What Duff McKagan Thinks New Guns N’ Roses Drummer Adds to Band

Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan praised the band’s new drummer Isaac Carpenter in a recent fan-submitted Q&A and explained how he combines the best of the group’s two classic-era drummers, Steven Adler and Matt Sorum.

“I have known Isaac since he was in his first band called Loudermilk,” McKagan said in the Q&A, which you can watch below. “They were in high school. They’re from Washington state, so not far from Seattle. And I’d heard about the band. They got signed to American Records — Def Jam, basically, Rick Rubin’s label. And they made a record. And they were, like, 18 years old. I think I met Isaac when he was 19. And I loved his band Loudermilk.”

McKagan eventually recruited Carpenter for his solo band, Loaded, and the drummer performed on their 2011 album The Taking. “Like nine years later, I needed a drummer for Loaded, and Isaac’s name came up,” McKagan explained. “He was coming through somewhere I was at, and he came and we played together. And [I told him], ‘I have this tour. Would you wanna do it?’ And he was in. Then he and I made The Taking record. He and I wrote a lot of the songs for that record together in his garage.”

READ MORE: Who Is Guns N’ Roses New Drummer Isaac Carpenter?

Carpenter proved useful to McKagan in other, non-musical ways as well. “I wrote a lot of my book, believe it or not … He had this couch in his garage that was really old and it would hurt my back,” the bassist said. “And it’s where I found I could write my darker sections of my book better ’cause I was in physical pain. So I’d actually come over to his house just to use his garage and that couch to write. So I’ve known him for a long time, I guess. When you think about it — 25 years. And it’s great to have him in the band. It’s fucking awesome.”

Duff McKagan Explains What Isaac Carpenter Brings to Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses announced Carpenter as their new drummer back in March, one day after announcing the exit of Frank Ferrer, who’d played with them since 2006.

When asked what Carpenter brings to the band that might have been previously missing, McKagan said: “I’ll tell you what Isaac brings to the band. No commentary on Frank, ’cause Frank’s a lovely guy. Isaac has got this ability, though, to swing and groove that only a few drummers have. Steven had it as well, Steven Adler, and Matt is a great, solid drummer with amazing fills, and Matt’s amazing. They’re both amazing drummers. And Isaac somehow blends both of those two guys and adds his own thing. So he adds a new sort of excitement to the songs. And the groove and swing of the songs right now with Isaac is super impressive and super fun.”

READ MORE: Every Guns N’ Roses Song Ranked Worst to Best

Carpenter played his first show with Guns N’ Roses on May 1 in Incheon, South Korea. Their current tour, titled Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things, is scheduled to run through the end of July. They have not yet announced North American dates.

Watch Duff McKagan’s Guns N’ Roses 2025 Tour Q&A

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