Even though Steve Riley's version of L.A. GUNS has yet to release its first album, "Renegades", the band has already discussed using the coronavirus downtime to work on a follow-up effort. "When we started putting 'Renegades' together, we had to utilize the Internet, because we all live all over the place, Riley told Indiepower in a new interview (see video below). "And we knew that the budget was short, so we needed to do a nice pre-production via the Internet and exchanging ideas and exchanging full songs that all four of us had written — we wanted to work on those. So we did two months of that. And then we had the guys come over here for nine days and we recorded it. I mixed it for five days and we mastered it for a day. So it was, like, a two-week, maybe two-and-a-half-week thing that we did. "We have so much material in the can already because of doing that pre-production," Steve revealed. "We handed in a lot of material on our own. And I know now that all four of us are songwriters and we have a wealth of material. "What we're doing with this album right now is unfamiliar territory by releasing a single and another single and another single before the album comes out," Riley added. "We might be into 2021, with the album still being fresh and us able to go out and support it. But we've already talked about a second album in 2021, and there's no worries about material at all. We have a great system to work out here in L.A. with Mates and the studios that we use. So I think that doing another album is definitely on the books. We don't know when. We'd like to go out and support this album with some shows and go out and play these songs at live shows. But Mark over at Golden Robot [the band's record label] has already asked us about new material, and we've got it. And we're ready to do it next year, for sure." Riley's version of L.A. GUNS released its second single, "Well Oiled Machine", in June. Riley's version of L.A. GUNS is not to be confused with the band led by guitarist Tracii Guns and vocalist Phil Lewis, which issued two well-received albums, "The Missing Peace" and "The Devil You Know", plus the live release "Made In Milan", under the L.A. GUNS name over the last three years. Riley's version of L.A. GUNS made its live debut in May 2019 at the M3 Rock Festival. The drummer is joined in the group by Orlando, Florida-based guitarist/vocalist Kurt Frohlich, bassist Kelly Nickels (a member of L.A. GUNS' "classic" incarnation) and guitarist Scott Griffin (who played bass for the band from 2007 until 2009, and then again from 2011 to 2014). This past January, Riley was sued by Guns and Lewis in California District Court. Joining Riley as defendants in the case are the three musicians who perform in his recently launched rival version of L.A. GUNS; that group's manager, booking agent and merchandiser; and Golden Robot Records. The complaint, which requests a trial by jury, alleges that Riley's version of L.A. GUNS (referred to in the case docket as "the infringing L.A. GUNS") is creating "unfair competition" through its unauthorized usage of the L.A. GUNS trademark. In addition, Guns and Lewis are seeking relief from and/or against false advertising, breach of contract and unauthorized usage of their likenesses. At its core, Guns and Lewis's complaint calls into question Riley's claim of partial ownership of the L.A. GUNS name and logo and alleges that his usage of both has been unauthorized. In addition, Guns and Lewis claim — as Guns has done publicly in the past — that Riley has embezzled much of the group's publishing proceeds over the past two decades.
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