The top hat. The hair. The cigarette dangling from his lips.
Slash is the last of the iconic guitar gods.
Drugs, booze, babes — he's done it all on a world stage with millions watching, and he's made no apologies. Two decades after grabbing our attention with the gorgeous solo on "Sweet Child O' Mine," the former lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses remains in the spotlight thanks to his work with Velvet Revolver, featuring two other Gunners and Stone Temple Pilots alum Scott Weiland. The supergroup performs Saturday at Ford Amphitheatre in support of its latest release Libertad. Lounging in his trailer before a show in Sacramento, Calif., Slash, 42, talked to Creative Loafing about the current state of music, the key to his current band's success and where GNR's Appetite for Destruction, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, ranks in the rock 'n' roll pantheon.
When Velvet Revolver formed [in 2002], people thought Scott Weiland wouldn't stay sober and that the project was doomed from the start. Five years, two successful albums and a couple world tours later, it's safe to say the band proved skeptics wrong. What has been the key to success?
I would say probably that it's been each individual's tenacity. That really helps: the simple collective desire to succeed. All of us came into this with the goal to do something good — not just make it a fuck-around thing or a quick buck.
Libertad includes an unlikely cover: Electric Light Orchestra's "Can't Get it Out of My Head." Who had the idea to cover it?
That was spearheaded by [producer] Brendan O'Brien. He came in with that, and I think it fits Scott perfectly. It was not my first choice. All those synthesizers; I liked the original, thought it was fine the way it is. But then Scott sang an acoustic scratch track that sounded perfect for him. It's one of those things you just stop and concentrate: How would I hear it with guitars? [ELO leader] Jeff Lynne and I had dinner the other day, and he said he liked it. That was nice coming from him.
On both VR records, you guys stuck to your guns and made genuine rock 'n' roll records that don't pander to current trends. You deliver old-school solos, and your guitar isn't buried in the high-gloss mix of digital processing that hampers so many rock records these days. Why do you think there are so few bands making the kind of gutsy, swaggering rock that you've had such success with for the last two decades?
I think music by and large — especially pop — it's so controlled by the industry at this point that only a few people pick and choose what people listen to based on what's commercial. It sucks as long as they're in control. There's no free form of expression. That's always been the case. The reason bands like Velvet Revolver, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Guns N' Roses and Alice in Chains could do it is that they're all bands picked by the people [fans], and then the bands had to be supported by the record industry because they were so popular.
There are not a lot of bands getting their foot in the door these days. But thankfully, because of the advent of YouTube and [laughs] — what's that other one called?
MySpace.
Yeah. They've become huge avenues for new groups. It's going to be interesting in the next few years to see how things change with all the online stuff.
Are you a big fan of computers?
You have to have it. It is what it is [laughs]. Certain aspects are cool. We've certainly entered the computer age. But the problem is [musicians] use it as such a crutch. The music loses that human element. Like electronic guitar effects: Some guitarists use it for good, with purpose. But there are people who use technology completely and don't even have their own individual style — it's all built on electronic effects. But it's not all a bad thing. With computers, [musicians] are given that choice. Some people are just lazy.
It seems younger guitarists today are either afraid or incapable of unleashing truly impressive, emotive solos. Do you think younger players these days have too many distractions to build their guitar chops?
If you look at it this way, I was born in the mid-'60s, raised on rock 'n' roll guitar. It was a huge art form that got through the '70s and '80s. But if you were born in '83 or '84, the most current influence would have been Poison, Guns N' Roses, maybe Motörhead. Anything after that is influenced basically by U2 and a handful of groups that came out after that. I wouldn't call a lot of these [new] acts "bands." They're more like music entities. Personal expression has gone out the window. It's not the kids' fault. It's what they grew up with — unless they [know] their history. Which some do, but by and large what you're exposed to as a kid influences what you're going to wanna play.
Who was the first guitarist or record that inspired you to play?
I think what inspired me was not a particular piece of music, just exposure to the guitar sound that I loved. The album that sort of epitomized the sound I was into was Aerosmith's Rocks record. That really had a huge impact on me as a guitar player, and then teenage rebellion set the wheels in motion [laughs].
As a teenager, how many hours did you spend a day practicing?
I never put the guitar down. I put in a good 12 hours a day. It was just playing the thing. I hate to use the word practice. It makes me think of the piano lessons my mom gave, and it was fucked [laughs]. Playing guitar was more an inspired thing than real practice.
You still feel as if you're developing as a guitarist?
I don't think that will ever end. Once that happens it will be a boring fucking thing. I have as much fun playing now as when I started. Most of my peers can't say the same.
What kind of guy were you in high school?
Very serious. Very reclusive, for the most part. I had some good friends I used to party with. In the general scheme of things, though, I was definitely an outsider.
You play a show in a few hours — do you have any pre-show rituals? A certain drink or meal you always down before performing?
No. The one thing I try and do is pick up the guitar and get my hands warmed up for at least an hour.
Is there like a 12-bar blues numbers you warm up with?
No, I just pick it up and see where my fingers fall. Basically, you want to just get warmed up on the neck, play whatever comes to mind.
Compare the inner-band chemistry between Velvet Revolver and Guns N' Roses.
All around it's a different band, even though with the exception of Scott I've known all of them for years. I met Scott through the band. Um, but, it's different in a lot of ways. We're all wiser, obviously. The collective experience, by and large, is much more in depth than the former band. Certainly some things are the same: We're a rock 'n' roll band. We're all rock guys who cut our teeth in the street and have a deep appreciation for similar types of music. But it's a completely different chemistry. We're getting along. We have our moments, but nothing like [GNR].
[Neurotica's] Kelly Shaefer is from [Sarasota.] How close did he come to being your lead singer in Velvet Revolver?
He was the closest. He was the guy I felt had the most promise. We wrote material and went into studio, and he had the best grasp on it. But when it came down to it, his songwriting chops … they were just in a different direction than we wanted to go.
Are you guys doing any Guns N' Roses songs on this tour?
We're doing more than we planned on doing. At one point, we said: "No [Stone Temple Pilots or GNR] songs." Then we thought about it. These are songs we wrote, or had a hand in writing, and still feel really close to the bands we were in. And then we hooked up with Alice in Chains, and they were doing all the songs from the '90s, and we thought maybe it would be a more rounded show if we mixed the old with the new. So, yeah, we're doing STP and GNR songs.
Can you give me any song titles?
We just started doing "Patience" on this tour. It's a big crowd-pleaser. It's fun to play. I do it on acoustic [guitar].
Appetite for Destruction has celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. I think it's still the best hard-rock album of the past two decades [see sidebar]. Do you agree?
I think [Guns N' Roses] was one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands of all time. The huge crossover success of Appetite, I don't know, it's a great record and everything, but I'm not about to say it's the greatest of the last 20 years. It hit a certain nerve at a certain time, the content and attitude of the band. It was definitely a great rock 'n' roll band.
People have this image of you as a hard-living rock star. What's something about you that might surprise people?
Um, you know, all things considered, it's such a mixed bag of perception and truth. I'm pretty quiet and laid-back, and I don't like looking for attention. The hard-boozing crazy guy is only part of my personality. I'm not all that outspoken.
Do you have any un-rock star pastimes — like golf?
I think golf is anti-rock 'n' roll [laughs]. I don't mind watching golf; I think Tiger [Woods] is great. But that shit's just not something guitar players should do [laughs].
What do you think of the Chinese Democracy tracks that have appeared online?
Haven't heard them. I can't be bothered to go online.
You're not a big Internet guy?
[Laughs] No, not really. Not as much as I'm supposed to be. I'm supposed to chat with fans. There's a certain amount of time people spend on the computer that I think is ludicrous. I send and receive e-mails, art for album covers and stuff. That's about it.
If Axl called after this tour with Velvet Revolver ended and said he wanted to reunite the old band, do a new album, a world tour, what would you say?
[Sighs] I wish people would stop asking me that question. It's not gonna happen.
To comment on this story, go to Wade's music blog at tampacalling.com.
This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2007.