1993.05.28 - The Big Breakfast (Channel 4 UK) - Interview with Slash

Source of the video: ScottishTeeVee on youtube (channel with a lot of great stuff)

------------------
Transcript:
------------------

Slash: Hey, this is Slash from Guns N’ Roses and you’re watching the Big Breakfast.

Voice-over: Slash who? He’s the guitarist with America rock band Guns N’ Roses, the one who wears the black top hat that adorns his long luscious locks.

Slash: No one takes me seriously when I wear it, which is why I’m wearing it now (laughs).

Voice-over: In the past two years, the rebels of rock, Guns N’ Roses, have sold over 46 million albums worldwide and have mounted their spectacular tour production before more than 5 million people at 165 live shows. Snap Cackle and Pop caught up with Slash in Athens before the band’s first ever live performance in Greece.

[Clip from Paradise City video]

Slash: I like to just come to the gig, sort of kick back, have a drink and just loosen up with everybody that’s around. I don’t really go through – Axl’s got more of a physical routine; he trains a little harder than I do. Us guitar players, we don’t get into that stuff.

[Clip from Welcome to the Jungle video]

Voice-over: There was a time when Guns N’ Roses were never out of the tabloids, with tales of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll wreckage. But now the boys have cleaned up their act.

Slash: It’s not really a thought-out kind of thing, like what’s our next approach or what can we do to make ourselves more acceptable, or anything like that. And so, as a rock band, I just think we’ve gotten better because we’ve been playing together for as long - or just playing, in general, for so long. I think that all our original ideals are all the same and we haven’t conformed yet – and we’ve been together for a good eight years.

[Clip from Sweet Child O’ Mine video]

Voice-over: Slash was once known for his flirtations with women, but all this changed when he married model Renee Suran last October.

Slash: She refuses to come to shows because of the groupies and all that. So she comes out with me, and then she hangs out for a couple of weeks and stays at the hotel, or hangs out with other wives or girlfriends that are out. And I go on to do the gig and I have my freedom. It’s cool. Good sort of balancing.

[Clip from Garden of Eden video]

Voice-over: The happy couple have a home in California out of L.A., where Slash is having his very own studio built.

Slash: I stay home and try, you know, to play more guitar, and try to keep myself focused on something. So I got a studio going, and pinball machines to keep me from getting bored after I get bored in the studio.

Voice-over: And when Slash gets bored with the pinball machines...

Slash: Then I’ve got my snakes, and my cats, and my alligator. It’s not just snakes, there’s lizards, different kinds of iguanas, and all these monitors and stuff.

Voice-over: Rated as one of the world’s guitarist, Slash has played with the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Bob Dylan and, of course, Michael Jackson.

Slash: Well, that was sort of a shock, I mean cos I’m (?) me and Michael Jackson, like, on two completely opposite ends of the spectrum. But I was still really flattered. And I can understand, yeah, that he might be a little eccentric, but he’s an awesome talent.

[Clip from Michael Jackson’s Give it to Me video]

Slash: You know, I don’t wanna be just, like, the Guns N’ Roses guy. I’d like to expand a little bit more than that. And there’s a lot of people that I really admire what they play, or their songwriting or something, and it’s great to be invited to go along and play. It’s an honor.

[Clip from You Could Be Mine video]

Voice-over: Slash was once told as a teenager never to take up the guitar, but, thankfully for Guns N’ Roses, he did, and the boys play at the National Bowl Milton Kaynes this weekend. And just one more question: just how does Slash keep his hair in such good condition?

Slash: I wouldn’t even know. That’s the first time anybody I can think of has said that to me. So that’s a dead subject (laughs).

Male host: The man Slash.

Female host: Wow!

Male host: Our apologies to the 3,000 little girls outside thinking he was coming to the house. It’s 19 minutes to 9 and, surprising Slash facts, to continue this (reads from a magazine): he was born in Stoke-On-Trent, which is where Bruno Brookes was born. He went to school with Lenny Kravitz, and his mum used to go out with David Bowie. And now, Debbie’s joke.

Female host: I just wanted to say thank you to the Snap people cos they’re brilliant. Okay, my joke! [cut]