Hot Seat: Slash Interview

Hot Seat: Slash

Posted: 21 Jul 2010

If anyone doubted whether the one-time bad boy of rock ?n? roll had sobered up, Fergie?s appearance on Slash?s recent debut solo record must have convinced them. Before he hits Hong Kong this fortnight, the top-hatted, lock-laden guitarist chatted to us about being a guitar hero, Axl Rose, and being a monster on his upcoming world tour.

Where are you, Slash?
I?m in Los Angeles.

So you?re about to head on tour. What?s that like for you nowadays?
Right now, I?m really excited, because I don?t have to deal with anybody who can?t carry their own weight. I?ve been in bands where one guy is extremely difficult.

Like Axl Rose?
Yeah, well, I didn?t say anything. [Laughs] So, that?s a big difference for me. As far as the physical part of touring, I still love it. I?m still very much a road monster. [Laughs]

So are you still crazy on tour?
Well, I don?t drink anymore. That started to become a burden after a while. Years and years and years of drinking as much as you can every day. And I finally just got to a point where I got bored with it. Finally I quit doing drugs and quit drinking. And this last three and a half years has been amazing, because I?ve really been able to put all my energy into music.

In your autobiography, you talk about Axl a bit. Where?s your relationship at these days?
There is no relationship. I haven?t spoken to him in 15 years.

I heard you wanted to reach out to him.
Yeah, I tried to put an end to a lawsuit that we were going through. And that didn?t really go over so well, so I haven?t tried to speak to him since.

So, the new album ? it?s a bit of a new era. What inspired you to take it solo?
It?s been an incredibly entertaining, fun experience.And I?ve really never done anything where I?ve been in control of making it all come together. All that kinda shit.

I heard at one stage it was going to be called Slash and Friends.
I never called it that. In my book I mentioned something about ?Slash and Friends? as a concept. Then again, I have done some shows with a whole bunch of different people called Slash and Friends. I couldn?t think of any other name for it.

There?s been a lot of talk about Fergie. I heard you just got her on the album because she?s hot.
Yeah, that?s bullshit too! She?s a hot rock ?n? roll singer. She can belt it out ? probably one of the best female rock ?n? roll singers that I?ve heard in 20 years.

She?d been written off by a lot of people.
But now I?ve put this record out, everybody who was wondering what I was doing when they heard that I was working with her were like, shit, she really can sing. I think in Black Eyed Peas, because it?s pop music, it?s very easy to write off.

Was there anyone else that you wanted to get on the album that wouldn?t or couldn?t do it?
You know, that is the most popular question. Everybody I?ve talked to, that is the universal fucking go-to question.

Does that piss you off?
No. It?s no big deal. But I realise that?s the most popular question. In making the album, [I got] pretty much everyone that I wanted. But there were two instances where somebody couldn?t do it. And there was another that just fell through.

Who were they? Can you tell us?
No. Because I?ll tell you, and then it?ll get misconstrued, and I?ll have to answer the same question for the next year, and it?ll be all out of context. [Laughs] I know! I?m smart ? I?ve been doing this for a while.

Did you ever toy with the idea of asking Axl?
In the beginning stages of writing, tonnes of different names floated by that I didn?t actually make an effort to call. Axl was one of them.

As a joke or seriously?
Just as a passing. Axl could have sung any song on this record, if he?d wanted.

What about singing yourself? This is a solo album.
We?ll see. If I ever feel confident and inspired enough and expressive enough to do something like that, it?s possible that I might somewhere down the road. I pretty much avoid singing as much as possible.

You were in Guitar Hero III. What?s your take on the game?
When I first heard of Guitar Hero, I thought it was fucking gay. [Laughs] But when I saw the cool music that they put in there, I started to think it was a great vehicle for kids to discover cool rock ?n? roll that they probably would never hear otherwise. Somehow, I got hooked on playing it. I got really good at it.

Well, naturally, right?
Yeah. But then I got back to playing real guitar, and I went and picked it up again two years later, and I couldn?t play it for shit. I was so humiliated, I haven?t picked it up since.

Do you think that Guitar Hero will bring the guitar back to its former greatness?
One thing I can say is that, statistically, more kids have picked up the guitar in the last few years because of Guitar Hero than any other time in history.

What do you think about the current state of electric guitar?
I think the whole image and sound of electric guitar that I got turned onto when I was a kid has changed a bunch. I think lead guitar has become sort of faceless in the last ten years. There?s none of that attitude and energy and significance of what a guitar solo is meant to mean. But then, guitars always go in and out of vogue.

Hopefully we?ll see more November Rain solos in the future.
[Laughs] Yeah, epic guitar shit.

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