all about.
“To me it was in a sense losing that thing that I loved about the band. And I love Buckethead as a guitarist, no disrespect at all, it’s just, in my opinion, he didn’t really fit the band.”
DJ Ashba left the band in 2015, shortly before Slash did, in fact, return to Guns N’ Roses. Despite hoping for Slash to return during his tenure, DJ Ashba has said that he wasn’t upset that the two didn’t get to play together in the band.
Love Classic Rock?
Get the latest Classic Rock news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
“Actually, Axl wanted me to stay on board and it’s one of those things where I was playing most of the Slash parts and if he was coming back that was great news for me as a fan and even better news for me as a musician because it was never my band. I was just basically filling in till the big guy came back,” he said in the same interview.
“But it allowed me to really experience a band on a level like no other and I learned a lot of stuff about performing live on that magnitude to me, it was great news because I was going to go off and do what I’m doing now and that was to create and carve my own path. I’ve always been a big, big believer in not following in people’s footsteps and I get more pride and joy, even if this thing never gets to that level, at least I’m cutting my own path and doing something really unique and to me as an artist that’s awesome.”
For more on this topic, follow the Classic Rock Observer.
Listen to ‘Chinese Democracy’ by Guns N’ Roses:
