1997.01.31 - Orange County Register - GNR Limbo Gives Slash Appetite For Diversity

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MARK BROWN’S
POP LIFE

GNR limbo gives Slash appetite for diversity

It’s not that Slash, guitarist for Guns N' Roses, isn’t used to hearing himself on the radio in Los Angeles. It’s just that it’s usually not on KTWV/94.7 FM (The Wave), the adult contemprary/new age station that plays the likes of Kenny G.

Yet here it is: Slash's fluke instrumental hit, “Obsession," from the Quentin Tarantino-produced film “Curdled,” has become the No. 4 song on the station.

“To tell you the truth, I haven’t really grasped that whole medium of music where you end up on The Wave," Slash said. “I wrote this song for a movie soundtrack and that was basically it. I don't know exactly how to receive No. 4 in the adult-contemporary charts. Obviously that’s a little left field for me."

It’s just another side project to keep himself amused while GNR tries to get on track. More on that in a minute.

“The whole point is I don’t have any big statements to make. I just like playing,” Slash said.

A friend at Miramax sent him some rough cuts of films to look at, and he came up with a quick instrumental for "Curdled," which Slash describes as “a movie about a serial killer, but it’s funny at the same time.”

Slash, who recently sat in on shows with James Brown, Boz Staggs, Steve Winwood, B.B. King and Les Paul, says one of the best things about his fame is taking advantage of “the opportunities set in front of you as a player.”

The urge to play has led to one side project and album, Slash’s Snake Pit, and his current one, Slash's Blues Ball.

“We hang out, smoke lots of cigars and do everything from ‘Stone Free’ to ‘Hootchie Cootchie Man.’ The gig isn't about really coming to expect anything except a good time."

That's about all he can do for the moment. Feuding continues with Axl Rose over the future of Guns N’ Roses, with reports that Rose has fired the entire band and is making the disc with all new players.

It’s not as dire as it seems, Slash said.

"For some strange reason, Guns N’ Roses is like the catalyst for controversy, even before we had any kind of record deal,” Slash said. "We were always the band in town that everybody liked to make up stories about. It’s more of the same, only on a bigger scale.

"Axl and I have just not been able to have a meeting of the minds of such that we can actually work together,” Slash said. "We’ve been through this a dozen times. It seems like a big deal now, but to me it’s more of the same. I haven't really gone anywhere. I haven't officially quit the band, it’s just that we’re not seeing eye to eye on where Guns should be going.

"Axl's whole visionary style, as far as his input in Guns N' Roses, is completely different from mine. I just like to play guitar, write a good riff, go out there and play, as opposed to presenting an image,” Slash said.

The plan, he said, is to “just let the smoke clear and maybe we can talk about it later, rather than try and force something unnatural and have everyone go, ‘We waited around all this time for this?’ It’s been so long that if it’s a good record ... that’s all that matters.”

One of the rumors, though, is true, he said. Rose did manage to buy the rights to the band’s name out from under the other members. Suddenly Guns N’ Roses isn’t Axl, Slash and Duff anymore; it’s whoever Axl wants it to be.

"That’s something that happened. I was blindsided by it, more or less a legal faux pas,” Slash said. “I don’t know what he’s gonna do, as far as that goes. But I’d be lying to say I wasn’t a little bit peeved at that. It’d be one thing if I quit altogether. But I haven’t, and the fact that he can actually go and do that without the consent of the other members of the band ... well, it’s an internal thing. If Axl wants to go do that without me involved, I don’t care so much.”

Meanwhile, Slash is completing his home studio; the 1994 earthquake wrecked the last one. The next Snake Pit record will be recorded there “as soon as the construction is done."

Slash’s Blues Ball will be at the Galaxy Concert Theatre on Feb. 7, with tickets available at $15. Information: (714 ) 957-0600.

This article is basically the printed version of this one:

https://www.a-4-d.com/t3090-1997-01-30-addicted-to-noise-axl-rose-buys-guns-n-roses-name-slash