Slash: What I've Learned

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I never want to draw attention to myself, but that's all I do.

There are people who have an image of me as being rude and inconsiderate. But I'm completely the opposite, because I was raised not to be. I might have been tripping over myself drunk, but I was always courteous.

Guitars are like women. You'll never get them totally right.

Risk isn't a word in my vocabulary. It's my very existence.

I'm intimidated by singing. I can carry a tune and I can cover a melody, but I just hate expressing myself verbally — especially in the form of a song — to the point that I don't even like to hum to myself.

Axl and I came from completely different backgrounds. Because of that we made an interesting pair trying to figure each other out.

Between the Beatles and the Stones, my dad liked the Stones, so there was definitely an innate gene that I got from him.

When I was a kid, I got jobs so I could get cigarettes, beer, and something at the A&P. That's how I see money. It's never been a motivating factor.

Being told no was the big thing ever since I can remember. And that was always getting in the way of creativity.

I used to think Les Paul was a guitar. I didn't know he was a real guy. When I got to know him, I found out that if you're really obsessed, he was the guy you'd want to be like. He was always trying to find an answer for what he was looking for in his mind. If things didn't exist, he built them himself. He single-handedly created what I consider "popular music."

It's a constant quest to find that harmony, to connect with it, where everything that you want to come out of it comes out. Those moments are rare, but they're like drugs: Once you get going on it, you're constantly jonesing for it.

When I see footage of Guns N' Roses, I see that fucking hunger and attitude. You could not fuck with those five guys. It was just raw. It was this lean, hungry thing on its way up. It was as sincere as any rock 'n' roll that I've ever heard, and I'm proud of that.

It's not something you can find. There's a moment you arrive at — there's no words for it. A bunch of people come together at this place where a note hits your heart and your brain tells your finger where to go. It's an otherworldly thing, like when a painter gets the right combination of colors together.

If I could hang out with Jimi Hendrix, it wouldn't be over dinner.

Musicians never actually talk about music.

Heroin is a great fucking drug, but it's evil.

I had my chemically induced overdoses and alcohol poisoning and all that. I would just keep pushing it and pushing it. I had absolutely no fear of not waking up. But ultimately the clarity seeps through. If I'm going to be here, then I'm going to have to be able to do what it is I'm here to do.

My grandmother was really the last person to call me Saul. The people who call me Saul are fans who want to have that personal connection. I'm not sure what the psychology behind that is. But I'm assuming they want to get beyond Slash.

It's not like I'm Brad Pitt, but I get recognized pretty regularly. The other night I went to see a friend of mine play. When I arrived, there was just too much attention. The hardest thing about being a rock star is not being a rock star.

The split between Axl and I was a quiet one. But because there was so much attention on the breakup — and are we going to get back together? — it got built up into this monster that led to a kind of animosity that wasn't the focus for me. Neither one of us wants to be down each other's throats for no reason. At this point, I'm trying to put it to rest. So I try to avoid the subject.

When it comes down to it, I like being with one person that I'm comfortable with and who it means something with. But I have no complaints about some of the experiences I've had.

I don't know if that giraffe was trying to kiss me. But it was an experience. Have you ever seen a giraffe's tongue? It's about two feet long.

It's par for the course for me to find the one girl that is the most exciting, outspoken, and flamboyant — the most crazy. You just have to meet my wife.

Guitar is the best form of self-expression I know. Everything else, and I'm just sort of tripping around, trying to figure my way through life.

No interest. I don't tell my kids about those days. One is seven. The other is nine. One is really into his skateboard. I look at him and see myself, and I'm like, "Just do it, man!"

Slash 2012 tour dates

Almost there ...

Duff McKagan Performs 2 Songs with GN'R in Vancouver

Duff McKagan joined the latest version of GN'R on stage last night (Saturday, December 17) at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to perform two GN'R classics from Use Your Illusion II: "You Could Be Mine" and "Civil War."

Duff also performed "You Could Be Mine" with GN'R on Friday at the Key Arena in Seattle.

Duff's band Loaded opened for GN'R at both the Seattle and Vancouver shows.

McKagan tweeted earlier today, "Thanks, Axl Rose. My friend..... A really great couple of nights. Thank you Seattle and Vancouver. And... good fuckin night!"

Duff McKagan Joins GN'R on Stage in Seattle

Last night, at the KeyArena in Seattle, former GN'R bassist Duff McKagan joined Axl Rose and the latest incarnation of Guns N' Roses on stage for a rendition of the 1991 smash hit "You Could Be Mine."

McKagan made worldwide headlines in October 2010 when he joined GN'R onstage for four songs at a concert in London, England, marking the first time he had shared a stage with Axl Rose in 17 years.

1000 miles to the South, on The Sunset Strip, Matt Sorum, Steven Adler and Gilby Clarke shared the stage of The Roxy playing as Camp Freddy.

Guns N' Rose will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next April in Cleveland, prompting speculation about whether the event could lead to a reunion of the band's original lineup.

Axl Rose's Guns N' Roses with Duff McKagan's Loaded will play again tonight in Vancouver, British Columbia

New GN'R Website Coming Soon

http://www.gunsnroses.com/

Duff McKagan reluctant to open for Guns N' Roses

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After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed a few days ago that former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan's band Loaded will open two shows for the latest version of GN'R on that band's current North American tour. Loaded will warm up for GN'R on December 16 at the Key Arena in Seattle and December 17 at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

In the latest installment of his column, McKagan stated about the prospect of opening for his old band, "I was somehow reluctant at first to do this. I love that dude (Axl) but wanted to sort of stay out of the fray, especially after that whirlwind tour of the world we had just done. AND that damn book tour.

But this fray is only a fray if I let it be. And now I am actually pretty excited to see my old pal. His band is the nicest bunch of fellas, and I will be home after all. The KeyArena will be rocking tomorrow night . . . and I hope you all show up.

After all, it is just some dudes doing what they know how to do best: connect with the audience, that fan-ship that has honored us with their presence for so damn long. And THAT, my friends . . . is overwhelming."

McKagan made worldwide headlines in October 2010 when he joined GN'R onstage for four songs at a concert in London, England, marking the first time he had set foot on a stage with Axl Rose in 17 years.

Guns N' Roses will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next April in Cleveland, prompting speculation about whether the event could lead to a reunion of the band's original lineup.

McKagan admitted last month in an interview that he had a hard time imaging such a possibility, saying, "I can't. I can't picture it. Your guess is as good as mine. There is no picture."

In his latest SeattleWeekly.com column, McKagan addressed the upcoming induction, writing, "Music to me has never been a competitive sport. We do what we do, and if you connect with an audience and write the songs that feel good to you in the process, that is reward enough. Getting a Grammy or an American Music Award seems a little bit weird in this whole context. I mean, are you BETTER than all those other bands? No. You are just doing YOUR thing, and they theirs. It's not a competition.

But it became very apparent to me that fans of GN'R felt very motivated for our band to 'get into the Hall.' All of those fans ARE very important to me, and thus getting this Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nod was a victory for them. And so I am deeply honored and feel very good about this whole deal. Thank you all.

I spent a lot of time revisiting my past in the book I just wrote. Living in the past, or just revisiting it, is something I hadn't done until I was in the process of writing that book. The process became personally poignant in how much I appreciated and loved most of the characters in my past, especially the guys in that little band from Hollywood that we formed just after I moved there in 1984.

I've done my best to avoid doing any interviews that pertain to our induction, and maybe this column will serve as all I really need to say for now. I am a grown-up now, and hope that we can achieve some grace and class when that ceremony comes. But in the end, I am only responsible for myself."

Rose was ambivalent in a recent interview about the Hall Of Fame, and told Billboard.com in 2009 that he could never see himself playing with original Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash again, saying, "One of the two of us will die before a reunion. However sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is."

Guns N' Roses Reunion Timeline here. Discuss this article with other Guns N' Roses fans here.

Matt Sorum On The Last Days Of Guns N' Roses

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Matt Sorum was interviewed last week on Sydney, Australia's Triple M radio station when he was in town for the Hard Rock Café opening down in Darling Harbour, a locality of the city center of Sydney.

When asked what the final straw was that broke up the creative partnership between GN'R lead singer and guitarist Slash, Matt said, "The very, very end of it was us trying to make this record [that became Chinese Democracy] that came out 15, 16, 17 years later. There was a certain style of music that… Axl was always trying to push the envelope. Even with Use Your Illusion I and II, we moved forward and people always go back to Appetite for Destruction. But if you look at Use Your Illusion, it was more of an epic kind of undertaking. Axl, in his mind, would want it to be this epic, stadium, worldwide-renowned supergroup, and he looked at bands like Queen and Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones as, sort of, the benchmark for that. So we created these opuses, these epic numbers like 'November Rain', to really, sort of, become this bigger thing. When we went into the next particular record, Axl really wanted to take it to another level, he wanted to experiment with electronics and stuff like that, and we were like, 'Oooh… Now we're getting into a little bit of a gray area.' He was really into Nine Inch Nails, and we were starting to get a little bit uncomfortable with the musical direction. And at that point, we had written a bunch of songs that were more like Appetite For Destruction — stripped down, raw rock and roll; we almost wanted to go back to our roots. But Axl was really pushing to go someplace else. [He] was so obsessed with where the music was going. And I remember it was [after] about four or five years of rehearsals, and Axl came in and said, 'I think we've got one good verse.' [Laughs] And we all looked at each other. And at that point, me and Slash had written a bunch of songs together, which became the first Slash's Snakepit album. Slash said, 'Matt, let's just go do a tour and make a record.' 'Cause Slash said, 'Axl doesn't like the songs.' So we made a record, we put it out, and Slash went on tour. And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

He continued, "In retrospect, Slash was out doing a bunch of stuff. If the band would have stepped closer together, maybe we could have figured out what to do, but we were starting to divide; there were solo projects going on, me and Duff did Neurotic Outsiders. But we were all sort of frustrated; we couldn't get moving again. They had a bit of a blowout, and I was there, sitting right there on the couch, and I listened to them going through this whole shenanigans. And that was it. And it was over. It was horrible. And then after Slash left, I was in rehearsals — me and Duff were sticking around, trying to figure out how to do it — and I just said, 'We need to get Slash back,' and Axl said, 'No, I don't think so.' And at that point I was out. And then I went home and I drank heavily with this band called Candlebox who was living at my house at the time. I remember I came home, I stopped by a liquor store and I walked in and I said, 'Axl just fired me, and I think this time it's for real.' [Laughs] 'Cause he had fired me many times before, and he used to call me, too, and say it like this: [imitating Axl's screeching voice] 'You're fired' in that classic voice. It was awesome. I wish I had it on tape. It was killer. But he would call back and go, 'See you at rehearsal tomorrow?' [Laughs]"