1991.08.31 - ITV Raw Power - Interview with Slash

Transcript:
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Phil Alexander: ... at Wembley Stadium. As you can see, these are the old twin towers back there, and somewhere among them, there’s a man that you all know, ambling around drunker than I usually am. He’s wearing a top hat and he is in some band called Guns N’ Roses. In a minute, I’ll be talking to him.

[Break]

Slash: Reality keeps coming up and kicking us in the ass, to tell you the truth (laughs). The thing about reality and about us being on tour is that touring is more or less our reality, and we’ve been like that ever since we started. The worst thing about reality is when you’re off the road and you’re like, “Okay;” you’re trying to deal with reality and, like, take a walk to a club or, you know, you don’t feel like driving or you’re on the freeway. And then people recognize you and instantly screw your whole reality up, because, all of a sudden, you’re a pop star again; and I don’t necessarily like being a pop star, although I appreciate the fact we’re popular and people like our music. So you have to try and figure out some way of getting everything on the same ground, so that you don’t go crazy; and, you know, we’ve gotten pretty good at it. So, I mean, there’s no complaints, but these are some things that we’ve had to deal with in order to keep on doing what we’re doing and also have lives, because we’re forced into having – you know, when the tour ends, we’re supposed to go home (laughs). I mean, it was hard just getting home, and actually buying a house, and doing that whole bit.

[Break]

Slash: We have pretty varied musical tastes. I mean, collectively, I couldn’t name in a week everybody that we listened to. Heaven’s Door was something that came out of the blue, because I liked the song and Axl liked it, but we’d never talked about it. One day it came up and we were talking on the phone, and I was like, “You want to do that?! Great!” We did it at the Marquee for the first time. Then Live and Let Die was the same situation, exact same thing. I went to a rehearsal after Axl and I talked about it, I tried to see if the band could play it and make it sound good, and Ax came in, he heard it and we rocked out of it, and that’s how it happened. And it’s cool, you know; I really dig it.

[Break]

Slash: We work so hard at playing. And yet, everybody spends so much time just trying to pull out all this really negative stuff about our, you know, drugs, and sex, and band relationships, and the guys in the band and stuff. It makes it so hard for us just to concentrate on playing, which is one of the reasons why it took us long to get the record together, because after a while the hype just got to be overwhelming. And we locked ourselves away in the studio, and it was great to be in the element and just spend all our time playing. But even then, it came and crept into the studio. It was really hard.

[Break]

Slash: The last one was 12 songs. This is, like, 13 or 14 on a record, so, to us, it’s like two single albums. But we worked our asses off together. I don’t think anybody realizes how much work that was; you know, especially when it comes out and people are like, “Oh, it’s cool.” They won’t know how much went into it. It was like blood, sweat and tears – I mean, you know, it was heavy. But the reason for doing it was because we had all this material that we somehow had not managed to either finish or that didn’t meet the deadline on the last record, or songs that, let’s see... songs that we went through that whole period of being off the road and all the struggles that were going on then; and then, stuff that we developed in the studio, because we were getting so into playing that we’d established a sort of like real creative vibe happening. And we wanted to release all of it. We told the record company, “We’re just doing it,” you know, “If we have to pay for it ourselves, we’re releasing it” and the record company was supportive. And now we have no backlog; you know, we can start fresh for the next one.

[Break]

Slash: All the different things that we didn’t have the financial means nor the support from the record company - because new band, first album - to get into before, but we’ve all been working on all kinds of stuff. So it sort of made everybody happy. And the tunes are cool, you know? I’m even singing on one.

Phil Alexander: Which one?

Slash: On Dust N’ Bones. It’s a part where I’m singing on – and I don’t sing (laughs). But it was a song that me and Izzy actually wrote the lyrics together for, and when that part came up, when I wrote it, I sang it. So I sang it on the record and I sing it live, too. So I have that new responsibility, right? They’re trying to put tea out on stage for me and I’m like, “Screw that” (laughs). I can’t get to the tea, let alone drink it, you know?

[Break]

Slash: Two new members really haven’t changed a hell of a lot. The main thing that’s different is just being on a different – you know, having the whole band on a different level as far as our being famous and stuff goes. That’s the only big change, you have to deal with all these different things you never really thought about, you know, or maybe you weren’t expecting. But, otherwise, it’s still the same screwed up band it always has been (laughs).

[Break]

Slash: My bond with this group is pretty much in my blood, so I’m willing to deal with anything, you know? And I do. I stick in there and make sure that we... You know, it’s just like, if I had to put it down to “Well, do you want to keep playing or are you just getting fed up?” I go, “I want to keep playing.”  That’s what keeps me working and dealing with some of the really crazy shit that goes down (laughs).

I just realised, comparing the quotes about the songs, that this article in RAW magazine
https://www.a-4-d.com/t3567-1991-10-dd-raw-magazine-crazy-crazy-nights-slash
is the printed version of this video interview. The host of Raw Power also wrote for RAW magazine