SLASH On VELVET REVOLVER: 'Things Have Been Moving In A Very Positive Direction'

Joe Bosso of MusicRadar.com conducted an interview with legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES) this past Tuesday (December 21). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

MusicRadar.com: Matt Sorum was recently quoted as saying that VELVET REVOLVER had finally found a singer that you all "really like a lot." He described the vocalist as a "known guy, younger and stronger," but stressed that things were in the "dating" stage. Is this indeed the case?

Slash: "Never believe what you read. [laughs] Here's what's happening: things have been moving in a very positive direction, and we'll know exactly what we're doing next month."

MusicRadar.com: OK. But do you think you might have found the right person?

Slash: "I haven't said anything. I said we'll figure out VELVET REVOLVER next month." [laughs]

MusicRadar.com: What with you touring behind your solo album this past year, along with Duff McKagan's brief stint in JANE'S ADDICTION, is there still a strong band vibe in VELVET REVOLVER? Do you guys have material?

Slash: "Yes! Yeah, there is. We've kept in touch and wrote a lot of great material and did a lot of stuff that's been pretty much under the radar. We also tried out a lot of singers. It's all good. We rehearsed a bunch this past month, during the last few weeks of December. The band vibe is great."

MusicRadar.com: But what would have happened if Duff stayed in JANE'S ADDICTION? I imagine that would have complicated matters for VELVET REVOLVER.

Slash: "If he had stayed in JANE'S ADDICTION, which I don't think was his plan in the first place, but if he did…I wouldn't continue VELVET REVOLVER without him. It would have been on indefinite hiatus."

MusicRadar.com: Did you ever ask [ALTER BRIDGE singer Myles Kennedy, who also sings in Slash's solo band] outright to be in VELVET REVOLVER?

Slash: "No. I know a lot of people talk about it. But I don't think that people really consider that he's already in a band."

MusicRadar.com: I know things are in a very embryonic stage, but musically, can you think of how you want this next record to differ from past VELVET REVOLVER albums?

Slash: "VELVET REVOLVER with Scott [Weiland] was very cool and interesting. Recently, I had to listen to one of the records to relearn one of the songs. I'm very proud of what we did, and of working with Scott in a lot of instances. But it was never heavy enough; that was my big issue with it. The band had to kind of acclimate to Scott's style, which was cool. But the one thing that was lacking, in my mind, was a certain Matt-Slash-Duff approach, and that got sidelined when we started working with Scott. The new songs we've written are us doing our natural thing, and they sound really good. I'm looking to maintain that spirit, and we're looking for a singer to fit on top of that."

Read the entire interview from MusicRadar.com.