The Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival caught up with WALKING PAPERS bassist Duff McKagan (ex-GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER) to talk about Uproar, judging the Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival’s Ernie Ball Battle Of The Bands and more; an excerpt follows:

What attracted you to the Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival?

"Well, initially, (ALICE IN CHAINS drummer) Sean Kinney called. Jerry Cantrell, Sean, and I have been pretty tight buddies since 1990 or something. They approached Alice In Chains about co-headlining the festival, and Sean was really pushing to make this a sort of different Uproar with a mixture of bands that could really interest and challenge an audience. The whole bill is like that. Sean knew our record would be coming out about the time of this tour starting. We talked about it, and John Reese who co-owns Uproar spoke to me. It’s a family thing really. Reese was my tour manager in Guns N’ Roses. I’ve known John’s kids since they were bumps in bellies. I’m of course good pals with the JANE’S ADDICTION guys. There’s a lot of cool bands on this thing like MIDDLE CLASS RUT and DANKO JONES."

To read the interview in its entirety, click here.

Remaining dates on the Rockstar Energy Uproar Festival:

August

27 - Oklahoma City, OK - Zoo Amphitheater
28 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion
29 - Woodlands, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
31 – Albuquerque, TX – Isleta Amphitheatre

September

1 - Denver, CO - Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
2 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheatre
5 – Nampa, ID – Idaho Center Amphitheatre
7 - George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheatre
8 - Ridgefield, WA - Sleep Country Amphitheater
11 - San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
13 - Phoenix, AZ - Desert Sky Pavilion
14 - Chula Vista, CA - Sleep Train Amphitheatre
15 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater