That song sounds like it’s aimed at a group of people—maybe New York or L.A. hipsters or something. I just couldn’t figure out how the title fit into all of that.
[Laughs] It’s pretty vague. But it does tie in in exactly that sort of way. When I go out at night, I’m a bit of a voyeur. I kind of sit at the end of the bar and pick out people and imagine what’s going on. Or I meet people and they tell me what’s going on, and I take that and turn it into my rock ’n’ roll soup.

You mentioned that Perfect’s Seven Days A Week is going to come out at some point.
Yeah, but it’s not called that anymore. It’s called Once, Twice, Three Times A Maybe. It’s coming out on Ryko. As soon as we can come up with some artwork that’s suitable, we’ll put it out. We remixed it, took one song off it, and it’s coming out (this year).

What’s the short explanation for why the record didn’t come out in ’98?
We made the record for a pretty good hunk of money for Restless. When it came down to marketing and promoting it, they realized how much they were in already and got cold feet about having to put anything more into it. Their marketing and radio people were absolute morons. They had a good publicist and a couple of good people working there, but overall the people that were going to be getting it out were totally inept. I knew we were going to get screwed on it, so that’s when I started getting disheartened by the whole thing. I was doing a session with a friend of mine who told me that Guns N’ Roses needed a bass player, and I thought it would be cool to join a band for a while and not worry about this shit anymore.

How much can you talk about what’s going on with Guns N’ Roses?
Because I’ve been working on my record, I’m kind of out of the loop at the moment. I can tell you that when Chinese Democracy comes out—and it will come out because it’s almost done now—we’ll be touring behind it, and I’ll be fucking first in line to get back on board. It’s a good gig. I love Axl, and we have a really good thing going. Whether or not people buy it is the fucking $60 million question, but all I know is that we’re all proud of it and had a good time doing it—and also some troubling times doing it—but it was fun as shit. People always feel compelled to say to me, “Dude, are you stoked to get a paycheck?” If it were about that, I’d be an asshole. It’s never been about just getting a paycheck. I put a lot of work and heart and soul into it just like everyone else and got a great deal out of it. Axl has been more than supportive of me making [Village Gorilla Head]. To any naysayer out there, I say, “Fuck off.” I’m totally into it, and I’m definitely happy to be involved with Guns N’ Roses.

I think naysayers are just befuddled that you’re in Guns N’ Roses. I think they’re baffled at the combination and how it came about.
That’s cool. I’ve come across a lot of people who give me, “Dude, what are you thinking?” Then I have to explain it. At this point, I’m kind of sick of explaining it and just feel like going, “Fuck off.” [Laughs] These are my people, I have a fucking great time with them.

When you were in the Replacements, what did you think of Guns N’ Roses?
I wasn’t really a fan. It wasn’t my circle. By the time the Mats ended, you have to realize that I’d gone through my phases of listening to punk rock and all of that, and I’d already done a Big Star phase. At the end, I was more into figuring out what I was about and kind of listening to more pop music, like the Waterboys—things that were sort of deeper. Guns N’ Roses wasn’t that genre; it was the other end of the dial. No bones about it—Axl and I have talked about it, and he was no more of a Replacements fan than I was a Guns N’ Roses fan. I couldn’t help but know about them, of course, but to say it wasn’t my thing is what I can truthfully say about it. Axl said he had gone to a couple of Mats shows in different places and didn’t really have much of an opinion about it, I don’t think. It didn’t really hit him either way.

You guys toured, what, last year or the year before, and it was aborted midway, right?
That was two years ago now.

What was that experience like? What were the shows like?
It started off a little rocky because it was our first run, but this one especially because it was such a big production. There’s a lot of chaos involved with a show like that, no matter who the fuck you are. It started out rough but spirited. As it went along, we started gelling as a band and it became fun. It wasn’t fucking easy. When you get to that level, there are schedules and entourages and technicians all working to make it happen. That was the hard part but also the satisfying part—to put your fucking all into a two-and-a-half hour show while being the people that no one fucking knows about. Fans showed up knowing Axl was going to be there but had no idea who the rest of these people were. To see their reactions to us having a good time, playing the new stuff and old stuff, it was really cool.

The new stuff went over well?
Yeah, it did. A lot of it didn’t go over that well because the crowd had never heard it before. It didn’t go off badly, but they were just listening to it and figuring it out.

Is Buckethead still in the band?
Uh, no.

What’s that guy’s deal? He wears that bucket all the time?
You know, he wears a bucket on his head. That’s all I can say about that. And there’s not a lot under it.

What’s your relationship like with Westerberg these days? Do you talk at all?
We’ve been playing phone tag for about a year. I keep meaning to hook up with him when I come to Minneapolis, but every time I come back, I run out of time and all that. A couple of years ago, I was kind of pissed at him for some of the shit he was saying about Axl and why the Replacements reunion couldn’t happen, but all that stuff became water under the bridge as time went on. We’ve been trying to sew it up a little bit, but we just haven’t yet. I haven’t seen the guy in six or seven years. We’ve talked a couple of times, and I think it’s time we get back in touch.

What’s your impression of his recent stuff?
I’ve heard some of it. I like some of it, some of it I think he needs to get out of the basement a little bit, get back in the world. He’s narrowing his musical palette. I don’t know if he’s doing it on purpose. The thing that I took from him that I always recall from listening to his demos is that he’s really inventive. He could twist up a basic song of some sort, and I always liked that. He’s basically making demos in his basement and playing everything, but he doesn’t seem as inventive as he used to be.

One of the criticisms is that he could probably use a good editor, and maybe a band situation might provide that.
Everyone can use that. I certainly use mine. I’ve got a gaggle of 25 really good friends that edit my ass. I have to agree just on the principle that everyone needs an editor, someone they can rely on to pull them out of the gray areas.

Who’s easier to work with, Paul or Axl?
Axl, by a long shot. I’ll tell you why, and I can explain this really well, actually. Paul liked to do it his way. He would hear things a certain way in his head but couldn’t tell you how it was going to happen. It would get kind of frustrating. He would have a vision and would fucking beat it to death trying to get there. With Axl, he doesn’t really have his own vision. He likes to take everyone’s two cents and throw it into the soup, get everyone involved and kind of mold it that way. Axl could really take production credit on this record because he took the best of each of us on each song and crammed it together and made it a musical piece. I can’t tell you how much I learned about collaborating with people while making the record, where Paul just kind of does it his way.

It’s interesting that you say that about Axl and his vision, because I would think most people would perceive the exact opposite—that he’s got this strong vision and he’s the dictator and this is how it’s got to be.
Paul would be way more of a dictator than Axl. Axl is more of a collaborator, maybe even to a fault sometimes. He wants everyone involved. Part of that may have come from the old band, where everyone wanted him to sing their songs but didn’t want to play the other guys’ songs. It would be like, “I’m not going to sing on your song unless you play on his song,” and then it becomes infighting and that kind of shit. That doesn’t really keep a band together. On the new record, everyone’s got a bit in there, their part of a song. It lends itself to us feeling a part of the whole record.

Reviews of Village Gorilla Head will no doubt mention Westerberg, and you do have a vocal resemblance to him. What are your thoughts on the fact that you’re probably always going to be lumped in with him in some form?
I’ve got no problem with that. It’s fucking where I grew up. I’ve got no problem with the legacy of the Replacements. I certainly don’t feel like reliving it. I totally respect what we left and what people are remembering. It’s a cool thing. There aren’t a lot of people who’ve gotten to do that with one band, and here I’m getting to do it with two. How fucking good is life for me, right?

I know in the past you haven’t talked much about (your brother/Replacements guitarist) Bob in the press, but it’s been nine years now since he passed. How much has time helped you deal with that loss?
Loads. It’s also gotten me back to being influenced by him again. All of the bad stuff has gone away, and I can just remember some of his crazy ideas and where he came from in terms of his guitar playing. Some of the stuff he did, I just go, “Holy shit, where did that come from?” Plus, there’s the innocence in which he brought it out. He was the most left-thinking musician I’ve ever worked with. He put the left in there and made it absolutely right.

The last thing I wanted to ask you was about (Pleased To Meet Me producer) Jim Dickinson’s quote where he called you “the walking embodiment of rock ’n’ roll.” Do you see yourself that way, or is that just b.s.?
Wasn’t the rest of that also the dick, the balls, the asshole, the whole thing? [Laughs] I can’t subscribe to that. That’s a little heavy. That’s a little more than I care to live up to.