Loaded (band)

Loaded (also known as Duff McKagan's Loaded) was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1999. The band's most recent line-up included vocalist and rhythm guitarist Duff McKagan (Velvet Revolver and Guns N' Roses), lead guitarist Mike Squires (formerly of Nevada Bachelors and Alien Crime Syndicate) bassist Jeff Rouse (formerly of Alien Crime Syndicate, Sirens Sister, and Vendetta Red), and drummer Burke Thomas. Geoff Reading (formerly of New American Shame and Green Apple Quick Step) and Isaac Carpenter (formerly of Loudermilk, Gosling, and The Exies) were the band's previous drummers.

McKagan first formed Loaded to be his touring band in support of his unreleased solo album Beautiful Disease. The first lineup included Michael Barragan (formerly of Plexi), Dez Cadena (formerly of Black Flag), and Taz Bentley (formerly of The Reverend Horton Heat). The band disbanded before the end of 1999. After working on new material with drummer Geoff Reading, Loaded was reformed in 2001, adding guitarist Mike Squires and Jeff Rouse to the line-up, though both were briefly replaced by guitarist Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver, formerly of Wasted Youth and Electric Love Hogs) and bassist George Stuart Dahlquist (formerly of Asva and Burning Witch) in 2002.

Loaded released three studio albums, Dark Days (2001), Sick (2009) and The Taking (2011), one extended play called Wasted Heart (2008), and one live album called Episode 1999: Live (1999). Following McKagan and Kushner's involvement in "The Project" that later became Velvet Revolver, Loaded were put on hiatus, though they still played shows on occasion. Following the departure of Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland from Velvet Revolver, Loaded returned from hiatus in 2008 to record and release their second album. The following year, Reading left the group and was replaced by Isaac Carpenter. While never having officially disbanded, the group has not been active since 2012.

Duff McKagan was previously a member of Guns N' Roses from the mid-1980s to late 1990s. Guns N' Roses achieved international success, going on to sell over 100 million albums worldwide, but personal and creative differences within the band resulted in members departing or being fired, with McKagan departing in 1997.

McKagan moved back to Seattle, reforming previous group 10 Minute Warning, releasing one self-titled album on Sub Pop in 1998, before recording his second solo album Beautiful Disease the same year. Featuring collaborations with former Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin, former Black Flag singer Dez Cadena and his former Guns N' Roses band mates Slash and Izzy Stradlin, Beautiful Disease was scheduled to be released through Geffen in 1999. McKagan formed Loaded, initially as The Gentlemen, to be his band for the tour supporting the album. With McKagan performing lead vocals and bass duties, Loaded's line-up consisted of guitarists Dez Cadena and Michael Barragan as well as drummer Taz Bentley.

McKagan began promoting the album; however, following the merger between Geffen and Interscope Records, he was dropped from the label^{[page needed]} and lost all commercial rights to release the record with only a few promo copies being leaked. Loaded continued to tour and released a live album, Episode 1999: Live, independently, which was recorded and mixed by Nick Raskulinecz. They re-recorded half of Beautiful Disease and received offers from four labels. However, they disbanded before the end of the year, with McKagan and Bentley becoming part of Izzy Stradlin's rhythm section for his tour of Japan supporting Ride On.

By early 2000, McKagan had begun working on a new project with singer Mark Lanegan and drummer Geoff Reading. Though they recorded a number of songs, Lanegan left to join Queens of the Stone Age. After being convinced by Reading and Martin Feveyear to take over lead vocals, they continued to write and record new material at Jupiter Studios. With nearly an album's worth of material recorded, they decided to re-record some of the songs from Beautiful Disease to add to the material they already had. Though primarily recorded by McKagan and Reading, Dave Dederer, who joined the band as bassist, and Mike Squires recorded additional drums, while Feveyear, who also produced the album, recorded additional keyboards.

The resulting album, titled Dark Days, was released in the United States and Japan in July 2001, through Artistdirect and EMI, while it was released in Europe, through Locomotive Music, a year later. Rather than releasing the album under his own name, McKagan readopted the Loaded moniker. They announced three dates at the House of Blues taking place in Anaheim, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, and West Hollywood, California (where they were joined onstage by Slash) in November 2001, adding Mike Squires and Jeff Rouse, who replaced Dederer, to the lineup on lead and bass guitar, respectively, while Feveyear performed keyboards and percussion. Loaded played more shows in the US (where they were joined on stage by Billy Duffy and Matt Sorum during a show in Los Angeles) before going on to tour Japan. They toured Japan as part of Fire Wire, supporting J and Zilch, where McKagan first met guitarist Dave Kushner, who was, then, the Zilch guitarist.