Slash: Velvet Revolver Was ‘No Fun,’ Myles Kennedy No-Showed Audition
It's been a busy and wildly successful couple of years for Slash as Guns N' Roses have traversed the globe on their "Not in This Lifetime" tour. He's linked back up with Myles Kennedy for a new album, Living the Dream, and gave his first in-depth interview since rejoining GN'R, discussing the tour and other aspects of his career with Rolling Stone.
When Velvet Revolver formed in 2002 and released their debut record, Contraband, in 2004, Guns fans were thrilled to see three members from the Use Your Illusion lineup back together. For Slash, though, it wasn't a good time. “As crazed as that whole period was, I was still shocked to hear about Scott," the guitarist said when asked about the death of Scott Weiland, the Stone Temple Pilots legend who also fronted Velvet Revolver. "But yeah, Velvet Revolver was no fun," he admitted, noting, "I have nothing positive to say about that experience except that we did write some cool stuff.”
As the band was in the formative stages, there was a chance Slash, who first worked with Myles Kennedy on his 2010 Slash solo record, could have teamed up with the singer earlier in his career. He recalled, "[It] turned out that when I was in Velvet Revolver, Matt Sorum had suggested [Myles Kennedy] at one point to audition, before we started working with Scott. But Myles never showed up. He got cold feet or something at the last minute and nothing ever came out of that."
Living the Dream, the forthcoming record from Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, will be released on September 21 and you can hear the first single, "Driving Rain," here.
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