Dave Kushner was very nervous when Izzy Stradlin briefly joined Velvet Revolver in 2002, as he thought he might lose his spot in the band. Velvet Revolver didn’t even have their name at that point, nor did they have Scott Weiland as their lead singer yet. They were loosely referred to as the project. However, Duff McKagan assured him that he didn’t need to worry about his place in the band.
Velvet Revolver, which included members from Guns N’ Roses, could have easily ended up as just a new version of GN’R with a different singer. But Dave Kushner’s addition on rhythm guitar gave the band a unique sound. In an interview on Appetite for Distortion, Kushner discussed his early days with the band. Despite being an important part of their creative process, he was worried about being replaced when Izzy Stradlin joined them for a short time.
Kushner explained that at the time, the band had only been together for about six months, with no record deal or financial backing. They were practicing five days a week, and Duff and Slash were paying for everything. This made Kushner unsure about his place in the band, especially with Stradlin around and his long history with his ex-Guns N’ Roses bandmates.
“Dude, I was fu**ing freaking out. I wasn’t a little worried, okay? I was like, ‘Oh sh*t! This guy’s gonna take my spot!’ I think we had been together about six months then, and he just came around… Look, Duff was the guy I [asked], ‘Dude, is he [going to stay]?’”
“Because, at that point, it was just the four of us, and we didn’t have a record deal. We didn’t have any financial backing. Literally, we were rehearsing five days a week, writing songs, and Duff and Slash were fronting the bill, running the money at the recording at the rehearsal studio. That was it. There was no real commitment. So even myself, [I] felt like, ‘Am I in the band? Are we doing this? What’s going to happen?
“There was never really, like, ‘You’re in the band…’ So, when Izzy came around, it was like, ‘Oh, great. This guy’s gonna take my spot.’ But he couldn’t have been any cooler, and Duff said, ‘Dude, he’s gonna come in, we’re gonna write some songs… He’ll probably be here a couple of weeks. Don’t worry.’ And he just kept telling me not to worry [laughs].
Even after Izzy Stradlin joined the band for a bit, Dave Kushner’s worries didn’t go away, especially when his bandmates and Izzy went into the studio without him. Kushner thought that might be the end for him. They recorded three demo songs without vocals, which made Kushner feel even more uneasy. However, just as Duff McKagan had assured him, Izzy eventually disappeared.
“And then, at one point, they went and recorded… without me. And then, I was like, ‘Oh, great. I’m done.’ They demoed, like, three songs, no vocals. And then, just like Duff said, he disappeared. And that was it. He reappeared when we were on tour, in Italy. We were like, ‘Dude, what are you doing?’ And he [said], ‘Oh, I’m hanging out, just travelling.” He had a rented bicycle chained up in front of the hotel, and then he came with us to some other country, played two shows with us, and then he just left.”
