I didn't have any work to do, and I had files of my personal and Guns N' Roses financial statements for the previous eight years. I wanted to learn how to read these, but I didn't trust anybody. I just got a lightbulb in my head and said, 'I want to go to school.' That began my journey, taking accountancy and business classes at Seattle.

Duff McKagan

Categorized in : Work Journey Business Trust

Never miss an opportunity to keep your damn mouth shut.

Duff McKagan

mouths missing opportunity

Yes, confidence was knowing I could do anything. But, I realized, confidence must always be rooted in work. In sweat. In pain-good pain. And in honesty.

Duff McKagan

sweat honesty pain

I`m down to Earth, a lover of music, making music and making love. I love to make people happy and I think I`m basically a good person … despite what you might read about me.

Duff McKagan

making-love people thinking

I always loved writing, but I feel like I really started writing when I got my BlackBerry . It was the first time I could take these crazy thoughts in my head and actually get them out. This little device became my journal on the road.

Duff McKagan

crazy writing littles

Playing in (the Neurotic Outsiders) with John Taylor was great. A lot of pussy every time we played a gig. So many chicks. It was, like, 'Wow, John, really? So this is what it was like, huh?' And there would be like a couple guys with mohawks and a guy with, like, a jean jacket coming in to see me and Jonesy!

Duff McKagan

pussy guy couple

I went to Seattle U. Nice Jesuit school there.

Duff McKagan

seattle nice school

It's a modern world we live in, with everything at our fingertips, and if it's not at our fingertips, you can dot-com anything.

Duff McKagan

live everything you world

You never know what's around the corner.

Duff McKagan

corner never know you

By the time Guns n' Roses spent 28 months from 1991 to 1993 touring the 'Use Your Illusion' albums, the tour staff sometimes approached 100 people. We were carrying not only backup girl singers, a horn section, and an extra keyboard player, but also chiropractors, masseuses, a singing coach, and a tattoo artist.

Duff McKagan

singing girl time people

People in Seattle - and I'm speaking from experience - are indoors more. It used to just rain a ton, and as a result, you'd be inside listening to music all the time and playing. You'd all rehearse at each other's houses and share ideas. There was no competition. When I got to L.A., I was really stunned by the competition.

Duff McKagan

you music rain time

I went to business school in my thirties.

Duff McKagan

thirties business school

I'm not Cormac McCarthy, but I can get my point across in a thousand words.

Duff McKagan

point words get i-can

I have always been a huge sports fan, but more of the pedestrian and 'homer' sort.

Duff McKagan

fan more always sports

Keep a meter on your fear. Fear can cripple you.

Duff McKagan

keep your you fear

I'm colour blind, a little hue-challenged.

Duff McKagan

little colour blind

When you start a band, you have to find people that are good, have the same sort of mindset as you musically.

Duff McKagan

start good you people

Whenever Boston comes on, I play air guitar.

Duff McKagan

boston guitar air play

I don't know if I have a favorite song.

Duff McKagan

favorite know song

'Mr. Brownstone' is always a fun song to play because it's got that beat, and you see people bouncing.

Duff McKagan

you song fun people

When you're in a band, a marriage - whatever, it's kind of the same deal - there's a lot of things that you see, and people trust you with information about their lives. Call it a 'bro code' or whatever you wanna call it, but there are certain things you do not tell. At least, I don't.

Duff McKagan

you trust marriage people