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Walking Papers Guitar Pick from Jeff Angell 2013 Stage Used

Jeff Angell frontman for Walking Papers project. “We were never a Guns N’ Roses or Screaming Trees side-project,” admits Walking Papers singer/guitarist Jeff Angell. We caught Duff McKagan’s attention, and he invited me to try out for Velvet Revolver – I actually recorded five or six songs with Slash, Matt Sorum, Izzy and Duff.

But, ultimately, the man responsible for the great music was their frontman Jeff Angell – an unsung hero of Seattle that enjoyed some success in earlier projects Post Stardom Depression and The Missionary Position, though not even half as much as he deserved…

“Post Stardom Depression were pretty well-known in Seattle,” he explains. “We got a deal with Interscope, but once we were on a major label everything screeched to a halt because I just don’t think they knew what to do with us. At the time, it was all about Korn and Limp Bizkit – though we did have a good run supporting Queens Of The Stone Age and Dee Dee Ramone.

“We caught Duff’s attention, and he invited me to try out for Velvet Revolver – I actually recorded five or six songs with Slash, Matt Sorum, Izzy and Duff before they took off. Eventually Izzy backed out and Scott Weiland got the gig. I stayed friends with Duff, probably because I didn’t let the cat out of the bag.

“One day I was opening up for one for Barrett’s bands, he said he’d love to do something and had some studio time. He invited Duff to play bass; once he heard my songs he said he’d be happy to join and tour to support the record. That’s how it all got started!”

In 2013, when Walking Papers released their eponymous debut album, a lot of attention was paid to the pedigree of the musicians performing on the album. And quite rightly – along with featuring members of Guns N’ Roses and Screaming Trees in its core line-up, there were also a handful of soaring guitar leads courtesy of Pearl Jam axeman Mike McCready.

In 2018 the second full-length, recorded at QOTSA leader Josh Homme’s Pink Duck Studio in Burbank and titled WP2, builds on the soulful foundations laid by its predecessor and ended up being more of a team effort.