"When you're in that state of mind, you'll put your pee-pee in anything": GnR's Steven Adler Talks about His New Autobiography, Overcoming Addiction, Slash's Text Message Obsession, and His Unconditional Love for his "Ginger" Buddy Axl Rose (and Stryper!)

"Axl is a ginger, so he doesn't tan very well": Steven Adler, unmuzzled

After surviving "twenty-eight ODs, three botched suicides, two heart attacks, a couple of jail stints, and a debilitating stroke," Adler has a lot to get off his miraculously still-beating chest in his memoir, My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N' Roses. We caught up with him and his current band, Adler's Appetite, who played the Whisky as part of the Sunset Strip Music Festival this past weekend and will be there again tonight, Monday August 30.

Talking to Adler is like the verbal equivalent of having your leg dog-humped. Seriously, the guy's dying to overshare, including memories of his buddy Slash, venereal diseases and "McLovin" life, all before we've asked our first question.

After countless books, including your buddy Marc Canter's Reckless Road and Slash's autobiography, it looks like you're finally having your say on Guns n' Roses.
A lot of stuff went down at Canter's. Marc was always generous whenever me, Slash and Ronnie Schneider [childhood friend and GNR tech guy] would come in. He'd always give me a meat knish with gravy and a coke. They had this big empty room in the restaurant, and one particular night, me, Marc, Ronnie and some girl went up there, and all three of us got VD from this girl. We're like 14-years-old. So there's a little history about Canter's for you.

And the first time we went to England, I met this bartender who lived above of the bar, and I'd hang with her and make out. It was there that I received the crabs and proceeded to pass it on to everybody else. I'm not proud of that. Then, I remember we were at this really great studio, an old studio, which every English band's played in, and I'm on the roof naked, rubbing that RID shampoo stuff all over my body trying to kill her crabs.

GNR, Jane's Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers started out around the same time. And your relationship with Slash and Flea dates back to childhood. What are some of your fondest memories?
You mean Michael Balzary [laughs]? The last time I saw Flea was when I recorded "Baby Can't Drive" on Slash's solo album. We've known each other since Bancroft Junior High School. We also went to Fairfax High School. He used to play trumpet for my grandmother. We all went to same schools together, ditched eighth grade together, grew up in the same neighborhoods together, put our bands together. That was a really great time, the '70s and '80s. It was the end of the real rock 'n' roll lifestyle. Things changed, of course, in the '90s, when everybody decided to go on stage looking like a guy who worked at Burger King.

You're pretty candid about some unfortunate run-ins you had with older gay men when you were younger. Why did you decide to talk about the sexual abuse?
It was keeping me from moving on with my life. With the drugs and alcohol, I'd keep relapsing because I'd take care of one problem, but not the main problem. It's not an easy thing to say, and I thought if I said those words out loud, people would think bad of me. But it was the complete opposite. They understood and cared, and I felt relieved.

So much of the making of Appetite for Destruction is part of rock 'n' roll legend. Any interesting tidbits about the album, or the other records, you'd like to share?
Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide (1986 pre-Appetite EP) was recorded near Paramount Studios, and the audience was actually taken from Quiet Riot and Dio. The live part was us playing live in the studio. And Slash got all these fireworks and lit them up in metal buckets.

What about the story of Axl having sex with your girlfriend to create the moaning sounds on the song "Rocket Queen" ?
Adriana was one of the strippers we lived with. There were about five or six strippers that we lived with in this building. She was just the girl I was fucking for that month. She wasn't the only girl. Hey, I was 19 or 20, walking around with a hard-on and fucking anything that I possibly could. Plus, there's a lot of booze and drugs, and when you're in that state of mind, you'll put your pee-pee in anything.

You mention wanting to tour with Stryper early on in the band's career. Seems kind of odd considering they were a Christian band.
I finally got to mention Stryper! Those guys rule.