2022.10.19 - Sirius XM's Trunk Nation - Interview with Slash

Partial transcription:
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Trunk: [...] Let's go right to him right now, so we don't leave him waiting. Joining us now live on the phone is Slash. How are you, brother?

Slash: Hey, man, I'm good. How are you?

Trunk: Good. It's been a bit! You're in Mexico, right?

Slash: I'm in Guadalajara right now. Yeah.

Trunk: How's it going, man? I mean, I'm following you guys. It's crazy - I can't even imagine what it's like in Mexico for Guns N' Roses shows, because I know that is a crazy rock audience.

Slash: Yeah, I know. We did a show last night here and it was killer, and we had one in Merida a couple nights before that, and then we just did a whole, you know, South American run, which was great. We've got two more shows in Mexico I'm looking forward to, one in Mexico City and then the next one in Monterrey, which all are really fuckin' intense rock and roll audiences (laughs). So yeah, it's been a blast.

Trunk: You know, I'm curious, man. I want to talk about this book with you, of course, but I'm curious - I was talking to the audience about this before you called in. I mean this whole Guns juggernaut for the last six, seven years. It's amazing when you think about it, and when you really think about it, it's on the back of three records that are all over 30 years old. But it just doesn't stop; the audiences are incredible, the shows are incredible, the band is playing great, Axl’s been great… I mean everything's been amazing. For you, what's been the highlights so far? Can you give me, like, one or two moments or shows since you've been back in the band that are personal highlights for you that jump out?

Slash: Well, I mean, definitely the first show at the Troubadour, because that was us coming full circle and especially coming back together after 20 years. That was, you know, a really memorable and poignant gig for me. And then, I mean there’s been so many shows (laughs). It's hard for me to… I think the first gig that we did at River Plate after we got back together in Argentina, that was really memorable. Um, I’m trying to think… and when we headlined Donnington a couple or a few years ago. I mean, there's been a bunch of really… I feel bad for even singling out a couple, because it's really been a really epic run with a lot of really great shows that are all worth listing.

Trunk: What have you personally been enjoying playing the most on stage, like what songs? Are there a few songs in the set that every night are still stuff you love digging into? Because, you know, prior to rejoining the band, you did some Guns with the Conspirators, but not to this level. So, as far as material-wise, what do you like most digging into on stage every night right now?

Slash: You know, it changes every night. There's not one particular song that I'm, like, going, “Oh, I look forward to this every night.” It's like, you're playing… You know, the songs are tight, but there's a certain element of looseness to them, there's a certain element of improv in places, which people might not even notice, but it's just stuff that you do to keep yourself - you know, like you keep things interesting by just trying different ways of playing things, and this and that and the other. And every night's different, and so you'll go into a show and doing Better really comes around that particular evening, or doing Rocket Queen on a particular evening really has a moment. So it's hard to pin down any one song. You know, I mean, there could even be a night where Sweet Child of Mine is, like, especially riveting that night for me, personally. So it changes. I remember back in the ‘80s - I think it was, like, 1981 or something – seeing the Stones in Los Angeles at the Coliseum, and they did their set and they played a particularly resounding version of You Can’t Always Get What You Want that day. Do you know what I mean? It’s like, it changes from show to show. You could have a certain song really speak to you on any given night. So there isn't a particular track that I might look forward to every single night.

Trunk: It's interesting though that you mentioned Better a second ago, because that's one of the Chinese Democracy songs you guys have been doing pretty much every night. And a lot of people were surprised, because obviously it was without you and Duff, but you like digging into those songs from Chinese, huh?

Slash: Yeah. I mean, the thing about Chinese is [that it’s] a great record and has great songs on it. And because I'm obviously been in such a tight relationship with Axl for so long, I understand, you know, exactly what these songs mean and where they're coming from. So when Duff and I went in to rehearsals and we started digging into some of those songs to see which ones we were gonna do, and so on and so forth, we sort of made those songs our own. And so I enjoy playing them, because we play them with our own sort of personal touch to them.

Trunk: Yeah, you've definitely brought-

Slash: For better or worse (laughs).

Trunk: (Laughs) No, you definitely brought new life to them, I think, which is very, very cool, so that's awesome. And are you still doing – because I haven't seen you guys playing a while. Are you still doing a Slither as well, Velvet Revolver?

Slash: Yeah, we've been doing it consistently. It’s become a mainstay in the set.

Trunk: Whose idea was that to do?

Slash: That was Axl’s idea, funnily enough. I was actually shocked. He came to me at rehearsal and said, “Hey, what about doing Slither?” and I was like, “Huh” (laughs). You know, Duff and I both looked at each other.

Trunk: That's cool. I think it's great that you're doing it.

[...]

Trunk: Quick things, then I'll let you go. You know, I had Myles on with me on the show on Monday [and] I know he's getting ready to go into full Alter Bridge mode. Him and Mark were on to promote the new record, so I know that they've got Alter Bridge stuff lined up till the end of this year and most the next year. But, you know – I’ve mentioned this to you before - I love the last Conspirators record. I loved “4” and I know it kind of got short changed a little bit and how much you were able to tour that record with that band. What are the plans for you going forward as far as the Conspirators are concerned, whether it be new music or trying to pick up playing some shows again? Is there a gap around Guns that you're gonna be able to do it?

Slash: Yeah, I mean, you know, what happened was that between Guns N’ Roses, Conspirators and Alter Bridge we had sort of woven this kind of schedule where we sort of all worked around each other and it worked. But the pandemic just fucking took that and, you know, sort of tossed it up in the air and it fell where it may. So now we're sort of… I mean, like I said, the Guns tour right now is a 2020 make-up tour. Alter Bridge is just now putting out their record and I put out the Conspirators record during the pandemic knowing that it was going to be hard to get a consistent sort of full tour done on the release, right? But I did it anyway. So we did a U.S. tour and then, beginning January of 2024, we're going to do an international tour, which is going to cover South America, Asia, Australia and Europe, and so somewhere in there I'm going to start working on the next Conspirators record. So yeah, it's all sort of happening. We're just having to find our lands.

Trunk: Looking back on the way that you did the “4” record with Dave Cobb and doing it totally live… I know you had told me when we did that special - and for people that didn't see the special, it's on the Sirius XM app now, Slash and the band played live, we had a great time in L.A that day. But you had never made a record like that where you basically cut it live. Do you envision doing that again or looking back on it would you prefer, you think, to go back to the traditional way of recording?

Slash: Well, I mean, that is the traditional way of recording. (?)

Trunk: Well, that’s true. And it’s-

Slash: It’s now the way they do it, it's the sort of very safe, doctored, predictable, un-rock and roll way of doing it. So yeah, no - I mean, I've always recorded live. We always record everything as live as possible. But I could never be in the same room as my amplifier. That was the issue. So I've always had to use headphones, and that's something that… I just don't feel like I play my best with headphones, because it's a very controlled environment, so I've always done it live with the headphones, then gone back and retracked my guitars. But in this case of “4”, we were all in the same room and it was really like a recorded rehearsal. And that was just really refreshing , to do it that way and to know that you can actually do it that way, because every producer in the world will tell you can't. Anyway, so on the next record, what I want to do is do it that way and then actually overdub some parts on it, you know, have some harmonies and this and that. We didn't touch any of that shit on the “4” record, but on the next one, and having done that, I want to do it all live in the room again with Dave Cobb and then go in and be able to do some harmonies, some guitar layering and stuff like that. So we’ll still have the live essence of it, you know, and then be able to add to it. I mean, poor Myles, he sang that whole record basically in one take as a rehearsal and then caught Covid, and we had to keep all the tracks (laughs). So he sang great and I love the spontaneity of it, but he never got a chance to go back and tweak anything or really… do you know what I mean? It was just like we were rehearsing the songs and doing - you know, we were getting the basic tracks at the time and he was singing along with it, and that was what ended up on the record.

Trunk: Yeah, I mean, it’s still-

Slash: On the next one I want to give him the opportunity to really explore what he wants to do vocally.

Trunk: Yeah, but that being said, I mean his vocals is crazy great on the record, and the songs are crazy great, and I love the live energy and feel to it. It's awesome.

Slash: It's cool. It's magic in a bottle. He probably would say, “Oh, I would have loved to have gone back and fixed this and that and the other,” and I appreciate that, but the magic of the spontaneity of it gives that record a certain character that it wouldn't have otherwise.

Trunk: Yeah, now I agree totally. And finally, in closing, what can you tell Guns N’ Roses fans about the future of GN’R live shows? I know that the Use Your Illusion box set is coming; that thing looks massive. Have you guys been in a room and written songs for anything new down the road? What can you tell Guns N’ Roses fans going forward?

Slash: Well, I mean, I want to go in and cut a whole brand new record at some point, probably sooner than later. But other than that, we have stuff that we still got to come out, so that’s gonna be coming out piecemeal over the next… I don’t know, over the next few months or something like that. So that’s basically it. We have one more tour left to do next summer, and then that will free us up to be able to go in and work on a new record. So, you know, I’ll keep you posted.

Trunk: When you say you have stuff coming out, are you talking about the Illusions set or maybe going back and putting out, like, you did Absurd and stuff like that, more of that sort of stuff?

Slash: Yeah. There’s a handful of those songs that we actually fixed up and did when we were in lockdown, so those have yet to be released. So those are gonna come out. They’re really good, too, so I’m excited for those. We’re just gonna put out, like, one or two songs, and another one or two songs. I think that’s gonna be pretty much all of them; I’m not sure exactly how many we did in total.

Trunk: Yeah well, that’s cool, because I loved Hard Skool. I thought Hard Skool was a great track and I know that there was a lot of history with that. That was a really great song.

Slash: Yeah. These other ones, they don’t have the same kind of amount of history, because I know Hard Skool seriously has… [it] goes way back. But there’s a couple of epic ones coming out, so I’m excited about that.

Trunk: Cool. Well listen, man, I appreciate the time. It’s always good to catch up with you. Say hi to everybody. And, again, check out the book. You can order it now, Gibson.com/Slashbook, and you can get all the information there on the book, you can see some images from it, and the different versions and different packages. You can’t get this thing in the stores, you can’t go in the book stores. It’s a special thing, it’s very limited, so it’s… I was saying earlier, if you’re a guitar fan or a fan of Slash – and they’re kind of one and the same – you can’t not want to get this book. Gibson.com/Slashbook. All the best, man, safe travels out there. Good talking to you.

Slash: Yeah, good talking to you, too, Eddie. It’s fucking awesome to hear you voice and I’ll probably see you at some point in the not too distant future.

Trunk: Yeah, for sure, man. When you guys are off the road, and you get a break in L.A. and I’m out there, we should get together, get a coffee and shoot the shitters or something. That’s always fun.

Slash: All right. Next year, top of next year.

Trunk: Sounds good, man.

Slash: I’ll be home recording, so I’ll be around.

Trunk: All right, cool. Listen man, travel safe. I’ll talk to you soon. Thanks.

Slash: All right, man.

Great news! But doesn't seem like they got many more songs ready to be released ("like, one or two songs, and another one or two songs"), that makes at most four new songs. Adding Hard Skool and Absurd, that is six songs. Not enough for an album, really. But he says he doesn't know how many they actually did.

But "over the next few months or something like that" sounds promising. Maybe we will hear something new this year

Interesting. I thought they would release a new album out of the old Axl songs but it doesn't look like that anymore

ludurigan wrote:Interesting. I thought they would release a new album out of the old Axl songs but it doesn't look like that anymore

The plan was to continue releasing reworked songs from the CD sessions and then maybe compile them in an album.

Soulmonster wrote:

ludurigan wrote:Interesting. I thought they would release a new album out of the old Axl songs but it doesn't look like that anymore

The plan was to continue releasing reworked songs from the CD sessions and then maybe compile them in an album.

Yes

I believe that we can conclude

1) the "reworking" of CD session songs was done a long time ago on the acute phase of lockdowns and there doesn't seem to be any plans to resume it (for the rework of additional songs) anytime in the future.

2) the "reworking" doesn't seem to have been made on many songs, as Slash mentions releasing 4 more songs in addition to the 2 already released. So we have 6 songs for sure and maybe a few more (a couple more? a handful more?). Maybe enough for a full album as you mention. So no "CD Trilogy" any time soon

right?

ludurigan wrote:
Yes

I believe that we can conclude

1) the "reworking" of CD session songs was done a long time ago on the acute phase of lockdowns  and there doesn't seem to be any plans to resume it (for the rework of additional songs) anytime in the future.

2) the "reworking" doesn't seem to have been made on many songs, as Slash mentions releasing 4 more songs in addition to the 2 already released. So we have 6 songs for sure and maybe a few more (a couple more? a handful more?). Maybe enough for a full album as you mention. So no "CD Trilogy" any time soon    

right?

I don't think anyone expected a trilogy anyway

that's the whole interview? there's no more? aw man, Eddie usually conducts 90 mins interviews

whatashame wrote:that's the whole interview? there's no more? aw man, Eddie usually conducts 90 mins interviews

No, it's not the whole interview, but apparently the fan who shared it originally recorded only this part.

But I have found the full interview (it's about 35 minutes, Slash called in from Mexico) and I will post it here shortly.

And done. The full interview is in the OP now.

I have transcribed a couple of more parts (on the GN'R tour and playing CD songs and Slither, and on the future plans for SMKC).