Drummer Matt Sorum of GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER and THE CULT, issued his new album, Stratosphere, under the moniker MATT SORUM'S FIERCE JOY, on March 11th on Rok Dok Recordings via Kobalt Label Services.

During a recent chat with John Parks of Legendary Rock Interviews, Sorum revealed: "On this particular record this is really just my take on how I feel musically right now in my life and the beauty of it is I don’t have to worry about a record company, I don’t have to worry about having a hit. I can just make music and make art for art’s sake. That was a really good thing for me at a really good time, it was really cathartic."

Sorum went on to say: "When Guns N Roses came out with those early records, those guys and I were young guys and there was a different kind of angst in the air. It was sorta all about rebellion and we were really throwing an ideal out there as far as what rock and roll was meant to be. The whole vibe of that band was born of that passion for being a bunch of insane pirates who would say some shit that would scare some people. That’s not to say that I’m boring and old now, but I think I’ve definitely matured from that point and maybe that I am just concerned with different things. Maybe in my 20s I was thinking about chasing girls and getting drunk, and now I’m thinking about what’s the future for my kids and what’s going on with the world and what’s happening with the environment, what kind of food are we eating and all kinds of altogether different stuff than I was 20 years ago. You start thinking about life and death and all kinds of different things."

To read the interview in its entirety, visit this location.

Stratosphere tracklisting:

'Intro - Stratosphere Part 1'

'The Sea'

'What Ziggy Says'

'For the Wild Ones'

'Goodbye To You'

'Gone'

'Lady of the Stone'

'Ode to Nick Drake'

'Blue'

'Josephine'

'Land of the Pure'

'Killers N Lovers'

'The Lonely Teardrop'

'Outro - Stratosphere Part 2'

Trailer (with audio samples):

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'The Sea':

A series of five webisodes about the making of Stratosphere can be viewed below: