Slash Speaks! Rolling Stone Interview 08/14/2018

[jamillos]

Anyway, some people seem to be expecting a whole lot more from these interviews than they should IMO. Unless they are promoting a new, soon-to-be-released record and doing an interview where Axl is sitting alongside Slash like he did with Duff in 2016, where you could expect them touching all these delicate matters of the past etc., there is no way anything really huge will be unveiled in these Slash interviews, just tidbits here and there among all those "guitar is great" stunts.

Like I’ve said before, I wouldn’t really expect anything else, and to me, it’s fine for now. They’re still touring.

 

[Live Like a Suicide]

On 16/08/2018 at 3:05 AM, Tori72 said:

It is not that it happend yesterday. It is two decades ago and they are touring together. I can’t find fault with a question like that.

There is no fault with the question at all, even if it were asked 20 years ago. The guy's a journalist, and it's great to see a professional doing some solid interviewing for once. The last couple of interview rounds Slash has had have been little more than fluff pieces.

[soon]

On August 15, 2018 at 11:40 AM, Estrangedfx said:

Gotta love Brian Hiatt, the journalist who conducted this interview. If you don't recall, he was a BIG supporter of Axl/Chinese Democracy early on.

When the original leak of "Better" surfaced in 2006, he gave it a rave review (in Rolling Stone, as a must-have Download), said something along the lines of "This is amongst the best tunes Axls ever written, simultaneously the poppiest,yet heaviest GNR tune to date. Axl, release this thing! It already sounds better than Velvet Revolver." Ouch. 

It's nice to see he touched upon that in the interview, loving to hear them playing CD tracks during this tour, even after all these years.

Pretty hilarious too see him call out Slash (as a liar, more less) on Slash's Snakepit '95 release intentions, throwing Slash's own book in his face, so to speak. Priceless. 

Later on, he continued his praise, when Appetite had its 25'th anniversary, they did a cover story, and he didn't neglect to once again, point out several Chinese Democracy tracks as highlights, as to what Axl had "Been up to". 

David Fricke, longtime Rolling Stone journalist, who did indeed give Chinese Democracy it's 4-star review, had similar praise. 

Anyway, all in all, a pretty great interview.  

 

4 hours ago, Live Like a Suicide said:

There is no fault with the question at all, even if it were asked 20 years ago. The guy's a journalist, and it's great to see a professional doing some solid interviewing for once. The last couple of interview rounds Slash has had have been little more than fluff pieces.

Yes! Thank you both for highlighting Hiatt's status. I guess RS's heyday is truly behind us when Trunk is a household name that we use when speaking of him but an actual rock journalist of the stature of Brian Hiatt is referred to as "the interviewer." Not that I myself know every rock journalist - but its Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone!

Hiatt hosts the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. Its a great little, compact weekly podcast. Even when I think I m not particularly into the themes of the week, they always make in interesting and appealing for rock much fans. But more often then not the themes are incredibly rad 

[Nosaj Thing]

Not even one "all things considered" but millions of "sort of."  Yep, that's definitely a Slash interview.

[God of Thunder]

Great interview, good questions too. Smart move by Slash too how he avoided the sensitive topics. Maybe at some point we get a common interview by the big 3 then we see the full story. It is pretty clear that the reunion is mostly a working / business relationship, but my impression is that everybody is getting along much better than they originally thought / feared. That is a good thing.  

[DieselDaisy]

There is always a bit in any given Slash interview where he says something like,

''yeh, when all things are considered it is just five guys fuckin rocking out''.

Or

''when all things are considered there are no egos and no bullshit man. It is just a fuckin' rock n' roll band that is really connecting''.

 

[AxlRoseCDII]

22 hours ago, OTHAFA said:

I think this is a pretty good example of why these guys aren't giving any interviews about the reunion. Every single word is picked apart to the 10th degree. 

Example: If you, as a fan, can't stand Frank, then you're going to believe Slash is being passive-aggressive toward him in his answers.

So funny.

You’re really going to tell me that sentence about Frank was a ringing endorsement about him as a drummer? I do agree about some of the other speculations being ridiculous but Slash completely, completely danced around the Frank question.

[Gunsdrummer63]

11 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

You’re really going to tell me that sentence about Frank was a ringing endorsement about him as a drummer? I do agree about some of the other speculations being ridiculous but Slash completely, completely danced around the Frank question.

Yeah he did! It might have even been a cheap shot at Frank saying just cuz you've been in the band longer than I have now it doesn't mean you're good. Which I think everyone agrees with. We could all live without Frank on drums

[Towelie]

My God, this band never ceases to amaze me how useless and inept they are. How hard is it to get in a fucking studio and write and record some fucking new GNR songs? Anyone would think we're asking for a cure for cancer.

I don't believe it's Slash's fault, like with most things that turn to shit with this band, it's because of a man named Axl. Things are going to get incredibly awkward for Slash when in 2020 he's promoting the follow-up to Livin The Dream with still no sign of any new material from his other band. At some point, they're just gonna have to say it ain't happening.

Edited August 17, 2018 by Towelie

[OTHAFA]

49 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

You’re really going to tell me that sentence about Frank was a ringing endorsement about him as a drummer? I do agree about some of the other speculations being ridiculous but Slash completely, completely danced around the Frank question.

 

No, I'm not going to tell you that. In fact, where did I ever say it was a ringing endorsement for Frank? You're pulling words out of thin air.

What I'm telling you is it's not some subtle knock on the guy. I don't think Slash, at this point, really gives a shit who the drummer is. The reunion is about Axl, Slash and - to a lesser extent - Duff. Nobody except the diehards really knows, or cares, who the drummer is. I'm sure Slash and Frank get along fine. I don't expect Slash to gush like a schoolgirl with a crush over his drumming ability, but the fact that he's not doesn't mean he's trying to insult the guy.

[Fashionista]

I want Brain back.
Honestly, if we can't have a full AFD lineup, my dream would be Axl, Slash, Duff, Gilby, Brain, Dizzy, Melissa. It's nothing against Richard, it's just Gilby rings more legit to me as he was there for the glory days. If they're never gonna make new music, why not? Gilby and Slash complemented eachother really well live and there would be a nostalgic element in having Gilby back.

It will be insanely sad to me if TSI stands as the last offering from Axl/Slash/Duff. As it is, any release by them now would be bitter sweet because it would feel hollow; they're middle aged men now and the zeitgeist they were part of (late 80s to mid 90s rock/meyal scene) no longer exists in any form. I would've liked to have seen GN'R bow out with an album somewhere between 94 and 96, even if it had been subpar.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Fashionista

[newusedillusion]

23 minutes ago, Fashionista said:

I want Brain back.
Honestly, if we can't have a full AFD lineup, my dream would be Axl, Slash, Duff, Gilby, Brain, Dizzy, Melissa. It's nothing against Richard, it's just Gilby rings more legit to me as he was there for the glory days. If they're never gonna make new music, why not? Gilby and Slash complemented eachother really well live and there would be a nostalgic element in having Gilby back.

It will be insanely sad to me if TSI stands as the last offering from Axl/Slash/Duff. As it is, any release by them now would be bitter sweet because it would feel hollow; they're middle aged men now and the zeitgeist they were part of (late 80s to mid 90s rock/meyal scene) no longer exists in any form. I would've liked to have seen GN'R bow out with an album somewhere between 94 and 96, even if it had been subpar.

The best thing they could do, IMO, is something completely different. I don't even know what, but I agree that if they try to come out with an AFD vol. 2 or UYI III, it will be lame. Well, maybe not lame but like CD, it could never live up to expectation. I'd love to have new stuff but I'm afraid just the same.

[Route66]

Nice timing for album release. Good interview though i thought.

[Tom-Ass]

1 hour ago, Fashionista said:

 Axl, Slash, Duff, Gilby, Brain, Dizzy, 

That would be MUCH better than the current lineup...

[metallex78]

I find his response to the question about playing CD stuff, a bit cunt like. Especially because it is legit question the fans want to know about.

I mean, CD, the direction Axl took, that he and the rest of the band couldn’t see eye to eye on, was one of the big factors that Slash and Axl split. 

And here Slash is all chill like, “yeah, I’m playing that CD stuff, it’s no big deal...”

Well, clearly it IS a big deal, or otherwise you wouldn’t have left the band over it 20 years ago, for fuck sake.

And then he can’t even go into details about whether they discussed new music further or listened to new music between them. What difference would that make? Really?

This may have well have been a Dizzy interview.

It’s great that the interviewer called him out on a few things too. 

It just seems that Slash was in a shitty mood for this interview.

[WhazUp]

4 minutes ago, metallex78 said:

I find his response to the question about playing CD stuff, a bit cunt like. Especially because it is legit question the fans want to know about.

I mean, CD, the direction Axl took, that he and the rest of the band couldn’t see eye to eye on, was one of the big factors that Slash and Axl split. 

And here Slash is all chill like, “yeah, I’m playing that CD stuff, it’s no big deal...”

Although is the CD direction the same as what it originally was going to be?  Even the 2001 era demos are much different sounding, the end result of Chinese Democracy is much less industrial than the 90's Axl Rose was seemingly going for during that time.  

The guitar parts to the songs that came out in 2008, and that Slash changed, really isn't a big departure.  I don't find it "cunt like" at all personally - as a guitar player I couldn't really find a better way to explain what it is like adapting songs I was not a part of for my own style unless I went into some music theory/guitar technique stuff 

There are definitely some things that I would have liked Slash to elaborate on more in this interview, but that wasn't something that stuck out to me as one of the bigger cop out answers lol

Edited August 18, 2018 by WhazUp

[metallex78]

29 minutes ago, WhazUp said:

Although is the CD direction the same as what it originally was going to be?  Even the 2001 era demos are much different sounding, the end result of Chinese Democracy is much less industrial than the 90's Axl Rose was seemingly going for during that time.  

The guitar parts to the songs that came out in 2008, and that Slash changed, really isn't a big departure.  I don't find it "cunt like" at all personally - as a guitar player I couldn't really find a better way to explain what it is like adapting songs I was not a part of for my own style unless I went into some music theory/guitar technique stuff 

There are definitely some things that I would have liked Slash to elaborate on more in this interview, but that wasn't something that stuck out to me as one of the bigger cop out answers lol

Well, the fact that CD is the album that supposedly came about from years of Axl driving all the original members out as well as a bunch of different musicians over the years, and ended up with Axl as the sole original GN’R member on it as a Guns N’ Roses album.

From that, I’d say that Slash now playing that stuff IS a pretty big fuckin deal. And it’s not so much about how he plays the stuff, it’s the fact that he’s playing that stuff in the first place. And he seemed to dismiss it as no big deal.

Well, if it is no big deal to play Axl’s CD stuff, why did you leave GN’R over this music in the first place...?

[WhazUp]

14 minutes ago, metallex78 said:

Well, if it is no big deal to play Axl’s CD stuff, why did you leave GN’R over this music in the first place...?

Did he leave solely over the music though?  Not that there weren't some creative differences musically speaking in 1996, but I always assumed based on his book, interviews, etc. that it was more just that they couldn't get along on a personal level at that point let alone even talking about music.  Late starts, egos, lawyers, contracts, etc. That stuff above all else.  

Not to mention that it is 2018, not 1996, so maybe the Slash of 2018 would enjoy trying out what 1996 Slash wouldn't anyways.  But I don't think "Slash left GNR mostly because of this music" is entirely accurate

Slash and Axl buried the hatchet, according to Axl, Slash learned the CD tunes himself out of goodwill and feeling like it would be cool, and they are doing them.  It is cool and something I never thought I would see, but to Slash it may not be a big deal to jam on some different tunes

 

I mean I get what you are saying for sure, but to me out of the answers Slash gave that were intentional cop-outs, I didn't find this answer to be one of them really

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by WhazUp

[Blackstar]

I think the idea that Axl had something like CD in his head already in the mid-90s and that it was the reason he and Slash parted ways is revisionist history. Whatever Axl wanted to do musically back then (and nothing really indicates that it was a fully industrial album or anything like that) was with Slash in his mind.

[metallex78]

18 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

I think the idea that Axl had something like CD in his head already in the mid-90s and that it was the reason he and Slash parted ways is revisionist history. Whatever Axl wanted to do musically back then (and nothing really indicates that it was a fully industrial album or anything like that) was with Slash in his mind.

Revisionist history my ass. No one is stating that Axl had CD fully realised back then, but Axl definitely wanted to move on from their classic sound. And that’s been stated several times by both of them - musical differences

[WhazUp]

24 minutes ago, metallex78 said:

Revisionist history my ass. No one is stating that Axl had CD fully realised back then, but Axl definitely wanted to move on from their classic sound. And that’s been stated several times by both of them - musical differences

But at the same time I believe it was Axl who said he was also up to going back to an old school Appetite sound.  To quote his interview on Kurt Loder:  

Quote

I originally wanted to make a traditional record or try to get back to an "Appetite [For Destruction]" thing or something, because that would have been a lot easier for me to do.

 

What killed them was a breakdown in communication and personal differences.  If they got along well and could effectively communicate their differences musically I have no doubt that they could have worked past whatever musical differences they had.  I always viewed the breakup as not a musical issue, but a personal one.  Which is why I find "Well, if it is no big deal to play Axl’s CD stuff, why did you leave GN’R over this music in the first place...?" an inaccurate premise

Edited August 18, 2018 by WhazUp

[Fashionista]

18 minutes ago, metallex78 said:

Revisionist history my ass. No one is stating that Axl had CD fully realised back then, but Axl definitely wanted to move on from their classic sound. And that’s been stated several times by both of them - musical differences

Slash said in 95 Axl wanted to sound like Pearl Jam, which is pretty far from industrial. The main issue wasn't the MUSICAL differences, it was Axl forcing the musical issues on the band like a dictator, firing Gilby (a guy everyone liked) without band consent, forcing Paul on the band like a dictator, and then trying to sideline Slash by attempting to put Zakk Wylde in there. Along with a general lack of respect for the band as a whole. Example, making the band do Sympathy for the Devil when Slash didn't want to, only to not show up to the session and make Slash wait for hours and then talk to him through a magazine. Leaving the band in 96 and inviting Slash and Duff to join his new band as hired hands.

Slash played on an industrial MJ song in '96. I think if Axl was open to a little give and take in the mid 90s, Slash would've been fine doing whatever genre of music as long as there was respect and mutual agreement involved. Not Axl saying "You're gonna play like this on these songs." It came down to egos and Axl lacking respect for his bandmates and thinking GN'R was his band. Not musical differences.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Fashionista

[appetite4illusions]

Axl wanted to mastermind sessions. He essentially wanted to tell Slash when he got the song right and when it was wrong. As we can see, he has no problem sitting around for years until a guitar player comes up with something he is enamored with. Right or wrong, there is probably merit to that.

Slash is the opposite. He wants to write a song in a day, because that is where his initial inspiration comes from. That's why, while some really rock, Slash's own songs don't go beyond a certain level, a certain style. That worked fine when he was nineteen and everything he wrote was gold, but when you get older and reach a point of diminishing returns, you get comfortable and start writing stuff that is ho-hum.

Say Axl really wanted to do an Appetite 2.0, what he didn't want was the first thing Slash came up with off the top of his head. He wanted Slash to push himself and feel uncomfortable, because that's where the great stuff was going to come from. It makes the most sense when you consider that Slash played Axl "Fall to Pieces" and when Axl got excited, Slash pulled it away, because he knew that Axl wanted him to sit on it and rewrite it. This is what Axl meant in the "burning hills" fax. Does anyone really believe that Slash didn't say the words "I don't want to work that hard."

 

Anyway, my other thought after reading this interview was that based on the way he lays Velvet Revolver low, he probably did talk a whole lot of trash to Beta that night about the people in that band.

[Blackstar]

47 minutes ago, metallex78 said:

Revisionist history my ass. No one is stating that Axl had CD fully realised back then, but Axl definitely wanted to move on from their classic sound. And that’s been stated several times by both of them - musical differences

"Move on" is one thing and it could be interpreted in many different ways, but moving on in a CD-ish kind of way is another thing. Axl has denied it was because of musical differences, iirc (on the forum chats and elsewhere). Slash had been citing "creative differences" as the main reason he left up to a point, but then in his book he said it wasn't because of that.

In case you (and other people here) are not in TL;DR mood, I've elaborated here and there:

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by Blackstar

[Fashionista]

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

"Move on" is one thing and it could be interpreted in many different ways, but moving on in a CD-ish kind of way is another thing. Axl has denied it was because of musical differences, iirc (on the forum chats and elsewhere). Slash had been citing "creative differences" as the main reason he left up to a point, but then in his book he said it wasn't because of that.

In case you (and other people here) are not in TL;DR mood, I've elaborated here and there:

 

Blackstar, I consider you an invaluable resource and I am curious on what your considered opinion overall is on the following points:
1) What sort of sound do you feel Axl wanted in that '94, 95, 96 window before Slash left?
2) Do you think anything of value was recorded by the band in that timeframe (I mean full fledged songs which simply lack vocals/melodies)?
3) What do you feel was the ultimate cause of the split?
4) What are your opinions on Gilby and Paul Huge, both in terms of their roles in GN'R and what they (could've) brought to the table musically?