Last year, drummer Frank Ferrer parted ways with Guns N’ Roses after roughly 20 years together. At the time, he expressed bittersweet feelings about the situation, and during his first post-GNR interview (with Rolling Stone,published online on July 11), he shared similar sentiments while reflecting on the split.
Ferrer Reflects on Split With Guns N’ Roses
For context, Ferrer’s departure from Guns N’ Roses – as well as the news that he’d be replaced by Isaac Carpenter – was announced in March of 2025. The band called it “an amicable exit”; meanwhile, Ferrer stated that he had “immense gratitude and love” for the band but was also “disappointed that this chapter came to an end.”
It seems like he feels the same way now, as he told Rolling Stone: “Everything comes to an end. Everything just comes to an end. And I’ve said this before, I knew this thing wasn’t gonna be forever. I was just so happy I got to do it when I got to do it, and now I’m doing other stuff. It’s really that simple.”
He elaborated:
Nothing dramatic [happened when he was told of the band’s decision], no. We didn’t get into a fight or anything like that. No. I don’t have a lot of expectations. I don’t go through life thinking that things are a certain way. I kinda just take ’em as they are. I don’t know if that’s because I grew up poor in New York City. If you have expectations, you have disappointments, and I try not to have disappointments. Sometimes I miss it and sometimes I don’t, just like with anything in life. Just because I’m not playing with them anymore doesn’t mean that I don’t have all those people in my life. That’s how it was yesterday and this is how it is today, period. . . . I’m grateful for the love that the fan base has given me, how they accepted me and made me feel like I was part of the legacy. A big thank you to the people that supported the band and that viewed me as a band member. I think that’s kinda cool.
Ferrer had a similarly positive perspective when asked if he gets emotional seeing Guns N’ Roses play with Carpenter:
I wouldn’t say it’s anything emotionally. It’s Guns N’ Roses, bro. You know what I’m saying? It’s just this machine that exists whether I’m in it or not. And like I said before, sometimes I miss it, sometimes I don’t, but always grateful that I got to do it. I still keep in touch with some of those guys, for sure. I’ve seen clips of Isaac playing with him. And he’s a great drummer. He’s cool, and him and Duff [McKagan, bassist] lock in, and they seem like they’re happy playing together, so it’s cool.
Regarding his final interaction(s) with frontman Axl Rose – and the possibility of them playing together again – Ferrer contemplated:
I don’t think it was a situation where we needed to have a heart-to-heart, and I’m sure that him and I will get together again. I’m sure we’ll get together. I think it was just, things change. Nothing stays the same, that’s all. . . . Again, I’m not expecting it. I don’t expect anything. But I’m sure that one day Axl and I will hook up, hang out and maybe play together, maybe not. I don’t know. There’s no animosity. None.
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What Else Did Ferrer Say About His Time With GN’R?
Ferrer’s chat with Rolling Stonesaw him discussing his entire time with the band, starting with him being a fan before temporarily – and then permanently – replacing Bryan “Brain” Mantia (who joined GN’R in 2000) around 2006.
On his first rehearsal with GN’R, Ferrer shared: “It was huge. It was a big deal. I definitely saw it like that. . . . I had a couple of songs in my back pocket, and I remember thinking, ‘I’m letting it go. I’m just gonna play as hard and as mean as I possibly can. I’m leaving it all out there.’ I played as if I was playing a gig, for sure.”
Of course, he was also one of many musicians to play on Guns N’ Roses’ last studio LP – 2008’s Chinese Democracy – and it was during those rehearsals and initial shows that he first heard the demos for the record.
“It was kinda stressful, but exciting-stressful, not ‘Oh, my God, what am I gonna do?’ It was more like, ‘Oh, fuck, I gotta get this down,’” heconfessed about having to learn so much at once.
As for his thoughts on Chinese Democracy, he called it “a great record,” adding: “At this point, the band is a different band. It’s not the two previous versions of the band. I think it got a lot of hate because of the whole process and who Axl was, but the record’s slamming. I think the record’s great.”
Ferrer also said that Rose was “super nice and friendly” when they first met, as well as that Mantia directly asked him to fill-in on tour while he took time off to focus on his wife and newborn baby.
He expounded:
Brain said to me, “Hey, this is a big deal, and they have a couple of records in the can. But the most important thing is that you have to somehow make it feel like it’s your own. That’s the only way you’re gonna be able to continue. Don’t worry too much to play like this guy or play like that guy.” Try to find your sweet spot and try to make the music your own, and that’s what I tried to do. I tried my damnedest to do that.
Other Ferrer + GN’R News
Naturally, Ferrer has been keeping busy since leaving Guns N’ Roses.
Specifically – and per Rolling Stone – he’s playing in two bands: the Slax (“with guitarist Brett Smith-Daniels, Band of Skulls guitarist Russell Marsden, bassist Stefan Bielik and singer Chris Payn”) and One Night Only (“with Hanoi Rocks and Electric Boys guitarist Conny Bloom, bassist Johnny Griparic ofSlash’s Snakepit, keyboardist Bob Fridzema, and Swedish singer Matti Alfonzetti”).
Ferrer said that the Slax have been playing their “favorite songs” at various shows. As for what lies ahead, he explained:
What we’re gonna do is we’re gonna try to put a package together so we can get more gigs. We’re gonna record a couple of covers and then one or two originals that we could send out to people if they wanna get an idea of what the band sounds like. It’s not an album, but we’re gonna record a few songs. It’s just to give people an idea, if you wanna come out to the show and see what kinda band it’s gonna be, it’s gonna be that kind of vibe.
Moving onto One Night Only, Ferrer clarified that they “do a Guns song and . . . play an Electric Boys song, and we play a Slash song. With that band we’re doing more of a, ‘Hey, come and celebrate the stuff that this band’s legacy is part of.’ And we throw some covers in there too, obviously.”
Finally, Ferrer says that adapting to his post-GNR life has “been really good, actually,” continuing:
I’ve been able to spend a little more time at home, just a little bit more. Still trying to keep busy. It’s 50/50, how can I say? Guns is such a big, huge, high-energy, global thing. And now even though I’m playing a lot in Europe more than in the States, I’m doing more of a smaller local thing, but I get to play with some of my favorite people. I did a tribute thing for Clem Burke who passed away recently, the drummer of Blondie. Got to play with Glen Matlock of the [Sex] Pistols, and Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s, some members of the Fleshtones, Tommy Stinson, who I haven’t played with since Guns 11 years ago or whatever. I did a couple songs with him. I’m gonna go do a Psychedelic Furs run later this year, late October into November. So it’s not so much a big, giant touring stadium thing, but it’s great. I get to work with some of my favorite people. It is a transition, but it’s a good one.
What do you think of Ferrer’s outlook on what happened with GN’R? Let us know!
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Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
