For decades, the inner workings of Guns N’ Roses have been the subject of endless speculation. However, in a new interview, legendary guitarist Slash has pulled back the curtain on the band’s creative process, describing it as a truly collaborative effort rather than a dictatorship.
Speaking with Pablo of the Minneapolis radio station “93X,” Slash addressed the dynamic between himself, bassist Duff McKagan, and frontman Axl Rose. When asked if everyone in the group has a voice when it comes to recording, the guitarist was quick to clarify the situation.
“Yeah, it’s always been a democracy like that,” Slash said. “It’s always been really, really collaborative — from every song, all the way back to the very, very beginning, before Appetite. Everything has always been very collaborative, which is really cool because it gives every song — I don’t know what the right word for it is, but you have a lot of interesting things going on in a song from different people in the band that come up with it.”
The conversation naturally turned to the possibility of a new studio album featuring the reunited lineup writing fresh material from scratch. While Slash confirmed there is plenty of music to sift through, he admitted that the band hasn’t quite reached the finish line yet.
“Yeah, that’s the thing. We haven’t spent the time sort of compiling everything and narrowing it down or any of that yet. And so that’s probably what — that’s gonna be a lot of work. That’s gonna be the hardest part, is trying to figure out what’s what. And I think we’re starting to get to that point where we’re gonna actually do that.“
Slash went on to describe the band’s unique workflow, noting that while getting started is difficult, the momentum picks up quickly once they lock in.
“Guns records are something that just happen,” Slash continued. “And when it’s happening, it happens really fast. But getting to that point of where we all sit down and focus on ‘this is what we’re doing ‘has always been the hardest part. It just happens when it happens. But there’s a lot of material to work with when it does.”
Speaking with Abe Kanan of Audacy earlier in January, the guitarist revealed that the band has already written a significant amount of original material and that the recording process is imminent.
“We’ve already written a ton of s**t, so we just have to get together and actually get into the process of going through all the material and figuring out what the songs are gonna be and recording them and all that kind of s**t,” Slash told. “And so that’s something that’s pending. It’s probably gonna happen sooner than later, because we’ve gotten all this other stuff out and we’ve been touring for pretty much the better part of the decade.”
He noted that the main obstacle is simply finding the time to focus amidst their heavy touring schedule.
“And so we’ve been wanting to do this. It’s just a matter of buckling down. When is that gonna happen, where we’re, like, ‘Okay, no other distractions. We’re just gonna do this.’ Anyway. But it’s coming.”
