
MTV and Headbangers Ball romanticized the scene, “Yeah, it was very romantic,” he remembers. I’m glad to be part of it, for an Englishman, so embroiled in the Sunset Strip mythology.” They’ve played there since the beginning, “Probably more than anywhere else, for sure, 50, 60, 100 times even. Lewis says now they do a fantastic job, bringing back credibility to the venue. Since the late ’80’s, the Guns have played The Whisky A Go Go about twice a year, excluding a brief period of booking staff issues. “That’s a compilation,” Lewis said “Scotty, our manager sent a mass message saying anyone that has footage please send it in and put it together for the Rage video.”

The record opens with Rage, a screaming banshee ceremony with accompanying performance YouTube video from The Whisky A Go Go. Lewis joked that Going High was Sabbath, but blacker. It’s so boring.” It helps having someone who can multitask as a singer, songwriter and engineer getting things done. Recording vocals is not a spectators sport…people don’t last more than three or four minutes in a vocal session. We track vocals, about three or four songs a day, and it comes together very quickly because he’s an easy guy to work with. I fly out and work in a studio for three or four days. “I work very close with Mitch Davis in New York. “They’re talking about doing it live and I’m scared to death,” vocalist Phil Lewis laughed. The new record is a lot heavier and experimental than previous efforts, including the shrieking vocals of Going High. This year they’ve given us The Devil You Know, the next chapter of the Guns reunion. With their 2017 reunion release The Missing Peace, departed guitarist Tracii Guns rejoined the gypsies, reinvigorating their sound and delivery and returning to the road with renewed infused energy.

And they can still say they got played on MTV, when it was cool. Guns cemented themselves as soldiers of the Sunset Strip, playing the legendary clubs and helping create the scene, myths, legends and historical aura that live on through DVD’s, documentaries and biographies.
