1994.01.DD - Musique Plus - Interview with Slash

Transcript:
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Interviewer: ... a song in the end, the Charles Manson song. Do you have a fascination with this maniac or-

Slash: No! (laughs)

Interviewer: How did you discover that song?

Slash: It was supposed to – it wasn’t supposed to be anything. It was just a joke. We were surprised that the guy even sang, you know? (laughs)

Interviewer: He has albums. I’ve seen this album.

Slash: Well yeah, and a lot of other bands have covered him before we did. I don’t think there’s anything sick about taking an obvious psychotic and taking his material, and going, “Look what this guy did.” And that was all we did. We buried it on the record, it’s not on the sleeve, it’s not on the credits or anything like that.

Interviewer: No.

Slash: And it just turned into one of those Guns N’ Roses media blisses, and that’s it. It’s a dead issue now, you know? And he’s not gonna get anything out of it.

Interviewer: No?

Slash: No.

Interviewer: Okay.

[The interviewer translates into French]

Interviewer: We’re going to take a look at the “Garden of Eden” and we’ll be back with questions.

Slash: Does that mean that I can smoke a cigarette now? (laughs)

Interviewer: Oh, maybe. You have the time of the video, I guess, so you can smoke a Marlboro.

[Break]

[A reporter outside the studio, named Geneviève, takes questions from fans who are there]

Fan: Slash, what is your main influence?

Slash: I have a whole bunch of them. This can be hard to, like – we don’t have enough time to do it, to tell you the truth (laughs).

Fan: Thanks!

[Translation into French]

Slash: I feel bad, I wish I could tell him, you know.

Interviewer: (Laughs) A couple of names?

Slash: We’d have to hang out next door, or some restaurant or something.

Interviewer: Well, you covered a T-Rex song on this one, so maybe...

Slash: Yeah. Well, that song just answers his question as my favorite T-Rex song. Axl said, “Well, do you want to do that?” And I was like, “Okay,” and he says, “Why don’t you sing it?”

[Translation into French – Geneviève takes another question from a fan outside]

Fan: Hi Slash. I would like to know how frequently you practice your guitar playing.

Slash: I don’t really – can you hear me?

Fan: Yes.

Slash: Okay. I don’t really practice. I just play a lot (laughs).

Fan: Yeah. Okay, thank you!

[Translation into French]

Slash: There’s a big difference. You can sit around playing scales all day, or you get out and play with the band.

Interviewer: But you don’t do...

Slash: You go out and play with a band, where you have to play good no matter what, because you’re on the spot and that’s different, so a lot more pressure.

Interviewer: Okay.

[Geneviève takes another fan question]

Geneviève (translating the fan’s question): Where did you get your name, Slash?

Slash: One of my best friends when I was in junior high school, his father used to call me Slash when I’d come in the house and stuff, and it just stuck (laughs). So they’ve been calling me Slash ever since.

[Translation into French - Geneviève takes another fan question]

Fan: I want to ask you, when did you realize this is what you wanted to do, that this is a business you wanted to be in?

Slash: As soon as I started playing guitar and, you know, I really fell in love with it. I’ve just been with it ever since. There was no real big plan, no big picture or anything like that. I’ve just been doing it ever since I started. I just love playing guitar.

Fan: Any advice for young guitar players like myself?

Slash: Yeah. Well, stay true to your heart as far as what you wanna do and what you believe in, and do that. If you can be successful at doing that, the one thing that does show through is that you’re pure at heart. That’s things that you hear, that you’re influenced by, or what makes you happy, and then just pursue that, no matter how awkward it is (laughs).

Fan: (?) cuz I can’t hear a word you’re saying.

Slash: I know, but maybe your mom is taping it. (laughs).

[Translation into French - interrupted]

Interviewer: What was he talking about? (laughs)

Slash: He was just saying...

[The interviewer continues translating]

Slash: You know, whatever the real thing is that inspired you to play guitar and the things that you love about it – I mean, there’s millions of different kinds of music. Whatever inspired you, follow that.

[Translation into French]

Interviewer: You’ve been collaborating with how many people, are you counting –

Slash: What?

Interviewer: Collaborating. You’ve been (?) with Michael Jackson...

Slash (talking over): I’ve just (?) with people that I know, and I have a lot of respect for all of them. So that’s how we get into it. It’s just like, “Well, let’s do a song,” and you end up in the studio and it gets released. And that’s why it’s such a big deal, but it’s really just jamming, and “let’s make the song this way,” “let’s do this,” and it’s just a creative effort. It’s a really nice way of experiencing different avenues of music and –

Interviewer: Not like the collaboration with Michael Jackson. You actually never met the guy.

Slash: No, I did.

Interviewer: You did?

Slash: We got to be good friends before all this stuff.

Interviewer: Really? Ah, okay.

Slash: But when I first got involved, no, I never met him. His management called me.

Interviewer: After that, you mean.

Slash: But after that, yeah. And I’ve done shows with him. I did a couple of shows in Tokyo, I did a video with him which was in front of an audience... So we got to know each other, sort of well, and I’d have to call him recently.

Interviewer: He must be tough to reach.

Slash: Oh god! (laughs)

Interviewer: (Laughs) But we have to understand with the child... He had that.  

Slash: Well, I mean, I feel sorry for him now, but only because – I mean, no one knows what the real story is, but the way that the media works... Especially nowadays, everything is so intense. You can’t walk down the street without somebody accusing you of something. So it’s hard to tell what the real story is, everything is blown out of proportion. So I know he’s going through it hardcore.  

Interviewer: Sure, sure.

[Translation into French]

[Video break]

Interviewer: Geneviève, do you have a question for Slash?

Geneviève: Yeah. Slash, I would like to know - because I’ve heard that you were supposed to do the music for the movie Highlander 3 - what did you decide finally?

Slash: I didn’t even know that rumor had gotten out yet.

Interviewer: (Laughs)

Slash: Anyway, I’m gonna check out some footage, but we have no idea whether we’re gonna get involved in that, in all honesty.

[Translation into French]

[Geneviève takes another question from a fan outside]

Geneviève (translating the question): How did you feel when you signed your first record deal?

Slash: We felt like we conquered a nation, because that was one of those things that we had no idea what we were doing (laughs). But we were pretty smart about it, and we ended up getting a really great deal for a new band.

[Translation into French]

Interviewer: Will you ever release a solo album?

Slash: Me, personally?

Interviewer: Yeah, you personally, I mean. Yeah.

Slash: As solo means, yeah, okay (laughs).

Interviewer: Alone or...

Slash: I don’t know. I mean, I play enough with other people, and then Guns N’ Roses is a vehicle for me to be able to be – more or less to do everything that I want to do. So it just seems boring to me. It’s like, nothing against Gary Moore or Steve Vai or... I’m not good enough to be one of those who, like, make a guitar record and it doesn’t interest me, so I’d have to start a new band, which I’m not gonna do.

[Translation into French]

Slash: That’s great! (laughs)

Interviewer: (Laughs) You’ll learn French [...] Do you have a pass time for relax? How does Slash relax? Come to Canada (laughs).

Slash: It’s all surrounded by Guns – you know, work. That’s how I relax, that’s how I feel cool and content.

Interviewer: So you feel relaxed most of the time.

Slash: Yeah. It’s when things are going, things are progressing. The worst time in the world is when you’re sitting on the couch and nothing is going on, and I lose it.

[Translation into French]

Interviewer: Are there going to be any more videos from the Use Your Illusion albums?

Slash: No. Estranged was way late in the making, actually; because, I mean, it was recorded two and a half years ago.

Interviewer: Really?

Slash: Yeah, that’s when the record came out.

Interviewer: Yeah, yeah. And the video was shot at the time?

Slash: No, we just did it! You know, as far as schedules go, this band is just not adhering (laughs). So that’s two and a half years late. We’re not gonna do any more.

[Translation into French]

Slash: What would be cool is, like, a couple of albums down the line to go back to an old song and do a video for it. Video is such a huge medium to work with, so you can –

Interviewer: Do you like making videos?

Slash: Well, I mean, the whole –

Interviewer: Do you feel the necessity to do it?

Slash: Yeah, I think it’s great to do it. I think it’s a great thing between radio and the concept of video, mixing the two together is great. Visuals are always great. But, you know, having to get down there, and be a musician and have to fake it sometimes - which, even if you’re playing live, sometimes you are having to do, you know, take one/take two/take three, and it’s not as natural as it could be. It just goes with the territory; you know, when you’re making movies you have to stop and start, and stop and start, this camera is not on, that camera is not on... But you can do a lot of things with it, and it has more toe to toe kind of relationship with your audience, because you can see something. I mean, it was never a bad idea, to put it that way.  

[Translation into French]

Interviewer: When can we expect the new Guns N’ Roses album?

Slash: Well –

Interviewer: Scheduled.

Slash: As we say in the Guns N’ Roses camp, when it’s out, it’s out. But we’re working on it, yeah. And it’s going very fast, considering we got off the road six months ago, put out “The Spaghetti Incident” and already started on the next record. It’ll be out sooner than usual, you know?

Interviewer: Okay. [You know it’s] sooner, but not when exactly.

Slash: I’d like to have it out this summer.

[Translation into French]

Interviewer: What are you doing after that? You’re back in Chicago (?) You’re going back home?


Slash: No, I’m gonna go back to L.A. and see what’s left, pick up the pieces.

[Translation into French]

Interviewer: Thanks, Slash. It was great meeting you.

Slash: Yeah, I had a good time.

Interviewer: (Talks in French introducing the Estranged video and greeting the fans outside)

Fan: Estranged by Guns N’ Roses, yeah! We love you!