2024.05.22 - Battleground Podcast - Slash Reveals Secrets Behind New Album Orgy of the Damned, AI In Music & More

Excerpts from Ultimate Guitar:
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Given that he's grown up on a steady diet of blues icons such as B.B. King, it's safe to say that Slash is well-prepared for this new chapter of his life, not to mention that his ax of choice — the Les Paul — is considered by many to be a prime instrument for the genre.

However, Slash revealed in a new interview on the "Battleground Podcast" that "Orgy of the Damned" sees him resort to some other types of guitar as well, including a Fender Telecaster. The subject arose when he was asked to compare the merits of playing an ES-335 in a blues environment when compared to a Les Paul, to which he replied (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):

"It's a little bit tough to explain that verbally. The 335 is a little cleaner; the separation between the strings, even though it's got humbuckers, maybe something about the hollow-body factor really gives it a little bit more clarity than the average Les Paul. There's a certain throatiness to the notes."

"I was just playing one today, and it's just different from a Les Paul. I really, I really dig them. I've actually been playing them for a while, but I only played them in a live context back when we were doing Velvet Revolver. It never sort of lent itself to when [I was] playing with The Conspirators, or with Guns N' Roses. But when I was doing this record, I just got a really cool 1963 ES-335, [and] I've been playing a lot."

He added: "And when we started pre-production, it just sort of fell into being on a bunch of different songs. I also use a couple of Les Pauls on the record. But then, I also use a couple of Fenders; a certain type of song just lends itself to a Strat or a Tele."

In the same interview, Slash touched upon the burning topic that is the use of artificial intelligence in music, admitting that he's "not super excited about this new development". He added:

"Only because I just know that people, for the most part, are going to use it so much. For one, it's going to be confusing and misleading. And then, there is just going to be too much of the same kind of look or sound for different things. I see it happening already."

"For me, I'm the guy that likes to go into a studio, record a band live, and do it analog, like this record. So, the idea of AI, I can't think of any application that makes any sense to me, for what I do. I'm interested to see who comes up with something really great, unique and useful. But having AI reproduce anything, or actually produce anything original in terms of music does not really thrill me. You can have it write lyrics, you can have it do anything [without] you doing the actual work, and it doesn't thrill me."

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/slash_weighs_in_on_es-335_vs_les_paul_explains_why_the_rise_of_ai_doesnt_thrill_him.html