SLASH: 'I Definitely Play Better If I Can Read The Audience Better'

FaceCulture recently conducted an interview with legendary guitarist Slash. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether it was fun to go back and play some of the smaller Hollywood clubs at the end of September to celebrate the release of his new album, "World On Fire":

Slash: "I actually love playing… I mean, we're a little loud for some of those really small places, but I love that immediate reaction, that immediate interaction that happens with a crowd that's, like, right up against you. That's always my favorite. The bigger the venue, the harder it is to really relate to the audience, so the energy starts to dissipate the bigger the place is – that immediate energy."

On whether he plays differently when he is performing in a small club:

Slash: "I probably tend to play…. depending on how well you can read the audience… I definitely play better if I can read the audience better, for sure. 'Cause I thrive on energy. I don't get into a room and it's just me and a band onstage and the crowd is watching — there's an interaction that happens with the audience — and the more I can see that, the more into it I am. I have played a lot of tours where it was just nothing but stadiums, and there's a lot of disconnect that happens when you're doing that."

On whether he always enjoyed playing the smaller clubs after playing some of the world's biggest venues with GUNS N' ROSES:

Slash: "I think one of the things that drew me… Like, when GUNS N' ROSES was over for me, before that even ended, I put together a band called SNAKEPIT, which was just to go back and play in those small places and rediscover what I love about what it is that I do. And I have sort of been balancing around that kind of scene for a long time. When this [European tour] started, we started out in theaters, which, I think, is the happy medium between small clubs and arenas."