Faster Pussycat Guitarist Was Almost in Guns N’ Roses – Blame The ’90s

In a recent interview with Metal Rules, Faster Pussycat guitarist Brent Muscat talked about the pre-internet grind, and how easy it was to disappear back then. In the middle of it, he dropped a wild piece of rock ’n’ roll trivia: he was being looked at as a possible replacement for Izzy Stradlin in Guns N’ Roses. The thing that he only discovered many years later.

The early ’90s were brutal if you were a band without label backing, and even more brutal if you weren’t home to answer the phone. Even though Faster Pussycat were at their peak at that time, creatively speaking, things were about the change fast…

Below is the relevant part of the interview:

We got dropped around ’92. I think we tried to keep the band going, but it was so hard back then. There was no internet, no social media, and barely any cell phones. Today, a band can do everything themselves, but at that time, not a chance. Think about when Izzy Stradlin quit Guns N’ Roses—’91 or ’92. We didn’t have cell phones. When we were on tour, you couldn’t find anybody. You needed a pocket full of quarters just to try to call home from a pay phone. That was life.
Here’s the crazy part: after Izzy quit, the A&R guy for Guns N’ Roses was actually trying to find me to come in and audition. And I didn’t know this for years—years. Nobody could find me because there was no way to reach anyone back then. Gilby Clarke ended up getting the gig, and he’s made a whole career from being in Guns N’ Roses. And I’m happy for him, but man… when I finally heard the story, I was like, “Damn, I wish I had known.” I found out because, years later, I was playing at the top of Mandalay Bay in Vegas with Zach Throne. Zach knows one of the Zutaut brothers—Tom Zutaut’s brother—, and Tom was the A&R guy who signed Guns N’ Roses.
So, they’re up there watching us, and one of them goes, “That’s Brent Muscat? Are you playing with Brent Muscat? We were trying to find him for Guns N’ Roses!” And I’m standing there thinking, “Are you kidding me?” Nowadays, they’d just look you up on the internet in five seconds. Back then, if you weren’t home to pick up the phone, you were gone. When Zach told me that story, I felt like jumping off the top of Mandalay Bay. “Oh my God, I could’ve been in Guns N’ Roses!” It was heartbreaking, but also kind of hilarious. Total rock ’n’ roll chaos.

Read the full interview with Brent Muscat over atMetal Rules for the complete story and a deeper dive into Faster Pussycat’s survival years.

P.S. There are two parts of this interview

Brent Muscat and Izzy Stradlin in early 2000s.
Source: Wham Bam Thank You Glam

Junkyard Fun Facts

Brent Muscat spoke a lot about Faster Pussycat’s third album Whipped from 1992, saying the album was all musically all over the place including hard rock, glam and grunge vibes. One of the songs from the record Mr. Lovedog was actually dedicated to the late Mother Love Bone frontman Andy Wood who died in 1990.