Slash and his Guns N’ Roses bandmates have been busy making new music during the pandemic. The guitarist reports that he’s been jamming with singer Axl Rose and bassist Duff McKagan, and laying down some guitar tracks for a long-awaited new GN’R album.
Guns N’ Roses would have already completed a European tour in June and embarked on a North American summer tour tomorrow (July 4th) if they didn’t have to postpone the outings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Slash says he’s been keeping busy recording new GN’R music during the band’s time off the road.
“I’ve been pretty much a homebody, but I’ve been back and forth between my studio in the house and doing a lot of writing and recording on my own,” Slash told music instrument retailer Sweetwater. “I’ve been jamming with Duff and I’ve been jamming with Axl, and I’ve been doing stuff like that, so we’ve been getting some work done that way.”
The guitarist continued, “I’m basically just focusing on writing new music and recording demos and recording guitar stuff for Guns and whatnot.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Slash mentioned that it was a “blessing” that he was able to be home during the lockdown to help take care of his sick cat, but sadly had to put her down recently. He was also grateful that he’s been able to spend some more time with his kids.
When Guns N’ Roses do release a new album, it’ll be their first LP of original material featuring Slash, Axl, and Duff since 1991’s Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. GN’R did release Chinese Democracy in 2008, but Slash and Duff weren’t in the band at the time.
In April, Duff’s wife, Susan, mentioned that she heard some of the new material, and called it “pretty epic”, adding that Guns were “working fastidiously on killer new stuff.”
Earlier this year, it was announced that Slash was getting a new line of custom Gibson guitars. The “Slash Collection” includes four Les Pauls and two J-45s, with select models currently available here.
Listen to Slash’s full interview with Sweetwater below.
