1989.04.DD - Blast! - Rock Stars Talk About How They Write Songs (Axl, Slash)

Rock Stars Talk About How They Write Songs

Every band writes differently. Sometimes only one person in the band writes. Sometimes two members collaborate. Often the entire band writes together. Some write on the road. Some write in the studio. Some hole up in hotel rooms or rehearsal halls. Which comes first, the music or lyrics? How does it work? Here are some answers from the writers themselves.

GUNS N' ROSES
AXL: "I write the songs. I really do. Ha, ha, ha... ! No, I write most of the melodies, while the rest of the band works on everything else. When we get together to write, the way we've been doing, we all walk into the room and play whatever we've been working on. Whichever song has the most feeling and gets us the most excited, that's the one that's going to get the most time put into it. We want our music to go all over the world. We all agree on that. I live for our songs. Whatever I go through in life, it's worth it if I've gotten a song out of it. It's fine if I had to go through a ton of s--t. I may hate it at the time, but if I get a song out of it, it's worth it. We want to be sincere with our music... no matter what."

SLASH: "What happens with us so-called 'street' bands is that we just sort of mirror society in a way. Especially us. I know we do. It's in our writing, and in a way, it's like the punk movement. Whether it's political or something that's just f-- ked up in your local town, we sort of mirror that whole thing in our writing. There are a lot of people who relate to what we're saying because it's the truth."

This is basically the same approach Axl took on Chinese Democracy, as discussed by Sean Beavan in that recent interview,