Only one SlashSunday Herald Sun April 03, 2010 8:53PM
Slash is finally solo. The former Guns 'N Roses superstar, rated by Time Magazine as the No.2 electric guitarist of all time (behind Jimi Hendrix) releases his debut album this month.
He is not entirely alone, though.
Slash gets by with a little help from singer friends including Ian Astbury (The Cult), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Andrew Stockdale (Wolfmother), Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop.
He quit Guns 'N Roses in 1996.
Slash's current band, Velvet Revolver, is in hiatus. He sacked singer Scott Weiland two years ago for lack of commitment to the band.
Slash says music saved him, but wife Perla Ferrar and sons London Emilio and Cash Anthony remind him of what's really important.
My wife and I were both crazy party people.Probably the most hardcore couple I know. There came a point when we had kids and we didn't want to be the parents who weren't there for their kids. You need to be present. My music is important - take care of it. My kids are important - take care of it. You can't be fried all the time. I burned out on all the drugs and alcohol thing, anyway (laughs). It stopped being fun.
Family gives me a sense of responsibility.Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, all those guys have kids. It's no big deal. After everything I've been through in life, music has always brought me around. It's what has saved me nine out of 10 times. In addition to that, when you have kids, there is a bigger stabilising effect.
I set out to make a record on my own.It's very liberating. I didn't do it on purpose, to see what I was capable of, or if I could pull it off, but now, looking back on it, with the amount of moving parts that I had going on, it's very, wow! It feels like I've accomplished something.
I wrote the music first, then I thought who would sound good on it.Simple as that. I didn't have a list of people. It was more, who would sound good on this piece of material?
I had this one song that was screaming: "Andrew Stockdale!''If I'd never seen Wolfmother, but I knew the record and I knew he had a fantastic voice. He is genuine. There are a lot of posers in this industry at this point. We met, hung out and next day, we sat down with acoustic guitars and worked out the song. There is no lying in Andrew. He is pure and straight to the point.
Going solo allowed me to relax and write some songs. I didn't stress out over timing.I had no set schedule. I had no record company or band to answer to.
Velvet Revolver is on hiatus.There was only one problem in the band and it's what I call the Scott thing. One of the major issues was he made us cancel Australia twice. He was at that point where he was completely disconnected. It got very frustrating. So we sacked him. After that situation, I'd had enough of dealing with politics, drama and stupid things.
Englebert Humperdinck is not replacing Scott Weiland.That was a joke. I did something with him and Dave Stewart in Canada (laughs). Now that rumour has gone all the way to Australia.
I recorded a version of Paradise City with Fergie and Cypress Hill.I've been playing it live with Cypress Hill since 2002. I've always told them we should record it. So when it came time for my solo record, we did. I got Fergie to sing the chorus. She's a big Axl fan and sings it pretty good. I didn't put it on the record because I didn't want people to take it too seriously. It's not a big Guns 'N Roses cover. It's a fun version.
The only Guns 'N Roses I relate to is the one I was in.That's a really important part of who I am. I grew up in that band. It was a huge achievement. It was a pity we didn't stay together longer. That's the real Guns 'N Roses to me. Whatever Axl's got going on now, that's his trip.
I don't know why Guns 'N Roses were always late to get on stage.That was always a big problem for me. There were other issues, sure, but I never understood how it was cool to keep fans waiting for two or three hours (laughs). I mean, I can't wait that long.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/sunday-heraldsun/only-one-slash/story-fn52nri7-1225849291247
Author