2019.02.19 - Folha de S.Paulo - Interview with Slash

Original article in Portuguese:

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/2019/02/slash-rockstar-excentrico-afirma-que-rock-perdeu-terreno-mas-nao-esta-morto.shtml

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Slash, eccentric rockstar, claims that rock has lost ground, but is not dead

The guitarist is coming to Brazil in May for eight shows with the Conspirators

By Thiago Ney

He may be in many places, but his name always stands out. It doesn't matter if it's Guns N' Roses, the extinct Velvet Revolver and Snakepit or the current Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators —Slash is almost always greater than the sum of all the other parts of a band.

The 53-year-old guitarist who became known for creating historic riffs in Guns N' Roses in the late 1980s ("Paradise City", "You Could Be Mine", "Sweet Child O' Mine", "November Rain", for stay in the most famous) returns to Brazil in May and June for shows in eight cities.

He will come with the group Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. It is already one of the artist's longest-running projects. They released their first album in 2012; recently, the third one, "Living the Dream", came out.

"Different bands or groups of different people are very different from each other. There are no similarities", says the guitarist when asked about the peculiarities of the bands he has been in. "The personalities are different, the way they play is different, and even though it's all rock 'n' roll and groups of five, they're unique things."

Slash and the Conspirators' third album was recorded in early 2018. "We were on a break between tour legs and did pre-production and production for the album." The tour in question was "Not in this Lifetime", a gigantic series of shows that marked the reunion of three members of the most famous Guns N' Roses lineup: Axl Rose, Duff McKagan and Slash. They hadn't stepped on the same stage together since 1993.

The series of shows began in April 2016 and ran until December last year. He passed through Brazil twice (in November 2016 and September 2017). Slash declined to make comments related to Guns N' Roses, but he has already said in interviews that the band has new songs and may release an album soon — according to Guns N' Roses' relationship with time, this "soon" could mean from July 2019 to December 2030.

"I do what comes naturally to me, but at the same time, different aspects of my work work in different ways in bands. It's hard to explain. I compose and see if it works. If it doesn't, I write something different," says the guitarist about the composition process.

"And maybe what didn't work for one might work for the other. So you kind of adapt in relation to them."

It could be Guns, it could be Velvet Revolver, it could be Conspirators: something that doesn't change when we listen to a Slash band is a certain California rock, sunny, traditionalist spirit.

"I never thought about it, but it's possible. Almost every record I've made has been recorded in California, but I don't know if that applies to all of them."

In addition to his clear talent as a guitarist, Slash is a figure who personifies the rockstar who has an eccentric and dangerous lifestyle. He is fascinated by snakes, always wears a black top hat, and doesn't take portraits without holding a bottle of Jack Daniels. On stage, he loves to play shirtless and with a cigarette in his mouth. It's almost as if we were asking: what is rock and roll? One of the possible answers would be: Slash.

Because of who he is, he's not very happy when he talks about the current moment in rock, which has increasingly lost its audience to genres like rap, funk and R&B.

"I think rock is definitely no longer in control in terms of commercial viability. And this has been happening for some time," says the guitarist. "But things are what they are. There will always be changes in the music industry. But rock is not dead by any means."

Could it be a generational issue? Have younger people simply lost interest in rock?

"In some ways, yes. But I'm realizing that there are a lot of kids picking up guitars and that they're dying to learn how to play rock and roll, even more than I used to see. And it seems to me that they're doing it for the right reasons. So, I think a new generation is coming. Let's see what happens."

Slash is one of those musicians who seem to be on an endless tour, always playing in different parts of the world. What do you listen to, see and read when you have some free time?

"Well, I hear some things in passing, people give me albums as gifts, I listen to the radio, I come across new music here and there", he says. “I try to stay up to date with what’s going on.”

"With cinema, it's more difficult. I like horror films, and the last one I watched and liked was 'Hereditary'. 'A Quiet Place' is good; the remake of 'It' was great. There's a cool batch of new series on Netflix and Amazon Prime", he says.

"I'm reading a great book about the Altamont festival [held in 1969 in California with bands like the Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane and which ended with a woman stabbed to death and three other deaths], which was recently given to me. I don't remember the name by the author. And there is also another book about the Russian mafia."

GREAT ROCK RIFFS ACCORDING TO SLASH

‘Black Dog’, by Led Zeppelin

‘Back in the Saddle’ by Aerosmith

‘Walk This Way’ by Aerosmith

‘Hello There’ by Cheap Trick

‘Rock Bottom’ by UFO

'One of Dave Grohl's latest album, but I can't remember the name of the song'