2001.07.11 - Metal-Is.com - Interview with Slash

Interview With Slash

by Dr. Brain Damage

1. What is your earliest memory?

My grandmother in England dragging me to church on Sunday mornings in the fall and shuffling through the leaves, knowing I had no choice.

2. What would you be if you weren't a musician?

Probably some sort of illustrator or artist. I did a lot of things before I played guitar, but the one thing I've always done is graphics, cartooning or drawing, like the logos for the band.

3. How do you get on with your parents?

I've always gotten along with my parents. I don't talk to them or see them probably as often as a good kid should, but it's like if you have some really good friends that you just see once every couple years, and it's like an unsaid thing, except for with my mom - the holidays always turn into a guilt trip.

4. Who's been the biggest role model in your life?

Anybody in any field who perseveres with a lot of integrity and has some balls and originality.

5. How far would you say the image you project on stage is the 'real you'?

What you see is what you get.

6. For you, is the glass half-full or half-empty?

I'm definitely an optimist - it's half-full.

7. If you were to lose all your possessions, what one (non-living) thing could you not live without?

I'd have to say my guitar.

8. What are your best personality traits?

All things considered, I'm a nice guy - very easy-going, amicable.

9. And your worst?

Being overly single-minded.

10. Do you lead or do you follow?

The feedback I get from people around me say that I'm a leader type. But that's somebody else's opinion. As far as I'm concerned, I try to get things done. But I like to be in front rather than the back of the line.

11. Would you say you have an addictive personality?

Very much so - for anything that I put my single-minded focus on.

12. Do you have any phobias?

Leaving my arm hanging out of the passenger-side window in a car. I also have a weird phobia of standing on the edge of a high place.

13. What do you do to escape from the stresses of the music business?

There is no escape. It's a 24/7 job.

14. Have you ever had any paranormal experiences?

Actually, I had one at the House of Blues in Los Angeles recently. I do this thing sometimes - I don't know what makes me do it - where at the end of the show, I sort of do a mock toss of my guitar to the audience, and I actually let it go. It was in mid-air - however many hands around it - and I reached out while it was still flying and managed to pull it back before anybody in the audience could figure out what just happened.

15. What do you dream about?

I have a re-occurring dream which has been going on since the Guns N' Roses days, where you're walking out in front of an audience and the band completely, irretrievably falls apart on stage.

16. Which is better: music or sex?

I have to be very boring and say music, because if I'm not playing, I can't screw.

17. What's the most important thing life has taught you?

Life is a test. That's what it's taught me, and continues to teach me.

DR DAMAGE'S DIAGNOSIS: While you might expect him to have an insatiable appetite for destruction, Slash appears to be at peace with life and himself - as long as he's got a good grip on his guitar!

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Source:
https://web.archive.org/web/20021119003317/http://www.gnrunlimited.com/articles/metis-7-11-01.html