1995.04.28 - Florida Today - Slash Rocks Away From Guns N' Roses

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Slash rocks away from Guns 'N Roses

By Rex Rutkoski
Gannett News Service

His main band, Guns ’N Roses, may not yet be ready to rock again.

Yet Saul Hudson — you probably know him best by his nickname: Slash — is rarin’ to go.

“I get off on the energy between the audience and the band. That’s why I keep going out and doing outside projects," says the musician, one of rock’s most heralded, controversial and unconventional guitarists, in an interview from an appropriately unconventional location his bedroom.

“I won’t give it up,” Slash says. “I’ve always been surrounded by music.”

This time, it’s with a new album, “It’s Five O’clock Somewhere,” from a new band he’s calling Slash’s Snakepit, which he does not see so much as a solo record as he does a side project during Guns’ current long sabbatical.

The motivation, he says, was simple: “I love music." and he likes to make it with others. “That’s one of the reasons I’m always in a band as opposed to putting out a quote unquote solo record. This band is totally built off chemistry, not a pre-thought concept,” he says.

In addition to Slash, the Snakepit is Guns’ drummer Matt Sorum; Alice In Chains’ bassist Mike Inez; former Jellyfish guitarist Eric Dover on lead vocals; and former Guns’ rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke.

“This whole thing sort of fell together. We were having such a good time, like the boys hanging out,” Slash explains. “This whole thing really is not about money or anything like that. We obviously all want to break even at the end of the day. We’re playing clubs, so we will not make a mint. It’s a great way to spend given months of your life."

In making the rockin’ “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” Slash says it was a considerably more relaxed approach to recording than he was used to in Guns.

“While everyone was worrying about the other band (Guns), we were off in the studio making music. I get up and play with lots of people. All you have to do is be dedicated to your art and not take yourself too seriously and make use of your creativity,” Slash says.

“Guns is under extreme pressure right now. Everybody wants to make a record. (Guns’ lead singer) Axl (Rose) wonders what sort of record it should be. It was an interesting reality for me to throw this together and see what happens, as compared to overthinking it and worrying too much about what others think.”

Whether in Guns, the Snakepit or any other context, Slash says he hopes people know that he is trying to bring “just a little bit of honesty” into music. “It’s definitely not a contrived thing. I think this whole thing should be more or less fun. That’s what rock is supposed to be about. Snakepit, compared to what is going on in music now, is going for a fun-loving rock’n’roll approach, not really too serious.

Everybody else is getting gloomy and shooting themselves. I can’t understand that concept.”

What’s not to be happy about, he reasons.

“I’m rich, I’ve got a great band,” he said.