Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Mikkamakka

I guess it's a Slash guitar nerds exclusive
I tried to pick out the most interesting stuff.

Slash: 'You Can't Always Get Two Guys With Two Different Guitars to Do Something Unique'

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/intervie … nique.html

Michael Baskette had other ideas about guitar?

When I talked to him, he was very, very passionate about guitar tones and amps and getting a real, honest guitar sound. Whatever it was, the conversation was very inspiring. We went from there and it turned out that working with him was a really great move and it was something that must have been in the cards or something. 'Cause I really enjoyed working with him. A lot of guys when I go in the studio think well - I never even realized what they meant until recently - "Just do your thing. You're Slash."

They tend to default to you and what they believe you must know?

You're going, "No, I sort of could use a little support from the technician side of things so I know what's coming out of my amp is what I'm gonna hear coming through the monitors 'cause there's a lot of stuff in-between," hah hah hah. "There are microphones, cables and a whole console and EQs" and so on and so forth. And they think I just come in as is and it's all perfect and I just record it and that's about as much effort as they want to put into it. So Mike was great because he was really conscientious about getting what it was that I wanted, which freed me up to feel comfortable pushing to get the sounds I wanted. Even where my breaking point is for patience in the studio, Mike would carry it one step further, hah hah hah.

How would he do that?

I would find him in the control room with my guitar on - the first time I saw that freaked me out - and he would be tweaking his EQs. We had the amp sound and all that and he would be so diligently tweaking his EQs for hours getting the s - t right. That's way above and beyond my patience level so I really appreciated it.

You mentioned earlier Myles Kennedy is not playing any guitars on this album. Why?

When it comes to guitars, I know this is gonna sound crazy but I never intended to be in a two-guitar band. When Guns N' Roses came together, Izzy was already in it and he was already very tight with Axl and that's the way it went. It was fine. He and I had a certain unique double-guitar kind of thing. I wouldn't say the approach was unique but the way it sounded and the contrast between our guitar sounds was unique. It turned out to be a really cool double-guitar kind of thing. But since I've been working with Izzy, I only like two guitars for live.

Which is why Myles plays guitar for all the live shows.

In the studio, I'm not looking for somebody to bounce ideas off of. You can't always get two guys with two different guitars to do something noticeably unique. You can do harmonies and play off of each other but to have the kind of chemistry Izzy and I had, you don't know if you're ever gonna find that again.

Myles did play guitar on "Apocalyptic Love."

When I'm working with Myles in the studio, he is a great guitar player. He and I have a good rapport but he doesn't really wanna play guitar. He wants to sing. So when we did the last record, there was a lot of pressure on him because he was out with Alter Bridge and he came into the studio when we were actually recording. So he had to learn all the guitars really fast and then he had to write all the lyrics. Or finish writing the lyrics and get the vocals done within a certain time frame.

So on this record it was a pretty easy decision in just having Myles do vocals?

Yeah, on this record he was like, "I'd really rather do vocals and not have to worry about learning all the guitar parts and coming up with whatever needs to be done here." I was like, "Cool. I'll do all the guitars" because then I can focus on everything I'm hearing two guitars to do and the harmonies and the different rhythmic things. I know exactly what they are and I can make it sound very cohesive.

You know exactly what this Slash guy will play, right?

As opposed to trying to make it like two guitars where, "Oh, this guy plays this way and this guy plays that way" [laughs]. It's just impossible to do because you play like how you play. But you can change your tone a little bit and you can do different chord voicings and some real different rhythms and you know exactly what they are. So to me it works out well.

The guitar parts on "World on Fire" were amazing.

It's one of the things I always liked about Jimmy Page was his producing and the way he did the two guitars just worked. You just get into that guitar zone and you get ideas and you can execute them and you're not necessarily teaching them to another guy.

Even if you had a second guitar player, that person would be playing your ideas anyway.

Myles is such an incredible guitar player and he teaches me stuff. I'll see him doing stuff because he's obviously way more schooled and I'll be like, "What the f--k is that?" and it's some crazy a-s pattern and he'll show it to me. I'm like, "Wow, that's neat." But when it comes to what we're doing as a band, he's very much more focused on his vocals than he is on the guitar.

Also, Myles plays guitar in Alter Bridge so not having him play guitar with you changes things up.

Yeah, he does. Also when I write stuff and I send it to him, if he hears anything he can always put it on guitar and he'll show me what the basic is that he was thinking. So we definitely work from two-guitar ideas.

The guitar riff on "Wicked Stone" had such a great feel. Does your right hand instantly lock into that groove?

I appreciate the compliment but I don't know good it is. I appreciate that. That particular song, that two-string high riff is playing a double of the riff. That was originally the riff in the first place and then the lower one came after that. I used that style a lot when I'm playing solos. We do the stretched out version of "Rocket Queen" and I notice when I'm improvising, I'll fall into using that two-string kind of riffy thing. I think it is a rhythmic thing that just comes natural and in the pocket it just feels good. But maybe that's from years of jamming but I like that rhythmic style.

The solo on "Wicked Stone" was also very cool. Again it comes out of that rhythmic thing and then begins with that descending line. Is that all in the moment?

It's all in the moment but I'll tell you something. For me a guitar solo is only supposed to be a part of the song. It's not supposed to be a guitar pyrotechnics showcase. When you're doing it, you're really in the framework and the body of the song. The first notes you hit and the first things you go for are really what you hear in that context. Usually the solo is something that presents itself in the first rehearsal. You get to the solo section part and you've sort of figured out what chord changes are gonna underneath and then you just go for it. And nine times out of ten that first approach is pretty much the way it's gonna go.

What you're talking about is the difference between a good solo and a great one?

I can do a good solo in the first three takes give or take notes here and there or the structure of the solo. It's gonna be basically the same. Mike would make me do those first three or four takes and then make me come back and do it again. You get to a point and you do three or four takes and your inspiration is gone and then you just d-ck around for another couple of takes and you know you're gonna go back to the first two.

But Mike wouldn't allow you to stop there?

He would push me doing it beyond that where I wanted to kill him. And then the inspiration would come back and new notes would pop out of it. The structure would stay the same but newer ideas out of frustration or whatever it was would all of a sudden come in there. All of a sudden you have something that was better than the first take. I think when you get into your comfort zone, you have to get past your comfort zone.

That is a really hard leap to make.

Like, "OK, I know how the solo goes. I've played it 80 times in rehearsal and this is basically it. This is how I've been doing it and that's fine." He would get me to push it beyond that so that new s - t came into it that I hadn't done when I was at rehearsal. I think he was just learning me so he was just taking me out of my comfort zone.

You're playing slide on "30 Years to Life"?

That's the Melody Maker. I play slide out of necessity. If I hear a slide idea then I will focus on it but I'm not a slide player. There are some guys who are amazing slide players and it's really what they do. I always find slide to be one of those things when I do it it just sounds like me trying to be like those guys. But sometimes there's an idea where it really calls for slide and it's more the texture of the song. It's not about my slide technique so to speak or slide solo technique. I don't think I've done a slide solo in a long time but I like it for certain things and if I'm gonna use it I'll sit down and focus on it and make sure I get it together and then do it.

"Stone Blind" is a big rock song that sounds nothing like Guns N'Roses and yet it's instantly recognizable as the guitarist from GN'R. Does that make sense?

I get what you're trying to say and I assume that's flattering.

Absolutely.

I'm basically a riff guy and I have a certain sort of way of playing guitar I suppose. There's not a lot of guys that do that right now.

After you've written the music and then give the song to Myles for lyrics and melodies, how do you feel when you finally hear the song completed?

Really 'cause you're starting with nothing, right? OK, you have a guitar idea but to have the other things that come with it like the right drum beat or right bass line or right vocal, you can work with people and that can never happen. You know what I mean?

I do.

I've been in situations with people like that and it's not anybody's fault. It's just one's not inspiring the other and the ideas aren't coming because it's just not happening. But with Myles, Brent and Todd, it's like every time no matter what it is I come up with if it's good enough in my mind to show to them, I'd say nine times out of ten Myles comes up with a melody. There's a lot of different songs on this record that in a normal, straightahead rock band wouldn't normally work. They would hear it and go, "I don't know what to do with that but this one I do." But these guys seem to mold to whatever I come up with especially Myles. 'Cause I can play some pretty sort of left-field sh-t at him, hah hah, and he'll go, "Oh, yeah."

What makes this record so great are the less obvious songs like "Battleground? And "The Unholy."

I'm really excited about this record. We managed to do something on "Apocalyptic Love" and I listened to it for the first time in ages recently. It's a cool record but we were just scratching the surface. Now I think we've got a stride and all things considered I'm excited to get it out and do this tour and expand on these songs and see how they evolve live. Then at the same time write the next one.

Smoking Guns

I read the whole thing at MyGNRforum. Wow!!! Awesome insight!

metallex78

Great interview!

Smoking Guns

He said after Izzy he only saw him self as a one guitar band. Something tells me though he likes Kushner as a person, he prefers to so all the guitars in the studio but let another guy play live

FlashFlood

Ya that was really intriguing to me. I don't know why he is so adverse to recording with an additional guitarist. You can certainly see why, then, he would be so upset about Axl bringing in Huge, Wylde, etc.

Personally, I think it really shows that Slash does all the guitars on his albums...but not in the most positive ways. The rhythm work is generally bland and I think having a strong supporting contributor would be good for him.

I just don't understand how it hurts. I'm not saying you need 3 guitarists and 2 keyboardists smile but I think it could certainly help his writing to add another dimension.

Smoking Guns

He did say he liked playing with Myles! But that it was too much for Myles to do both guitar and singing. He had high praise for Myles as a player.

FlashFlood

It's not that he doesnt like playing with other guitarists, he doesn't like to write/record with them.

Slash is an iconic guitar player but I think he should be a little more open to colaboration outside of "I write guitar riffs and you write the lyrics."

Mikkamakka

FlashFlood wrote:

Ya that was really intriguing to me. I don't know why he is so adverse to recording with an additional guitarist. You can certainly see why, then, he would be so upset about Axl bringing in Huge, Wylde, etc.
Personally, I think it really shows that Slash does all the guitars on his albums...but not in the most positive ways. The rhythm work is generally bland and I think having a strong supporting contributor would be good for him.
I just don't understand how it hurts. I'm not saying you need 3 guitarists and 2 keyboardists but I think it could certainly help his writing to add another dimension.

I think that Slash and Gilby made an awesome guitar duo on the first Snakepit record. AFD-level awesome, really. Then Myles was also a good rhythm player for him, cause he played those weird chords under Slash's heavy riffing on AL. It was very interesting, although I prefer the AFD & 5 O'clock type of work, where both played interesting licks all over the songs.

So it's very disrespectful from Slash to say these things. I'm not even sure if he believes it, or it's just his usual "tell the world why it is the best how we did this last record" approach. I agree that he needs a great second guitarist who inspires and supports him and helps to make the sound complete.

FlashFlood

Right, and he's basically bitching about the producer pushing him too. I can picture him being annoying to work with in that regard. But hey, they guy has earned the right to have an ego and the right to run his own show, so more power to him I guess.

Smoking Guns

Well, no excuses now.. It is all on Slash. Can't blame anyone for the guitar stuff.

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

Re: Detailed Slash interview by Ultimate Guitar

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