As the Les Paul-wielding, top hat-wearing, cigarette-smoking, shirtless guitarist in the '80's juggernaut Guns N' Roses, Slash became a rock 'n' roll guitar hero. Shying away from the makeup, hairspray, and "how many notes can I play in this solo?" outlook of many contemporaries, Slash instead took his cue from legendary riff masters such as Joe Perry, Angus Young, and Ted Nugent. And it certainly paid off. In the end, it was Saul "Slash" Hudson's great riffs, combined with singer Axl Rose's charismatic presence, that took GN'R to the top of the rock heap.

But selling more than 30 million albums in five years can sometimes have an adverse effect on the interpersonal relationships within a band. After several lineup and musical direction changes, Slash had finally had enough of Axl's antics, and took a hiatus from GN'R to form his own rock 'n' roll wrecking crew, Slash's Snakepit.

In 1995, the Snakepit released its debut, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, to rave reviews but disappointing sales, as a majority of the music world seemed preoccupied with the future status of GN'R. Indeed, half of the original Snakepit band members were GN'R alumni. After touring in support of Five O'Clock, Slash was told by his record company that Axl was ready to make the new Guns record. Despite his misgivings about Axl's state of readiness, Slash returned. But shortly after, he announced his "retirement" from Guns N' Roses, citing irreconcilable artistic differences.

So what's been going on since his GN'R departure? Well, Slash surely hasn't just been resting on his laurels in his posh Beverly Hills home. In fact, he's busier than ever: He just put the finishing touches on his second Snakepit record, Ain't Life Grand, and is about to unleash his new Snakepit lineup on rock audiences in the form of a two-year worldwide tour.

Dale Turner: You've surrounded yourself with all new players on the latest Snakepit record, Ain't Life Grand. Where'd you find such a hotbed of talent?

Slash: I've always played with a lot of other people. If you're immersed in a life that's 24/7 music, you meet musicians. Even in Guns, when we had a day off, I'd pack up my guitar, go to a club, and jam with whomever. You meet tons of great musicians from all genres of music from just going to different gigs and being introduced to different people. So I always play; I just hang out.

When it came to putting Snakepit together the first time, it was more for fun, just to play. At some point during the hiatus between the end of the Guns N' Roses Illusions tour [July 1993] and whenever we started the next Guns record, I hooked up with [bassist] Mike Inez from Alice in Chains. We started playing with Matt [Sorum, drums], whom I already knew from Guns. And that first Snakepit record was composed of ideas that I initially had for the next Guns record, but Axl and I had a falling out over what kind of music would be on the next album. I played a demo of some of my songs for Axl, and he said, "I don't want to do that kind of music." He wanted to do industrial stuff, so I kept playing my songs with my friends-Mike, Gilby [Clarke, guitar], and Matt-and we recorded the first Snakepit record just to have something to do, just to finish something.

After the Snakepit record, Axl and I were in no better shape as far as the relationship was concerned, so I booked a tour. But consequently, Matt was contractually bound to Guns N' Roses, and Mike Inez was supposed to go back to Alice in Chains, so I had to get a whole new rhythm section. I found drummer Brian Tichy and bassist James LoMenzo, and we went on the road. We did 80 shows across four continents in four months.

When it came time to return, Axl and I still couldn't see eye to eye, so I ended up quitting Guns [in late October 1996]. I had to but a band together, but they had to be the right players-people who would consider Snakepit a permanent "day job." So I got Teddy "Zigzag" Andreadis, who played keyboards and harmonica in Guns, and then hooked up with musicians that he knew. That's how I got Johnny [Griparic, bass]. And I kept changing rhythm guitar players, until I was introduced to Ryan Roxie through Alice Cooper. I had also been going through drummers like crazy, until we met Matt Laug playing at the Baked Potato [a legendary jazz/rock club in North Hollywood, Calif.] one night. So we all got together, but we were still looking for a singer. Then Johnny introduced me to Rod Jackson, and we all started writing together. Finally, in July 1999, we went into the studio to do basic tracks.

Dale Turner: Can you talk a bit about the Snakepit Studio, where much of Ain't Life Grand was recorded?

Slash: The only reason that I actually bought this house was because my other home got totaled after the 1994 earthquake. When I fist saw the basement in this house, I was like, "Studio!" It had mirrored walls and one of those disco balls. And upstairs, in my bathroom, there were these drawers with all these chicks' names on them-this house was built in the '20s, and it's been owned by a lot of people. I was like: "Some debauchery went on here! I'll have it!" So we built the studio and recorded all the guitars and vocals here. We did the drums and bass at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles. The whole band lived here-they ate me out of house and home!

Dale Turner: How did the songs on Ain't Life Grand come together? Did you write most of the songs independently and then present them to the band, or were they "jammed out"?

Slash: Every single tune became collaborative, no matter who came to the table with the nucleus of an idea. If it's entirely written out, it's not gonna sound right because the rest of the guys are gonna have to follow your lead. It's more fun to go in as a group and have everybody excited enough about the initial idea to come up with something. And I'd say that out of all the different fortes I might have as a songwriter, I'm usually good with riffs, or a hook, or the next chord change. Somebody else can then expand on it, and that becomes the song. Or, if one of the other guys has something, I can expand on that idea. But I need to play with somebody else to bring out other elements. Otherwise, it would be a very single-minded thing on my part [laughs].

So I pay attention to the guys I'm playing with, and I grow as a musician. Otherwise, as much as I might like to say that I experiment a lot, the music would probably sound the same all the time without he outside influence. On this record, there are pieces of songs written by every single guy. We just had a good time: We listened to Bob Marley, watched porn, and played pool at my house every single day. Then, when we had it together enough to go and jam it into high gear, we'd go downstairs to my studio and record.

Dale Turner: It sounds like you're using some sort of non-traditional slide approach in the "Shine" and "Back to the Moment" solos. What's going on there?

Slash: On "Shine," I'm playing slide with a wah-wah pedal. It's something that people don't usually hear; it sounds pretty cool. I did it on a Les Paul that's set up for slide in regular tuning, with the strings raised high off the frets. The fist solo on "Back to the Moment" is just straight slide on a standard-tuned Les Paul, but I did that with a lighter [instead of a slide]. I ran my Les Paul through a Fender Twin with the reverb up, laid the guitar on my lap and played it like a lap-steel.

Dale Turner: Those blazing ascending and descending lines in "Serial Killer" will likely raise the eyebrows of some players.

Slash: I appreciate the compliment, because I think it's a cool guitar solo. And it was pretty natural for me when we first wrote the song; it just seemed to fit the tune. But I'm really scared of having any opinion made on me by blazing guitar guys, because I know a lot of them. I'm not out to impress anybody [laughs].

Dale Turner: I understand you used to practice 10-12 hours a day.

Slash: Well, "practicing" is one of those words where the connotations aren't necessarily as wide-spanned as what it really means. People think of practicing as just sitting there, running scales, or this and that. But for me, it was just being immersed in the guitar environment.

When I first started playing electric guitar, I had to no idea what I was doing, so I carried it around with me everywhere I went. I quit school and had a full-time job to support it, and I spent all my time just trying to figure out what I was doing. Anytime I heard something, I'd try to learn it. If there was a song-like a certain Bach melody, which I'm still very partial to all these years later-I had to learn it. I'd learn all the bass parts and all the different voices. Or if it was a Jeff Beck thing, I had to learn that. And if I didn't pull it off by the end of the night, I wouldn't sleep. That's typical of me with anything. I have a real addictive personality: I get into something, and I do it to the hilt.

So it was a constant thing; that's where the "12-hour-a-day" thing was born. And it's still sort of like that. I always keep a guitar close by so that if something catches my ear, or an idea comes to me, the guitar's around.

Dale Turner: When Guns N' Roses hit big in the late '80s, your raw energetic guitar style immediately stood out from the highly processed, slick guitar sound common at the time. Growing up in Los Angeles, how did you escape getting caught up in that '80s metal sound?

Slash: I can answer that one easy: When I first started playing, I think the "newest" guitar player that I was into at the time was probably Ted Nugent, and then guys like Rick Nielsen, Angus Young, and Joe Perry. I was also a Jeff Beck fan from day one. Everybody that I listened to was from the "old school."

And when Van Halen came out, it was such a mind-blowing thing-and everybody decided to go there. Within hours of Van Halen first playing at the Starwood, there were 50 guys trying to do that "Eddie Van Halen guitar playing" thing, copping his whole trip. When I saw Van Halen, I was like, "Wow! That's Brilliant!" But I left it at that. I mean, there are a few things in my guitar playing that I probably got from him subconsciously, but not the obvious stuff.

Just pick up that which applies to your own thing, then leave the rest of it alone. I never tried to cop Jimi Hendrix to the point of sounding like Jimi Hendrix because it was "his thing." I appreciate it for what it is, and leave it alone. I thought Yngwie was amazing, too, but I didn't necessarily go there. I just picked up what I thought was related to me from listening to stuff I liked. As a result, I guess I completely missed the whole "L.A. thing."

Dale Turner: You've always had a very "gimmick-free" guitar style. How would you characterize your playing on this record compared to your previous work?

Slash: Well, my style is a lot looser on this record-more impromptu than, say Use Your Illusion and even Appetite for Destruction. Everything I went for was very spontaneous. I never really have a preplanned approach, except I know whether I'm gonna play with a clean tone or do it oversaturated, or if it's gonna be on the rythym pickup or treble. But there's no particular technique that, off the top of my head, I go, "I just invented this!"

I was reading an interview the other day with the guitar player in Rage Against the Machine, Tom Morello. He's got some great ideas, but very specific stuff that he's trying to get. And I was like, "Wow! I wasn't really going for all that." I was just doing what I do. And I realize how articulate some guys can get. Some guys-like Steve Vai-are very specific about what thing, technique-wise, they're working on. I've just never been like that. So when you ask me a specific question, sometimes I have to think about it.

We finished recording the album, mixing it, and mastering it, and I haven't really listened to it since [laughs]. I always leave the room if anybody's listening to it; I've always been like that. I've never listened back to anything after it was recorded and mixed. When something's done, it's done. I don't like to overanalyze something that, when you initially did it, you were there for-you shouldn't go back and start picking it apart. If I'm listening to the radio, and "Civil War," "Paradise City," or "Welcome to the Jungle" comes on, I don't sit there and go, "I could have fixed that!" [Laughs.] But there's always something, you know? You don't have to worry about it all the time. Don't read your interviews, don't check out what you look like in the pictures, and don't analyze your guitar solo if you can help it.

Dale Turner: Because that moment's gone?

Slash: Yeah. It is what it is.

Dale Turner: Didn't the current line up of Guns N' Roses just rerecord Appetite For Destruction?

Slash: I've heard rumors about that. I have no idea whether they did or not. I'm so out of that whole "loop," but I hear stuff trough the grapevine. There was a version of "Sweet Child O' Mine" that came out--everybody for some reason, has covered that song.

Dale Turner: Sheryl Crow just did it on the Big Daddy soundtrack.

Slash: Yeah, and there's another version of "Sweet Child O' Mine" that Axl did in the same movie, which is the same version as our thing from Appetite for Destruction. They sampled my guitar solo, and then added their own thing. It sounds really, really bad. And that's all I can say about that. It's like, "Why? What's the point?" Sheryl Crow doing it was an interesting take on it. But when Axl did it, it almost became a lawsuit. He used Duff's bass line, some of the original drums, and sampled some other stuff. I was like, "Wow. A lot of cooks in the kitchen over there!"

That's why I quit, I have to say, for the record. Everybody keeps asking me, "Well, why would you quit? Guns was such a huge band." With all my heart I can say that I would have never wanted to mess with that. I did everything in my power to keep GN'R going--even having a good time in the midst of the most insane chaos with the redhead. But it just got to a point where it was really hard. So when I finally quit, I was like, "I have no choice. I'm going into deep depression here. I'm not having any kind of a good time, and all my bandmates are gone. I have nothing to hold onto." People were saying, "No, You can't quit." But I was like, "Well, I gotta go." And they said, "No, you can't." So I said, "Axl wants to make a Guns N' Roses record, and he wants to do it with me. But he doesn't [care] about Matt, Steve, Izzy, or Duff. And I can't do it that way. I don't wanna work with these people who are suddenly becoming involved in the band." That was about five years ago.

Dale Turner: Is that when Zakk Wylde was invited to audition?

Slash: Yeah, Zakk came in. But Zakk's a friend; he's a cool guy. I had no problem with Zakk. It was just two lead guitar players in a band that was just wasn't built that way. When we got up, it was just two guns blazing, so it didn't work out. Axl and Zakk had a falling out anyway, which was inevitable.

But the thing is, it's now been years since I put out the last Snakepit record. I had the best time doing hat tour and playing clubs and opening in stadiums for different people. The whole thing just kept me grounded. When it was time to come back, I still wanted to keep touring for another couple months, but the record company said, "No, you've go to go back. Axl wants to make a record." I said, "Don't listen to that guy. He's not ready to make a record yet. I'm telling you." But they made me come back anyway. So I came back, but then I left GN'R.

It's been 4 1/2 years since then, and there's still no Guns record. I'd still be going through that to his day. So anybody who wonders if I let him down by quitting, or that kind of thing-because I get that-I just say, "You don't know, man. I had no choice; there was nothing else I could do." I'd be dead now if I had stayed [laughs]. I can't handle that much inactivity or that much negative energy to the point where doing what I love is completely turned the opposite way and I hate it.

Snakepit started making the Ain't Life Grand record on July 8, 1999. It's done now. If I had waited all this time for GN'R, I wouldn't have done jack.

Dale Turner: Do you foresee yourself ever getting back together with GN'R?

Slash: We've had a million offers for millions of dollars to get back together to play "one-off" gigs. Obviously, everybody's on his own schedule, but I am all for it! Axl and I have never seen eye-to-eye on this one, though. He refused them all. But at this point in my career-and it's probably the same with the other guys in Guns-if someone asks, "Do you guys wanna get together and play one show?" I'd be around, but things would have to drastically change: We'd have to go out there and do it with the original band. Or, for the most part, with the original band-I don't know where Steven Adler is, at this point. I don't have any kind of deep-rooted hatred-I don't hate Axl, and obviously, I don't have any problems with the other guys. The way it worked out was just unpleasant. But it'll probably be a long way from now when that happens, because everyone's either too busy, or Axl's gotta finish his Guns N' Roses record with his new lineup.

It was all real confusing: We took Guns as far as we did, and then he wanted to turn the whole things toward left field. The only thing I've heard since is "Oh My God" from End of Days. I heard it just the one time I went to see the movie. But I can accept that. It's kind of like breaking up with a girlfriend: "Well, she wants another guy." Whatever.

-- Dale Turner

The article was written and sent by "Patience". Thanx!!!

©1997-2000 Andreas Björlenstam -"We Ain't Dead Yet"...p@ge