Slash was nervous "cold-calling" fellow rock stars to work on new album

8 May 2024, 12:43

Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash at Glastonbury Festival 2023. Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty

By Jenny Mensah

The Guns N' Roses guitarist admitted he found it "hard" to call up rock stars and ask them to feature on his Orgy of the Damned album.

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Slash says he found it “hard” to call other musicians and ask them to play on his new album.

The Guns ‘N Roses guitarist is set to release his bluesy aolo album Orgy Of The Damned on 17th May, featuring the likes of Chris Stapleton, Iggy Pop, Steven Tyler, Chris Robinson and Gary Clark Jr.

However, despite his iconic status, the Welcome To The Jungle axeman insisted it wasn’t easy an easy to get musicians to appear on his record.

He told Classic Rock magazine: “Listen, when you’re cold-calling musicians, some of whom you don’t even know, it doesn’t matter who you are. It’s a hard gig.

“You’re trying to sell an idea."

He went on: “The two hardest ones to nail down were Chris Stapleton and Billy Gibbons. Billy’s all over the place. He’s always working and he’s always doing something. I told him I was doing a version of Hoochie Coochie Man and I knew from his tone of voice that he was sceptical.

“I mean, he knows me, but… Anyway, I had to coax him into it…

“I feel really honoured that he’s on the record.”

Slash revealed that Aerosmith's Steven Tyler didn't speak to him for a whole month and only chipped in when the record was complete.

"He was incommunicado for a month," recalled the GNR rocker. "And then, when the record was done, I finally heard from him; ‘Oh man, I’ve been here and there. What’s happening?’

“And that’s why he came down to put the harmonica on Killing Floor.”

Although it's being released this month, Orgy of the Damned has been in the works for almost 30 years, when Guns N' Roses were working on side project Slash's Blues Ball in 1996.

“There was a lot of drinking going on, but we were having a real good time playing all these covers and jamming around," explained the 58-year-old guitarist.

"And we actually took it to the point of touring round the US and we even did some touring in Europe.

“Anyway, I always wanted to make a record of that. But the there was Snakepit, then I was in hospital, then Velvet Revolver, then the Conspirators, then back to Guns N’ Roses. It’s just been very busy.

“Anyway, 30 years later I finally had two weeks off and I thought, ‘I’m going to do this record now.’ ”