10 Questions for Slash
[Here’s part of an inteiview I did with Slash on Wednesday at Canadian Music Week for the Metro papers. There will be more once we get closer to the release of his new album, Apocalyptic Love, on May 22. –AC]
For a Guns ‘N Roses survivor — and someone who’s been saved by defibrillator paddles three times — Slash looks awfully healthy sitting in his Toronto hotel suite on the eve of Canadian Music Week (CMW).
AC:You must like coming up for this event.
S: I love coming up here —twice in three years — but the timing for CMW is just something that sorta happens.
AC: This album is billed as Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. Why?
S: The first solo record I did was called Slash but when we took the band on the road, I called it Slash featuring Myles Kennedy (Slash’s singer).
That became a bigger event than I expected. So when I thought about doing another record with Brent (Fitz, drummer) and Todd (Kearns, bassist, ex of Age of Electric), I needed to give some kind of credit to the guys who were the backline.
AC: You seem to have a thing for hiring Canadians for your band.
S: Brent is from Ottawa, or Toronto? He’s gonna kill me. And Todd is from Vancouver. He’s a great singer, too.
AC: Tell me about Ian Thornley.
A: Ian has a great voice and he did an audition for Velvet Revolver. The catch was he wanted to play guitar.