LISTEN: Talking Jive With Matt Sorum

The renowned former drummer of The Cult, Guns ‘N Roses and Velvet Revolver chats with us about his new book

Matt Sorum Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘n’ Roll Stories from the Drummer of Guns N’ Roses, The Cult and Velvet Revolver, Rare Bird Books 2022

Since the late 80s, Matt Sorum has earned his reputation as one of the most singularly versatile drummers in the worlds of hard rock and metal.

In his long-overdue memoir Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘n’ Roll Stories from the Drummer of Guns N’ Roses, The Cult and Velvet Revolver, he delivers the goods in spades–dishing on everything you wanted to know about his adventures keeping time in such legendary acts. He also riffs on his experiences recording and performing with Tori Amos during her Y Kant Tori Read era, Motörhead, Billy Idol, Alice Cooper, Billy Gibbons and countless others.

In fact, when I connected with Sorum last summer when Double Talkin’ Jive was initially tapped to hit bookstores, it was right after the untimely passing of ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill, which is where our conversation began. From there, we touched upon several topics pertinent to his four decades in rock, including the long lost supergroup the Neurotic Outsiders, the genius of Duran Duran and whittling down Use Your Illusion to one single LP.

“Matt lights up rooms, corridors, clubs, theaters, arenas, and stadiums with the kind of infectious rock ’n’ roll energy that is increasingly becoming obsolete,” writes Metallica’s Lars Ulrich about Sorum for the jacket of Jive. “His dedication to his craft remains virtually peerless, and when the sticks are resting, you’ll have to go a long way to find someone cooler in rock ’n’ roll. Dive into these shenanigan-saturated pages immediately and find out for yourself!”

As someone on the cusp of my senior year when Sorum made the jump from The Cult to GNR, it was a boyhood honor to chop it up fast and loose with this juggernaut of hard rock rhythm. So please forgive the audible jitters as you listen to this chat conducted exclusively for Rock & Roll Globe.

Double Talkin’ Jive:True Rock ‘n’ Roll Stories from the Drummer of Guns N’ Roses, The Cult and Velvet Revolver is available now on Rare Bird Books.