2017.12.31 - Sixx Sense - Deeper With Slash and Joe Perry

Transcript:

Nikke Sixx: Nikki Sixx, Sixx Sense, I'm with Jenn, Slash is here. What's happening, buddy?

Slash: Hi.

NS: This is our very last show, you're our very last guest and I'm really happy that [?].

Slash: I mean, you know, I guess it's a bittersweet thing in general but I'm glad to be here for the last one.

NS: Well, I remember calling you up before the show ever aired, and I was like, "Hey-"

Slash: About a radio show-

NS: About a radio show, kind of was like, you don't really want to ask your musician friends too big a favors cuz, you know, we know what that's like, someone takes advantage of that, and then Slash is like, "Dude, I'll do it."

Slash: Yeah, that's the coolest thing for you to do a radio show. You'll be good at it and it comes from the right place, it's not-

NS: Yeah.

Slash: -some homogenized concept of doing a rock show with somebody who has no real grasp of what being in a rock... you know what I mean?

NS: I've sat there so many times during interviews and like the guy that's talking to me never heard my record.

Slash: Yeah.

NS: And, you know, I remember one of the records of yours I was listening to it - this is like a long time ago, like six-seven years ago - we didn't get it till the night before, so I'm listening to it in the car making notes while I'm driving.

Slash: I remember you told me that.

NS: Yes, cuz I don't want to talk to you about your record and you're like, "Hey, what about this song?" "I didn't get that far, dude."

Slash: Yeah, one of those you know conversations, it's sort of redundant, you know, "So here you are promoting your record, I haven't heard it, but," you know, "promote away."

NS: Yeah, "You do all the work." I was trying to think, like, all the way back, I can't remember when we first met. I remember you being at my house in Van Nuys all the time, always had a guitar, we were, you know, having fun back in the days.

Slash: Yeah-

NS: I don't remember the day we met, how did you end up at my house because then we became friends and you would come all the time.

Slash: Now you're asking-

Jess: I was gonna say-

Slash: If you can't remember, I can't remember.

NS: Isn't that weird? Like, I can remember when I met Robie-

Slash: Maybe at the Cathouse? You know, hanging out-

NS: It probably was there.

Slash: And then, I don't know, invited us up or something? I mean, I have a recollection of us hanging out of the Cathouse for sure, I don't know if that's where we first were introduced-

NS: Probably do, that was a fun place.

Slash: Did I ever tell you the story where - I think I have - but when you were promoting the EP back in whatever it was, 1982? Or something, and you came to Beverly Hills High with Tommy and you had - I was in continuation class, was my final year of high school, 11th grade, and I was in this continuation class with all these - continuation is where all the... your last leg of trying to make an attempt to finish your graduation, and so they have all the screw-ups in there, you know, all the different levels, all the different looks, you know, you've got your drug addicts and you've got your metalheads and you've got your, I don't know, whatever else-

NS: Whatever, they just want to get done with high school.

Slash: - there was a biker chick in there. Anyway, so there was these three very 80s hair metal type groupie types, but they're all really sweet, and they were just way into you guys and I was really, you know, I knew who you were from back in the day but I didn't know that much about Motley Crue, and so they went out and you met them on the sidewalk in front of the school and gave them all flyers. I was like, "Wow, check this out!" [?] And they promoted the shit out of you, they were so enthusiastic about it, and they were so smitten and you guys were all, you know, anyway, and I ended up going to that gig and it was you guys and Y&T at the Whisky.

NS: Wow, Y&T, what a cool band that was. Yeah, that's amazing.

Slash: Which was Yesterday and Today way before our time but we didn't know Y&T was Yesterday and Today so they they came up with a new a new version of their name so it didn't date them back to the 70s [laughs]. It's true.

NS: It's true, it's true, what a great guitar player that was. But that was a cool scene in the late 70s and early 80s in Los Angeles, lots of bands trying to find their way which I think is an exciting time as we [not transcribed]

Slash: Yeah, I mean, LA at that time there was so much stuff going on, like you were saying, that whatever you wanted to get out of whatever was happening, it was all right there. So like you get some of your punk influences from going to see the Germs at the Starwood and you had the metal bands, you know. And so there was all these different things going on and I think it was up close and personal as opposed to being in another country where you were just looking at magazines and reading the album cover, you had all these bands coming through town and so you sort of pick things that you identified with and sort of called them your own.

[not transcribed]

Slash: A lot of people moved here, I mean, a lot of people in LA were, you know, like the guys from Poison were from Pennsylvania, whatever, and Izzy was from Indiana.

NS: Sammy, me and Duff both Seattle.

[talking about New York and CBGB's]

Slash: I played it after the original club closed. We did an acoustic thing at CBGB's and that was the only time. [...] Because there were all, you know, the Dolls, the Ramones and all these New York sort-of, Blondie, even, Television, all these - excuse me, I've got a cold - all these different, really iconic bands were coming out of the scene in New York so it was really exciting to go there.

[talking about music decades]

Slash: You know what, I was having this conversation over Thanksgiving, ever since the millennium there has hasn't been any discernible decade, I mean, from the 20s on has always been identified as the fashion and the times of that decade and they change, you know, from the 20s, the 30s, whatever it is that makes it identifiable, and in the millennium it's not really... We're going into 2020 and nobody ever said anything about 2010 and like, "Oh," you know, "it's been a decade."

NS: That was the party decade and that was the get real decade, it was like I just kind of slept through it... some of it-

Slash: From 2000 to 2010?

NS: Yeah.

Slash: I lost the 90s, that was my "lost weekend".

[laughs]

NS: The 90s were your lost weekend?

Slash: "Last weekend," yeah. I think John Lennon had a lost weekend that was infamous, you know, and I had my lost decade.

[...]

Slash: There is stuff that I remember that happened during the 90s. It was a big wash, though.

[Being asked about his first guitar tech]

Slash: Yeah, the first guitar tech was a guy named Joe Souk [?], which I actually saw him recently, and he was more of a friend of the band, but he was the first guy that helped me sort of during shows to hand me my slide, I don't think he changed strings or anything but he was there. And then from him then I had another guy named Jason, I think his last name was... I want to say Sobel, I could be wrong-

NS: But he was a true tech?

Slash: He was a real tech and he got thrown up on and all kinds, he was there for the early 80s, you know, the mid 80s debauchery. And I've had a couple since that but I'm actually with the tech right now that I've been with since 1988 and I didn't have him for a while during Velvet Revolver but when Guns started up again he came back and he's the best tech I ever had. That's the infamous Adam Day, but he's not so much infamous, he's a pretty mild mannered guy.

NS: I think you'd have to be kind of mild-mannered with you. As long as I've known you, you don't like drama.

Slash: No, no. I seem to attract it which is ironic because I'm sort of laidback. But I seem to attract a lot of it. But Adam is very serious about his work and he does a really good job and he's very meticulous and all that kind of...

NS: So you're off the road, [?] can do for fun for a while?

Slash: I basically just went straight back to work. That's the only way I can survive getting off the road, is to go straight to work, cause otherwise-

NS: You always work. I mean, I clearly have that in common and I don't think it's an obsessive thing it's just it makes me feel good, to create stuff.

Slash: I think, well, like "You should take a vacation," it's like every time I've ever attempted the actual vacation thing, you know, like two days into it and you stretch your legs for a minute and then you're going nuts, like, what you have to like, "How many more days left of this? We're stuck here."

[About books]

Slash: I'm having a hard time adjusting to the whole ebook thing, I am still carrying these physical books.

[Talking about Sixx' biography]

Slash: It's a great book, though, it's one of the most honest - and I think I used this word before - but harrowing rock and roll journeys put on paper. And it's not overdone with any kind of, you know, what's the word I'm looking for, or just trying to glamorize it in a way that like, "This is so [?], so cool."

[Being asked if they got sober around the time]

Slash: No, you got sober way before I did.

NS: I got sober in '88, first time, I was sober for like six years. Then I thought I was smarter than whatever it was I was drinking, and then I was like four years or something. And a lot of this stuff went down around bad shit, which I know better, like when bad shit was happening in my life I went to that, I know so much better than to do that. Makes it worse.

Slash: It's the worst thing. I mean, I was saying [?], I couldn't imagine dealing with all the... I mean, everything that's going on for the last... I'm sober 11 going on 12 years now, and in that time so much has happened and I wouldn't have been able to keep it together or have been able to come out the other end had I been as high as, you know, as I had been up to that point in 1996. I wonder how I managed to get by that far and how I was, you know. I was a functional alcoholic.

NS: You were always chill.

Slash: I didn't get high when I was on the road, I didn't get high when we were in the studio, because I had this mental block.

NS: You always think you'd always have your guitar like that, you know, isn't gonna work. The thing you love the most muting it with drugs and a little bit alcohol, alcohol was fine.

Slash: Yeah, alcohol was... you know, it was like chewing gum. You just sort of did it.

Jenn: Did you feel like you were going from like addiction to addiction as far as guitar to... like, you could mentally block out your other addiction when you had your guitar addiction in front of you?

Slash: No, well, the thing was is it was time to go on the road and I had this thing where it was like, "I do not want to be traveling around on tour and not know where my fix is," and, "I don't want to rely on anybody to get it for me."

Jenn: Did you just turn it off?

Slash: Well, no, it was hard you had to kick in order to do it but the motivation was there to just get it together to go on the road, because that's what I wanted to be doing. I was at my weakest - since we were talking about when the tour would end - and then I just wouldn't, you know, trying to wind down from all that adrenaline and, you know, all that traveling and playing every night and this and that, there's so much going on and then you come home and just sit there and like the most exciting thing you have to really look forward to is going to the market and there's just domesticity-

NS: It's a shock to the system.

Slash: And so you wouldn't end up, you know, trying-

NS: -You'd end up coming to my house.

Slash: Yeah. And so, you know, over the years so now when I get off the road I just go straight to work to keep myself from good falling into that trap.

NS: I was talking to Slash about some ideas about building a rehearsal facility not a recording facility, just a live room, in the back of my property and then getting bids and I just kind of keep putting it off, it's not ready to do, it's like, you know, it's kind of like twice as much as I thought it would be and I'm like balancing that... so I'm not ready to make that commitment and then I started painting again, I used to paint like 20 years ago, so the garage is all paint, all the cars are in the driveway. I said, "You know, we should just build like a studio," as so she goes, "So let me get this right, you're not in a band anymore, so you want to build a rehearsal facility and a painting studio on our property?" and I go, "Yeah, I guess I don't know when to just stop." Did you finish your studio?

Slash: I finished the studio.

NS: I'd love to see it.

Slash: So it's cool, it's fairly small, it's a live room they can put the whole band in, and a control room with a... I want to say Digitech Board, I'm not sure.

NS: Yeah, just something simple.

Slash: Simple and that sounds good and I can rehearse in there and I can record demos in there and I might be able to even record an album in there, so we'll see.

NS: Great to rehearse in there. See that's what I miss being in a band is, I miss being in a band. I miss like looking over and being like that, like, swings happening and, you know, just that living, breathing animal. And I can never get that from loops and electronic music and I understand it and I actually like a lot of it but I just miss when the guitar player hits the wrong note, to be honest with you, or the bass player, you know, it's pushing-

Slash: It's hat magic that happens when everything just comes together and there's this orgasmic feeling of like, just a part of a song that just... yeah.

NS: And you can feel it, the crowd can feel it. But nothing like being on in a room and I was well I

wonder about bands new bands that nail

it in from all over never see each other

hardly yeah yeah yeah that's true

wanted to want to talk to you about well

you know it says slash is Gibson's

global brand ambassador thank that's

that's something that they they just

christened me with recently

you'll have to wear anything like an

cape or din a cape you need something

for that that's pretty badass yeah I saw

the Firebird yeah so how what was your

involvement on that well I just had to

they came to I mean I've been doing

stuff with Gibson furs I think since

about 2004 2005 or started doing

different Les Paul's that have my name

on it and yeah you know and I'd sort of

you know was different details about the

guitar was responsible for and so on and

so this year or yeah this year we

decided to do a string of guitars so

there was a couple Les Paul's and I

wanted to do a Firebird that I would

really use yeah and I've been doing

different Firebirds over the years and

and always liked the look of them but I

never get the the sound that I wanted on

yeah so sat down and

said okay let's do a Firebird let's

let's with humbuckers in it and let's do

the maple cap and I mahogany body and

how thick the cap is going to be you

know

so you said took a lot of work living in

the idea of like what the Les Paul is

for you and how defined it is for you

and then kind of turning that into a

bird yeah I mean and it didn't you know

I mean I mean all this Paul's I have a

lot of different Les Paul's and they

have personality differences so I wanted

the fiber to have its own sound but

still have a double humbucker kind of

thing so it doesn't sound like a Les

Paul but it's still got the body of I

think I've ever seen a picture you play

in a Firebird I've you know about that

one I told you that I had back in 1986

I've seen pictures from the I used it at

the street seen it already plated the

street scene so I see pictures of that

one floating around it's got a like the

by Shirley tattoo this little cartoon

character is painted on the top of the

back end of the butt of the goods yeah

so that one's that's the only one I ever

used live everything else so yeah I've

using the new one lobster yeah yeah

great check that out I need to check it

out cuz I've never seen one with a maple

top yeah well you can't tell I mean it's

it's there they're translucent maple

finishes so yeah you can tell it's a

maple top yeah it's it's a all one solid

color yeah it's kind of black look at

that one and there's a there's a TV not

TV white it's a PBL an antique white so

antique white yeah yeah with the flame

top yeah so it's cool

okay so just saying my birthday it's

past

sorry past sorry Christmas see if I can

hook you up have you come over and play

yours have you ever lost track of one of

your guitars over time that meant a lot

to you

I had a bunch of guitars ripped off once

and there was one of those I managed to

get them all back but I had my house it

was an inside job in its long story my

from your

from my house and so there was I had a

studio on my house at the time this is

like back in 97 98 and the black outer

yeah it will highlights I can recall and

and so there was probably about 20 or

some of our guitars in there

and so I managed to get them all back

the the the idiot who was doing the

grunt work lifting and making the

guitars he he wasn't the guy responsible

for stealing them as you know you know

there was someone got him to do it yeah

but I guess he tried selling him a

guitar sooner so it was easy criminal

yeah right it's stupid as what it is but

anyway so one of those goods I got them

all back except for one and so it's out

there somewhere it's a yeah gold top

1980 cd8 Gold top that was my first

guitar was gold top really with p90s

stole you know i stoled it wait a minute

hold on i stoled mine in the 70s slash

is gonna take that part of the interview

and use it it's well it's it's it was a

I think if I remember correctly was a

factory second it wasn't like a big deal

but it sounded really good ya know

that's the thing I asked John 5:3 soon

we were just like talking and like his

amount of guitars he has and I asked him

I saw this video was nothing but

Telecasters right because it has

telecasters and I said so how many

guitars in he say doesn't know he

doesn't know no I couldn't tell you how

many I have yeah I think he kind of he

thinks it's over 400 oh [ __ ] he's got me

beat he's got so crazy yeah 510 really I

don't even get on like I can't even the

competition list I can't even get on

there's slash and jump five and then

well mine mine doesn't even really count

because there was a couple guitars I

only had two guitars for the longest

time and then not in the early 90s we

were doing a record and I had some money

and I bought a bunch of guitars and

there was vintage guitars and so on and

so forth and and I didn't really buy a

a lot of expensive guitars after that so

mostly guitars I've added to that

collection now are all guitars that I

got from Gibson every time I do a slash

model I get 10 allotted ten of each

right right right right that's really

over the years that's what's accumulated

you haven't I haven't buckled down I

bought a few old like 78 79 BC rich

[ __ ] recently

oh really yeah I'm serious me too it's a

pet the Warlock by the way the bass not

a good sound bass no I had a warlock

guitar actually yeah that guy Jason my

guitar tech yeah I gave it to him at

some point and so he still has it I went

and signed a letter of authenticity for

him recently that's cool I find that we

become identified with the shape for

instrument yeah play it enough time I

mean that's why I said you know you've

obviously are the Les Paul's Paul guy I

think people think of me as a

Thunderbird yeah I mean that's that's

the first thing that would come to mind

if you know I picture you but those

those BC rich those what was it a

warlock that's what it was yeah it's

weird that defines shout at the devil

yeah for sure because that was yeah

before that was then it was always birds

because I would light it on fire all the

time with pyro gel and you know I'm so

smart and realized that it eventually

weakened the wood so I was like on stage

when we were playing like some you know

low-level club somewhere and it was like

the net just really so I got my first

tech and he's new somebody at BC rich

and so they gave me those bases or I

couldn't afford one we're too poor so

it's interesting how the shape wool well

when I first started playing the first

electric guitar I had was a Gibson a

Memphis Les Paul copy okay and the first

good guitar that I had was a BC Rich

Mockingbird and I've seen it picture you

somewhere that that's what I was gonna

say where you're haunting me I'll tell

you in a second with with the BC Rich

and I might have seen a V but this one

you're young you like 1819 maybe maybe a

little bit older but on Instagram mmm

like I like Instagram because I love

photography so I'm kind of constantly

looking at photos up but there's a

little

what's it'll search thing a little

magnifying glass so like it tells me

stuff that I should like so slash will

pop up and if you do you be like in

South America oh my god let me see

what's going on with the guys and then

something and so I've clicked on you so

many times that now my just it's just

you and some of my wife's like you have

a lot of slash and not a lot of porn

what's wrong with you I know so I didn't

know that it would give me all this

stuff you you enjoy Instagram a little

bit ya know I post crazy [ __ ] on they're

all they're just as funny my 10-roll was

like who I want to follow I was like no

no no no no no you don't i mean i'm i

someone just said you know a lot of kids

are you know follow you on Instagram and

you post these things on there and I

don't do it all the time but sometimes I

find something that I think is pretty

profound and I'll just put it on there

you know yeah and I love sex and I love

all see stuff that and I put it up and

so I get these complaints sometimes from

people in person like I'll meet the mom

in person that's great I listen your

first three records blew me away and I

have time playing yeah 11 year old it's

learning about sex right now

that's your job yeah so I'm like why you

know I apologize but I'm not gonna

censor myself for your child it's like

I'm sorry and then the next one is just

something really hard yeah yeah let me

see let me see what else do we have here

my thing anything about GN are you want

to talk about like how it felt

well we can talk about I mean yeah we

can talk about I mean all things

considered that the the tour you know

what ended up being not in this lifetime

kind of thing you know I left in 96 and

acts and I didn't talk until 2015 I said

I don't want a little bit of feel like I

have some similarities because like when

motley broke up we're not friends

mmm and it left a little hole in my

heart yeah it was like wow oh there was

always that there was always that thing

and I won't get into all the personals

yeah we

but you know over that period of time

there was a you know there was a lot of

bad feelings from from the the break-up

up until all throughout this that that

whole 20 years whatever it was but

there's you know there's also part of

you that's like it in a marriage where

you love somebody and you know so

there's always that that feeling but

then there's all this negative stuff and

sure any and by the way comes from a lot

of other well there was so much stuff

perpetuated in the media and it was just

blown out of proportion so when he and I

talked for the first time it was really

really cool it was in person oh yeah it

was well no first time we spoke it was

on the phone and then we got together

when I got back into town because I was

on the road I was in I was in Peru I

remember specifically but it was very

cathartic to so I could see that

physically talk because I mean there's a

bond that you have that's never you know

for sure and then it makes the break-up

I mean what happens is the bond makes

the negative side of it that much worse

because you're forced out of it you know

anyway so when we got together and

played it was Coachella

it was just [ __ ] awesome and we

played the Troubadour was the first yeah

that we did and so and it just

snowballed from there ourselves 18

months and it's been I mean I would

never you know if you talk to me 20

months ago I would have said no [ __ ]

way it's not ever gonna happen but it

did and it was [ __ ] awesome and it

happened at the right time you know if

my people were ready

it's obviously you're seeing in ticket

sales enthusiasm from fans and the

different generations this whole thing

about being gone as long as the band was

gone the original band is that people

discover you but never ever ever could

ever see you there was a lot of so

there's like this is our chance and that

that's fantastic and I'm sure it just

made everything feel that much better

must have been like kind of weird like

look over and there's like Duff and Axl

and you're like I didn't think this sort

of yeah summer is very surreal I bet you

know these moments on stage where you

sort of take stock of where you are at

the moment

this is a trick look at this there's my

guys yeah kid but we it was something

about this particulars for that didn't

it didn't make me he didn't take me back

to the you know the last tour in the 90s

worse like reminiscent of that it was

completely uniquely its own new thing

the same guys same songs but a whole

different experience so I was talking to

the sky today and the UK it was a

sobriety thing and we were talking about

growing up hmm and you know I realize in

my case

there was a lot of immaturity even as an

adult because of drug use and this other

thing that happens to when you become a

rock star

everyone's everything's done for you and

you know after a while it becomes such a

sister your life you become I don't know

if narcissistic is the word but just you

turn self-centered because that's your

role all right your role like what you

need watery musician and then like one

day you get an opportunity to be around

people that you were around when you

were younger and like they're grown up

and it feels so good like it really

feels good and you could never explain

that to something unless you've been

through it yeah okay yeah I'm there I

never felt you were self-centered but

you are one of the biggest rock stars in

the world and do you think you ever went

through any time when you're like kind

of lost the plot a little bit well I

mean back to what you were saying a

second ago aving it all really comes

down to to drugs and alcohol because as

you know as a person you are who you are

and then you start you know doing really

excess amounts of chemicals and all that

kind of stuff and you become you become

you know a chemist right yeah trying to

balance your personality changes you

know there's things about your

personality that come out of that that

would they don't like we're just things

you do I'm a real [ __ ] when you're

I mean you know and I was thinking when

you said that like any name any band

from from you know the 70's and 80 that

that had turmoil and not too far you'll

find cocaine and you know because it

always it exaggerated s-- whatever your

mo you know and he blows your filter out

so you don't know how not to say the

wrong thing but yeah I've learned in

sobriety to listen remember Vince said

once in an interview you man Nicky

really likes to hear himself talk and I

actually looked at it and went yeah I

guess I kind of do sometimes because I

was put in that role mmm the first time

Motley Crue did an interview was in

Nevada City some were small town up

north we had a manager who was a

construction worker and we went up there

to build this ridiculous drum riser and

as a grad you see a white drum riser we

had yeah the the multi-tier yeah

basically us ripping off queen-like we

just there was lights in it yeah

literally seen Queen the week but that

was but we lived up there you know and

we were up there and we were like I lost

my pot warmers oh you're talking about

going up in building a drum riser and

and your first interview oh yeah so

we're up there and the construction

worker manager says I got an interview

for you so we went to this little radio

station and this little like a small is

oh hi this thing and they're so hi guys

welcome to the show and everybody a

motley crew had a microphone and went

and I was like hey and then the guys

what's your names and no literally at

that point in time I became a spokesman

for the band and I never wanted to be so

like as the years became becoming the

spokesman the main songwriter blah blah

blah blah that's not a pat on the back

it's just a role I was kind of put into

size to this my responsibility but when

I got sober was also my response play to

learn did like kind of like listened to

my band members a little more or just

like when people were talking I disagree

yeah I just need to think about it

instead of having an answer right on the

spot yes my first answer is usually a

bad answer

if I'm using because he I mean well

because yeah yeah what happens you have

that role and so you get put in that

position and you almost start acting you

almost start like doing whatever it is

just to get it character up yeah you

don't really even put that much thought

into it becomes mechanical after a while

so you show up and you you know act out

this sort of interview thing and say all

the stuff aney and then and then it's

done and you just have that job to do

yeah I know that feeling but I'm just

thinking back on on how you know you see

we all used to get inebriated and do

these interviews and talk a lot of [ __ ]

and if you read any of them back you're

just like oh god it's embarrassing but

could you imagine if if Twitter had been

around oh my god just on the tour we did

together if we had Twitter Instagram

would have been fun yeah Instagram would

have been that would have been wild

there would have been some people

complaining the the ability we have now

to go live at any moment to has got to

be like terrifying at some point to

think back and go oh my god if there was

somebody there that could film that and

put that out to the universe like in a

split second you guys would never have

been the same well it definitely would

have added a whole nother colorful level

so the debauchery that we were doing

behind closed

I know I mean I think it probably would

have been beneficial in a way but then

there also would have been stuff that

would have been a real nuisance for this

person yeah I wonder if they if the

bands would have gotten discovered

quicker I mean you do have that angle

where you which was great for the

mainstream but like this would be almost

the equivalent of getting like the

inside dirty secret on your bands

mystique MTV would have been like like

musical CNN at that point yeah feels

like that to me now anyway it's a

musical how do you feel especially being

in stadiums this past 18 months

well we actually we did a stadium run

for a big portion of it and then we went

and did arenas for the last six or if

you feel about the whole phone thing do

you care at all i I've gotten past the

point of caring

that's what happened to me too you know

people just do what they do and and the

fact that that you know they can't

concentrate on the music you know

because they have to memorialize this on

their after a while you just sort of yet

you you don't want to make make a huge

effort to try and fight it because it's

just going against what is the trend at

this point so there's no way to fight it

and not hurt your fans feeling it that's

what I found early on I realized if I

was a fan if I was going to see

Aerosmith and like you know Joe Perry

was like tweeted out

I hate all you people with cellphones

I'd be like man I like I worked for

three months - for - secondly buy a

t-shirt I never got to meet my hero and

now he's putting me down yeah but I got

this video of him really happy to have

that big stuff I painted ears on his

head yeah I see you know there's some

people who rightfully so get bent out of

shape because you know they're your your

your musician your putting across this

and you want people to actually hear it

it's not just about the experience of

being at the event you know it's about

all the songs and what goes on during

your performance and whatnot and they

get really bent out of shape about it

but I just think it's it's it's sort of

redundant because it is a sign of the

times and it's something that people are

doing they have the equipment to do it

they're gonna do it and if you lose

sleep over it you're only you know

cutting yourself what's the cutting

cutting you notice about your face you

know I find a lot of stuff on bands that

I'd love or guys that were in bands that

I love are out doing their own thing

because fans are memorializing it and

I'm like wow I mean it doesn't sound

great but I'm like wow like I never

would have seen that no no definitely I

mean yeah remember when when you know

like in the late 70s and in oh well the

bootlegs that you used to try and get

you know loved those boot laughs yeah

there was a place in Seattle called

cellophane records and we had to take

like two buses to get there from where

we live we live kind of like in these

like the super poor area and

we get into the city and we'd go there

and we'd stay there for hours and I

remember finding this one it was just

white and it just said David Bowie I

think it was young Americans in London

and mean we were like first of all

London England yeah like we're never

gonna sell never concede London England

in my life alright and and then to be in

that that personal private moment that

happened in a place like that it

inspired us you know so much so

hopefully we're getting young people are

getting inspired by getting to see a

band like Guns and Roses that has been

around so long you guys are cut from the

cloth of being musicians and yeah you

put on big shows and you have all those

songs but for some kid somewhere in the

world you're never gonna go what if

anything yeah exactly you know it's like

footage from any number of countries

yeah yeah yep for sure dude thank you so

much oh man this is [ __ ] great to be

here really cool last last show last

show and it's just good to see you it's

been a it's been a couple of years now

yes for a couple years you've been busy

I'm busy we'll try to even great way

busy yeah I kind of called it retired

mmm but my wife said to me the other day

she's you know you're like five times

busier than when you were motley yeah

this is we don't know how to stop

they've got a live shot but you have to

do a photo book yes affordable thank you

yeah amazing thank you gotta do that

thank you yeah we're talking about that

and and some new projects cuz you know

once you've done one gallery showing

it's kind of like doing your first

record mm-hmm like you don't really know

how to do it you have an idea and then

some people help you producers and

engineers and and then when people are

like wow like you're like when's your

next record coming yeah I was like oh so

like we're already working on like

what's gonna be like the next gallery

which then will be a book so then

becomes oh so you have that's all in the

word yeah and all the works and it

becomes in kind of another

responsibility and you're like wow yeah

we it's it's cool you got to you got to

get behind it cuz it's really good so

yeah it's yeah

thank you and Randy are the two best

musician photographers so good really

private moments too as well as you know

live stuff slash thanks buddy

hey man thank you anything right what's

going on what kind of [ __ ] you guys

yeah yeah all right you know get ready

to sling some [ __ ] yeah hey man we're

good we're good we're here in LA doing

Nicky's last last show of six cents yeah

eight years that's what I heard and I

know we've been taught you asked me a

number of times to be on I haven't had a

chance but this turns out to work out

and you know what I thought it was last

week and somehow I thought that when mr.

text or the phone number or whatever but

I'm glad that uh that I got the week

wrong yeah well I I made sure that we

hooked up with Paul so that the

logistics for all taken care of

yeah the actual reason for the two

getting you guys together is I just want

to say since Motley Crue's not around

anymore the radio shows not around and

at 6:00 a.m. maybe I could throw myself

like on the mercy of the court and you

guys need a tech or something or maybe

you need a tech your tech needs like

assistant well I mean All Things

Considered I don't know maybe we can

make up a job that's why we had this

phone call yeah if you need to go on the

road just use your miles that's a very

good so um what's going on dude Joe how

are you I'm doing good thanks I'm in

Boston right now

rehearsing for a private show that

actually I think slash you played this

show at one point or another yeah a

couple years ago yeah and they in fact

they told me you know they said you did

it and so you know I know it's a

favorite Ernie

you know and it's a charity you know

it's uh so we're doing a little more

than

crew stick though you know I mean it was

like because all my buddies are around

and they're you know they were available

I figured why not have them all sit in

and you know so we're just playing

electric-only quiet right anyway but

yeah so we're running through a bunch of

songs right now and we've got this

Christmas party to do all right well

cool that's going to be a cool party

you'll dig it it's a great house where

the the the location that they do it at

is is pretty mind-blowing but one of the

things I wanted to talk to you about was

was Nikki's got this part of segment and

his show called my favorite riff and so

when he had asked me you know we said

we're gonna do this and the first song

you know I thought about it for like two

seconds and I had to go to back in the

saddle as being you know one of my

all-time favorite riffs and so that's

what I wanted to do and that's why I

called you up because I figured we'll

just see what Joe has to say about that

yeah so I figured yeah I don't even know

if I play it right but I don't have to

play it I've learned from so many people

coming up here that they'll play

something and they're like this is the

right way to play it and I've been

playing it wrong for years right yeah no

it's it's it well Joe it was on a

six-string bass so the studio version of

the song oh my gosh I'm one of those

like Fender sixes one of those fender

six 6 string bass and you know nobody

was really playing those that I knew him

at the time I guess Jack Roush played

one and cream yeah but he had the SG I

never really saw him play that but I'll

tell you the first guy I saw play one

was Peter green and Fleetwood Mac and he

would do it as part of a solo you know

he they would you know it's kind of

mellow out a little bit and somebody

would hit on this 6 string bass and he

did a kind of a a solo not really a song

and then he switched back to his Les

Paul and went on out but so I but it

sounded really cool

me and I never really heard you know

anybody use one and when I when I got

one I figured man this sounds really

good I got to have an excuse to play it

you know I wrote this this riff that

just kind of flew off event that first

first riff and and that was it and then

when we we started playing it it worked

then of course you know if we flushed it

out with the rest of the band and but

that was it it just was because I wanted

to have an excuse to play that there I

was it was so heavy I mean the first

time I heard rocks right and it was the

first song on the record so you put it

on there's the intro which is a great

intro anyway and it slams into the riff

it was just so like bottom-heavy and

yeah and i didn't know what it was when

I was a kid I was in Idaho and I was

like what what is that all right

I don't Joe did you ever play the six

string guitar I don't think I ever saw

you play six string guitar law I mean on

the the fender six live you did okay

and Brad plays all those solos live

right gotcha can't do two things at once

I wish I could sometimes you know but it

would sound better with with me playing

the bass 6 string bass is such a part of

you know sound of the song and and then

any place that the leads really good so

it all worked out but yeah I plant play

it every night like that and you know

and sometimes I'm cursing myself or you

know

cuz it when we're doing outdoor gigs

your hands get cold and you're trying to

wrestle those bases big strings yeah I

don't know how you guys do it well

that's that's the easy version and then

you get the real bass but I I I got one

of those those Fender sixes a couple

years ago and it's inspired a lot of

really interesting music yeah you can go

in any direction with that thing

they're totally they're really cool like

there's the the back of the saddle sort

of distortions you know and then the

there's a clean you know sort of way of

doing it that it just sounds really

throaty it's

yeah that's nice yeah you know of course

they had a laugh when spinal tap came

out and they had that song I think the

big bottom yeah yeah there's it's like

well yeah I did that I think we all had

that moment watching spinal tap and I

was like yeah there's not too many

things that you know sort of get under

my skin when we're on the road were like

I won't have this and I won't have that

but the spinal tap I will not have on

the bus you cannot watch it during a

tour cannot watch it when I'm working

because it might manifest its - yeah

that's too close to home and I had the

worst gig one night after watching spot

the entire spinal tap before the show

and it was just I what were you think

there's so sorry time you moved no I

don't know what it was but I just took

it as an omen and I never watched it

again before amazing

laughed myself off the seat man every

time I see it I get a kick out of it

because I mean the whole movie is like I

mean every one of us has lived through

that you know it's just hilarious they

really nailed it we had the getting lost

to the stage I was just thinking of that

- getting lost on the way of the state

hello Cleveland it's like you know this

is maintenance ours was like really

embarrassing because this one shout at

the devil came out we were using the

shout at the devil cassette that had

this song before shot of the devil

called in the beginning so that was our

intro tape all right so it was running

we went to go we were playing a small

theater I think it was in Denver we went

to the door and it was it was locked so

we had to go all the way back down the

theater and come around well when we

stepped on stage our sound man was so

good we were so professional he just let

the cassette keep rolling so now I was

playing the song it's playing we don't

even have our guitars on and then we

somehow got in time with the song that's

spinal tap yeah yeah also we had one we

designed a stage like moving truss this

is back in the 80s I think what asked

him the band got back together we wanted

to have the moving the aid come together

like the trust lighting trust and so

this guy showed us this whole thing and

come you know

computer graphics what there were back

then and how it was going to all come

together and all we had to do is write a

check for $500,000 perfect and

everything and we show it we did

pre-production and I don't know

someplace in in Illinois or something

and we're sitting in the arena and we're

watching this thing come together and it

took ten minutes for the thing to

finally come together it's wobbling

around and it was it was the same thing

as that is the Stonehenge thing it was

in in the trucks

on the way back home like after two

shows right yeah I guess wasted time and

waste of money

it's like Bruce to shark so we seen it

all yeah oh cool

hey while we're talking I see Terry

Reid's on your on the upcoming solo

album I'm I'm a huge Terry Reid fan so

I'm super excited not only to hear your

record but to hear that and then Sanders

on the first single AAA yeah is it AAA

or III I see like a pirate yeah it's uh

Terry really really opened up man I mean

you can hear every every year that he's

put in behind the microphone you know on

that I mean he really gave it up on that

I was really honored to have them be on

the record yeah you know and I can't

wait for you to hear it I'm surprised

you don't have a copy of it we sent them

out really saw your name on the list yes

listen to it you lazy [ __ ] everybody's

you know it's at your house that's a

loveless Oh II's gonna make me go to his

house to listen to it so much work no I

can't wait to get my hands but it's it's

done right well yeah awesome

because I want to get out of the to the

watermark press copies have been sent

out and like I said your name is on

there man someone's gonna yell that in

our room here

me and slash are yelling every

congratulations on that I mean it must

feel really I mean I know what it's like

to be in a band and then to be able to

express

self but sometimes I learned that when I

do something outside of the mothership

to just have less expect expectations

yeah like do it really for just how much

I love the songs or the instrument like

how's your you know how do you feel you

know between doing your solo stuff and

do an Aerosmith stuff well this is my

sixth solo record yeah so and everyone

has been you know like around the

Aerosmith

you know schedule so to speak but this

time it was there were just a lot of

different things going on as I decided

it back when I was right in the book

actually and and it it I just every

every chance I had to clear my calendar

I'd go in the studio so it's we've

really been working on it for the last

four years but only the last six months

it really came to fruition and actually

we're mixing the three more songs got

finished there's another Robin Zander

song I got a song with Chris Robinson on

it like it was you know and then Gary

Cherone you know what so that's getting

mixed right now so and that's going to

be on the vinyl the vinyl will be out

probably a couple weeks after the cool

the rest of it goes out you know now you

have you have all yours but all your

solo records compiled as well as new

stuff right well we're trying to do that

now I went down to Sony in the archives

a couple months ago to see what they

have there and get the Masters for some

of those early records so that's that's

on that better put out a box set this

South Station all those make it on there

you know yeah

what did South Station Blues make it on

there yeah oh good I love that song

tonight I think I have a a great stone

tale that song yeah I'm not gonna get

into it now but for the next yeah there

was yeah I was just listening that song

over and over again driving driving

I don't know what a car I had at the

time and driving like a madman around

Santa Monica it sounded like a beach all

right in the middle of the night

no traffic jumping my car off of dirt

mounds a construction site oh no no that

guard that I mean you know all things

considered the car managed to drive it

home at the end of it but yeah it didn't

last very long

this reminds me of that that song that

was the soundtrack to that venture well

it's in the past so you can do can all

smirk about it at this point

at the time it was that morning it was

definitely bad at the time there was a

hangover and I oh [ __ ] yeah yeah a good

friend of mine that he's a couple years

younger than I am and his his gang was

hanging out when like rocks came out and

you showed me a picture of them pinto

surfing in an open field and they have

like like a rope tied around the front

and somebody's standing on the on the

trunk and then they're like scooter is

skiing around the field in the mud Jesus

Christ

do it you know skidding and [ __ ] and

they were doing it to to the record I

mean I couldn't believe it I was like I

fell off my chair when I saw yeah well

yeah my it was definitely it's in the

past so I was where my grandmother died

so so I was in a bad state yes that's

the thing so at this point it's okay you

can look back on it and laugh that's

right anyway I'm glad the songs on the

record all somehow survived yeah anyway

then to answer your question you know

we're gonna put a box set together of

the favorite ones and you know from all

those records that's gonna be great yeah

we want to get this record out now it's

it is a lot different than the other

ones you know okay so so there's a solo

record and it's completely separate and

then the box set is a whole other thing

I thought they were sort of house

somehow together okay that's cool

I think that you know the time will come

we'll have time to do that but right now

like I said we just want to get this

record out and know that's better that's

better putting the sound separate I

think that's that's way better yeah so

anyway far out but what are you gonna do

man now you're off the road I'm just I'm

working on new material and and all that

goes along with that and and navigating

the holidays I've even started yeah I

bought a tree last night and then I get

woke up this morning looked at it sound

that tree is so [ __ ] up oh you did an

impulse tree by yeah well it wasn't an

impulse it looked good on the lot but

then when I wasn't home when they

delivered it I came home and that's the

shoddy side one side yeah yeah yeah yeah

oh you know GMO tree because those

things look perfect which the GMO you

know what I mean when they like they

they breed them to look perfect Wow no

and I never even heard of that yeah well

that's what they do you know they'll

sell you anything thinking they can

tweak I was eyes at the Christmas tree

lot

two nights ago with my wife and I was

right on I just wanted to say it so bad

so can we just get a [ __ ] fake tree

baby yeah I know it wasn't gonna end

well

right it wasn't good then I said can we

get someone else to decorate it she goes

are you trying to like out Christmas

yeah no I'm just lazy at this point in

my life I got the tree but now it's just

like okay I want to get some Garland's

so I saw the garlic got the Garland's

yeah so I'm like okay here it is now we

got to you know talk the kids or

somebody into decorating when we were

drinking right and using decorating a

Christmas tree getting like six of us

together yeah that'd be a great video

you would only decorate the shotty side

or we would only make it so high so I

could get on a ladder we fall off

they say is leaving it up after

Christmas you know you can think of

every excuse because you don't want to

take the thing down because you know all

the pine needles are gonna fall off ya

spend two days cleaning it up so you

leave it up you know these at least two

or three weeks past New Year's so it's a

good time to go on tour when the trees

still up because then it's not your

responsibility to take it down yeah I'm

so let's look at your couch the house

catches on fire or something anyway so

we're gonna we're gonna do this this

back in the saddle riff they can do a

bunch of riffs and hey Joe wall while

you're here do you have like if you're

gonna say like what one of your favorite

riffs are that you know when you were

coming up at any time

like the riff that you always like pick

up your guitar god I love playing this

riff I think the train kept a-rollin

that you know at risk if the the Burnett

Brothers came up with you know that song

is you know if you go back you listen to

the swing version tiny Bradshaw burn

guitar riffs that they came up with over

that song I think is probably one of the

best rock and roll guitarists ever

written you know I mean that is like I

mean yeah yeah I mean it's like it just

plays off the rhythm so amazing you just

can't top it

you know yeah it always falls in a

pocket yeah I mean yeah

Anderson yeah you can there's so many

ways to play you can play it rockabilly

you can play it swing but it's still it

still just carries it so it's a that's

one of my favorites and so one of the

first things I ever learned how to play

on the low E string yeah it's one of

those things like very song it's like

when you get something that simple

we've had to have it sound good you know

yeah there's something about those songs

obviously me and slash growing up with

Aerosmith and then other artists were it

inspired me to keep playing when I could

play it yeah and I think about that when

I write sometimes even stuff like

kickstart my heart it's pretty simple I

mean it's fast but it's

pretty simple and I just I love that

when I hear a song and I'm like I could

play that right right I can see it or

some but specially when you're young I

think that's what happens is you keep

learning licks and stuff like that and

once you manage to get that that that

feeling of accomplishment when you can

play something properly and then that

inspires you just to keep going and keep

yelling yeah that's nice and then the

you know what I mean that's that's the

thing that pulls you in

really songs were like designed around

around the guitar to be you know just

just it's all expression because it is

it's really simple but it's all

expression and you know it can sound

great or it can sound she depended on

how you how you attack it but it is yeah

technically a simple thing to play right

you know I've heard a lot of a lot of

people play Chuck Berry songs bad it's

but it's all about the feelings yeah

well I was just thinking I mean I've

seen Chuck Berry play Chuck Berry as

long as bad I've heard those stories ya

know I've seen him drive up in a door

stayed in one time and get together with

whatever the band that they hired from

the local and get up there and play like

five songs and then jump in his car and

split that's it and I couldn't tell what

those songs I had that experience with

Bob Dylan and I don't think it's that

Bob was bad it's just he we went to Bob

Dylan remember that and in it was like I

didn't know one song from the next but

they were all it was good it was good

Dylan but he had kind of taken his songs

to a different interpretation right my

brain was like what this isn't blowing

in the wind right yes it is yeah that's

a great thing about music too is it's

like however you want to interpret it

yeah all right go do your thing man it's

good to talk to you and I'm excited

about to getting a copy of the record so

just keep me in mind

all right have a good one thank you yeah

see you in the 16th all right cheers

thanks yeah

Transcript of the part about the GN'R reunion:
---------------------------------------------------------

Nikki: Anything about GN'R that you want to talk about, like how it felt being on the road...

Slash: Well, we can talk about it. I mean yeah, we can talk about... I mean, all things considered, the tour, what ended up being the "Not In This Lifetime" kind of thing - you know, I left in ’96 and Ax and I didn’t talk until 2015.

Nikki: So, I kinda wondered a little bit if there are kind of like some similarities. Because, like, when Motley broke up we were not friends, and it left a little hole in my heart. It was like, "wow".

Slash: Yeah. Well, there was always that. There was always that thing. And I won’t get into all the personal stuff.

Nikki: Yeah, we don’t want to get into that anyway.

Slash: But, you know, over that period of time there was a lot of bad feelings, from the breakup up until - all throughout this, that whole 20 years, whatever it was.  

Nikki: That’s crazy, 20 years.

Slash: But you know, there is also a part of you that’s like in a marriage, where you love somebody, and so there is always that feeling, but then there is all this negative stuff, and-

Nikki: Sure. Which by the way comes from a lot of other people. 

Slash: Well, there was so much stuff perpetuated in the media and it was just blown out of proportion. So when he and I talked for the first time, it was really, really cool.

Female: Was it in person?

Slash: Yeah, that was... Well no, first time we spoke was on the phone, and then we got together when I got back into town, because I was on the road. I was in Peru, I remember it specifically (laughs). But it was very cathartic-

Nikki: I can see that.

Slash: ...to physically talk. Because, I mean, there’s a bond you have that's never, you know...

Nikki: For sure.

Slash: And then it makes the breakup -  I mean, what happens is that the bond makes the negative side of it that much worse, because you’re forced out of it, you know? Anyway, so when we got together and played it was Coachella. It was just fuckin’ awesome. And we played the Troubadour, it was the first gig that we did. And so it just snowballed from there. So it's 18 months now and it's been... I mean, I would never - you know, if you talked to me 20 months ago, I would have said, "No fucking way. It’s not ever gonna happen." But it did, and it was fuckin’ awesome.  

Nikki: And it happened at the right time. It’s a time there are people ready... Obviously you see it in the ticket sales and the enthusiasm from fans, and the different generations...

Slash: Yeah.

Nikki: The cool thing about being gone as long as the band was gone, the original band, is that people would discover you, but never-ever could ever see you.

Slash: There was a lot of it, yeah.

Nikki: So it’s like, "This is our chance," and that’s fantastic. And I’m sure it made everything feel that much better. It must have been kind of weird to, like, look over and there’s Duff and Axl, and you're like, "I didn’t think this would ever happen"...

Slash: Yeah, many times. It was very surreal. You know, these moments on stage, where you sort of take stock of where you are at the moment and you go, "Wow, this isn’t true" (laughs).

Nikki: Yeah, "Look at this. It's a sold out stadium and there's my guys that we were kids."

Slash: And the funny thing about it... It was something about this particular tour that it didn’t make me - it didn’t take me back to, you know, the last tour in the 90s where it's, like, reminiscent of that. It was completely uniquely its own new thing. Same guys, same songs, but a whole different experience.

The show with Y&T and Motley Crue at the Whisky that Slash talks about must have been in 1981 or 1982, because those were the last years Motley played at this venue. I tried finding the exact date by looking at Y&T shows around this period, but couldn't find a date both band splayed at The Whisky. Slash might be wrong on the venue or possibly the setlists aren't complete.