North County Times recently conducted an interview with former GUNS N' ROSES/ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA guitarist Gilby Clarke. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On the TV show "Rock Star: Supernova" in which he played in a band with ex-METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted and MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee:

"TV is really changing things. If I would have been asked to do the 'Supernova' thing five years before we did it, I would've said absolutely 'no.' But the lines between rock and TV are extremely blurry now. The rules for what and what is not acceptable in rock is changing. Producers of the show said if you took everyone who bought a GN'R record, a MÖTLEY CRÜE album, and a METALLICA record that decided to watch the show, that'd be only 10 percent of their audience. I never thought about it like that before. There just aren't other opportunities to get that kind of attention for your band that exist out there."

On sharing the stage with other bands:

"I've always thought my strength was being able to juggle all factors. When I'm in my own band, I'm the singer and the guitar player, but I also have to keep the show going. And I've always fed off of the audience in that way. If everyone's going wild, well that's a good show and things are easy. But sometimes, especially when you're part of a festival, people might not be there to see you specifically. When that's the case, you really need to know how to work it. You've got to sell the crowd and I've always had an easy time with that. It comes naturally to me."

On having one eye open to the many different opportunities available to expand his experience as a guitar player:

"I'm a professional musician. It's what I do. To me, it doesn't matter what the profession is, if you don't love it and keep up with it, it isn't something that you can be great at. No matter what it is, you can always get better. And when you get a chance to play with great people, you really need to be smart enough to take it."

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