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jamester

 Rep: 84 

Re: Interview with Slash at the Tivoli in Brisbane Australia by Sandra Bai

jamester wrote:

Slash & Perla Fans
For those of you that haven't read my interview with Slash: http://tinyurl.com/66njl5s

had a great Interview with Slash before his show at the Tivoli in Brisbane

Slash was fun to Interview with a great attitude & he was cool, calm & collected, he is such an interesting person, I could of talked to him all day. The video I did had a lot of background noise, which made it hard to hear him at times. So i had to transcript it, we had a lot of laughter & fun. So sit back & enjoy my Interview with Slash

Hey Slash, Welcome back to Oz!

Slash: Hey

It's great having you here

Slash: It's good to be back, I love this place. It's got a cool side.

Well first of all, Congratulations on your Solo Album going Platinum in Australia

Slash: Yeah that was cool, I actually received that yesterday, day before yesterday, no yesterday for sure

That was in Sydney from Sony wasn't it

Slash: Yeah

Well congratulations

Slash: Thank you

Your Album has been a huge Success all around the world, you must be so happy about that

Slash: It's a nice feeling you know. Putting the album together I didn't have any expectations for it. So at least I wasn't gonna get disappointed. But it turned out to be something that was pretty well recieved globally & you know, you feel very humbled when everyone goes out & decides that the record is actually pretty good

Did you expect it to be as successful as it is especially with the younger generation who haven't grown up listening to Guns n Roses

Slash: Well like I said before, I didn't have any expectations. I was really just making the record. When it came down to it, it was sort of my own personal project, & when you go & put it out. You know, you sort of just let it go. So yeah it was very gratifying that people picked up on it & like I said, it was just really well recieved

Ok, well your here for the Soundwave festival's & tonights show of course, So far you have done Brisbane & Sydney. I was at the Brisbane Soundwave, it was a Killer show with Amazing Energy!! You had a great turn out, heaps of people were there watching you, it was huge!

Slash: Yeah it was pretty exciting. It was the first festival in all these years that I have ever done here in Australia & it's just like I would expect it to be. Cause the crowds in Australia are great anyway, so when you put together a great line up like, you know, Iron Maiden & Slayer, Queens of the Stone Age & all that. Your gonna have an amazing audience, but it was actually more than I could of possibly expected, the turn out was just great

It was & for a heavy metal audience I thought you had a great reception. You had one of the biggest crowds of the day!

Slash: Really, that much I didn't pay attention to. Everything's been a sort of a throw in though. Like you show up on the day at the gig, they throw us out there & you go out there & jam & just see what happens. So then I play & go to the next one. It's been sort of like, you know, just go for broke & see what comes out of it. But it's been a hell of a ride for me so far.

Well your very Iconic, even Rob Zombie was side stage watching you, that blew me away. How does it make you feel that other artists take the time out & go watch you play

Slash: I didn't know Rob Zombie was watching me, but I know Rob. I've known him for a long time, he's a good guy. But that's cool that he actually took the time out of his day to come & watch us play

So you have just done Soundwave in Sydney, what was that like

Slash: Sydney was great to, huge turn out. Crowd was great, the band played great & all things considered it was really good. I think the only thing out of the day that was sort of a bummer, was that Tommy Araya got sick & Slayer didn't play. So that was a drag, but you know were going on after this gig to Melbourne & we got three more of these show's

Did you get a chance to see any other bands there

Slash: I saw Stone Sour, I saw a tiny bit of Queens of the Stone Age & that was basically it. Its sort of  like, you see who you can when you first get there, which is always Stone Sour as they play on the same stage as we do & then whoever is immediately after. Then you know we take off

So how do you rate Australia's music festival's compared to the rest of the world

Slash: Well that was the thing, you know. Obviously the biggest & best festivals are in Europe you know, hands down. But I just knew that the Australian festivals had to  be dynamite, so all things considered Australia is as good or better than anywhere in Europe that i've ever been to, it's right up there with Monsters of Rock. Especially when you got someone like Iron Maiden Headlining

So you've been touring pretty full on, how's the tour going so far

Slash: Yeah, it's been great. We just got off a leg that we did with Ozzy in the States. Which was really cool & Ozzy was great  & you know the crowds were very receptive to us you know. Playing with Ozzy he has his own set of audience. You have to break that ice, but that went over great. Then we had sort of side shows all thru the Ozzy tour, but we headlined on our own at all different places & the response in the U.S has been really great, so ever since what March 2010 when all this started, it's been going amazingly well

So what are your plans after the South American leg of the tour

Slash: Working on material for another record & I think were going to do a small little European leg for the summer & then just getting a new record done & getting back out there

I gotta say you have hand chosen a great touring band, you guys seem to have great chemistry

Slash: Yeah we do, Iv'e been very fortunate because I, you know, I sort of threw this all together at the last minute, when I was finishing up the record & Myles came through for me & then I met Brent . Brent was the perfect drummer for this & then he turned me on to Todd, who's you know, so I was sort of blessed in that sense I got a really great band. We all get along great we have a really good chemistry & that rarely happens when your just doing a sort of throw together band

So what's it like before you go on Stage do you get nervous, do you have any kind of ritual that you do

Slash: Yeah, I don't have a ritual. I just grin & bare it you know. I get very anxious right before the show & little butterflies & that's always been the case. But it probably helps to get the show that much better you know, just having that sort of anticipation to do the best that you can & that's what makes you nervous, is sort of like pre show anxiety

Do you still love being on tour

Slash: I love being on tour yeah! Something that whenever I go into the studio to make a record, this time it was no different. It always Really, to go out & play it live. I don't think I could make records just for the sake of making a record. I like to make a record's & I enjoy the process, but it's the means to an end which is to go out & perform you know, whatever the songs are in front of an audience

So how do you keep your Ideas fresh, you have done so much over the years & you keep coming up with fantastic music

Slash: Well it's just you know I mean, I don't mean to sound corny, but I love music & I love trying to create stuff & try to find a groove you know. Or a riff or some melody or something like, that does something for me & you know. It's hard work. You have to keep at it all the time, but the more you spend on doing it at least somethings gonna come out of it

So you just sit down & play & come up with a riff or tune how does it work for you

Slash: There's no real pattern really, except work for it. I just keep my guitar with me or a guitar close by at all times & if I hear something in my head or I might be thinking of it & something will pop. I just pick up my guitar & try to play it & I keep little recording apparatus around all the time. Could be my phone it could be my laptop it could be a rig in my house or whatever so every time I have an idea I preserve it, so then I can go back to it & see if it's worth exploring

Going onto a more personal question, I read that you have flatlined 3 times, tell me about that, that's pretty scary!

Slash: Yeah you know, that's more part of the experience I suppose. You know I just push everything really hard & sometimes a little to far over the edge, those 3 times are actually the only recorded 3

Well i'm so glad you are now what 5 years clean & sober

Slash: Almost yeah

So what's been one of your most funniest stories while you have been on tour

Slash: I think probably going into, I mean I got a lot of them I suppose. It sort of is, a day in the life. So I don't really think about it that much. But off the top of my head, I think going to another bands hotel while your on the road getting drunk & forgetting exactly where you are & passing out in the lobby in someone else's hotel & not knowing where your one is, shit like that

So you have made such a huge impression on so many people's life's it overwhelms me, I can only imagine how you would feel about that

Slash: That's the part that, well I know that Rockin roll & all the hero's that I have & what it meant to me & what it still means to me. The fact that I have that kind of effect on certain people is a little overwhelming you know, so it's very humbling & I try not to you walk around going 'oh' you know, so it's not so bad paying much attention to, but at the same time I meet people out & about & then they say things like you made me pick up my first guitar or something. It's you know, it's obviously  very encouraging & very gratifying

So now I have a few questions for you from fans thru the fan pages

What is the biggest problem for you while your on tour

Slash: Biggest problem for me on tour, I don't really have one. I can't think of a set problem on the road, I use to have a lot of issues. That I haven't had one recent, so it's been pretty smooth sailing

Who's your favourite band at the moment

Slash: Well lets see, I mean now were on tour it depends. It could be anyone at any given moment, the coolest live band right now is Slayer for sure

Who is your favourite guitarist

Slash: I have a lot of favourite guitar players, from Jeff Beck to Joe Walsh, Jimmy Hendrix & Jimmy Page & Keith Richards. I mean I could go on all day, we were talking about the Cars just got back together & Elliot Easton is one of my favourite guitar players from way back most people probably wouldn't even know who he is. But he's a great guitar player, so there's a lot of them. I think probably hands down BB King's my favourite guitar player to listen to on a regular basis

So if you never picked up a guitar & didn't become a Rockstar what do you think you would be doing now

Slash: Something having to do with art you know probably illustration of some sort, animation & so on

Have you ever been Starstruck while meeting someone famous

Slash: I got Starstruck the other day meeting Bob Irwin. I get Starstruck pretty easy! And I saw my friend Josh from Queens the other day & I got Starstruck seeing him like cause I haven't seen him in a while, he's friggen awesome

What would you say is you greatest accomplishment in your life up to now

Slash: Just keeping it all going you know. The fact that I managed to go from one extreme to the other & keep music, you know. Sort of keeping a life within myself, to be able to stay out there & to actually juggle a Wife & two kids & all that kind of stuff & still love it as much as I do, probably more so now, than when I first started so that's all a major accomplishment

Who would be you all time top 5 people to have dinner with alive or dead

Slash: Dinner just sounds to formal, of all things dinner would be the last thing that I would do,

Partying or maybe a bar or something Else

Slash: I think probably Keith Moon, I think he & I could really tear it up!

Interview by Sandra Bailey