1987.10.30 - Postshow interview (CGBGs)

Transcript:

[Up to 4:00 min. mark: Signing, talk among the members of the band, Slash looks for sunglasses]

Q: Can I start, Axl?

Axl: Sure.

Q: Most people probably think it’s kind of strange, odd perhaps, a band considered heavy metal to be going around (?) doing acoustic sets. Do you think your music still has an impact without the loud volume?

Axl: Oh yeah. Well, we don’t consider ourselves a heavy metal band. We consider ourselves a rock ‘n’ roll band. And so, it’s like, rock ‘n’ roll covers everything, so we try to play as many things as we can learn how to play.

Q: How did you choose the songs (?)

Axl: Well, some of the songs were written acoustically and we’ll be putting out an acoustic EP sometime late next year. And other songs like...

Someone in the room (yelling): Slash!

Slash: What?

Axl: A lot of the stuff was written originally acoustically and then we’d take it into the studio and then be doing it electrically. And I don’t ever really rehearse with the band...

[Someone hands Slash his sunglasses]

Slash (talking over): My shades! Cool. (?) Where did you find them?

Axl (to Slash): Great. You just blew everything.

Slash: Oh, sorry. (inaudible)

Q: Alright, I’ll ask this question again. So you were saying that some of the songs were written acoustically and that you’re gonna be putting out an EP?

Axl: Yes, yes. When we originally got signed, we recorded a lot of material acoustically and then we’ve gone back in the studio and done some more; and just, kind of like, gone in one day and done it in one day. It’s, you know... With this particular album, Appetite for Destruction, we wanted to put the rock ‘n’ roll out first, the hard stuff out first, but there’ll be a lot of variation on the next records, all kinds of material. We won’t ever give up the hard stuff, but we’ll venture into all kinds of new territories.

Q: (inaudible)

Axl: Yeah. I mean, it’s like, name anybody that you’ve ever listened to, and if we’ve heard of them they’re an influence. You know, mainly it’s a lot of the 70s hard rock bands. Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, AC/DC... But, you know, I listen to everything, from old Bessie Smith to Frank Sinatra to Metallica’s latest to M.O.D. to Bananarama. It doesn’t really matter.

Q: How do you consider yourselves different from other rock ‘n’ roll bands?

Axl: A lot of bands are scared to venture into any territory except hard rock. And it’s a lot of guys who feel like, “If I do that, I’m wimpy”. You know, it takes more heart to venture.

Slash: We do whatever... I won’t say any curse words. (?). It’s just we do whatever we want. We do what we felt like doing, and that’s what we’ve been doing, and that’s why people like us in the first place.

Q: Why do you think so many people compare you to Aerosmith?

Slash: Because it’s sort of the same genre of style, as far as (?)

Axl: As far as hard rock. They’re blues-based hard rock band, they’re real street American, street level rock. And we’re from America and we like street level rock, so it’s real similar.

Q: (?) members of this band come from all over the place, like Seattle and Indiana and England. How did you all get together?

Slash: We’re the only five people, like, to actually... I mean, he was the only singer, I was the only guitar player, he was... wherever they are. It’s the only people that I liked to play with, to start a band with that I liked.

Axl: Same here. We went through so many different people and this ended being the people that we most believed in. We’re like a family, we believe in each other.

Q: How would you describe a Guns N’ Roses live show?

Axl: It varies. It varies depending on how the crowd is. Sometimes the crowd’s, like, mesmerized, and they stand there and they don’t move. Other times they’re like a bunch of thrashers, you know? And so, like, it varies on how it’s gonna be. We just give everything that we have during the show to the point of, like, it takes a lot of time to recover afterwards (chuckles).

Slash: Describe us a city and then describe the reaction from us, and then describe the reaction from the crowd, and that’s what...

Axl: You know, if you got a crowd of a bunch of stage divers diving off the balconies and stuff, that’s how we are on stage. If they’re all laid-back and mellow, then we kind of get laid-back and mellow, and get into that groove. We play off the vibe a lot.

Q: You’ve got a reputation of being really rowdy. Was it hard to break into (?) this dangerous element?

Izzy: That’s what broke us into it.

Axl: No, that’s what broke us into it. The labels were looking for a new young band that was rowdy again.

Slash: We had, I think, seven labels looking at us, right? And we weren’t even looking for a record deal. We were just playing, you know? So what we did was we signed our deal on our own... You know, we said, “This is what we wanna do. We don’t care for the record deal if you’re not gonna give us what we want.” Alright?

Q: So you don’t feel restricted by being on a major label?

Slash: No (?)

Axl (talks over): No, we’re not restricted at all. We have complete freedom. And that cuz they like what we’re doing, they like our music.  They ended up enjoying the music, so it’s very good being in Geffen.

Slash: They are 100% behind us, so what else could we ask for?

Axl: The people in Geffen are great.

[Interruption]

Q: Tell me something... You’ve got such a dangerous and such a rowdy reputation. Tell me something that you’ve done that’s been wild or tell me a story that somehow you’ve ended up in trouble.

Slash: There’s nothing that could be or said on TV.

Q: Why?

Axl: I don’t know, what do you want? Well, if you want anything (looks at Slash) this guy (?) vans, he goes out and wrecks vans and passes out in the middle of the street. We stay at the Gramercy hotel here, and one of our friends, West Arkeen, the guy jumped over the counter. His dad had a heart attack and they didn’t give him the message, and then when he yelled at the guy, the guy jumped over the counter and hit him. And then three guys jumped in - it was at the hotel here in New York. So then he came up and got me. I went downstairs and two big guys come with a club. So I grabbed a huge metal sign, you know, and it was like a showdown, they backed off. And then the cops came and, you know. That’s, like, the most recent thing that’s happened.

Q: Tell me why there are two versions of the Appetite for Destruction album cover.

Slash: Why do you think there’s two versions of Appetite?

Q: Well, I have to get it on tape.

Axl: Well, because there’s a lot of record stores and stores that sell your record that did not like the cover and had a different opinion on what it meant. And so, we knew that was gonna happen, but we wanted to get the cover out. So then we made another cover. Basically there’s two covers because we weren’t stupid, we didn’t want to, like, limit our sales. And plus, we like both covers and it’s fun having two versions of it.

Slash: Plus it’s a catch-22, because we put out the first record, right? I mean, we put out the first cover, sold so many with that and then changed it, and the fucking first one... Shit! (laughs). The first cover is inside the inner sleeve so it’s a catch-22. So it’s like, it doesn’t really matter, you know?

Q: Are you worried that people like the PMRC will object to (?)

Axl: I don’t really care about the PMRC. I don’t care. I think it’s stupid. I think people that are voting for people, you know, don’t deserve to have somebody’s wife or something like that. That’s not the person they voted for. I’m not voting for who this guy decides to be with.

Slash: The more stickers they put on records, the more records we sell.

Axl: Yeah.

Slash: It’s the whole philosophy of being a teenager in rebellion, you know? The worse they get (?)

Axl (talks over): When the parents hate it, the kids love it. So, it’s like... And then the parents end up finding a song they like, so I like that (chuckles).

Izzy: They don’t have a clue.

Q: Are you looking forward to opening up for Motley Crue?

Slash: Yeah.

Axl: Yeah!

Steven: Three more days!

Axl: Oh yeah.

Duff: Four more days.

Axl: Oh yeah.

Q: How did you end up opening for Motley Crue?

Axl: Well, we were gonna do it on the original beginning of their tour, but we weren’t ready. Our album hadn’t been put out yet. And so they got Whitesnake and they were real happy with that. But now Whitesnake is ready to start headlining on their own, and they like us and we like them, so it’s like, we’re ready to do it.

Q: (inaudible)

Slash: We don’t know yet.

Axl: They’re like, they’re rolling out, like, the red carpet. I mean, they’re giving us more lights than they usually give an opening act. They’re giving us more monitors and more things...

Slash: We got a drum riser...

Axl: Yeah. They’re like, they’re really helping us, because they’re into what we’re doing. And like, someone told me the other day, Circus Magazine told me that Vince Neil said some nice things about us (?). I figure that any kid that has the Guns N’ Roses album has a Motley Crue album too, so it should be great.

Slash: It’s probably, if you think about it...  

Izzy (talks over): (?)

Axl (talks over): Yeah. I think it will be a good show for the kids.

Slash: ... the best tour for what we do, for what Motley Crue does, what we do...

Axl (talks over): It’s pretty legit.

Slash: ... it’s like, putting it right together, it’s like who else, you know? There hasn’t been (?)

Axl: It’s pretty legit and unpretentious, and not aimed at top 40 radio, you know? It’s aimed at just coming-from-the-heart rock ‘n’ roll.

Q: Do you think Vince being a teetotal or at least doing these R.A.D. [Rock Against Drugs] commercials will affect any kind of backstage antics during the tour?

Izzy: I think he has to do those because of other reasons. You know, how many more people will get involved. It’s probably (?)

Axl: Yeah, I don’t think it will affect us. You know, it’s like, we won’t do anything to stir up any trouble on the tour. And the hotel rooms is another story (chuckles).

Q: Living such a, what I'd call it, reckless life, do you think there’s any danger of burning out too early? Do you just plan on being around for a couple of years?

Axl: I’m not necessarily interested in the longevity as long as the music sticks around.

Slash: As far as I’m concerned, this is just as long as we’re having... we believe in what we’re doing.

Axl: We care about each other enough to keep each other in line, you know, (puts his arm around Slash) like I saved this guy’s life a couple of times this week (chuckles).

Q: What’s your relationship with L.A. Guns?

Axl: Yeah, they are friends of ours and, like, we used to practice in the drummer’s studio. I was original singer in an old version of that band. The guitar player in L.A. Guns, Izzy lived with him. He grew up, him and Slash were, like, friends in high school, in rival bands and stuff like that. And the name Guns N’ Roses came about from Tracii Guns and Axl Rose. I said, let’s call it Guns N’ Roses, and then he went back to L.A. Guns and I called up Slash and Steve and, you know, we just kept the name.

Q: Do you have any plans of another album? The EP that’s coming out?

Axl: Well, the EP... Yeah, the EP is planned and then we’ve already talked with Geffen and we will record a double album whenever we’re done touring. And hopefully we’ll put out a double album. We’ll see how it sounds, and if it’s a smart move to put out a double record cuz it’s gonna cost more. But we got all the material ready for it and we’re still writing new stuff, so... We have about 40 songs ready to go that we believe in.

Q: I’m doing a fashion segment on MTV called “Addicted to Style” and do you have any... Do you want to talk about your tattoos or any kind of fashion...

Slash: Fashion?! (chuckles)

Q: ... statement? Things that have been consistent throughout members of the band? (?)

Slash: We’re wearing... (Stands up and puts his hand on his buttock) We’re wearing whatever is laying around the hotel room when we wake up. Ya know what I’m saying?

Q: Why don’t you tell us about your tattoos then?

Axl: A guy named Robert Benedetti does our tattoos, on the Sunset Strip. He does, like, Ozzy’s, and Kevin Brady used to work there and he did Motley Crue’s and stuff. And it’s like, I think about a tattoo a long time before I get it. Like, I got the one on my arm here (shows the Appetite cross tattoo) before we had the album cover designed, you know. And Geffen saw this and liked it so much that they wanted to do a cover. And, I don’t know, fashion is just like, I believe in wearing and doing what you want to do, not what someone tells you to do. Yeah, and that’s what our fashion is. It’s like (?), you go into a nice hotel, you’re renting out a whole floor, you’re playing a big show in the town - like we were on The Cult tour, you know, you’re playing for, like, 10,000 people sometimes - and they won’t let you in the restaurant? Because of the dress code? And there’s no one in it? What is that? And this guy’s making, like, $8 an hour, you’re blowing him away financially and successfully, and he’s telling you you’re a bum.      
[cut]

Axl: (?) so I can turn it on and on.

Slash: (?) but I get thrown out of everywhere, you know? For no real reason except for the fact that I like to get drunk and blah blah blah. It’s like, as far as I’m concerned, it’s pretty much just whatever you wear, whatever you wake up in, and you just go and do what you got to do.

Axl: About tattoos, don’t go get a tattoo just to get a tattoo. Get something that you plan on having for the rest of your... If you’re gonna get one, make sure it means a lot to you and you’re gonna have it for the rest of your life. Like, when I come up with an idea for a tattoo, I think about it for a year. Do I really want that? Will I always want that on my arm? I’m not unhappy with anything I have. The only thing I’m bummed about is, like, I have this tattoo right here, which is a Thin Lizzy album cover, and I always wanted to show it to Phil Lynott and he died on me.  

Slash: I got this one, like, whenever, and it’s been years since I figured out (?). I drew this one, right? It’ my own drawing, so I figured if I ever have a tattoo it will be my own drawing. So I had to figure what I want to get on this arm and it’s got to be something I like (?). It’s like, as soon as I think something is important enough I’m gonna get it... You know!

[Signing]

So I need to transcribe this, or at least any interesting parts

TRANSCRIPTION:
------------------

[Up to 4:00 min. mark: Signing, talk among the members of the band, Slash looks for sunglasses]

Q: Can I start, Axl?

Axl: Sure.

Q: Most people probably think it’s kind of strange, odd perhaps, a band considered heavy metal to be going around (?) doing acoustic sets. Do you think your music still has an impact without the loud volume?

Axl: Oh yeah. Well, we don’t consider ourselves a heavy metal band. We consider ourselves a rock ‘n’ roll band. And so, it’s like, rock ‘n’ roll covers everything, so we try to play as many things as we can learn how to play.

Q: How did you choose the songs (?)

Axl: Well, some of the songs were written acoustically and we’ll be putting out an acoustic EP sometime late next year. And other songs like...

Someone in the room (yelling): Slash!

Slash: What?

Axl: A lot of the stuff was written originally acoustically and then we’d take it into the studio and then be doing it electrically. And I don’t ever really rehearse with the band...

[Someone hands Slash his sunglasses]

Slash (talking over): My shades! Cool. (?) Where did you find them?

Axl (to Slash): Great. You just blew everything.

Slash: Oh, sorry. (inaudible)

Q: Alright, I’ll ask this question again. So you were saying that some of the songs were written acoustically and that you’re gonna be putting out an EP?

Axl: Yes, yes. When we originally got signed, we recorded a lot of material acoustically and then we’ve gone back in the studio and done some more; and just, kind of like, gone in one day and done it in one day. It’s, you know... With this particular album, Appetite for Destruction, we wanted to put the rock ‘n’ roll out first, the hard stuff out first, but there’ll be a lot of variation on the next records, all kinds of material. We won’t ever give up the hard stuff, but we’ll venture into all kinds of new territories.

Q: (inaudible)

Axl: Yeah. I mean, it’s like, name anybody that you’ve ever listened to, and if we’ve heard of them they’re an influence. You know, mainly it’s a lot of the 70s hard rock bands. Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, AC/DC... But, you know, I listen to everything, from old Bessie Smith to Frank Sinatra to Metallica’s latest to M.O.D. to Bananarama. It doesn’t really matter.

Q: How do you consider yourselves different from other rock ‘n’ roll bands?

Axl: A lot of bands are scared to venture into any territory except hard rock. And it’s a lot of guys who feel like, “If I do that, I’m wimpy”. You know, it takes more heart to venture.

Slash: We do whatever... I won’t say any curse words. (?). It’s just we do whatever we want. We do what we felt like doing, and that’s what we’ve been doing, and that’s why people like us in the first place.

Q: Why do you think so many people compare you to Aerosmith?

Slash: Because it’s sort of the same genre of style, as far as (?)

Axl: As far as hard rock. They’re blues-based hard rock band, they’re real street American, street level rock. And we’re from America and we like street level rock, so it’s real similar.

Q: (?) members of this band come from all over the place, like Seattle and Indiana and England. How did you all get together?

Slash: We’re the only five people, like, to actually... I mean, he was the only singer, I was the only guitar player, he was... wherever they are. It’s the only people that I liked to play with, to start a band with that I liked.

Axl: Same here. We went through so many different people and this ended being the people that we most believed in. We’re like a family, we believe in each other.

Q: How would you describe a Guns N’ Roses live show?

Axl: It varies. It varies depending on how the crowd is. Sometimes the crowd’s, like, mesmerized, and they stand there and they don’t move. Other times they’re like a bunch of thrashers, you know? And so, like, it varies on how it’s gonna be. We just give everything that we have during the show to the point of, like, it takes a lot of time to recover afterwards (chuckles).

Slash: Describe us a city and then describe the reaction from us, and then describe the reaction from the crowd, and that’s what...

Axl: You know, if you got a crowd of a bunch of stage divers diving off the balconies and stuff, that’s how we are on stage. If they’re all laid-back and mellow, then we kind of get laid-back and mellow, and get into that groove. We play off the vibe a lot.

Q: You’ve got a reputation of being really rowdy. Was it hard to break into (?) this dangerous element?

Izzy: That’s what broke us into it.

Axl: No, that’s what broke us into it. The labels were looking for a new young band that was rowdy again.

Slash: We had, I think, seven labels looking at us, right? And we weren’t even looking for a record deal. We were just playing, you know? So what we did was we signed our deal on our own... You know, we said, “This is what we wanna do. We don’t care for the record deal if you’re not gonna give us what we want.” Alright?

Q: So you don’t feel restricted by being on a major label?

Slash: No (?)

Axl (talks over): No, we’re not restricted at all. We have complete freedom. And that cuz they like what we’re doing, they like our music.  They ended up enjoying the music, so it’s very good being in Geffen.

Slash: They are 100% behind us, so what else could we ask for?

Axl: The people in Geffen are great.

[Interruption]

Q: Tell me something... You’ve got such a dangerous and such a rowdy reputation. Tell me something that you’ve done that’s been wild or tell me a story that somehow you’ve ended up in trouble.

Slash: There’s nothing that could be or said on TV.

Q: Why?

Axl: I don’t know, what do you want? Well, if you want anything (looks at Slash) this guy (?) vans, he goes out and wrecks vans and passes out in the middle of the street. We stay at the Gramercy hotel here, and one of our friends, West Arkeen, the guy jumped over the counter. His dad had a heart attack and they didn’t give him the message, and then when he yelled at the guy, the guy jumped over the counter and hit him. And then three guys jumped in - it was at the hotel here in New York. So then he came up and got me. I went downstairs and two big guys come with a club. So I grabbed a huge metal sign, you know, and it was like a showdown, they backed off. And then the cops came and, you know. That’s, like, the most recent thing that’s happened.

Q: Tell me why there are two versions of the Appetite for Destruction album cover.

Slash: Why do you think there’s two versions of Appetite?

Q: Well, I have to get it on tape.

Axl: Well, because there’s a lot of record stores and stores that sell your record that did not like the cover and had a different opinion on what it meant. And so, we knew that was gonna happen, but we wanted to get the cover out. So then we made another cover. Basically there’s two covers because we weren’t stupid, we didn’t want to, like, limit our sales. And plus, we like both covers and it’s fun having two versions of it.

Slash: Plus it’s a catch-22, because we put out the first record, right? I mean, we put out the first cover, sold so many with that and then changed it, and the fucking first one... Shit! (laughs). The first cover is inside the inner sleeve so it’s a catch-22. So it’s like, it doesn’t really matter, you know?

Q: Are you worried that people like the PMRC will object to (?)

Axl: I don’t really care about the PMRC. I don’t care. I think it’s stupid. I think people that are voting for people, you know, don’t deserve to have somebody’s wife or something like that. That’s not the person they voted for. I’m not voting for who this guy decides to be with.

Slash: The more stickers they put on records, the more records we sell.

Axl: Yeah.

Slash: It’s the whole philosophy of being a teenager in rebellion, you know? The worse they get (?)

Axl (talks over): When the parents hate it, the kids love it. So, it’s like... And then the parents end up finding a song they like, so I like that (chuckles).

Izzy: They don’t have a clue.

Q: Are you looking forward to opening up for Motley Crue?

Slash: Yeah.

Axl: Yeah!

Steven: Three more days!

Axl: Oh yeah.

Duff: Four more days.

Axl: Oh yeah.

Q: How did you end up opening for Motley Crue?

Axl: Well, we were gonna do it on the original beginning of their tour, but we weren’t ready. Our album hadn’t been put out yet. And so they got Whitesnake and they were real happy with that. But now Whitesnake is ready to start headlining on their own, and they like us and we like them, so it’s like, we’re ready to do it.

Q: (inaudible)

Slash: We don’t know yet.

Axl: They’re like, they’re rolling out, like, the red carpet. I mean, they’re giving us more lights than they usually give an opening act. They’re giving us more monitors and more things...

Slash: We got a drum riser...

Axl: Yeah. They’re like, they’re really helping us, because they’re into what we’re doing. And like, someone told me the other day, Circus Magazine told me that Vince Neil said some nice things about us (?). I figure that any kid that has the Guns N’ Roses album has a Motley Crue album too, so it should be great.

Slash: It’s probably, if you think about it...  

Izzy (talks over): (?)

Axl (talks over): Yeah. I think it will be a good show for the kids.

Slash: ... the best tour for what we do, for what Motley Crue does, what we do...

Axl (talks over): It’s pretty legit.

Slash: ... it’s like, putting it right together, it’s like who else, you know? There hasn’t been (?)

Axl: It’s pretty legit and unpretentious, and not aimed at top 40 radio, you know? It’s aimed at just coming-from-the-heart rock ‘n’ roll.

Q: Do you think Vince being a teetotal or at least doing these R.A.D. [Rock Against Drugs] commercials will affect any kind of backstage antics during the tour?

Izzy: I think he has to do those because of other reasons. You know, how many more people will get involved. It’s probably (?)

Axl: Yeah, I don’t think it will affect us. You know, it’s like, we won’t do anything to stir up any trouble on the tour. And the hotel rooms is another story (chuckles).

Q: Living such a, what I'd call it, reckless life, do you think there’s any danger of burning out too early? Do you just plan on being around for a couple of years?

Axl: I’m not necessarily interested in the longevity as long as the music sticks around.

Slash: As far as I’m concerned, this is just as long as we’re having... we believe in what we’re doing.

Axl: We care about each other enough to keep each other in line, you know, (puts his arm around Slash) like I saved this guy’s life a couple of times this week (chuckles).

Q: What’s your relationship with L.A. Guns?

Axl: Yeah, they are friends of ours and, like, we used to practice in the drummer’s studio. I was original singer in an old version of that band. The guitar player in L.A. Guns, Izzy lived with him. He grew up, him and Slash were, like, friends in high school, in rival bands and stuff like that. And the name Guns N’ Roses came about from Tracii Guns and Axl Rose. I said, let’s call it Guns N’ Roses, and then he went back to L.A. Guns and I called up Slash and Steve and, you know, we just kept the name.

Q: Do you have any plans of another album? The EP that’s coming out?

Axl: Well, the EP... Yeah, the EP is planned and then we’ve already talked with Geffen and we will record a double album whenever we’re done touring. And hopefully we’ll put out a double album. We’ll see how it sounds, and if it’s a smart move to put out a double record cuz it’s gonna cost more. But we got all the material ready for it and we’re still writing new stuff, so... We have about 40 songs ready to go that we believe in.

Q: I’m doing a fashion segment on MTV called “Addicted to Style” and do you have any... Do you want to talk about your tattoos or any kind of fashion...

Slash: Fashion?! (chuckles)

Q: ... statement? Things that have been consistent throughout members of the band? (?)

Slash: We’re wearing... (Stands up and puts his hand on his buttock) We’re wearing whatever is laying around the hotel room when we wake up. Ya know what I’m saying?

Q: Why don’t you tell us about your tattoos then?

Axl: A guy named Robert Benedetti does our tattoos, on the Sunset Strip. He does, like, Ozzy’s, and Kevin Brady used to work there and he did Motley Crue’s and stuff. And it’s like, I think about a tattoo a long time before I get it. Like, I got the one on my arm here (shows the Appetite cross tattoo) before we had the album cover designed, you know. And Geffen saw this and liked it so much that they wanted to do a cover. And, I don’t know, fashion is just like, I believe in wearing and doing what you want to do, not what someone tells you to do. Yeah, and that’s what our fashion is. It’s like (?), you go into a nice hotel, you’re renting out a whole floor, you’re playing a big show in the town - like we were on The Cult tour, you know, you’re playing for, like, 10,000 people sometimes - and they won’t let you in the restaurant? Because of the dress code? And there’s no one in it? What is that? And this guy’s making, like, $8 an hour, you’re blowing him away financially and successfully, and he’s telling you you’re a bum.      
[cut]

Axl: (?) so I can turn it on and on.

Slash: (?) but I get thrown out of everywhere, you know? For no real reason except for the fact that I like to get drunk and blah blah blah. It’s like, as far as I’m concerned, it’s pretty much just whatever you wear, whatever you wake up in, and you just go and do what you got to do.

Axl: About tattoos, don’t go get a tattoo just to get a tattoo. Get something that you plan on having for the rest of your... If you’re gonna get one, make sure it means a lot to you and you’re gonna have it for the rest of your life. Like, when I come up with an idea for a tattoo, I think about it for a year. Do I really want that? Will I always want that on my arm? I’m not unhappy with anything I have. The only thing I’m bummed about is, like, I have this tattoo right here, which is a Thin Lizzy album cover, and I always wanted to show it to Phil Lynott and he died on me.  

Slash: I got this one, like, whenever, and it’s been years since I figured out (?). I drew this one, right? It’ my own drawing, so I figured if I ever have a tattoo it will be my own drawing. So I had to figure what I want to get on this arm and it’s got to be something I like (?). It’s like, as soon as I think something is important enough I’m gonna get it... You know!

[Signing]