Q and A with Slash and Myles Kennedy about their new album ‘4’

Courtesy of BMG records and hosted at Gibson Headquarters in London Slash and Myles Kennedy dialled in by Zoom to tell us all about their new album ‘4’.

Slash said he was a big fan of the way bands used to record going into the studio recording together and they had done this on this record. They set up with a backline as they would normally live and they just recorded the tracks together with Myles in an adjacent booth which Slash found very liberating compared to recording remotely. New technology is great and a journey in itself, but if you use it too much you lose the spirit of what a rock n roll band is, which is an ensemble playing off of each other. It’s not a tangible thing, it’s just an overall excitement that people feel that comes through in the music when people play together. Myles said he thought he was singing scratch tracks and didn’t realise that his vocals were going to be used on the final record and so the pressure was off for him as he did not find this out until afterwards. Luckily he was happy with what he did on the spot, although he hears the flaws it’s part of the make up of this specific album. With previous albums because Slash hates headphones so much he had always re-recorded the guitars, but Dave Cobb the Producer allowed him to take the risks of playing live in the studio.

 

In response to my question about the effect of the Pandemic on the band Slash said the biggest lesson he learned was patience. They had to wait to get together for pre-production and then get out to Nashville to record. They had managed to get a system going relating to a schedule regarding all the different bands they were all in and then Covid happened.  They finally just pushed ahead despite everything that was happening and finished the record last April and had waited for the right opportunity to get the record out.

They all tested negative for covid when they got on the bus to Nashville to record. They recorded the bulk of the album and then Myles contracted covid during production, although fortunately was not too ill and the album was not too badly affected as 90 percent of it has been recorded. Dave Cobb started doing a rough mix, but then Slash and Todd tested positive too. While they waited to get better they hung around watching rock n roll videos and still managed to have fun. When Myles and Todd were feelin better they did their background vocals in the guest house. Then everyone got better and everyone mixed the record manually together (moving faders around on the board instead of automation) which Slash really enjoyed as he hadn’t done that since the 80s and it was a great bonding exercise for the band.

Slash said Gibson phoned him to say they were interested in having him on their record label and it sounded exciting as he had had a good relationship with Gibson for over 20 years. It’s a fifty fifty partnership. Everyone’s doing a great job and Slash was very happy and he was interested to see who else they will sign to the Gibson label. The Les Paul was the guitar that really spoke to him when he started playing. He hooked up with Gibson in 1988 and they gave him a couple of 87 Les Paul Standards and he’s still using those guitars now. The relationship blossomed and they started doing Slash custom shop models quite a few years ago when he started getting into guitar specs, neck dimensions etc. He’s gone through a couple of management changes, but he has stayed with Gibson. (There is a strictly limited edition bundle with a special edition Slash guitar available for a lucky few with the new album.) He has started doing the first USA Slash models now including his pick ups and neck specs and he picked the different finishes in the range including a Vermillion Les Paul and a Tobacco Sunburst.

 

Myles said that working with Alter Bridge, solo and with Slash and the Conspirators was all different and so switching between the three kept everything fresh for him. With the new album they wanted to capture a snapshot of the times while having each song tell its own story. He used to do film scoring and that was coming up with music from the story. Doing an album with Slash was kinda the reverse. Slash hands him the musical idea and then he sees what visual he gets when he hears the music and comes up with a story from the music.

 

Neil Jones of TotalRock asked what Myles and Slash have learned about each other after working together for so long. Myles said the Conspirators have developed a comfortable level of trust with each other working since 2009 and he respected Slash’s dedication and his willingness to spend the time to make sure everything is as it should be. Slash commented he also finds Myles to be one of the hardest working guys he knows so it cut both ways. The band is a great hang with great chemistry on a personal and creative level, no ego craziness just five people they really enjoy making music with.

The band were expecting to do a fifth record. The reason the album was called 4 as Slash didn’t want to come up with a remark that tried to encapsulate 2020 as it was too epic of a failed year and he didn’t even want to reference it and to remind people there are three other records!!

 

At the end of the session we got to watch an exclusive live video of a performance of a play through of the entire new album by the band with a few screenshots here. I review the album in full in the next issue of Fireworks magazine. The fact that the album was recorded during the Pandemic is definitely reflected in parts of the album and its emotional content and it’s a collection of great performances and songs. (Seeing Slash’s dinosaur collection in the pictures of him dialing in from home was a trip -Check it out!!)

 

Dawn Osborne