A Crazy Guitar SOLO Night @TheMixing Room & MUSE on May 7
GC： Hello Slash! Thank you so much for taking the time to do the interview with Guitar China. For starters, would you please say something to your fans in China? They’ve been waiting for this show for a long time.
What expectations do you have for China as this is the first time you’re here? Are you planning to look around the city?
Slash：My expectations are actually pretty high. I’m thinking that Shanghai is going to be a pretty wild and fun gig. I’m expecting the crowd to be really great and for the band to play great. I think overall it’s going to be an awesome night.
That is probably the most asked question and it is the hardest one to answer. It’s a 5 piece rock and roll band and it has a lot of different dynamics and it’s very energetic, but it can come down in level and it does a lot of different things. It is very spontaneous from evening to evening. There is a new set list that is written before every show. It could be 1 song or 4 songs, the set lists are different in some way shape or form every night. We do a lot of stuff from our new record, a lot of stuff from our last record; we do some stuff from Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, Snakepit, and all that. That is something you can expect. You can expect a really good energetic rock and roll show – the rest of it is very unpredictable.
GC： Are there any songs chosen from your entire repertoire (from GN’R to solo albums) that you wish you could’ve played or arranged differently?
SLASH： I haven’t done the se tlist yet, but as we get closer to the night of the show I’ll put the list together and it will be particular to Shanghai. I never repeat the exact same set list from one night to the next
GC： Your autobiography was published in 2007, since its completion, a great number of career and personal highlights have come to pass, including the induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. Are there any plans for writing a sequel to your autobiography in the future to cover the time period after the year 2007?
SLASH：At this point in time, I don’t have any plans to do another autobiography. I’m not saying that I definitely won’t do one at some point in the distant future, but I just don’t have plans to do that right now
GC： We used to saw a video about you and Mr,B.B.King playing blues on the stage? Have you ever tried playing blues or jazz in th future?
SLASH：NO ANSWER
GC： Have you been in touch with Izzy Stradlin lately? If so, what is he up to these days?
SLASH：NO ANSWER
GC： Last year, Amplitube released a version of their guitar amp and effect app featuring you. How did your collaboration come into being? Now that the app is out, do you prefer using the app to capture your inspiration or do you still like the old-school way?
SLASH：I’ve been using Amplitube for awhile now, and I guess they found that out. So they reached out to me to see if I wanted to do a version of Amplitube using my particular amps which I was very flattered by. I thought it would be a really interesting idea, so they went to work trying to duplicate my amp sound into their design, and they did a great job! I was very happy to have the Slash version of Amplitube come out.
GC： The collaboration between you and Angry Birds seemed to have taken many by surprise. Who came up with the actual idea of Slashbird? Have you had a chance to sling your Slashbirds before its release? If so, how did it feel like?
SLASH：It was actually Angry Birds that came up with the Slashbird.
GC： How is the new album coming along? You mentioned a few years ago that you were looking forward to collaborating with Steven Tyler from Aerosmith and Dave Mustaine from Megadeth, do you think they could hop on board this time?
SLASH：I am working on the new album. I am compiling all of the material that I have written over the past year on the road.
GC：You launched a guitar cover contest with Guitar World a while ago on the internet and personally selected the best cover performance of Anastasia, the new single off of the Apocalyptic Love album, among top 5 finalists chosen by Guitar World. Why do you think he was the best? Any comments on his playing?
SLASH：The thing that struck me about Henrik was that he really got the feel of the song and the notes and the style. They seemed to come very naturally, or he practiced a lot to get to that point. That’s the hardest part about learning someone else’s material, is recreating the vibe, the feel, or the tone right, and that’s what he accomplished
GC： What are some of the new artists (no genres specified) that particularly interest you?
SLASH：I pretty much listen to everything and try and filter out the good stuff from the bad stuff. There’s a lot of great artists, and too many for me to really name them all. There is a new band called Gojira that I really love, and I’ve been listening to their last record a lot recently. But there are new bands all the time that make me stop and think “that’s a great artist”. As far as listening goes, I’m always listening to anything that I can, just to see what’s out there, what turns me on, what I don’t like, etc.
GC： As a rock veteran who has played in countless bands on a variety of occasions, what are your suggestions to young musicians who are trying to form their own bands?
SLASH：I wouldn’t recommend this business for any sane person! But for someone that is really aspiring to make it in this business, you just have to be prepared for a lot of really hard work and perseverance; tenacity is going to be a good quality to have. You’ve got to be ready for disappointments and sacrifice and anything else that you can think of. But then the luxury of being able to do what you love for a living does make it worth it.
GC： Guitar China would like to thank you again for sparing the time for the interview. We wish you all the best in your upcoming tour in Asia. Last but not least, welcome to the jungle, oops, China!
SLASH 2013上海站：
http://www.GuitarsChina.com/slash/