- 2 days ago
Slash from Guns N' Roses joins us for an Audacy Check In to talk about the band's upcoming World Tour, their new music, and hopes to get back in the studio for a new project.
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00:00We've already written a ton of shit, so we just have to get together and actually, you know,
00:05get into the process of going through all the material and figuring out what the songs
00:10are going to be and recording them and all that kind of shit.
00:12And so that's something that's pending, is probably going to be
00:15going to happen sooner than later.
00:20Dave Cannon joined by Slash.
00:21It's always an exciting day for me when I get to talk to you, Slash.
00:25I'm so excited.
00:27So I debuted nothing the day.
00:30And I immediately played it a second time on the radio back to back.
00:35Because I said, this is a song that gets better every time you hear it.
00:39And it's...
00:40It's my favorite song right now.
00:41And it's been out, I don't know, it's been out for a while now.
00:43So I'm so excited about...
00:45The new Guns N' Roses songs, Nothing in Atlas.
00:48Cool.
00:48I am too.
00:49I was like, we're excited.
00:50I'm excited to play them because we're actually planning on releasing these.
00:55I guess it was about a year and a half ago or something, but we weren't doing...
01:00We were doing a U.S. tour at the time.
01:01So we rehearsed the songs and they sounded great.
01:05Live and everything, but we didn't end up releasing the two songs.
01:08So we didn't play them in the set.
01:09So we're...
01:10We're really sort of anxious to do it now.
01:11We're really looking forward to doing it.
01:13But I dig those two songs.
01:15Out of all the songs that we've done from the Chinese democracy era, I find these...
01:20I mean, I love Hard School and The General, but these two are...
01:25They're really exciting to me.
01:26They're fun to play and maybe it's just because they're new.
01:28I don't know, but...
01:30Is there going to be an actual new gun...
01:35Where you, Duff, and Axl get into a studio and write an entire new album?
01:39We only...
01:40We've already written a ton of shit, so we just have to get together and actually get...
01:45Get into the process of going through all the material and figuring out what the songs are going to be.
01:50And recording them and all that kind of shit.
01:52And so that's something that's pending is probably going to happen.
01:55Sooner than later, because we've gotten all this other stuff out and we've been touring for...
02:00Pretty much the better part of the decade and so we've been wanting to do this.
02:05It's just a matter of buckling down.
02:06When is that going to happen?
02:07Or are we like, okay, no other distractions.
02:10Because we're just going to do this.
02:11Anyway, but it's coming.
02:13A huge tour that you're doing...
02:15And can you believe you've been back in Guns N' Roses almost as long as the original run?
02:20Yeah.
02:21I mean, it's...
02:22It's crazy.
02:23It's been 10 years since...
02:25That April Fool's gig that we did at the Troubadour.
02:27It's unbelievable to me.
02:28It went by so quick.
02:29And it is...
02:30It is about this...
02:31I mean, I really joined up with Guns in 1985 and I left in 96.
02:35So it's one year short of as long as I've ever been in the band.
02:39Didn't Exo...
02:40I...
02:41It feels so long ago now.
02:42Didn't he like break his ankle that first show?
02:44First show.
02:45He...
02:45He broke it on a monitor.
02:46Yeah.
02:47Is there anything to do with the remaining shows of that period?
02:50Because remember, initially it was just going to be a handful of shows.
02:53There wasn't going to be this whole long...
02:55thing.
02:56It was just going to be...
02:57The...
02:58A couple of shows which was going to be called
03:00Coachella.
03:01That's what it was.
03:02That was what it was.
03:03We were going to get together for that.
03:04And there was a couple of warm-up dates.
03:05But anyway, so he broke his foot at the Troubadour and all the shows that we had around the Coachella
03:10shows.
03:11I think there was one in Vegas as well.
03:13He had to do...
03:14Sit seated.
03:15Sit seated.
03:16Yeah.
03:17He actually borrowed Dave Grohl's throne, right?
03:20Yeah.
03:20Yeah.
03:21Yeah.
03:22Yeah.
03:23Yeah.
03:24So...
03:25It seems like yesterday.
03:25I was at that first tour.
03:27It was 2016.
03:28I was at Soldier Field in Chicago.
03:30And I was in the pit.
03:31It was one of the great...
03:33That first show back together...
03:35One of the greatest...
03:36Maybe the greatest show I've ever been to.
03:38So much energy, power...
03:40If you haven't seen Guns N' Roses live, I don't know how you guys do this.
03:44You do marathon...
03:45You guys play for two and a half, three hours minimum.
03:48Yeah.
03:49Yeah.
03:50I...
03:50You know what?
03:51The way...
03:52I'll try and make a long story short.
03:54The way that we do it...
03:55Is we have just a lot of material.
03:57So we put together a set list of all the possible...
04:00Songs that we want to do.
04:01And then we have another set list of songs that we'd like to do.
04:04That's called The Alternate.
04:05The Alternative set...
04:06That we mix...
04:07We mix pulling from both.
04:09And so...
04:10We end up playing for three plus hours...
04:12Just because we are enjoying playing...
04:15All this material.
04:16It's not designed...
04:17We...
04:18You know...
04:19We didn't set out to go...
04:20Okay...
04:20We're gonna do three...
04:21At least three...
04:22Three and a half hour sets.
04:23They just sort of evolved that way.
04:25And it's been...
04:25Happening even in the 90s.
04:26We used to do that.
04:27But...
04:28It's where we feel comfortable.
04:29Like we...
04:30We want to play this.
04:31We want to play this.
04:32And we want to play that.
04:33And we just keep doing that until...
04:34All of a sudden...
04:35It's like...
04:36Okay...
04:37We should do Paradise City now...
04:38And get the fuck out of here.
04:40You know...
04:41Covers have always been a major part...
04:43Like if you've never seen Guns N' Roses live...
04:44You've always added...
04:45A lot of covers.
04:46And...
04:47You guys started playing Slither from Velvet Revolver.
04:49And...
04:50And...
04:51I was wondering...
04:52Would you consider...
04:53Because I feel like this song is just perfect for...
04:55Raquel's voice.
04:56Would you guys consider doing fall to pieces...
04:58As the Guns N' Roses cover?
05:00If Axel, you know, I mean, Axel is the one that brought up Slither, which was a huge surprise.
05:05To me, I didn't even know he knew what Slither was.
05:07But, you know, so I was like, yeah, cool.
05:10If he said he wanted to do Fall to Pieces, it would be perfectly fine with me.
05:15But it would have to be him wanting to sing it.
05:18I wouldn't go to him and go, hey, let's do Fall to Pieces.
05:20Fall to Pieces, you know.
05:21Because didn't you and Duff, like, bring some of that Chinese democracy material?
05:25Well, too, Axel, you said, we want to play these songs.
05:27Well, there was a conversation that we had.
05:30At some point, after we got back together, as Axel's had a bunch of...
05:35unreleased material.
05:36So we listened to it and said, we could redo the...
05:40bass and the guitars for this song and this song.
05:42And this one would be cool.
05:43And we ended up doing that.
05:45over time, like, we did a couple songs to begin with.
05:48I think Hard School and Absurd were the first...
05:50two that we did and then a couple more after that.
05:53And this absurd...
05:55I mean, not absurd, Nothing and Atlas were the last two songs.
06:00songs that we did, that everything's been done and these are a lot...
06:05the last two that were left over and yeah, it's been fun because they're all...
06:10really cool songs and it's not like writing it from its inception.
06:15but I still have to write stuff to go over the changes and everything so it's a fun...
06:20kind of a project for me and I think for Duff too, just to...
06:25to come up with new ideas for something that's been pre-recorded.
06:28And I love the solo in Nothing.
06:30And that's one thing you're famous for is your solos are like lyrics.
06:33Like, when I think about...
06:35the November rain solo, like I could sing it.
06:37And that's very rare for a guitar player that I could like...
06:40like people sing...
06:43they... you go to a Guns N' Roses concert...
06:45people are doing that while you're playing the solo.
06:48That doesn't happen with other guitar players.
06:50Well, that's very flattering.
06:53I appreciate that.
06:54But I...
06:55you know, like for Nothing, it was just... that was the solo that...
06:58I mean, it was...
07:00you know, very spontaneous.
07:01This is the solo section and you just play.
07:04And you play...
07:05inspired by the song and by the melody.
07:09And...
07:10and that's what...
07:11that's what came out.
07:12You know, so...
07:13it is supposed to be...
07:14I always thought...
07:15and I think...
07:15ever since I first started playing...
07:17that to me...
07:18a solo wasn't just like...
07:20oh, let's just see...
07:21how much...
07:22you can do with a guitar.
07:23It was always...
07:24another...
07:25vocal approach...
07:27to the actual song.
07:28It should be part of the song.
07:30And so that's the way I've always sort of approached it.
07:33I think about when I was a kid, I used to have...
07:35to walk like a few blocks.
07:36This...
07:37this legendary guitar teacher in Chicago...
07:39Glenn Geraney...
07:40I used to walk to his studio, get guitar lessons.
07:43Do you think there's too much access now?
07:45Like, I...
07:46I go on YouTube now, I could learn anything.
07:48Do you think that actually...
07:49having too much...
07:50do you think it makes it too easy...
07:51and it makes people not want to learn guitar?
07:53You know, I...
07:54I mean...
07:55I don't know...
07:56it's...
07:57it's...
07:58it's awesome that there's such a wealth of...
08:00information out there...
08:01compare...
08:02I mean...
08:03Like Marty Schwartz or someone.
08:04Yeah, yeah.
08:05Marty Schwartz is...
08:06I know...
08:07I know...
08:08I mean, you can learn how to...
08:09I mean...
08:10there are these now that are like...
08:11seven...
08:12I just jammed with a kid...
08:13this kid named Bae...
08:14who...
08:15did America's Got Talent...
08:17at a...
08:18at a gig in New York recently...
08:20and he's amazing...
08:21and he's just turned 11...
08:22you know...
08:23so it's a whole different...
08:24world...
08:25out there...
08:26but I mean...
08:27I love the fact you can access...
08:28so much material...
08:29I mean...
08:30back in the day...
08:30I learned off of a fucking book...
08:31and then just listening to people's records...
08:33and...
08:34Yeah...
08:35stuff...
08:36now you've got apps...
08:37that can slow shit down...
08:38so you can learn everything...
08:39and it's still in key...
08:40so you don't have to change the key...
08:41I mean...
08:42it's wild...
08:43but I think it's...
08:44I think it's healthy...
08:45but regardless...
08:46whether it is or isn't...
08:47it is what it is...
08:48and you have to...
08:49it's all...
08:50it's what you have...
08:51right?
08:52Yeah...
08:53it's...
08:54it's atlas...
08:55it's nothing...
08:56massive...
08:55Guns N' Roses tour...
08:56you said you guys are working on some new material...
08:58slash...
08:59you're my all-time favorite...
09:00so anytime I get to talk to you...
09:02it's...
09:03it's my pleasure...
09:04thank you so much...
09:05for coming on...
09:05and I'm so excited to see you guys...
09:07uh...
09:08thanks for all the kind words...
09:09it's good to see you...
09:10uh...
09:11we'll see you...
09:12pretty soon...
09:13thank you slash...
09:14Cheers...
09:15Thank you...
09:20Thank you...
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