About Guns or Roses
About the Band
Band Members
Martin first realised he could hit the notes like Axl Rose when he started performing Guns N' Roses songs at karaoke. Having been involved in original bands for some time, he started playing Axl with various GnR tributes about 12 years ago, but has now exlusively been the unmistakable frontman of Guns or Roses for nearly a decade. Martin agreed to help the band out for a couple of gigs at the start of 2010...and he's sung every show since! Sometimes the comedian, always the rock-star on stage (although surprisingly quiet and subdued off stage), he is a force to be reckoned with and the definition of RnFnR. The live wire of the band, he is a real character with an awesome voice and the stage presence of a true performer.
Years of service: 13
Favourite songs to play live: You Could Be Mine / Coma
Other favourite bands:
Ghost / Avenged Sevenfold / Iron Maiden / Metallica / Queen
Most memorable band moment:
Playing to a packed out tent at The Isle of Wight Festival.
John grew up with music from a very early age, his parents both being professional classical musicians. Having started playing the violin at the age of 3, he had an intensive classical training as a violinist and went on to study at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School. Aged 11, he even had a piece of music he wrote for orchestra performed at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. However, along the way he also discovered a love of rock music. John was invited to perform with a band in Germany at the age of 16, and he spent the next 6 years fronting them with an electric violin before turning his focus more towards the guitar. John has since played guitar in numerous bands and has performed all over the world, both as a guitarist and violinist. John is the original founder of Guns or Roses.
Years of service: 14
Favourite songs to play live: Nightrain / Estranged
Other favourite bands:
Aerosmith / Bon Jovi / Queen / Extreme / Dream Theater
Most memorable band moment:
Our first international gig, playing a biker festival in Bulgaria
Padraig hails originally from Gurteen, County Sligo, a county in Ireland renowned for its traditional Irish Music. The eldest son of traditional Irish flute virtuoso Seamus Tansey, Padraig grew up listening to and playing Irish Music. In his early teens his musical tastes changed when his uncle Tony taught him to play the drums. He went on to play in a host of local bands and in his early twenties he studied drums at New Park Music College in Blackrock, County Dublin. Padraig has played with and supported artists including Seamus Tansey, Tom Jones, Ruby Turner, Chris Farlow, Steve Wickham (The Waterboys) and Ian Parker. He is a founding member of Guns or Roses.
Years of service: 14
Favourite songs to play live: Rocket Queen / Mr Brownstone / Paradise City
Other favourite bands:
Led Zeppelin / Iron Maiden / Dream Theater / The Aristocrats / Soundgarden
Most memorable band moment:
Playing my home town of Gurteen, County Sligo.
Dermo began playing the bass at the age of 12 with his first Squire Jazz bass and he soon started his own band, playing rock covers and writing original material. For a number of years, the bass took a back seat and Dermo spent far more time with an acoustic guitar as a solo performer. But a chance meeting with Guns Or Roses in 2011 resulted in him dusting the bass off to help out for a couple of shows, which turned into many more and here we are today! He has had the pleasure of meeting Slash a few times and even getting to hang out with the one and only Duff McKagan in Glasgow, Leicester and Manchester. Dermo once even received a birthday card from Duff himself - a truly awesome personal gift which he treasures along with his Duff signed bass & Slash signed Les Paul.
Years of service: 11
Favourite songs to play live: You Could Be Mine / My Michelle
Other favourite bands:
Johnny Cash / Blink 182 / Blind Melon / Stroke 9 / The White Buffalo
Most memorable band moment:
Norway (there's quite a story about the black slope) and Belgium
G has been playing in bands for about as long as he can remember. Inspired early on by the energy and aggression of Guns N' Roses and other bands of the era, a guitar was never far from his grasp. By the 90s, G was gigging all over the UK with bands like Zenna, The Terrible Things and Cypher, as well as performing studio sessions for anything from radio jingles to albums. In 2003 he met SevenYearsDead and went on to play bass with them for several years, releasing the album 'To The Ruin of All'. G also started playing guitar for Subhuman Race, the UK's premier Skid Row tribute band and it was through gigging with them that he got to know Guns or Roses. Now our rhythm guitarist, he helps us capture the spirit and energy of those early GnR performances that first inspired him.
Years of service: 6
Favourite songs to play live: Estranged / Paradise City
Other favourite bands:
Aerosmith / Queen / Skunk Anansie / Skid Row / Van Halen
Most memorable band moment:
Isle of Wight Festival 2018, winning over what was not a rock crowd by all appearances.