SLASH on Upcoming SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS Album 'Flying Blind': Most Of It 'Was Written Pretty Much On The Spot In Pre-Production'

During an appearance on the October 12 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash spoke about the upcoming fifth album from SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS, "Flying Blind", which will arrive worldwide on February 26, 2027 via Gibson Records. Recorded largely live with longtime producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette at Studio Barbarosa in Florida, the 12-track LP captures Slash on guitar and pedal steel, Myles Kennedy on vocals, Todd Kerns on bass, Brent Fitz on drums, and Frank Sidoris on rhythm guitar.

When asked how "Flying Blind" came together, Slash said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Last year at some point, Brent and Todd came over and we started what you call pre-production, and we just rolled out a bunch of songs. And almost all of this record was written in the moment. There's only two songs that are what you call, like, old ideas that we never completed before that finally came to fruition on this record. The rest of it was written pretty much on the spot in pre-production, and that was sometime early last year. And then, I went back on the road with GUNS, and we came back, and there was another window, and we got together. I sent all the material to Myles, and he's written a bunch of stuff. And then we went to Florida and recorded all the rhythm guitars and bass and drums and just recorded the songs live. And so that was sometime — I wanna say it was, like, February or March when we did that. And then Myles, Todd and I went back there and did the vocals and the background vocals and all the guitar overdubs and the pedal steel stuff. And that was that. And then at some point right after that, we mixed it and then mastered it after that. So it's been one of those things that we would find a little window and we'd go in and work on it like that."

Regarding what makes "Flying Blind" so special compared to SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS' previous efforts, Slash said: "Well, every record's been fun, and they're always the best we could do at the time. So, this is where we are at this moment. And I guess that's what happened with this one. But we had such a great time making it, and the way that we sort of... It's very sort of loosely put together and sort of done in the moment. We lived together at Elvis's when we did it, because he's got his studio in his house now. And so we just shacked up there and hung out for two weeks. Everybody had their own sort of bedroom set up, and we'd all hang out in the kitchen. And that was just in and of itself fun. But I think the material just is really cool, and we had a great time writing it. And the end result is something that I'm just very proud of. As far as 'this is us now', I think this us now is in a really good place."

After "Trunk Nation" host Eddie Trunk noted that it must be tempting to want to make changes to an album once it has been recorded and it is sitting there on the shelf for months before it is eventually released, Slash concurred. "That's the kiss of death, when you make a record and then you have a lot of time to sit on it," he said. "So when you're making the record, and this is always the case with any record, when you're making the record, you do everything that you're gonna do for it in that session. However long that session takes, everything you're gonna do is gonna happen then. And so when it's finished, usually you put it out. But if you don't put it out, you don't listen to it, and I just didn't listen to it. After it was mixed and all that stuff, I haven't listened to it up until just recently. And in listening to it, I hear tiny little spots I might have done this different or I'd done that different, but because it was so long ago, I don't give a fuck. I'm not gonna sweat over it. But if you have a long time to sit on a record that hasn't been released yet, you can actually start going back in the studio and going, 'Hey, I wanna redo this.' And then once you open those flood gates, they don't stop."

On the topic of the first single from "Flying Blind", the album's title track, which was released on October 2, Slash said: "It's a perfect example of how this record was made. There's no history to the song. It was made up on the spot, when Todd and Brent and I just went into my little studio, and I'd just come up with a riff just for us to get going… I made it up on the spot. And then we just sort of worked it up into an arrangement, and that was one of the first songs that we did on this record. There's a couple of songs that happened that way."

Slash also confirmed that SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS' cover of "Feel Like Makin' Love", which originally appeared on the 2025 tribute album "Can't Get Enough: A Tribute To Bad Company", will be included on "Flying Blind".

"Well, we recorded it at the same time, and it's completed, so we figured might as well just put it on there," Slash explained.

"['Feel Like Makin' Love'] is something that we used to — somehow it got improvved into the set at some point. We were playing something, and it was in D, and it was wide open, and I started playing the [main riff], and then we all started jamming it, 'cause everybody knows that song, and it's sort of been around for a while. And then we got asked to contribute to the BAD COMPANY record, and we thought, 'Oh, we'll just do 'Feel Like Makin' Love'.' So it's nice that we actually recorded a version of it that we can play in its entirety live now."

Slash also talked about SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS' touring plans and the challenges of booking a tour when the bandmembers all involved in various other projects, including GUNS N' ROSES, ALTER BRIDGE, TRIUMPH and MAMMOTH.

"We learned our lesson when COVID happened, and everybody was sort of down for a second," Slash revealed. "And THE CONSPIRATORS, we went to Nashville and recorded a record, and then we booked a U.S. tour. And then all of a sudden, GUNS wanted to go on the road, and so that sort of came in between the U.S. tour and whatever international tour that CONSPIRATORS were gonna do. And we just hadn't planned ahead. And after that debacle, we were, like, 'Okay, never again.' So, now, it's, like, 'Okay, we're gonna do a record.' As soon as we went into the studio to start recording this stuff, we had planned out how it was gonna happen and made sure that everybody was aware, and if everything's cool, and schedules and all that kind of stuff had to be molded to make sure that everybody can do what we set out to do. And so, yeah, we got way in front of it."

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS' "Flying Blind" world tour 2027, an extensive international run, will launch in Latin America in April before reaching North America on April 23 and continuing through the United Kingdom and Europe. The North American tour includes two nights at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, as well as performances at New York City's Beacon Theatre, Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, Boston's Citizens House of Blues, Denver's Fillmore Auditorium, and other landmark venues.

Baskette previously produced SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS' "World On Fire" album in 2014 and "Living The Dream" in 2018.

The roots of SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS stretch back to Slash's star-studded, self-titled 2010 solo album, on which Kennedy appeared as one of several guest vocalists. The musical and personal connection that followed quickly developed into a permanent band.