Slash reflects on Guns N' Roses years

Slash reflects on wild Guns N' Roses years

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 2:56p.m.

23 years ago a rock band called Guns N' Roses formed in Los Angeles.

Now guitarist Slash has moved on - but he still has fond memories of his musical achievements.

Starting out together in 1985, Slash says they were playing for the love of it, certainly not for the money:

"Actually the gigs never did pay that well but somehow they managed to... yeah they paid the rent in one place that we used to squat in. We actually looked forward to getting paid after a gig, but it was usually for the beer, you know."

In fact, in order to cover the bills Slash turned his hand to a few dodgy past-times, just for the pay-check, before he turned pro.

"I'd a lot of jobs, at some point there was a little hustling involved as far as like, a little bit of drugs, a little bit of this and that, but prior to that it was just, you know, I kept a straight job for a while."

Slash left Guns N Roses in 1996 after creative differences with lead singer Axl Rose - but he still feels proud that whatever they did, they did it their way.

"Everybody else is making compromises and concessions so that they can make it big and get their, you know, their picture on the cover of Teen Beat or Us Weekly or whatever you know, so, so...There's a sort of, kind of, selling out to that. But I think what was great about Guns N' Roses is that we made it on our own integrity and we didn't give up anything to anybody and made it on our own merit."

Now Slash, also known as Saul Hudson, has gone on to record guest sessions with other artists, and form other groups such as Slash's Snakepit and his current project Velvet Revolver.

But he isn't exactly optimistic that another group of rockers, like Guns N' Roses, would make it at all if they were starting out in today's musical climate:

"It's just getting harder and harder for genuinely talented bands or performers with something to say to really get heard in the mainstream because it's gotten to the point where bands are as corporate minded and commercial minded as the businesses. So it's a little bit sad, there's definitely not any kind of musical explosion going on right now."

For Guns N' Roses fans, there's a new book with scenes photos, conversations, articles and other mementos collected by it's author, Marc Canter.

Called Reckless Road: Guns N' Roses And The Making of Appetite For Destruction - it's available now.

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