2014.09.17 - Huffington Post - Interview with Slash

Slash Has ‘No Idea’ What The ‘November Rain’ Music Video Is About

For everyone who’s been trying to figure out the meaning behind the Guns N’ Roses video “November Rain” since its release in 1992, you may want to stop trying because lead guitarist Slash doesn’t know either.

In a conversation with HuffPost Live about his new album “World On Fire,” the guitar legend made a shocking confession.

“To tell you the truth, I have no idea [what ‘November Rain’ is about],” Slash told host Marc Lamont Hill. “It was a concept. The song itself is pretty self-explanatory, but the video is so complex.”

The song appears on the band’s “Use Your Illusion I” album. Slash said when vocalist Axl Rose was writing it, “It was so epic, it was like a movie. And I, not being a huge fan of videos and making videos especially, I just showed up for my scenes.”

“I [wrote] my own scene,” he continued “... and I never paid attention to the rest of the whole production. So at the end of the day, I never really knew. I knew there was a wedding in there somewhere and I was not into the concept of the wedding.”

Slash said he even “frowned upon” the wedding idea because “it seemed to me like what I would do.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/17/november-rain-meaning_n_5837602.html

Slash Says Going To A Cher Concert Helped Him Quit Smoking

Ex-smokers all have their reasons for putting down the cigarettes and former Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist Slash says his is, well, Cher.

The rock ‘n’ roll legend spoke with HuffPost Live’s Marc Lamont Hill about his most recent album, “World On Fire,” and also addressed why he quit smoking five years ago. He said that at the time he was smoking three or four packs a day of French cigarettes Gitanes (oh la la).

“You get to a point where, with anything excessive ... you’re doing it and you don’t even like it anymore, “ Slash said. “And you actually spend most of your time complaining about doing it, and you keep doing it, which is pathetic.”

He said his “catalyst” was when he went to a Cher concert in Vegas. He explained:

I kept going outside to smoke during the whole show, and the next morning I had pneumonia .... So, I was in bed for a couple of weeks and I couldn’t breathe, let alone smoke. And at the end of the two weeks, I had the ... Gitanes on the nightstand and the lighter and I was all excited to get my first smoke in and I thought, ‘Oh man, if I was thinking about quitting smoking ... I’m over the hump.’ So I haven’t smoked since.

Slash did clarify, however, that he still gets his nicotine fix using supplements.

https://tinyurl.com/y84o4ks3

9 Things You Didn’t Know About Slash, Despite Knowing Everything About Guns N’ Roses
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If you thought you knew everything about legendary rock star and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, think again. In a conversation with HuffPost Live’s Marc Lamont Hill about his most recent album, “World On Fire,” Slash revealed some surprising tidbits about himself. Ahead, the nine facts you probably never knew:

1. Cher sort of helped him quit smoking.

When asked how he quit smoking, Slash revealed that it was when he got pneumonia following a Cher concert five years ago, which he kept leaving to go smoke.

We’re not sure which image is more disorienting: Slash without his signature cigarette or Slash at a Cher concert. Either way, we fully support both.

2. He, too, is starstruck by the Muppets.

Right before Slash joined HuffPost Live, two “Sesame Street” celebs were on-set and Slash was so excited that he asked to have his picture taken with Grover and newcomer Abby Cadabby.

“Most of us have some history with the Muppets and ‘Sesame Street,’ and that was like the babysitter for me when I was a kid,” he revealed.

3. The only people who still call Slash by his birth name are, well, cops.

It won’t surprise you to learn that Slash was not his name at birth; he was born Saul Hudson. But “the last person to really call me Saul was my late grandmother. I’ve been called Slash since I was in high school.”

However, because Saul Hudson is still the name on his driver’s license, the guitarist added that the police use his birth moniker. Speeding tickets, you know?

4. He also produces horror films.

Slash loves horror films and actually produces them.

“I did one last year and I’m working on another one now, and I want to keep excelling at that,” he said.

He added that he wants to be “one of the people to bring back really character-driven, story-driven dramatic horror movies.”

5. He’s as confused as we are about the “November Rain” video.

We thought we were the only ones stumped by the “November Rain” video, but nope!

“To tell you the truth, I have no idea [what it’s about],” he admitted. “It was a concept. The song itself is pretty self-explanatory, but the video is so complex.”

6. Slash is a “homebody” and says L.A. nightlife isn’t his “thing.”

Slash was once known for his notorious past of drug binges and heroin, but now he “likes to stay home.”

“I’m a homebody. I don’t like to go out when I’m home,” he said. “I take the kids [10-year-old Cash and 12-year-old London] wherever they want to go. As far as being out on the town in L.A., it’s not my thing.”

7. He is an avid reader.

Do you ever wonder what rock stars do in their off-time? Well, Slash reads.

“We’re on the road all the time, so you take a lot of books with you and you just sort of kill time reading,” he said.

Based on his love of horror movies (see number 4), it’s not surprising that he enjoys reading books in the same genre, but he added that lately he’s been enjoying WWII books and “some courtroom drama stuff.”

8. His first guitar was a Spanish flamenco acoustic guitar.

But, we thought it was a Les Paul? Nope. It was a Spanish flamenco acoustic guitar that his grandmother gave him.

“It had one string on it and I first started learning on a one-string because I didn’t know how to put the other five on,” Slash revealed. “That was the guitar I learned on. I finally did learn how to put the other five on.”

Rest assured, his first electric guitar was a Memphis Les Paul copy.

“So, I was attached to the Les Paul pretty early on,” he said.

9. He’s thought about cutting his hair every summer.

Slash without his dreamy curls?! It couldn’t be. But, the guitarist revealed he frequently thinks about chopping his locks.

“In the summertime every year, it gets so hot that you just start thinking, ‘I just want to cut it,’” he said. “But, then it just never happens.”

He added, “I couldn’t imagine walking around with really short hair. It would feel weird.”

Let’s hope that dreadful day never comes.

https://tinyurl.com/y9p3atsj