2015.06.07 - BZ-Berlin - Slash: Sex, Dinosaurs and Rock 'n' Roll

Article in German:
https://www.bz-berlin.de/archiv-artikel/slash-sex-dinosaurier-und-rock-n-roll

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Slash: Sex, Dinosaurs and Rock 'n' Roll

What is Slash looking forward to in Berlin even more than his performance?! The BZ conversation was about museum visits, among other things.

Sometime on Monday or Tuesday, a man in jeans and a black shirt with long black curls, a top hat and sunglasses will appear on Invalidenstraße, buy a ticket at the Natural History Museum and stand in amazement in front of the dinosaur skeletons.

And yes, it will be Slash (49), former guitarist for Guns 'n' Roses. "It's not a stage uniform, it's what I look like when I'm not asleep." He swears you won't find him in a suit or sweatshirt. And he's looking forward to Berlin. “I love Berlin, I've been here many times. And I'm a huge dinosaur fanatic. I am really looking forward to the Natural History Museum.”

He wants to stop by before or after the concert. And in Berlin he can take a deep breath, his next concert isn't until Friday in Landgraaf/Holland. "Mostly it's just about the concert, about playing, after that we drive on quickly. But I have time in Berlin.”

It's sex, dinosaurs and rock'n'roll today. Brachiosaurus instead of "Breakfast for Champions" with which he started the day earlier. Back then he filled a mug "85 percent full with vodka, ice and a little bit of cranberry juice". Today, the Englishman born as Saul Hudson, who moved to America with his mother as a child, thinks “the normal hotel breakfast is okay, but he prefers room service”.

He has arranged to meet at half past nine for the BZ interview. Not exactly a rocker time. “I always do interviews in the morning. Then I'll have it behind me and they won't spoil my whole day," he says and gives a dirty laugh. "Besides, I don't sleep that much. I go to bed late, but I also get up early.”

A lifestyle that he almost paid dearly for: At 35, he got a pacemaker because he "almost drank himself to death". But today he is clean and uses his time differently than for drug use: "As soon as the tour is over, I'll record new songs, produce a film, there's no black hole I could fall into."

With his company "Slasher Films" he has specialized in horror films. “I watch all kinds of films. But horror is the genre that interests me the most. And it has to be if I get involved there myself.”

On his tours he travels with eight guitars. "I play six in the concert, I have the others with me as backup, just to be on the safe side." Whoever sees him on stage experiences him enraptured, but almost shy. "It's hard for me to look into the audience, I prefer to be in my little world," he admits. How does he feel in the boss role? "I don't feel like a boss, and I don't act like one either. But it's natural for me to make sure that everything works. It's just my nature, I've always been like that.”

Oh, now that comes as a surprise. Because during the Guns 'n' Roses times he was pretty druff. As he once said, he practically lived in lap-dance shops "because it wasn't difficult to hook up with a stripper as a rock musician", took kilos of coke and drank an ocean of alcohol.

"True, those were pretty wild times, but I've always been very responsible. I was a functioning alcoholic and drug addict.” Part of what got him quitting was his growing reputation as a party animal that threatened to eclipse that of the musician.

He left Guns 'n' Roses almost 20 years ago. Recently there was speculation about a reunion with singer Axl Rose. Slash had answered the reunion question in an interview with "Never say never". "Hey, it's amazing what you read into it. I just wanted to sound a little more friendly and positive. But Axl and I aren't in touch and I don't see that."

Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators & L7, Monday, June 8, at 7 p.m. in the Zitadelle Spandau, Am Juliusturm, tickets from 48.80 euros