SLASH On 'Libertad', RICK RUBIN And AXL ROSE

Ultimate-Guitar.com recently conducted an interview with VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Ultimate-Guitar: The new record really solidifies the sound of the band. It's a huge leap forward from "Contraband". What did you do different this time?

Slash: It's hard to explain. The first record is great and it was a cool opening statement and stuff, but it wasn't an example of what everybody in the band was really capable of. But we just sort of all got together and, based on the excitement of finding just that unity, we just went in and did it really quick. We didn't really sit down and explore. We were lucky to even make the first record because we did a show at the El Rey, and we had I think a 5 to 6-song set. We contemplated just going on the road and not even putting a record out. Then we thought, "No, let's slow down for a second. Let's put a record together." So we did. I think that over the course of the last couple of years, from touring and just being together and being through a lot together and this and that and the other, the band actually sort of got seasoned a little bit. We did 5 shows, I think it was somewhere in July. We did five shows in California, and even at that point, the band had actually set. It actually felt really, really comfortable. I could look back and think how hard we were really trying when it first started. There was a lot of getting to know each other. I've known a lot of these guys for fucking ever, as a band getting to know each other. So at this point, we went in and just started writing songs. It was a whole different kind of environment.

Ultimate-Guitar: So, during these last three years, was it finding that settling period in order that the band could move forward and say, "Okay, let's make a record now?"

Slash: All things considered, it wasn't really a conscious effort like that. It was more like, yeah, we wanted to make a second record. Getting it started took a long time, just getting everybody in the same room. There was a lot of other bullshit surrounding the band, coming from all different directions. It was sort of like a lot of little obstacles going on. Once we finally got in, we just started doing what it was that we did. So there wasn't a conscious effort to, "Okay, now that we've been playing together for so long…" It just sort of naturally happened that way.

Ultimate-Guitar: Rick Rubin was going to be the first producer and then that didn't happen. What was it that you thought Rick might have brought to "Libertad"?

Slash: In this particular climate, when it comes to sort of rock and roll and what that sort of means these days, it's hard to think who you want to make a record with because there's no records coming out that we actually like. Or I'll speak for myself, that I actually like, except for bands that have been around for a long time. NINE INCH NAILS or QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE or FOO FIGHTERS or something like that, those are bands that I like, but they've been around for a while. So in what's going on right now as we speak, we didn't know who to work with. So Rick came up. His name comes up and I thought, "You know, I've known Rick for a long time and I know he obviously makes some amazing records. So let's see." So we sat down and we met with him. It was like we were just getting into writing mode at that point. He says, "Just keep writing." So we did a lot of writing for a little bit. This was sort of like in March, April, and May. Then we stopped for about a month and we started up again in July. He started coming down to hear what we were doing. We didn't know what to expect, but I had heard that he's not a real sort of… He doesn't have a real presence in the rehearsal studio and in the recording studio. So it turned out that was exactly the case. He would show up for half an hour one day and then we would continue working. We were trying to adhere to some guidelines that he had set for us, how to go about doing it — which is sort of unheard of, for any of us to actually listen to anybody.

Ultimate-Guitar: In terms of schedules?

Slash: No, how to go about the actual writing process. So we said, "Well, that makes some sense. So we'll try a couple of these different things." Then we fall back into our own rut! Then he would show up 2 or 3 weeks later, again for a half an hour, and that started to become a little bit weird. Also, he was working on so many other records at the same time, that we didn't feel like we were obviously exclusive at all. That was all just adding up, but we were sort of being nice about it. Then finally it came to a point suddenly where we were starting to get frustrated, and we were also starting to get disillusioned. We started getting inhibited by our own material and going through this weird thing. We didn't know exactly how to put our finger on. At that point, we really wanted to get going. It didn't seem like with Rick we were going to be doing anything in the near future, as far as releasing a record or whatever. We didn't even know which songs were good or weren't good. We were sort of leaning on him to sort of give us an idea. So somehow we ended up calling up Brendan O'Brien, who Scott knew (O'Brien produced STONE TEMPLE PILOTS). I talked to him on the phone and he said all the right things. So he came down to the studio, he came down to rehearsal. And inside of 3 weeks, we put all the songs together, arrangements and everything. We just went straight into the studio. He just has a real hands-on kind of attitude. He's also a musician, which is great because we're showing him how to play the songs and he can pick up the guitar and play along with us. So we can go through some arrangement ideas or this or that or the other. He just has a really keen ear for everything that's going on. We didn't feel at all imposed on by him. We sort of did our thing and it just worked out.

Ultimate-Guitar: You can really hear his presence in terms of guitar tones and song structures. Is that the kind of input you would get from him?

Slash: I think the biggest thing that I noticed was he was great at simplifying the stuff that we made complicated, like certain song arrangements. Like, "You've already got the song right there." Because we kept digging up new parts and all this kind of shit. We also have this thing where we started jamming on something and we come up with so many different ideas inside the parameters of one tune. It's hard for us to give that up because it's all spontaneous stuff and it sounds cool and this and that. But as far as an arrangement to a song is concerned, he would be like, "You don't need to have all those different parts." So that was helpful. It made certain aspects of it a lot simpler. As far as guitar tones and drum tones and all that kind of shit, that was something where, when we actually went into the studio, I did have sort of these different ideas as to what I thought I was going to do. We just set up a Marshall and I go, "I need this sound," or "I need to get a Vox," or something like that. He'd dig up an old Vox Combo or something like that. So he had access to a lot of stuff. But it was really just sort of like not over thinking anything. So it was very raw and it was very live. One of the cool things about making this record was that, rather than going, "Okay, we're going to go through all the basic tracks and then we'll come back and do the vocals and the guitars and all that kind of shit," we did it song by song. Scott was there singing with us and it was real sort of camaraderie happening in the studio. That was unprecedented in my experience in the bands that I've been in.

Ultimate-Guitar: In your mind, was there ever a thought that, "We better not make a "Contraband Part II"?

Slash: I think there was one conversation that we had at one point, where we actually, as a band, just sat down at rehearsal one day. We took a break from what we were doing or something, and we were all just sitting around. We had this conversation that was like, "What ideally would we want to do?" I think Rick was there for this. "Ideally what would we want to do with this record?" The summation of the conversation that followed was to make something that was as good or better than any of the collective or individual recordings that we had done, or records that we had done in previous bands or what not. That was like the only time that we ever talked about it. I guess it was a subconscious bar. That was it. Then we just kept working! I think that the whole sophomore kind of thing is a little bit intimidating because when we were considering going into making the next record, we thought, "Oh, this will be great and a piece of cake." There were a lot of great ideas, but we couldn't get into a room to really all focus. The longer that took, the more intimidating the concept became. Finally once we got to work, it went away. But one of the things about the first record is, that having done it on the tour and then enough time after the tour, it actually seemed like such a long time ago. I think that obviously the band had blossomed since then that I don't think we had any intention of doing anything that sounded like the first record. There was no reason to go back and go, "We want to make a record." It didn't matter if it had sold 10 million records. We weren't going to go back and try and recreate that. We were going to expand on it.

Ultimate-Guitar: Do you talk to Axl [Rose] at all?

Slash: I know about what's going on with him, probably about as much as anybody else does because it pops up in conversation. Otherwise, I don't really spend too much time thinking about it. But I'm glad that he's out there and he's doing something. He's got a record, which I know is done. He just has to put it out. I really have no animosity toward him anymore. I have finally gotten over that. I don't have any of this sort of bitter resentment about the whole fucking upheaval that was 1996. So it's actually a nice, content feeling, and I'm glad that he's working and I'm glad that I'm working. I feel like I've achieved something by having gotten a little bit out from underneath the umbrella of the constant GUNS N' ROSES recognition, which is great to an extent. You want to be able to do some other stuff without having…it's like toilet paper on your heel. So now I feel content in doing what I'm doing and sort of letting bygones be bygones. Although I think he's probably still pissed at me for a lot of things. But I'm like, whatever. It probably is my fault. Whatever, I'll let it go.

Read the entire interview at Ultimate-Guitar.com.