Hot Press meets Slash

Slash is not one for resting on his laurels. As well as his successful solo career he’s been busy lending his signature guitar riffs to an assortment of folk, including pop queen Rihanna, mentoring Rock Week on American Idol, tending to duties as a board member of Los Angeles Zoo and running his movie company, Slasher Films.

All topics are up for discussion as HP meets the rock god in his Olympia, Dublin dressing-room in advance of two sold-out shows. By way of breaking the ice we arrive with two gifts, a copy of Philomena Lynott’s memoir My Boy and Marcus Connaghton’s recent tome on Rory Gallagher.
‘Hey, thanks!” he enthuses. “Philomena is coming to both shows actually! As for Rory... I tweeted about his birthday last week.
“I always thought of Rory as really underrated,” he adds, flicking though the autobiography. “I played with him in LA, I think it was ’89 or ‘90. That was huge for me. He was such a sweetheart, I didn’t even know he knew who I was. He called me up on stage and then we went out and just drank all night and played guitar. It was amazing. It was so sad and unexpected when all of a sudden he was gone. I had no idea anything was wrong.”
Returning to matters at hand, by the time we sit down to chat, many social networking sites are aflame with the news that Slash has brought a certain chum to town with him. One Charlie Sheen.
“Yeah, he flew over yesterday,” says Slash. “He loves ‘Rocket Queen’. So he flew all the way out with some friends of his to watch us do our show and play that song!”
Guns N’ Roses were inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame this year – Axl was a no-show, quelle surprise! What does the induction mean to Slash?
“I don’t know…” he says, slightly uncomfortable. “Guns N’ Roses in its heyday, when it was the original members that did Appetite For Destruction, it was the coolest fucking thing and I’m very proud to have been a part of that. I love the crazy fucked-up band that we were and that we achieved what we did without making any concessions to this industry or to popular or contemporary culture. We were the dark horse doing things our own way. We had attitude and it was very fuckin’ rock ‘n’ roll. I’m very proud we made one of those records, the ones so many people have in their collections.
“I never paid attention to the Hall of Fame. It was Robbie Robertson who made me aware that we were going to be eligible,” he adds. “ When I heard we were nominated and then going to be inducted, I thought, ‘Fuck, now how do we do this?!’ When it really came down to it, in the moment, it was very special. It was a great feeling to be up there with all the other inductees likehe Stones and Zeppelin and AC/DC.”
At the Olympia the Guns songs receive the more raucous response but the solo material holds its own too. Slash is obviously enthused about the current band, helmed by Alterbridge vocalist Myles Kennedy. “It really came out of nowhere,” he smiles. “I was looking for musicians for my record. Myles came
along and the rest of the guys and now it’s a really solid band.”
Unlike his first solo outing, which featured a star-studded cast of singers including Black Eyed Pea Fergie, Kid Rock and Iggy Pop, the current release sees Kennedy take care of vocal duties throughout. Was the guest singer approach too difficult to undertake again?
“Well, that was always going to be just a one-off,” he states. “Duff says I’d been talking about it for a long time. I’ve done so many sessions and played on other people’s records. I wanted to do a record where I had people coming to me! In theory it did seem an impossible task. For some strange reason though it was the easiest record to make. The stars must have aligned! It was a really amazing experience to work with all those different artists. Everyone was great. I’d been dealing with really difficult people over the previous decade or more (laughs) and, here, everybody was just wonderful.”
Outside of his own projects Slash has worked with many of the greats, including Michael Jackson.
“Michael was great. I’m honoured to have had the chance to collaborate with him. He was one of those really great talents, just fucking amazing. Working with him, you saw what a natural, God-given gift he had. It was so sad because, from the last time I worked with him up until he passed away, he was so ostracised. Now all the people have come out of the woodwork saying, ‘We loved Michael', and it’s like, ‘Where were you during that period?’ I felt for him because he had a miserable time.”
Continuing in a pop vein, Slash also lent his axe skills to Rihanna’s ‘Rockstar 101’.
“I love Rihanna, she’s a doll,” he smiles. “She asked me to play on her record. I didn’t know she was such a big rock ‘n’ roll fan. A year later she called me up out of the blue to tell me she had this song but it needed to be done by the next day! So I had to jump through hoops to get it done. When it came out it was so overproduced you wouldn’t even know I’m on it! (Laughs) It could be anybody playing those parts!”
Another project Slash took time out for was American Idol. “I never watched American Idol. I was sort of against the concept. I actually went over there to check Adam Lambert out because someone said you’ve got to see this guy! I saw him do a Johnny Cash song and thought he was amazing. While I was there they sort of nabbed me for their show. They said I could do it whatever way I wanted. I did the rock mentorship. It was an interesting experience. I would never do it again, though. I don’t like talent shows.”
Also jostling for room in his already jammed schedule is Los Angeles Zoo where the avid animal lover serves as a member of the board, alongside former Golden Girl Betty White, of all people. The odd couple have appeared on many advertisements for the zoo together.
“I played her 82nd birthday a couple of years ago, I love Betty!” he enthuses. “I would like to have known her when she was 23 or 24. That would have been a gas. She’s a firecracker, especially for her age. She’s unbelievably sharp. You don’t fuck with her either. She’s a tough little cookie but really sweet.”
And as for the day job, any new material?
“Yeah, we’re recording at each soundcheck. There’s a tonne of stuff. I’m really excited to go to the next level with these guys. It’s such a great band.”
Are the new songs following any particular creative direction?
“I don’t have a direction. I just do what I do!”
Amen sir!

Apocalyptic Love is out now.