1989.01.DD - Nice Boys Audio Interview (Slash)

From the "Nice Boys" Audio interview.

Transcript:

Slash: Hold on one second. Hold on.

Guy Boothby: Slash, if you don't mind.  I've written a list of questions down. I just want to get through and this would be a cover story. So it'd be nice. Really nice talking to you anyway. Your reputation precedes you business wise.

Slash: No, because the one thing about me is that although, you know, although I would get drunk and I smash up stuff sometimes or whatever. You know, there's a certain risk involved with having me around. I do take care of all the business and stuff for the band aside from what the manager takes care of. But I'm the one member of the band. Not just me, I mean, Axl does, too. And so, but it's the one thing that I've always been a very conscientious about.

GB: So could you explain that a bit further, that you take care of business?

Slash: Well, like I'm always involved in knowing what's going on with promoting, what's going on with when we're on the road with the T-shirt sellers and the like... You know, it's just everything. Just like, how a gig went as far as to, you know, ticket sales. I take care of all the interviews and make sure that they all get done, because Axl doesn't really like to do interviews, and I mention available for it and stuff like that. I always am the first one to pick up on, like, when there's a new video. I'm the first one to look at it and give my opinion on what's good and what's not. And so on and so forth. I mean, everybody in the band is concerned and everybody's involved. It's just something that I'm on top of right away because, you know, I'm just like a workaholic and I like, you know, everything that's going on.

GB: I was going to say, Slash, I'm not getting too, sort of, misconstrued, but where does that self-sufficiency and that total like being in control of things, spawned from? I mean, if you've been like that since the start?

Slash: Oh, I used to do all the promoting for the band and manage the band more or less before we had a manager, you know, like, you know, we'd sit down and come up with ideas and this and that and the other and then I go out at night, I go out and attack it and you know, and go do it. You know what I'm saying?

GB: Yeah. The other thing is to get your artistic side comes out. Is that something that you want to pursue in the future?

Slash: Not really. I was just doing it because we couldn't afford to have somebody else do it. And I thought I could probably do a good job. So I just did it. You know?

GB: Are you going to do any more with Robert Williams? I saw a book of his recently. You gonna use any more of his art?

Slash: What I wanted to do is I'd like to sort of continue the next album and continue the next cover, or do the next cover continuing using his artwork just to have that sort of like, I don't know, tie one album into the next. You know what I'm saying?

GB: Yeah. Yeah, I understand, you sort of keep the theme going. Some sort of theme. That's very good. You know, I think that's good for audiences because they need to kind of bond with the band.

Slash: Yeah. And they can instantly be able to recognize it right off just because they had the first one. And so when they see the second one with the same kind of artwork, but maybe a different theme or a different drawing, you know, they'll instantly know what it is.

GB: You know, you're such a good, good artist.  You ever want to get into drawing as a hobby even?

Slash: I'm very single minded. And so, you know, it's like when I when I'm into art, and that was all I was doing was just art, when it comes to the band, when I started, you know, when I started playing guitar, that all it was was guitar. And I don't want to be responsible for coming up with artwork. I don't want to have deadlines. I don't want to be like, I've got to make a painting for this, because it ruins my creativity. You know, when it comes to drawing, you know?

GB: Yeah. So probably it's more of a thing that you could do as a hobby with no pressure.

Slash: [?], maybe I have ideas and stuff, but I don't like to just, I don't like to... I don't want to be responsible for coming up with artwork, frankly.

GB: Yeah. I get the feeling, Slash, that you're one of these people that get so immersed in your work that you're going to have to be pulled away at some point. Just told to relax.

Slash: They did. They sent me to Hawaii.

GB: Heh.What did you do there?

Slash: They forcibly sent me to Hawaii before the Aerosmith tour. I hated it. There was nothing to do there.

GB: I was going to say, that they can be more frustrating than actually working too much.

Slash: No, working too much is okay. But when I went to Hawaii, that was like, I've never been so [?] crazy in my life. I hated it.

GB: So, another thing I want to get onto is the LA scene. There seems to be a lot of bands have come out, you know, like emulating you, which is unfortunate because the thing about Guns N' Roses, I have thought, was that it was individuality, just be yourself. And also, have it developed in LA?

Slash: You know, I have to tell you the truth. I mean, I'm here now, but I haven't really, I mean, when I got back and I look in the papers and look at the ads for bands and stuff, it hasn't really changed much. It's the same people struggling to do the same kind of bullshit. And there are people sort of like emulating the band, but I don't know what they really sound like. And I haven't been, like, on the scene paying attention. I'm not really interested. You know, we do what we do and then that's that. That's the only interest I have in music outside of what I listen to and what we're doing. It's, like, outside of that, I'm not really interested in what the scene is like or what the bands are trying to copy or anything like that.

GB: Can you tell me something about the Clint Eastwood film that you guys are in, you got music in as well?

Slash: It's actually a really horrible movie. It's really bad. But we did it because it was Clint Eastwood and we thought that would be really cool. [tape skipping] We're the friends of this rock star who OD's in the movie. And so we're at a funeral. And then there's another scene where me and Izzy and Duff are, like, on this boat where they're shooting a movie within the movie. You know what I'm saying? And so the three of us are on this boat. And I shoot off this whale harpoon. And it's just like a scene that they're shooting for a movie within the Clint Eastwood movie.

GB: I would imagine you guys aren't the sort of people that mayor[?] Clint would actually like particularly.

Slash: No, the reason Clint used us was because they wanted a popular rock and roll band for the first song, I think, to help to help sort of tie the movie in with current trends and stuff. And so someone suggested Guns N' Roses and that's how that happened.

GB: You got to see...Have you seen that film Coogan's Bluff where he is the cowboy who comes to New York, that's where they get a pop band and it's like the Electric Orange Peel or something. You know what I mean? Bands jump on the trend, and then they've kind of become our thing.

Slash: Yeah. Well, the thing with us is the one thing that I was always thinking was that the band would be like, you know, away from all that, separated from that kind of fuckin mendacity, that kind of, like,"come out and be the current popular thing for a year until the fads change and stuff". I mean, the fucking thing with L.A., you know, especially, you know, bands and stuff, it's like a band comes out and they're great, everybody copies it for a year, and then it's over and it's on to the next thing. And London is like that, too. I mean, London is sort of trendy, you know, and has fads coming in and out when what's popular one day is not popular the next. And so I was hoping we'd sort of like, you know, disconnected us with that whole kind of feeling. And also, I mean, another major thing for us was to be popular in L.A. It was one thing, but then to be popular in Europe and to be popular in Japan. And then that sort of makes you timeless, because then you mean a hell of a lot more just because you're popular all over the world where the trends aren't the same. You know what I mean? Things are different as you as you go overseas or as you get far, like, in the middle of the States, everything's slower than it is over in L.A. or in New York. You know what I mean?

GB: Yes, it's like when you get to the Midwest and places like that. I agree with you, London, places like that are just awful. If you get caught in that trap and believe in London, you'd go mad sort of trying to keep up with things. What it's important, I think, is when you break in the Midwest, or in a little town in Europe, when people latch on to it.

Slash: Exactly. You know, I mean, I got, yesterday before I talked to you, I did an interview with a guy in Holland where the record just went to top 10 in Holland. And then I talked to a guy in New Zealand and it broke in the top 10 in New Zealand and in Australia. And it went number seven in Greece. And that means a lot to me because it means we're not part of a particular fad.
We're just doing well just on our own because it's traveling all around the world where everything's different. The timing's different all over the world, you know.

GB: Talking about you've got control, like, you like to be in control of what's going around with the band. You, sort of, think in terms of one year ahead, what you want to achieve?

Slash: I think I am sort of more day by day, you know, it's like I've got the shit that I've gotta do today and then I've got myself set up for what's going to go on tomorrow. I know that we've got another record to do and I'm really excited about the material. So now I'm worried about that and just getting into the studio and making an album, but I'm not worried about the third album. You know, what's going to happen with that, I'm worried about the next one and the next tour. And I'm just concerned with that. So, no, I'm not thinking about five years down the line or anything like that because I don't think it's necessary.

GB: Do you ever sort of sit down, like, if you've been put in a position where you are working on the next album, right, and you're thinking about it. Do you sit down and listen to the first album and kind of think, well, what made that, what gave that magic?

Slash: No, not at all. It's not necessary because that's when it stops being exciting, you know? I mean, whatever made the first album cool was cool by then. But it's like for the next one, we just have to be us and just be inspired to do it. And if we're inspired to do it, then I don't see any reason why we have to sit down and listen to the first one. [tape skipping] The first single and bullshit like that.

GB: Have you got any pressure from the outside on you to sort of, and people going, "Listen, guy, you've got to do a fucking hit album. You've got to do this. You've got to do, like, singles." Do you get any of that stuff. Or are you in a position to say, "bollocks", you know, "we do what we want"?

Slash: No, we're just going to do exactly what it is that we want to do. I haven't heard anything like that, nor am I concerned with that kind of attitude from the record company or from anybody on the outside. As soon as they start to hear stuff like that, I'll just ignore it because I really don't want that pressure, it has nothing to do with art, you know, for art's sake, as far as, you know, being a musician and playing how you feel, trying to copy your first record or the record, your previous record, that ceases to be any kind of, like, real music at all.

GB: So Slash, excuse my ignorance, but do you write lyrics at all or are you going to get involved in that side?

Slash: I've got a song that I'm trying to work the lyrics out to called Not Dead Yet, which is sort of like a stab at the people who told us that we couldn't pull it off. And, you know, we'd fall apart. And it sort of just like saying, you know, it's sort of like it's about how we've made it to this point and done everything that we've done. It's sort of like, fuck you to everybody that said we couldn't. But I'm trying to work the lyrics out enough so that I know that Axl will be able to sing them.

GB: There's one side of you that says, "well, listen", you know, "I'm doing things, I don't care what other people think I'm doing, you know, I'm doing what I want to please me". But there's another side of you that seem rebellious. I don't know how far back it goes, but it's like proving, or not proving the point that just, you know, saying, "bollocks to you, we can do it".

Slash: It's just because, I mean, there was just so much bullshit. It was such a pain in the ass having to listen to all this crap, like this preoccupation with, you know, our lifestyles and this and that and the other, and people going, "ah, those guys", you know, everybody sitting around waiting for our demise, you know what I mean?

GB: Don't you find that kind of morbid?

Slash: Yeah, totally. I mean, it just shows you how fuckin rooted in pop variety this business is.

GB:  And how negative. I mean, I'm looking at fucking Ben Johnson now, right. The Canadian guy. Everyone was like, fucking saying, '"what a star, how brilliant he is," and now everybody's fucking, can't wait to stick their stagger in him, you know.

Slash: Yeah. Remember Sigue Sigue Sputnik?

GB: Yeah?

Slash: I mean there was a perfect example of like, "let's really make something commercial and fucking make a million bucks, is gonna be great". And everybody's going, "yeah, it's gonna be killer. They're going to sell millions of records, I guarantee it". And all this stuff. I remember when we were first getting signed, those guys were making their record and all the people at Capitol, were just raving about it. Meanwhile, you know, they went completely nowhere. They were horrible. And we were trying to make a half decent musical statement of some sort. And everybody's blowing ass. And those guys are going... Their worthless, you know.

GB: You see. What I really admire about you, Slash, like with me, my confidence sways, it goes up and down. And like it's so, the negativity and all that can be so powerful around you. You seem to kind of, like, have a balance inside that keeps you strong. Is there any kind of philosophy that you live by?

Slash: No, no, really, I'm just. I see everything in very black and white and I am just sort of, like, see everything very realistically. And I try not to be too affected and be too sensitive to what's going on around me. You know, I try and just do what I'm doing.

GB: Yeah. Now, whether you like it or not, you and Axl are the main frontmen in the band. I mean, to me the whole band works as a whole, right? But you are kind of looked upon because image-wise is strong and that. Do you feel sort-of conscious about, like when you go on the road, I've found that with bands like Deep Purple that they like certain members in certain parts of the world. You find that happening with the band?

Slash: No. I mean me and Axl...Axl being the front man, obviously, he's the focal point and I'm the kind of guy that's just been aggressive enough to push myself. You know, it's just to be, like, so much in everybody's space all the time that they can't really ignore me. I don't really do it on purpose. It's just that's the way it's developed over the years. But I mean, you know, like in Japan, Duff and Steven are very popular, too, because they are both-

GB: It's the blonde hair? Isn't that what they say and they love Marilyn Monroe and all that there as well, do they?

Slash: Right, it's the blonde thing. The band doesn't really pay attention to who's like more popular than the person. Izzy tends to be very quiet and likes to keep, you know, likes to sort of keep in the shadows and not get involved in other sort of like social bullshit that, you know, that like me and Axl have to get involved with all the time. But I mean, otherwise, there's not really that big a difference. It's like, me and Axl do all the interviews and we get a lot of pictures taken just because, you know, as far as the live shows go, we're the two guys that are right up there in front all the time and always are just like very pushy about it and and just being aggressive, you know what I mean?

GB: Yeah. Do you ever feel you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and people are looking to you to do the interviews, you do the photos, etc., etc.?

Slash: Well, no. No, the reason I am not bugged about it is because if I'm not playing my guitar, writing a song, or if I'm not getting to the gig, if I'm not doing something that's band-oriented, I'm going to go nuts and I get very self-destructive if I'm not busy. So, you know, it takes my time. You know, like I knew you were going to call today, so I got up at twelve o'clock and I just sat here and waited. To you called. You know what I mean? And after I do this, I'm gonna go do another one, down the street and have lunch and talk about this stuff some more. I mean, it's just like, I've got to be working. I've got to be doing something that's Guns N' Roses oriented.

GB: So getting into that, two things. Like, what I wanted to say is, the band has been a success in a major way, so far. There's obviously a lot of young kids who've gotten into the band because they like the image and stuff like that. And I know you're very serious about music. You ever worry that it washes over some people?

Slash: It used to more, like, when you and I first met, it was more like everybody was concerned about what we were doing rather than what we were playing. At this point we've managed to get some respect and some attention for just being, you know, a half decent rock and roll there. And I haven't really had to deal so much with the other end of it, you know, these days.

GB: I get the feeling that you are one of these people that are kind of, say, if you got an award like for musicianship and stuff like that, that means more to you then gold albums.

Slash: Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, like the fact that we sold as many records as we did, you know, when you discover that fact, it doesn't even compare to playing in front of people, you know,  like doing the Donington festival or the Giant Stadium gig that we with Aerosmith, playing in front of 20 to 100,000 people. That totally is so much heavier and means so much more to me than finding out we sold five million records. That's just words. You know, it's like a figure, you know. And since I'm not concerned with buying a Porsche or being, you know, I don't really give a shit that we sold five million records, except in the fact it means that we get to play in front of more people.

GB: Do you feel a lot of your attitude stems from, like, being brought up with a musical background?

Slash: Well, I was just brought up in the kind of family where, you know, music was just really important and it was always around. And I never really was very aware of all the other stuff at the time. I was just aware of, like, chords that turn me on or, you know, bands' attitudes where they were just doing something really cool. I was never really, like, wow, they got a gold record, you know?

GB: Have you you've bought any new guitars? Are you sort of, [?] acoustic side interested in playing, and stuff like that? How are you developing guitar-wise?

Slash: When I used to live at home with my parents, you know, when I lived in my mom's house, when I started playing, all I played was acoustic. And then when I left home and and started playing in a lot of different bands, I got, you know, I sort of played electric all the time. Right now, I have two acoustics right here in front of me that I've been playing. And then when I was out on the road I picked up, besides the two Les Pauls that I played when I was in England, which are the old ones, I got some new ones from Gibson and I bought like a '56 Gold Top, and I got a couple '68 Les Paul customs, and stuff. Just for different sounds and stuff. Nothing that I won't use. It's gotta be something that I will use, you know.

GB: Do you get the urge to sort of like pla with other people, to jam and that, work things out there?

Slash: I am playing on the new Traci Lords record [laughter].

GB: Is that good? I mean, how did that come about?

Slash: Well, see Tracy. We got an award. You know, MTV gave us the award for the Best New Artist. So when I accepted the award, instead of going up and saying, "okay, I would like to thank everybody at the Academy for this and that and the other," I went up there with Traci Lord and she said, "Hi, I'm Traci Lords" and I said, "Hi, I'm Slash." And then I had her take the award and I split. [laughter] I met her that way. I took her to dinner and we've been hanging out and stuff.

GB: So would you like to do more sort of guest appearances, try your chops out and play something completely different from what you are doing?

Slash: If it was the right kind of music, you know. Like hers is a disco record. I have sort of an affection for dance music, if it is more black-oriented, if it is real, you know, lots of bass and drums and real rhythmic, I love to play that kind of stuff. I like funk music and stuff like that. And so hers is like a disco record, it's not exactly what I am really into but at the same time I do like to play that sort of, you know, sort of black guitar playing. You know what I mean?

GB: Yeah. [record skips]

Slash: It's sort of the same kind of thing, it is very RnB oriented, you know what I mean, and I get a good chance to use your soul in a different style then what I am doing with Guns N' Roses.

GB:  It's good to just sort of experiment and stuff. Is there any music or any band, anything you're particularly into the moment?

Slash: You mean as far as listening to?

GB: Yeah.

Slash: I think the new Metallica album is great. I've made a list of records that I have to go buy. You know, that is sort of like different to what I normally listen to.

GB: Have you got it there?

Slash: OK. It's a Howlin Wolf album. I want to get a Neil Young album. The Band, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell Records that I want to get. Cat Stevens, Stevie Wonder, who I love a lot. There's a couple of Beatles albums I want to get, you know who Minnie Riperton is, or was?

GB: Sure do, yeah. And she was great. Fantastic range.

Slash: Yes. She was a good friend of the family. When she died it was very intense cause she was real close to them. But she's got the most wonderful voice, real angelic voice. And then I got to get a Lords of the Church new album. I got to get some Beethoven, some Bach. I got to get the new Black Sabbath record. [chuckles] I want to get it. Django Reinhart and Chet Atkins. Like Alvin Ailey, all the Police's first record I got. I want to get Paul McCartney and Wings first album. Paul McCartney's first album. And let's see, did I say Johnny Winters?

GB: No. I love Johnny Winter, man. I saw him on its 25th birthday when Johnny Winter And were about. Good song for you guys would be Still Alive and Well. And Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.

Slash: Yeah. Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo, I'd like to do, that's a cool song So that's like an idea of what I want to go out and buy. I want to get Devo's first record because that was really great. You know, just different stuff like that. 999, I want to get that.

GB: That's a fantastic selection. I mean, does that reflect in your playing what you listen to?

Slash: If I hear something that catches my ear, like last night I was listening to a Muddy Waters tape, and I heard this lick that he played that went by really quick, and I managed to, sort of, copy it, and make a whole song out of it. [chuckles].

GB: Why not, man? That's what music is about. You know, it carries on and grows.

Slash: I mean, there was something that I was trying to explain to somebody the other day that always go, "don't you hate being compared to so-and-so?" And it's like, if you don't have influences, you cease to be a human being altogether.

GB: You know, I tell you what, I find that I can't compare the band to anybody. And I'll be quite honest, there's nothing like that. I was watching you play guitar on a video. You were asking about Led [?] and I caught a little smatch of a Jimmy Page type influence.

Slash: Well, yeah, I love Jimmy Page. That's funny you should say that. Jimmy Page is the one guitar player that I've been listening to consistently since I started. You know, I I feel very like close to his whole kind of playing.

GB: It's good because I want to clear up a few things, but the whole drug thing that's been exploited about the band. I mean, I could name about five and a half bands that do more drugs and drink. You know what I mean? It really annoys me when I hear that, I wonder what people in the band feel about that? I just want it clear that shit.

Slash: Well, the funny thing is, you know, everybody tries to make it out to be this fucking sort of outlaw fuckin vino renegade, outlaw rock and roll band that like is constantly getting involved with like all this really bad decadent shit. And there's tons of people out there who've done way worse stuff than we have. You know, I mean, it's like none of us really, you know, like compared to, say, Sid Vicious. Right? I mean, you know, that was a guy who was way out there, you know what I mean? We're not even that bad.

GB: Yeah, I think what it is, is that you're ideal fodder [?] because, like, your lyrics point at things so they think, they presume they are all biographical. Imagery. And I think because the press haven't got enough imagination to get wider than that, they just go very narrow into it., you know, it's ideal stuff.

Slash: They like it, it is sensationalism, you know, and it just so happens that this particular time, you know, in this place and time that we're in right now, that we're in the middle of it, just so happens that everybody's into like bright colors and physical fitness and, you know, not doing drugs and not drinking and eating healthy and taking vitamins and all this other stuff. And everything's real, you know, techno pop and smooth and glossed over. And it's like we just happen to be the opposite of that so everybody is like, "!", you know what I mean?

GB: I think that's why the band came over quite exciting initially to the media because it is like something fresh and sort of invigorating to write about.

Slash: Sort of like against the whole system. And everybody's going, "You can't do that!" And there are all shocked. You know, like "you can't do that". "You can't play like that". "You can't look like that". "What you're doing? It's against the whole fucking," you know, "it's against the norm right now, that's terrible. How can you go and do that?" You know, "what an insulting fucking thing".

GB: But you see the outlaw thing I really like, you know, I think because it's a nice imagery, you know, I always think of like rock and roll is kind of like, you know, not bad, not criminals but outlaws. And I think what I find sad is when you get it imitated to really plastic extent into you guys that the bikers thing and I just can't believe that, you know.

Slash: The whole thing about rock and roll, the whole element and rock and roll that's made it great for the last 60 years, is that rock n roll is supposed to be about a certain amount of rebellion, you know, and a certain amount of fun. And, you know, all that stuff is supposed to be like, you know, it's supposed to be about freedom. That's why people love it so much. And that's why it's been around for so long and why it'll always be around, because it's it's kind of escapism. But if you're not holding true to the whole feeling, then you're not doing, you know, playing rock and roll. You're not carrying the flame, so to speak, you know.

GB: I feel that you guys feel quite strongly about that, you know? I mean, it's not like an image, you gotta live it, you gotta walk it and talk it, you know?

Slash: Yeah. Plus, you know, it's great. If you do alright you can get out of school and you don't have to work [?].

GB: Exactly. I mean, this is it. You know, like you because you've been pushed in the positive end. And it says something about in general that kids could do what they wanted they'd probably work really hard because you work only hard because you want it and you enjoy it.

Slash: Yeah. I mean, I guess that's just what it's supposed to be all about. It's great to have this, sort of, like, you know, a so-called rock and roll attitude and go, you know, "fuck this!" and "fuck that!" and give everybody a hard time. But at the same time, you have to really fucking work your ass off and make them, you know, make a point of being good at it.

GB: You see, the other side is what makes it a bit schizophrenic is that you've got to have an incredible amount of discipline to, A) go on tour. Eventually you can't lead the wild lifestyle or you guys wouldn't be here talking about it. And to make an album and like keep the contractual obligations.

Slash: Exactly. I mean, you have to sort of pass away certain responsibilities in life to play rock and roll. At the same time, you have to take on a whole brand new set of new ones. You know, it's a small price to pay for going out and getting to play every day, you know?

GB: Yes, do you think that's why a lot of musicians fuck up? Because they think it's hard to discern the line between partying and living to this image and B, getting their fucking job done, and this kind of line in between becomes fuzzy.

Slash: Yeah, definitely. You know, that's very true. They just want to fuck up, you know, and then they don't realize, they don't like stick to the fact that they have to really work at it. You know, they don't want to work at anything. They just want to, like, dress up cute, go to parties, you know, get their makeup right and get laid, you know, and they sort of like give up the whole music part of it.

GB: Is that right? I mean, do you think you keep a check on that and the whole band to where you've got, you've got to do the best of your capabilities and anything that you do, you know, and don't fucking, you know, party and enjoy yourself as much as you want, but also like, you know, in good shape for the actual when you're delivering the goods?

Slash: Well, it's I mean, I admit there's a conscious thing to like, you know, at least on my part where, you know, I know when I hit my limit, when it's time to like mellow out and, you know, don't lose touch with it, with what it is, you know, that I'm really doing. That happens all the time. You know, like I get back on the wagon, you know, for like a couple weeks sometimes just to fucking clean my system out. And like, just concentrate on being and just get rid of all the fucking chemicals and shit. And then on top of that, it's like Axl just because his voice, don't drink or do drugs or hardly smoke at all. You know what I mean? So that's completely against the whole partying ritual that everybody thinks that we're so involved in, just to preserve his voice.

GB: So you don't ever feel obliged to live up to an image of a party animal?

Slash: No. I mean, it's just, like, as soon as you start getting an image that everybody can predict, you've got to turn the corner and, you know what I mean, and like, throw them for a loop. You know what I mean?

GB: Exactly. That mean that people don't get too comfortable, you know? [?]. Decline and Fall, you did that song with Alice Cooper, can you tell me a little bit on your feelings on that project?

Slash: We did a tour of a stage with Alice Cooper, and he just really likes the band. And it was a huge compliment to have someone like Alice Cooper actually have any kind of respect for us, only because we've loved Alice Cooper for so long. So when he said that he liked the band, we were like, "fucking great!", you know? And then somewhere along the line he had to record this song so he asked Axl to sing on it and me and Izzy   to play guitar on it. So we just said, "fuck, yeah!", you know, and just did it. And then we got up on stage with him in, like, Long Beach and did it live, you know, and Motorhead opened, it was great.

GB: What do you think of the film? Decline and Fall.

Slash: I have to tell you the truth. I haven't seen it, but I've heard good and bad things about it but I haven't gone and seen it yet.

GB: Are you interested and involved in the videos of the band and songs?

Slash: Yeah. I mean, the first video for Jungle, you've seen that, right?

GB: Yeah. Did you know that it's just come out now. It's been rereleased here.

Slash: That was basically ours and Alan's concept. Then the second one that we did, which I don't know if that's out there yet, Sweet Child O' Mine?

GB:  Yeah, we've seen that.

Slash: You've seen that, okay. That was just basically just us, it was very candid. And  we were happy with that. Now we have another one coming up for Paradise City, which is basically, it's us at Donington and us at Giants Stadium and it's live and just live stuff all thrown together. It's like, we like to see everything before it comes out. We don't release anything without checking it out first. No, we don't let anybody handle our stuff for us.

GB: Talking about that on the side. Have you seen the video at all that I did? You know, that you took back? Remember? It was cool. Weren't you at church [?]?. Asking about [?]

Slash: Where is it?

GB: You guys got it. You took our tape. I mean, your management did.

Slash: Yeah, well see. I haven't seen it yet. I know Izzy saw it. He said it was great, but I never got a chance to see it.

GB: So in the videos, you do like the old black and white, don't you?

Slash: Yeah.

GB: Is that going to at all in Paradise?

Slash: Yeah. It's what you call Rollex camera. You know, the little hand-held, old ones?

GB: What do you like about? I think black and white when it gets grainy and stuff, I don't know if you've seen the book I did with Ross [?] called the Power Age. You see the pictures in it, it is called Heavy Metal in America. And it was all black and white and I love that kind of grayness. [?] Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Slash: Yeah, it's real grainy. And the nice thing about that is it's real moody. There's something, there's an essence to black and white photography that can't touch, you know, with color. It's just sort of kind of mood that it has to it that doesn't compare to anything.

GB: Yeah, I think sometimes of. I think it's got a long way to go before coming to the full sort of light, that sense of color and the feel it's not alive enough.

Slash: Well it's either that or, yeah. It's too, it's too crisp and, I don't know, it seems a little bit too abrupt. But with black and white it has a feel to it. It's like it sort of takes you away from reality, black and white. You know what I mean?

GB: Yeah. The other thing I was gonna say is, like, how do you find living in LA? Isn't it like coming back to madness after you've toured? Or because you've lived there all your life?

Slash: I mean, it's OK to be here. I don't I don't mind being here. The only problem that I'm having with being here is that I can't go out really, at this point, because the band got to a certain popularity where if I go to, say, a club, you know, everybody's staring at you and everybody comes up to you or they want autographs. And it's sort of, like, you can't really just hang out at and have a drink, you know what I mean? And, like, talk to a friend because everybody's buzzing around you. And then the other problem I'm having was, like, this new, you know, with this new status that we've achieved, is that if you have to give up like any kind of half decent love life, I mean, you can't go out and meet a chick that you really think you might like because the only reason she's really interested in you, chances are, is because, you know, because you're in a band, and because, you know, I'm in the band that I'm in. That sort of gets to be a drag because, you know, I'm getting sick of going out and getting laid just for getting laid basically [chuckles].

GB: I tell you, man, I suffer from the same problem, man, you know, being a celebrity. But seriously Slash, that is something you brought up that is really fucking true, I just wonder what it's like, you know, that's what I am saying when people want to know you not because of who you are but because of what you are.

Slash: Right. I mean, when I was in England the first time when we played those Marquee dates, right? Remember that girl I met?

GB: Do I, man? Yeah. With long hair?

Slash: Me and her have been going out since then. And she lives here now, you know, in the States, I've lived with her for a while. She's still here. And we're not really going out anymore because I have a hard time with keeping a girlfriend if they get to be too possessive then it gets me a little weird. But she's here, you know. And the only reason I got involved with her is because she didn't give a shit who I was and didn't really know. I mean, she knew who Guns N' Roses was, but she didn't really know who I was. And that's how we met. And that's why we stayed together, you know.

GB: I'll tell you what, Slash, being in a band is heavier than getting married or anything like that. You really have to sacrifice a lot. I mean, you're aware of that.

Slash: Oh, I know the cliche. You know, "sell your soul for rock and roll". That's very true. I totally give up any other kind of life just to do what I'm doing. And I don't mind doing it. I'm not complaining about it. But I think that's true, though. It's just that's the way it is. You give up, you know, basically seeing your family, you know, just any kind of, like, normal kinds of relationships or anything like that, any kind of a normal, like, stable life style, which for me, I think is fucking great. It's perfect for me. But it does strike a lot of people as being a little bit heavy sometimes.

GB: I mean, the thing is, it must piss you off on occasion. And if it does, what do you do to yourself out of that?

Slash: I don't, I haven't yet. You know, I mean, it's one of those things that I'm involved with, like 110 percent. It's just I've never really been able to separate myself from it.

GB: You know that you can always fuck up to some place where people don't know you. There'd still be pockets and areas, you know, you ever hanker to do that?

Slash: No, because the pace is too slow. And then I get stir crazy and shit.

GB: So it is kind of a dilemma there Slash, what to do, because you must miss the big emotional side of it. Now, I guess that's what they call the blues, you know.

Slash: Yeah. I mean, you know, there's sort of like the reality of, sometimes you just sit there and go, "you know, gotta be great to just sit and talk to somebody" that, you know, like a girl that you just can't get away from talking about the record and talking about the record company and the next gig and shit like that. It seems to get a little bit melancholy about it. You start like going out and looking for a girl that you can like really relate to. But it just never seems to happen.

GB: I guess that's something you can look forward to in a way. I am not saying it's unfortunate that you've been so successful so fast, but you still got a long way going in a lot of ways.

Slash: Well, I mean, that's one way of looking at it. But at the same time, you know, I can like do this until it's not fun anymore. And then I can just you know, I'm a musician and it's the kind of thing where I'm going to keep playing. So I'm not really uptight that I got to get to this point at 23 years old because, you know. Say, however many years down the line Guns N' Roses isn't happening then I'm going to branch out to something else and do that, you know, and at least now I have the financial situation where I can support myself if I'm not making enough money doing what I'm doing.

GB: I don't want to get too biographical, but when did you realize that "Yep, I'm going to be a musician!" you know, when did you remember?

Slash: As soon as I started, you know, I didn't even really think about it that much, I just devoted all my time to it. And it just stayed like that. Wasn't something where I really looked towards the future with it, I just started playing and that was the whole thing.

Blackstar wrote:According to discogs, the interview was released in January 1989:
https://www.discogs.com/Guns-N-Roses-Nice-Boys/release/1913709
If the release date is correct, it means that the interview was probably recorded about two months earlier.

Slash said in the interview that Appetite had just broken into the top 10 in Holland, and he also mentioned that it was top ten in Australia and New Zealand, as well.

According to these chart stats sites, Appetite entered the top 10 in Australia and New Zealand in October 1988:
https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Guns+N%27+Roses&titel=Appetite+For+Destruction&cat=a
https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Guns+N%27+Roses&titel=Appetite+for+Destruction&cat=a
and the Dutch top 10 in May 1989:
https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Guns+N%27+Roses&titel=Appetite+For+Destruction&cat=a

The Dutch date seems way off, though, based on the release date at discogs. Moreover, Slash says that they were going to release the video for Paradise City, which was released in the US in January 1989.

From other parts of the interview it seems that it was recorded after the Appetite tour was over, so that would make it late December 1988 the earliest. But they could also have been referring to the end of the US tour, so the interview might have been recorded in October or November 1988, i.e. during the break between the US tour and the Japan/Australia one. The fact that they don't mention Lies at all makes me think that October/November 1988 is more likely.

So I think it was probably recorded in October/November 1988 and released in January 1989 (as mentioned at discogs).

I copied your take on the date of the interview here in the interview thread, @Blackstar.

And thanks! I have updated the thread title.