2015.05.07 - CBSN - Interview with Slash

Transcript:
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Female interviewer: The goal of the video for a Beneath The Savage Sun is to raise awareness of endangered elephants. Slash partnered with the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and he joins us now. Slash, thanks so much for being here.

Slash: Yeah, hi.

Male interviewer: What is up? It’s so cool to be here, yeah.

Female: How did you get involved with this fight to help save the endangered elephant?

Slash: Well, I've known the people at IFAW, which is International Fund for Animal Welfare, and for a long time, because I'm big sort of animal enthusiast and activist and whatnot. And we wrote this song last time we were in South Africa about the plight of the elephant, and it was written from an elephant's point of view and. you know, pretty poignant lyrics about what they're going through. And so I thought, “Well, I'm gonna do - we should do a real video, like something that really sort of gives you an idea of what it really looks like.” Then I called IFAW and said, “I'm gonna do this video. Do you guys want to get involved?” So we sort of teamed up and here we are (laughs).

Female: Here you are, yeah.

Male: You know, it's interesting, a lot of Americans, Slash, don't realize how important this fight for the survival of elephants is and why anti-poaching is so important. I used to work in Africa and we went on patrol with some US Marines, because they realized, for example, that in some cases 40% of the ivory trade goes to fund terrorist groups like Al- Shabaab.

Slash: Right, it makes total sense.

Male: Right.

Slash: And, I mean, we have ivory and a lot of things that we just don't pay attention to and we take it for granted, but we're really, like, the second largest ivory consumer. And I think that the average person, if they knew really what was going on behind the scenes, would not want to purchase ivory. And once we, you know, call to action in the States, we’ll significantly change the whole thing.

Female: Well, the statistics are shocking, because an elephant is killed every 15 minutes for its ivory.

Slash: Yeah, yeah.

Female: You've mentioned that you've gone to Africa a few times and one of the last time you went you brought your children.

Slash: Yeah.

Female: How did that impact them seeing that first hand?

Slash: Well, you know, they know elephants from the zoo and they know from TV, and whatever cartoons and magazines. But to see them out in the bush, which is just so massive and majestic, and see elephants in a herd sort of traveling, it's just mind-blowing for them and for me, just to see the look in their eyes, you know. It was very, very cool.

Male: And people don't realize… I watched this TV BBC documentary and there was a scene where a mother essentially had to stay with her baby who couldn't make the trek across the plains to the next watering hole. And as the baby started to die, the mother was sort of trying to urge it to stand up, and then she cried and you could see the tears rolling down her face. The most heartbreaking thing I've ever seen.

Slash: Yeah. I mean, they're super intelligent, highly emotional, they have these family groups that last for generations, and there's a matriarch and there's the whole, you know, all the way down to the youngest, and they take care of themselves and they mourn their dead. And I think if an elephant actually could turn around and actually speak, people would be, you know, really shocked to see just how sensitive and intuitive they are.

Female: How rewarding has Beneath The Savage Sun been for you as a songwriter to go ahead and have that release?

Slash: It was nice, because I don't think I've ever touched on a subject like that in a rock and roll song. And Myles wrote the lyrics; it was something that we've been talking about and I'd written all this music and we put the two together, and it was a great feeling to actually produce something that said what we wanted to say and be able to put it in the midst of everything else that we do. And it's a really cool song. The video is great, but it's a little bit graphic - it's a little bit stark, you know. But I like the fact that we can do our bit to sort of raise awareness on the subject.

Male: Let me ask you now. Let's turn to some rock and roll. You've been - I mean, it's funny, too. I think… I wonder, I was saying this to Ryan, our floor director, that it must be for you, when people ask you about Sweet Child O’ Mine and Paradise City, and you're like, “Dude, that was like 25 years ago”-

Slash: Well, we still play it (chuckles).

Male: Do you still play it?

Slash: Yeah, yeah.

Male: And it doesn't bother you when people say, “Hey, can you play,” you know, one of the oldies but goodies”-

Slash: Right.

Male: Because they really - it's sort of like asking Paul McCartney about I Saw Her Standing There.

Slash: Well, I mean, I suppose when it comes to, like - doing it in the set is fun. For a long time I didn't play those songs, just in the last five years I started playing them again, and so that's great when people ask you about it. Sometimes it sounds a little bit redundant, but I’m very, you know, proud of the Guns N’ Roses legacy and everything that band accomplished, and the songs that we did, and all that. So I try not to ever get annoyed by it.

Female: You mentioned on CBS This Morning that the tension among Guns N’ Roses is gone.

Slash: Yeah, there's no animosity going on.

Female: What happened there?

Slash: I think it's just… you know, over time, I think we all just got sick and tired of this sort of black cloud that really didn't… You know, I think the biggest thing that happens is just that when you have a breakup that is a little less than harmonious, you just build up a lot of bad energy because of the distance - you know, when you don't communicate or… you know what I'm saying?

Male: Yeah.

Slash: And just whatever the bad feelings were, they just get exaggerated and I think it just reached a point where it was ridiculous, you know?

Male: And, Slash, you're considered one of the greatest rock guitarists ever, but you're also known for your incredible riffs. When you were growing up, did you sort of have, like - I mean, for me, I think about, like, Immigrant Song or even, like, Sir Duke. Like, there's just riffs that are so cool that they stay with you, Smoke On The Water… Did you have one that sort of…

Slash: I think I was attracted to riffs in general. You know, from, like, the Beatles all the way to… You know, the Beatles, and there was always these sort of single note hooks that I was always attracted to.

Male: Yeah.

Slash: But, I mean, I always loved Black Dog from Zeppelin, I always loved Back in the Saddle from Aerosmith, I always loved Rock Bottom from UFO, and I could go on and on.

Male: Right.

Male: But you also are influenced by things like, you know, jazz music and soul music…

Slash: Yeah, yeah.

Male: There are riffs there, too, it’s just that…

Slash: Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of really, really great melodies and sort of, yeah, riffy type things in all different kinds of music. And sometimes they're done with a chord or, you know, three note chords, or two note chords, or whatever.

Male: Yeah.

Slash: But it's just really a hook. It’s a sort of quick melody that repeats itself that you reach a crescendo and then it comes in, and you're like, “Oh yeah, that’s cool.”

Male: Yeah. Like Safari Inn on your last album.

Slash: Yeah.

Male: It’s an instrumental - which you don't usually…

Slash: Well, we never came up with any words for it, so we were just jamming and… (chuckles)

(Laughter)

Female: Slash, thank you so much.

Male: Thank you so much, man.

Female: We were very excited to have you.

Slash: Me too.

Female: Thanks a lot.