2018.09.20 - Reddit AMA - Slash

I am Slash, my band’s new album, Living The Dream, is out tomorrow. Ask me anything.

Slash ft. Myles Kennedy The Conspirators are releasing their new album, Living The Dream, tomorrow! Get your copy here: https://t.co/hVm0KFGS6i

Q: Hey Slash, as a fellow guitar player I'm a huge fan of your work. What made you originally decide to play a Les Paul and is it true that the Appetite guitar is not a real Gibson?

Slash: I think I was always attracted to Les Paul's because I liked the way they looked originally. I liked the ways people who played Les Paul's sounded. The first Les Paul I got my hands on was a copy. The longer I played I went through a bunch of different guitars through trial and error went back to Les Paul. The Les Paul I used on Appetite for Destruction record and still use to this day in the studio is actually a handmade guitar by a guy - rest in peace - Chris Derrig, he used to make !959 Les Paul reissues or replicas. So that one he made in 1985 I think and it was given to me in 1986 or 1987. Gibson went on to make a replica of my replica. Gibson came out with a copy of a copy.

Q: Hi Slash! Big fan since I first swiped my uncles Appetite album (oops...) when I was like 13. Tomorrow I turn 30 and I consider the new albums release as a personal birthday gift, so huge thanks! How do you find both songwriting and touring to have changed as you have grown? Not just how the industry may have changed things, but your own personal perspective on both as you physically have aged and matured.

Slash: Songwriting is something that you just have grow with you. It changes as you learn how to adapt to different situations and you gain more experience and you deal with different recording apparatuses. There isn't one specific changes it is how you adapt to situations your writing follows.

Touring hasn't really changed all that much it is pretty much still find a vehicle to get you from point a to point be so you can plug in and play. The only real change is the absence of drug and booze. That is the biggest change.

Q: How much time on average goes into writing a guitar solo?

Slash: I don't even like to use the term writing when it comes to guitar solo. 9/10 times they are spontaneous and when you play it the first time it plays off the cuff in the context of a song. Very rarely do you sit down and write something. I think the intro to Anastasia is more of an example of something that is written and even then that come out of an improvisational thing. Usually it is just a very spontaneous thing and in pre-production you start to play it with the melodies and becomes a part of the melodic structure. By the time you get to record the solo it has a structure and melodic direction that just sort of comes to you when you play that section of the song. You don't really just sit down and write it at least for me.

Q: What does your daily routine look like? Like, what time in the morning do you get up, what do you eat for breakfast, how much time do you spend with family? Love the singles of the new album so far, I'm excited for tomorrow!

Slash: My daily routine is basically get up, drink coffee, check emails, maybe go to the gym, and do whatever it is needs to get done that day. Nothing strange. Sound check and then the gig. I don't know so much about breakfast. I don't have an interesting routine really.

Q: What are you listening to these days?

Slash: The new Paul McCartney record is pretty cool. There is a new record from Zeal and Ardor. The last Queens of the Stone Age record is pretty good. The new record from Prophets of Rage. I listen to a lot of Blues players from the three kings, BB King, and I listen to Stevie Ray Vaughn. Gary Clark Jr is cool. A lot of blues guitar. Jack White's last record was good.

Q: Playing guitar, how did you decide what kind of music you wanted to play, who inspired you?

Slash: Well I mean I was always a big music fan. A lot of varied tastes in music genres. I was raised on a pretty healthy diet of rock n' roll so I was naturally in my teen years a big fan of rock n' roll of that time in the late 1970's. I was a big fan of the Aerosmith Rocks record which set a tone I was into and it had a defined tone and sound right around the time I picked up a guitar.

Q: Hi Slash, looking forward to seeing you and the band in February. What was your favourite moment on the Not in this Lifetime Tour?

Slash: The Not in this Lifetime Tour was just an epic fun thing. Trying to pick one particular highlight out of that whole tour is really hard. I would say the whole tour was just an amazing experience and it isn't finished yet.

Q: Hey Slash ! "Living the dream" is in the same vein as your two other albums with the conspirators or you felt something different by recording it ?

Slash: Well the band is sort of evolved from when it started in 2010. It is very much the same but it is different on every record. This record came off a two year gap because the Guns N' Roses tour that came in between. There was more anticipation to do this one than the previous. We recorded the album in my Snakepit Studio which was different than the last two records.

Q: Since you work with Myles Kennedy on your own albums, is their a chance we could hear you guest on an Alter Bridge album?

Slash: I suppose if they asked me but Myles and the Conspirators and I jointly do this band together so it is a little different to play on an Alter Bridge record. If they asked me to I would be into that.

Q: Where do you find all those strange pictures that you post on facebook?

Slash: I just find them in various places. Most of that stuff is online although some people to send me stuff but find it on Pinterest, Tumblr and sometimes Google.

Q: You are my favorite guitar player, Slash! Can you tell me ways to improve my guitar skills?

Slash: Yes I am still working on that one myself. The thing is to find what your weaknesses are and work on something to develop those. In a perfect world but it is easier said then done. If there is anything you want to play that you aren't technically capable of playing then work on it until you can be proficient. Practicing with a metronome is good. It is really good practice.

Q: How do you keep up with all those gigs and releasing an album right in between two massive world tours? What’s the secret, how do you still make it happen? Killer album so far man, great fucking singles!

Slash: It's just being able to juggle a lot of plates at once and taking advantage of any kind of free time and doing stuff with it.

Q: How do you sleep after shows, how do you cope with the adrenalin? Is it hard to "switch off" and get back to the present moment? If you have any secrets, meditation techniques or whatever, I'd love to hear it!

Slash: Yes that is really difficult to wind down after a show. I usually especially on show nights I don't sleep until 4 or 5 in the morning so in general so I don't sleep much. But you do try to catch up as much as possible on days off.

Q: What Musician alive or passed would you most want to jam with and why?

Slash: I think it would probably be John Bonham because he had such an incredible sense of rhythm and timing and such a great groove.

Q: With the Sankepit Albums which one was your favorite to tour on and which one to record. Also will Aint Life Grand ever be available to stream? Serial Killer fucking rocks by the way.

Slash: https://open.spotify.com/album/5KlwwN8Cs5CL7oHWQLy78v?si=oY3eRNrlR6eF3YDvqxK8cA

Q: In your book, is the story about James Hatfield in the hotel true?

Slash: It was a hotel/apartment because we were actually living there at the time. Yes it is true but I never asked him if he was upset for me putting that in the book.

Q: You've played so many great songs with so many great bands, but which song do you enjoy playing most?

Slash: I actually try to put something into every song every single night we play even the ones we play the most so they seem more interesting. There isn't one song I love above all others to play from my whole career.

Q: I saw a video of you playing with B.B. King. What was it like playing with him?

Slash: Oh BB is great. He was just a really endearing individual and a really great guy to hang out with. It was probably my all time favorite blues guitar player just his style so it was a real honor. The one that video was from is recent and he never made anyone that jammed with him feel intimidated and made everyone feel welcome. He definitely just dispelled that immediately.

Q: Over the course of your career...you have collaborated with a lot of amazing artists. Do you have a favourite?

Slash: I get asked that a lot and all the different people I have worked with have been amazing and each one has been uniquely cool. I learn something with each one. Someone I have worked with a lot over the years and really enjoy working with is Iggy Pop.

Q: Have fans randomly given you dinosaur toys that then end up on top of the amps??

Slash: There's definitely a couple up there from fans. It started out from stuff fans have given me but there are definitely some up there from fans. If anyone wants to give some to me that is good.

Q: Hello Slash! Is there a song on the album that you prefer over the others? I bet they’re all great!

Slash: Not really. Whenever you do a new record usually in most cases you are in love with all the material on the record. And that is definitely the case with this record.

Q: How long will it take you to create the set list for the UK stretch of the tour?

Slash: It takes a second. There is sort of a process you pick a bunch of songs you want to play and some which might be deeper cuts that you want to play. You start to look at the dynamics at the start, middle and end of the show. It's something I have been doing for years. We made some changes just last night to the set list we had from the start of the tour. It is something that once you put your mind to it is not that hard.

Q: Do you collect anything besides guitars?

Slash: I don't know if it is collecting or hoarding but I have a gazillion t-shirts, coffee mugs and dinosaur toys.

Q: Hey, Slash Just wanted to know if you are actually real or if you were made up by our parents

Slash: As far as I know I am real but not 100% positive.

Q: [deleted]

Slash: No I didn't go to the same school but we lived in the same town. We didn't know each other. He is younger than me so I doubt it.

Q: Hey Slash!! You are the reason I picked up guitar in the first place!! Do you have any advice for someone that wants to be involved in the music industry?

Slash: The only real advice I can give to anyone who wants to get into the music industry is that it requires infinite patience, brains and perseverance.

Q: What's your favorite albums of all time?

Slash: I really don't have one favorite record. Any one of the Rolling Stone's records, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers or Beggar's Banquet. Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan. Aerosmith Rocks record. I could name records all day long. Exile on Main Street is another one.

Q: Which was your favourite city to play in during the GnR tour and why?

Slash: You know I really don't have particulars to a favorite place. It is almost like any one city is as good as another. There are places I like to play less than places but for the most part every city is great to jam in.

Q: Big fan of the two Snakepit albums, especially It's Five O'Clock Somewhere. Do you have a favorite track off either that you still love to bust out and play?

Slash: Well definitely Ain't Life Grand called, Serial Killer, that we have a good time playing. On the first record, we used to play the song, Beggars & Hangers On, and that was pretty cool

Q: How many guitars are in your possession at this very moment?

Slash: Roughly around 200. More than 200 less than 300.

Q: How many top hats do you actually own?

Slash: I think 9 top hats maybe 10 but I can't wear all of them.

Q: Hey Slash! Big fan, love your playing. Saw you on the NITL tour in Seattle and Vancouver. Amazing shows! Question! What is your fave GnR song to play...and what is your fave GnR song to perform live? Thanks! Fingers crossed for a new Guns album.

Slash: I don't have a song in particular they are all great.

Q: What's your favorite book?

Slash: Heart of Darkness. Jaws. The Shining from Stephen King is one of my favorites. Fahrenheit 451 was another one. Books are like records so I can go on for days but that is a couple of them.

Q: Slash, very important question here. Would you rather accidentally drink orange juice thinking it was milk, or drink milk when you were expecting OJ?

Slash: They are both bad.

Q: Who came up with the title for the new album?

Slash: I came up with it but it is an expression that comes up a lot. A sarcastic kind of response that you get from somebody when you ask how their day is going. That is sort of where I got the title from. But I used it more in terms of domestic politics in the US or more in the world but that was really what I was referencing.

Q: 3 questions: 1. when was the last time you had short hair and have you ever thought about cutting it off? 2. What was the last horror movie that actually scared you? 3. Favorite place to travel to when you aren’t touring?

Slash: The last horror movie was the Nun. Coran Hardy directed and is a friend.

Q: Hey dude I know you had a lot of snakes. Are you into lizards too? Ever have a monitor? Also what do you think of high end amp modelers like Axe FX and Helix? Ever try one? Ever hear Atlas Shrugged?

Slash: Yes I like reptiles in general even though I know I am known for keeping snakes but I did have a monitor and frilled lizards, bearded dragons, you name it.

Q: Which of the artists from your 1st solo album were the most fun and/or unique to work with?

Slash: They were all great to play with in their own ways.

Q: What was the first song you were proud to be able to play?

Slash: I think it was Cat Scratch Fever from Ted Nuggent. I remember first learning that where it sounded like the Ted Nuggent version. Tangerine from Led Zeppelin. I remember learning how to play that and being very excited about it. Sunshine of Your Love. Honky Tonk Woman. These are all real guitar beginner bits but it is great when you can make them sound like the original.

Q: Can you sum up 'Living the Dream' in 3 words?

Slash: I'd say great Rock N' Roll record.

Q: What is your favorite song?

Slash: Gary Clark Jr's version of Come Together at the moment

Q: About how many guitar strings have you broken throughout your career?

Slash: Countless.

Q: When you’re touring, what do you generally do on days off? For example, in Amsterdam, do you usually do some sightseeing, or just stay in the hotel and prepare for the next gig?

Slash: Really I spend most of my time either playing my guitar and recording/writing or going to museums. I do that a lot. For the most part just lay low. I am not super exciting on my days off.

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