Brian Hiatt
Contact Brian Hiatt on X View all posts by Brian Hiatt July 11, 2026
"I think the world thinks that [Axl] is a scary, mean guy," says drummer Frank Ferrer. "And he's the complete opposite." Jarmo Luukkonen* Drummer Frank Ferrer was at his then-seven-year-old daughter’s talent show in 2006 when his phone rang. On the line was his friend Tommy Stinson, the Replacements bassist who was in the middle of a long tenure in Guns N’ Roses at the time. ”Hey, man, there’s this thing happening,” Stinson told him. “Why don’t you learn a bunch of Guns songs? I’ll give you more info later on.” As it turned out, Guns drummer Brian “Brain” Mantia’s wife was due to have a baby while the band had a tour booked, and the idea was to recruit a sub for two weeks until Mantia returned.
Ferrer ended up playing in Guns N’ Roses for 19 years, longer than Steven Adler and Matt Sorum combined, becoming the longest-serving drummer in the band’s history. He played on Chinese Democracy, and performed with multiple line-ups of the band — when Slash and Duff McKagan came back, Rose kept Ferrer on board. Then, in March of 2025, the band announced his exit, thanked him for his service, and named Isaac Carpenter as his replacement.
Ferrer is currently 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 of Slash’s Snakepit, keyboardist Bob Fridzema, and Swedish singer Matti Alfonzetti). He recently jumped on a Zoom with Rolling Stone for his first post-Guns interview, looking back — with an admirable degree of gratitude — at his years with Axl Rose.
Why don’t we start by talking about your new bands and what’s going on? I kinda hooked up with Brett through Matt Sorum, who introduced us. And Matt Sorum apparently told Brett, “Hey, Frank is around. You might wanna talk to him.” And then Brett was able to bring in Chris, the singer, and Russell from Band of Skulls, who’s pretty awesome. And Brett also found the bass player, Stefan. He said, “Hey, I got a group of musicians that might wanna do stuff when everybody else isn’t busy. We have some quiet time. Let’s get together and play.” And I was like, “Yeah, let’s give it a go. I’m up for anything nowadays.”
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Tell me about the sound of the band and where you are in the process. Right now, basically we got together and we decided to play a bunch of our favorite songs. We did some Band of Skulls songs and Chris, the singer, had a couple of originals that we did also. And Brett had an original we did. So we did a few of their songs, and then we did some covers. Everything from Free, Aerosmith, some Joan Jett. We picked out a bunch of songs that we like to play, and the crowds in London and in Europe in general, they just love to hear classic rock & roll, so they’re very open and receptive to that.
Are you recording an album with them? 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.
Do you know what covers you’re gonna record? I’m not sure yet. We’ve done “Draw the Line” by Aerosmith, and the Joan Jett one we played was “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” I love that song. I love that drummer, Thommy Price.
And you said that’s not your only project? No, I’m working with some Swedish musicians, kinda doing the same thing. Conny Bloom was in Hanoi Rocks and the Electric Boys, and Johnny Griparic who plays in Slash’s solo blues band, but was also in Snakepit back in the day. They brought in a keyboard player, Bob Fridzema, and Matti Alfonzetti, a Swedish singer who’s super great, super soulful. David Coverdale, Paul Rodgers kinda vibe. But with that band we do a Guns song and we 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. We’re calling that band One Night Only.
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It is a transition, from a long, steady gig to this new life. What’s that transition been like? It’s been really good, actually. 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 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.
How much of a fan of Guns N’ Roses were you early on? How much were they on your radar? They were big in New York… I remember when I first heard “It’s So Easy,” I thought they were a New York City band, ’cause they sound like the Dictators or something like that. They didn’t sound like an L.A. glam band. They sounded like a New York City punk band. They were more like New York Dolls and Dictators than they were like Poison or any of those. It sounded mean and raw, ripped jeans and T-shirts. I used to see them in New York all the time.
In 2006, you were at a talent show and you get a call. Yeah. I was at my daughter’s talent show. It’s funny because my friend Anthony Esposito, bass player that was in Lynch Mob, he was putting a band together for Ace Frehley. So Anthony, this New York City guitar player Rob Bailey, and I were rehearsing Ace songs. And I was thinking, “Oh, this is gonna be great. I’m gonna get to play in Ace’s band.” And then I got a phone call from Tommy. I found out later on that Brain was gonna have a kid, and they had this big tour. So I was gonna step in for about a two-week period.
Was that first rehearsal like playing with any other band? No. It was huge. It was a big deal. I definitely saw it like that. Like I said, 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.
How many rehearsals did you actually get before the first show? My soundchecks were kinda like rehearsals, for lack of a better word, and remember, they’re doing festivals and stuff, so they’re not soundchecking every show. I think I had maybe three rehearsals before I played the gig. Maybe four altogether. Because also, Brain has to soundcheck also, so we only got very limited times to work on music, and I’m also at this point also learning all the new Chinese Democracy stuff that we’re playing on tour. 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.”
And that stuff wasn’t released. How did you learn it? No. They gave me the demos. They gave me the tracks. I remember [guitarist] Robin Finck being super supportive. A couple times I went into his room, him and I, and I would play on my lap, and he played on his guitar not plugged in. And we’d run through all the stuff. It was pretty cool, actually. And that’s how we learned it. They were playing four or five songs off the unreleased record at that point.
What do you remember about your first interactions with Axl? Him being really super nice and friendly. I think he saw it too that this is a big deal. “Hey, this guy’s jumping on kinda raw,” and I’m sure he felt, “This better work.” And when I got up onstage, he was like, “Great job.” If I did a fill that he liked, he’d [say], “That was fucking awesome.” Like that. He acted with me as I’ve been in the band the whole time. And I would thank him every day, and he’d be like, “Yo, chill out, bro.”
So Brain steps away for good and you’re coming in. How did they actually tell you? His kid was brand new. And there was another huge U.S. tour coming up, and he was like, “Man, I don’t feel right about leaving the wife and the baby on this huge tour.” So he’s, “Hey, man, would you wanna jump on and do this next tour also?” I was like, “Hell yeah, motherfucker. You kidding?” Brain sat me down and said something to me that I’ll never forget, and I think that’s probably another part of why it was able to work. 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.
For the pre-Chinese Democracy stuff you had two very different drummers, Adler and Sorum. What was it like approaching those two different things? The way I thought about it was, let me see if I could grab some of that Adler, off the rails, punky, edgy, almost falling apart feeling, which makes the first record sound fucking scary as fuck. But also have that steady, professional, Matt Sorum thing. I try to be somewhere in between. I don’t know if I accomplished it every time. So I would try to be an aggressive drummer, but a steady, aggressive drummer, was the only way that could work. And then the Chinese Democracy stuff was the way it’s played. Brain-style. That funky rock style.
More technical. Way more technical. But the Adler, dude, the first record, might be the best debut drummer record ever. Ever. You could put it up against any other debut-record drummers. John Bonham for Zeppelin, Bill Ward for Sabbath. Pick whatever first you want. That drumming on that record is fucking brilliant. Brilliant. It’s mean and aggressive and funky and punk rocky and off, right on the edge, man, teetering. You’re like, “Man, am I gonna fall off this building.” Rollercoaster, your heart is pumping, it fucking rocks, man. His playing on “Jungle,” “It’s So Easy.”
You’re credited on five songs on Chinese Democracy. Did you just overdub parts, or did you fully replace Brain’s drums? The only song that I play all the way through by myself is “Chinese Democracy.” And there were some drum fills, some parts that I was doing live that Axl loved and wanted them on the record. So there’s parts, I can’t remember off the top of my head, but I know “Better” was one of the songs that is just me and Brain, and “IRS” is me and Brain.
Where and when did this take place? It was during the rehearsals when we started that fall tour in 2006, during rehearsals. It was a recording studio, and they had everything set up. And I went in there and played the parts. At this point I’d been playing them for three or four months, so it didn’t take that long, probably two days, maybe one day.
It’s 2006, and you’re playing on Chinese Democracy, already one of the most legendary, mysterious albums of all time. Here you are on an almost-finished version of it. Crazy and nutty is the right word. And mind you, I’m still riding this wave of “Is this really happening? Is this really going on?” But dude, I was so happy and proud to play on it, so that whole period was a whirlwind, man. My whole life changed within the matter of months. I was playing local gigs with local bands and doing these small tours to being in this big giant machine and trying to fit in, and happy to be fitting in, man. Happy to be fitting in.
When you played on the title track, did they play you what had been there before? Yeah. They played me some stuff and I heard a version that I think Josh [Freese] played on, and then I listened to a version that Brain played on. And then we talked about, oh, maybe I could do this. Maybe I could do that. There was [producer] Caram Costanzo that was there already, and I already had established a relationship with him. So it wasn’t a super tough deal.
Kate Green/Getty Images Did you have a sense of what Axl was looking for that the two previous monster drummers couldn’t accomplish? I don’t think it was that they couldn’t accomplish. I just think it was more like… ‘Cause the playing’s insane. I just think it was a feel thing, like I’m more of a groove kind of drummer. I’m not a super technical type of drummer. All my favorite drummers are groove drummers. So it was more like that, just finding a groove, and I think that’s what they really liked about it.
Were you ever wondering, “Is this thing actually coming out?” I never really wondered. I knew it was coming out. I was having a ball, so I was just happy to play on it, but I never really wondered, “Hey, when is this coming out?”
Between 2006 and 2008 when the album finally dropped, what was the vibe in the band? I don’t remember that well, to be honest with you. I know Robin went out and started playing with Nails again, and everybody was doing their own thing, and it was like that vibe, just waiting for it to come out.
When it came out, there was no interview, no videos. Axl wasn’t ultimately happy with the way it was released. How much of that were you privy to? No, I wasn’t part of all that, I wasn’t. At this point I’m just waiting for the record to come out and hoping to work soon, so I don’t know about that stuff.
You were one of the first people officially allowed to hear this stuff. What was your opinion of it? First off, I thought it was a great record, personally. I thought the songs were really good. I remember thinking like “Street of Dreams,” for example, I thought that song was fucking amazing, and I like the growth. 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.
And then you hit the road again. Yeah. Eventually. A few months later. And then we didn’t stop touring for three years.
I saw you a few times, and if you closed your eyes you’d think, this band is destroying. Despite not having anybody from the original band besides Axl. Dizzy [Reed]. I would consider Dizzy an original member, he’s in the Hall of Fame. Fair. But none of the rhythm section, no guitarist. And nonetheless you were manifesting the spirit of Guns N’ Roses, which is the hardest thing of all. The voice, man, the voice. That puts everything right. The minute you hear that man’s voice you’re like, “Oh, this is Guns. It’s Guns.” Your favorite guy might not be in the band, but it’s Guns. And we forgot to mention that [guitarist] Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal had to jump in. We had to gel. We had to learn and gel as a band, so that’s one of the reasons it took a while. I felt that band, we pulled for each other and a lot of support, and we really worked hard at making it feel and sound like a band, for sure.
I’m a big fan of Bumblefoot’s playing. He knows every song. Literally every song. You’ll talk about a TV commercial — “Oh, you remember that old Captain Crunch commercial over there?” And he’ll play the theme of the Captain. You’re like, “What the fuck? This guy is insane.”
What do you think the world misunderstands about Axl? That he’s a mean guy. I think the world thinks that he’s a scary, mean guy. And he’s the complete opposite. He doesn’t suffer fools, so that might piss people off. But he’s generous and super funny, and worried about us all the time, worried about, “Hey, you guys, how you guys doing?” “Hey, is Frank OK? Hey, Frank, are you OK?” “I’m doing fine.” He’s, “Oh, OK, cool.” It’s that kind of stuff constantly. I wish they could know him the way I know him. That’s the only way I could say it. He’s a great musician, great singer, all that stuff that goes in the pot, but he’s a good man.
He had to go onstage every night with something to prove without the original members. He’s out there busting his ass, trying to make everything sound great, be great every night. He’s under immense pressure, and he delivers. He would lead the way. We would go up there and even if you’re feeling like, “Oh, man, I don’t know if I feel that great tonight,” and then he comes out and starts singing and, I don’t know, turning into the Hulk out there. You’re like, “Fuck this. I better get to where he’s at.” And everybody would push. He loves being up there. He loves giving a good show. And we had to rise to the occasion.
When Izzy Stradlin returned in 2006, were you in the band already? I did a few shows with him. Izzy was fun. He was part of the band, and we spent a lot of time together. It’s funny ’cause those guys are so chill. You’re just sitting there going, “OK, these rock stars,” and it’s not that at all. It’s super chill and a lot of laughing. But it was great to see Izzy and Axl together. It was always super great.
In 2014 Tommy has to miss some shows and Duff fills in. Did any bells start ringing, like maybe I’m gonna be out of a gig soon? I figured if those guys ever came back, everybody would come back. The only thing I thought was, “Oh, this is cool. Duff is playing with us.” ‘Cause I didn’t think I was gonna be part of anything. It’s not so much being out of a gig soon because I was still at, “I can’t believe I got this gig and I’m still there.” Guns is iconic, bro. It was like, “Oh fuck, they might come back and that’d be cool.” If you’re a Guns fan, you’re gonna lose your mind. And dude, even though Guns is the biggest thing I’ve ever done, it’s not my band, you know what I’m saying? It doesn’t belong to me, even though I’m a part of it and part of the legacy and stuff.
So Axl called you and was like, “We’re getting Duff and Slash back in. Would you play with us?” That’s a crazy call. It’s like a rehiring. That’s who he is, bro. He’s super-courteous. He’s like, “Oh, I don’t know if Frank might even wanna do it.” You know what I’m saying? And I was surprised and grateful. And I’m like, “Yeah, just call me when we’re ready and I’ll have everything learned, and we’ll throw down.”
You’d been playing in the band for a decade at that point, but this was a whole new thing. You walk in that day. What was that like? I don’t know how to put it into words. But it was super exciting. Stressful too. I don’t wanna suck in front of these guys. But it took work because those guys, it’s their music. So I had to find my way. I wasn’t doing it like the Chinese Democracy stuff — it had to be more of a Steven and Sorum thing. So it took me a minute to find my way with them, ’cause it’s their music, they wanna hear it a certain way. So the three of us just woodshedded for a couple of months, just going in there and playing every day, playing all this stuff. And also them learning some of the Chinese stuff too. The three of us were really working hard to make it sound as good as possible.
Duff and Slash both said they kinda wanted you to play it more like the recorded versions. Which is strange, because you’d been playing those songs more recently than they had. It’s their music. It’s the way they wrote it, the way they heard it. It’s their music.
The first gig was a club gig, then Coachella. I remember being in awe of it. I remember really working hard not to fuck up the songs. When Slash started the riff to “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” that’s when the enormity of it hit me, when I was like, “Holy fuck, I’m playing in Guns N’ Roses with Slash, and Duff, and Axl.” ‘Cause he’s out by himself playing that riff, and you look out in the crowd and their faces just light up, if somebody set them on fire, and you’re like, “Oh, shit, this is the real fucking deal right now. This is really real.” And then he breaks his foot after the first or second song. And he still runs around the stage the rest of the night. I can’t even imagine that, man.
If someone was cynical, they’d say: Did it become a money grab as the reunion went on and on? I don’t know about the business side, but I know that those guys love doing it. They just love it. It’s their band. It’s their music. All I saw was three gentlemen that love and have a passion for doing what they do. That’s gotta be special that everybody loves your music and wants to hear it. I haven’t felt that. I’ve played in a lot of bands. We’ve written a lot of fun songs, great songs that I love, but not songs that anybody else loves. And they get to do it. That’s why they do it.
The songs they’ve released since Chinese Democracy all have Brain playing on them. It’s a bummer you never got to record with them. Again, I don’t look at it that way. I just look at it that they can continue doing it, and the fans get to hear newer songs. I never looked at it like I’m bummed out that I didn’t play on it, no. I love Brain’s drumming, man. Brain is a great drummer.
What, if anything, do you want to say about the circumstances of your departure? 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.
So nothing dramatic. Just one day there’s a phone call. Nothing dramatic, no. We didn’t get into a fight or anything like that. No.
It seems like you dealt with it as well as anyone could. 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.
What were your greatest moments with Axl, offstage and onstage? One time we had to get to a show and he let me jump on his private plane with him. I had never been on one, and I remember the stewardess came up to me and she was like, “Hey, do you want anything to eat?” And she goes, “We have everything.” And I’m like, “OK, I want a piece of New York City cheesecake.” And she was like, “Hold on.” And brought me a slice of New York City cheesecake. So that was pretty awesome. But I always tell everybody my favorite moment. So when we do Coachella they were like, “Hey, Angus [Young] is gonna play with us. He’s gonna play ‘Riff Raff.'” So we go into this little dressing room and Angus has the jeans and T-shirt on. And I’m sitting there, the whole band is there, and we’re running through the song. They’re playing it on the guitars, but they’re not plugged in. And I’m playing on my lap. Go out, start the show. Axl introduces Angus. Angus comes out in full-blown 1977 schoolboy gear. Before I was just hanging out with this guy in his jeans. And when he came out with the big A on his hat, my mind was completely blown. And he walks up to the front of the stage, takes a bow, turns around, stares at me, and puts his hand up, like to start the song. Classic Angus, and I’m just staring at him. I froze. And I look down, ’cause if I’m sitting on the kit and I’m staring out into the audience, Slash is on my left. So from the corner of my eye, I see Slash going, “Come on, start the song. Start the song.” That’s probably my super-favorite Guns N’ Roses story. But that moment was like, “Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming.”
What were your relationships like with Slash and Duff? We’re not best friends, but very good. I thought we had a really good relationship. We had group texts going, stuff like that. I felt like I was a little closer to Duff. We had a lot more in common, like punk rock. We went and saw, when Walter Lure of the Heartbreakers did the L.A.M.F. tour, we went and saw that together, stuff like that.
Did you ever play with a click track? Some of the earlier tours, some of the Chinese stuff, ’cause there were intros and there’s pyro cues, and a lot of that stuff, so sometimes I had to play with a click track.
Is that not your favorite? Me personally? I’d rather always play with a click track. My biggest worry as a drummer is tempo. So once we have the tempo locked in, I feel free. I could do a roll, and if I’m ahead of the click, I could pull it back. If I’m behind the click, I could push it. If it’s a quote-unquote pro gig, I’d rather play with a click all day. I don’t wanna worry about tempo. As a drummer, speeding up and slowing down, it’s a pet peeve.
But the whole reunion, you were off click? Oh yeah. Pretty much. There was a couple times I put the click on. If there might be a long jam session in a song I might tell my tech, “Yo, count this out so we stay locked in, so I don’t speed up.” But everything is their feel. Guns is feel. It’s locking into the feel.
A lot of times you wouldn’t have a set list. Axl would just call the songs? We would have a set list, but we wouldn’t stick to it. It’s whatever he feels like singing. He might feel like, “Hey, I wanna sing this now,” so we play it. If he feels like singing a different song we play a different song. We have like a 40-song body, and then we probably at the time have in the actual quote-unquote set list might be like 23 songs. But anything out of that could be added. “Hey, we haven’t played this in a while. Let’s do that.” On the fly. That’s the kind of band it was, or is. I shouldn’t say was. Is.
Is there anything I didn’t give you a chance to say? 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.
Emotionally, are you able to go see them now or look at them on YouTube? Or do you need a little bit of a break? 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.
Have you seen clips of Isaac playing with him? I’ve seen clips of Isaac playing with him. And he’s a great drummer. He’s cool, and him and Duff lock in, and they seem like they’re happy playing together, so it’s cool.
Your attitude could teach everyone how to have a good attitude. I don’t have any expectations and I’m lucky. I’m like this about everything in my life, except my girlfriend. Her name is Daniella Peters. She was like, “You never mention me in interviews.” So her name is Daniella Peters. She’s an awesome woman, and I live with her here in the desert. I still have my house back east, though. I have a house in Maplewood, New Jersey. So I go back and forth.
