Anyway, Slash has a new album to talk about, an upcoming tour to promote and, of course, he always loves talking about guitar riffs. After all, he's created a fair few of them.
TimeOut: You've been writing and recording under your own name for a while now. Do you still play Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver songs at live shows?
Slash: We still play a little bit of that stuff, but we have a much broader repertoire at this point. We still throw in the odd Guns song and the odd Velvet Revolver song here and there. We switch it around from show to show.
Do fans demand that you play those songs? Would they be disappointed if you didn't?
It was actually my idea when I did my first solo record to go out and do a tour where I could play stuff from my back catalogue. I was really doing it for myself, not so much for the fans, but they still dig it.
Do you still enjoy playing classics like Paradise City, even though you've played them hundreds of times?
Yeah, I wouldn't do it otherwise. It's just fun to do. We switch it around every night. We do a whole bunch of different stuff from all of my back catalogue. But I can't do a whole set of that.
You were a notorious hellraiser during the Guns N' Roses days. Are things a bit calmer when you're on tour now?
It's pretty fast-paced actually. We've been touring for five years, it's got its own flow to it. I probably work a little bit harder than back in the day. It hasn't changed that much. I love what I do.
How is your new material fitting in among your older songs?
The single World on Fire goes over really well because it was so well-received. The new stuff goes over great.
Does it feel like this was an easy album to make?
Yeah, it was a f****** fun record to make. We had a good time. Everybody was having a good time doing it. That's really the catalyst for having a good time in the studio: everyone wanting to be there and putting in 100 per cent and enjoying doing it.
You tour so much. Did you have to write your new album while you were on the road?
I always have my guitar around so I recorded new ideas as they happened over the course of the tour, and compiled all that and listened to it when the tour was over and started putting together the next record.
There are 17 songs that run to 77 minutes. That suggests you weren't short on ideas.
Definitely not. Over the course of 10 months or 12 months you hopefully should be able to come up with at least 12 songs (laughs).
Do you have any input into the lyrics?
I know Myles pretty well, I'm not worried about what he's going to come up with. I just leave it up to him.
Sweet Child o' Mine recently placed second in a poll of the greatest riffs of all time. How do you feel about that?
It's really flattering and embarrassing at the same time. For somebody like myself to be put in the company of heroes of mine, alongside music I was raised listening to ... you just freak out. It's very humbling.
Is there a riff on that list that you wished you had written?
The riff that was No. 1 is one of my all-time favourite riffs and that's (Led Zeppelin's) Whole Lotta Love.
What: Slash
Live dates: With Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators, Tuesday, February 17, Claudelands Arena, Hamilton; Wednesday, February 18, TSB Arena, Wellington. Devilskin will open both shows.
Tickets: On sale from Monday September 15, through Ticketek.
New album: World on Fire, out tomorrow.
Essential listening: Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987); Slash's Snakepit - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere (1995); Velvet Revolver - Contraband (2004); Slash - Apocalyptic Love (2012).
- TimeOut
