2011.03.16 - Bangkok Post - Still Slashing [incomplete]

Appetite for Destruction came out in 1987 and sold 20 million copies worldwide. "Sweet Child O' Mine" became the band's first number hit, and two decades later, it's still a timeless classic together with many other materials from GN'R. Slash's riffs and solo in the track are hailed as indestructible-the kind of creation that guitarists can dream about for years on end and can never achieve.

"Obviously, [with] "Sweet Child O' Mine," I didn't it was a big deal at the time. I just thought it was an interesting riff. I had no idea it was gonna be as iconic as it became. So you just have these riffs, and you just think 'oh, that sounds cool'," said Slash.

In 1991, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II came out, and GN'R was unstoppable. Even before the big time fame, GN'R was credited as "the Most Dangerous Band in the World," and the boys lived up to expectation to the fullest. Sex, drugs and rock n' roll, you name it.

The fans loved GN'R to be bad, and they couldn't have been happier to oblige.

It's a common knowledge that Slash consumed a half a gallon of vodka everyday for ten years. The lifestyle finally caught up with him, and now he's living with an internal defibrillator.

"I think it was alcohol poisoning. They told me I had eight days or weeks to live. So they put it in. But I miraculously reversed the condition, and they're gonna take it out."

"The Spaghetti Incident?", a cover album of '70s glam rock, came out in 1993. Things had always been rocky in GN'R camp despite their continuing popularity. Members came and went. Slash finally called it quite in 1996. Axl Rose still tours as Guns N' Roses with none of the original nor classic line up. There are still legal matters and public fueds to be settled until the present days. So when the million dollar question abound concerning the possible reunion, Slash was firm that there would be none of that.

"Do you feel like you're the only person in this whole room who's thinking about that question on this planet?" he said, not rudely. "No."

"It's been, what, 15, 16 years. No one in the original Guns N' Roses ever said 'let's try to put the band back together.' Also, it's all about Axl. The reason that everybody left was because in the back of his mind I think that's the way he wanted it. So the reason why there's no Guns N' Roses was because of him. I've got nothing to do with it. I quit for the same reason that everybody did. So it's really his problem," added Slash.

After his sojourn with GnR, Slash went back to his side project Slash's Snakepit. In 2004, he formed a supergroup Velvet Revolver with fellow GnR members McKagan and Matt Sorum (who replaced Adler in 1990). So far, Velvet Revolver has released two full albums. Slash's self-titled first solo effort came out last year.

Asked if he felt any pressure for his first solo after many years on the pedestal, Slash was quick to respond. ''I don't really think about it like that. I just try to put together decent music. I don't feel a pressure as a guitar player. I'm not as good in studio as I am live, so in the studio I try to loosen up and feel comfortable. That's the biggest challenge for me. But I don't think about my status as a guitar player. I just think about what is it that I want to be able to accomplish.''

Some more excerpts via Blabbermouth:
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On his solo tour:

Slash: "Myles sings everything. It has to be a blessing. When I did the record, there were so many singers. So when I [first] had to go on tours, it was impossible [for anyone] to do all the songs from the solo record, let alone Guns N' Roses songs. I had Myles coming to sing on a record for the very last minute, and I'm just blown away by his versatility and capability. So I asked him to come on the tour. He's just miraculous."

On his famous top hat:

Slash: "It just became a thing. I just got it from a store one day. A five-finger discount. Are you familiar with that? I've always liked hats, and I saw this one hat. I thought it was cool, and it just became something I started wearing all the time. I didn't plan on it being stable part of my image. I just felt comfortable with it. I was 19 or 20."

On Time magazine in 2009 putting him at number two on the list of the "best electric guitar players of all time":

Slash: "All things considered, it's very flattering. But I was thinking today that there're so many fantastic guitar players and I sort of feel humbled by them. When people put me on top of the list, I think it's really nice, but I don't like to talk about it because I know that there are so many guitarists who are better than me and I'm working really hard to be as good as [they are].

"I'm not a technique guitarist. I admire technique guitar players because they know a lot of stuff that I don't. But the thing that affects me most, that I strive for is emotional content and melodic content. I feel it when I'm playing, and you feel it as a listener. That's what I strive for."

On the more current crop of guitar players:

Slash: "There are not a lot of guitar players that I listen to right now. But you know, the generation after mine, you got people like Jerry Cantrell, Tom Morello, Kim Thayil and more. Those guys are great guitar players. Now guitarists are kinda hazy. There are a lot of shredders in a lot of different bands, but I can't really tell them apart. In this new technological age that we're in, on one hand it's amazing how convenient everything is, and how fast you can do it. So many different things you can do with a touch of a button. But I have to say that from an audio point of view, the sounds start to suffer as a result."

The article was based on the press conference Slash did in Bangkok (the video is also incomplete):