Slash of Guns N’ Roses recently spoke with Guitar Interactive about his guitar playing. The guitarist acknowledged that he is not a very skilled musician by stating:
“When you’re going into making a record, the thing that inspires me more than anything is material. I’m not a great guitar player to sit there by myself and blow people’s minds by doing a guitar solo and go, ‘Look at all the tricks I can do.’ I have to be aiming for something or have a reason to be soloing.”
When questioned about his method for communicating with the guitar, Slash explained it and that he would never give up on improving his skill. He said:
“I try not to allow myself to overthink it, but a part of me is always trying to figure out what I can do here to keep it from being redundant or just sitting around playing my guitar like last night. I mean, you’re trying not to fall into those complacent guitar player ruts that we all fall into, so that’s a working process that will never end. I don’t think I’ll ever arrive at a place where I feel like I’ve achieved any kind of greatness, so it’s something that you’re forever working on.”
In addition to not considering himself to be “a great player,” Slash also revealed to Louder Sound that he had low expectations for Guns N’ Roses at the beginning. The guitarist explained.
“I had no expectations… I never counted how many copies we’d sell. I think we were very confident that we were the coolest f*cking rock’n’roll band. We had that going for us, but I didn’t have any set expectations. I think I’d have been satisfied to have just been a cool cult band that a few people liked.”
You can listen to Slash’s interview with Guitar Interactive below.