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Interview with
BRENT
from
SLASH

(25th February 2022)

Interview by Brittany Long

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Hi Brent, how are you?
I have a day off today, in the middle of, you know, a tour, getting back to all the things we’ve missed for so long. So I was just saying, this is like, I welcome on a day off “oh, I have to do some interviews”. Well, this is what I’m supposed to be doing anyway, so, absolutely great. Feels good.

Oh, amazing. Well, thank you so much for chatting with me this morning.
Well, it’s good to talk to Australia. I just wish I could be down there soon enough. I was just talking to Janine about how, you know, it looks like things are opening up for international travel. You know, we are only doing a US tour right now, just for the reason that it’s still been limited. We had one Canadian show booked on this tour, and it got moved. Just because for right now it’s still, even though the border next door Canada, US has been, you know, not the ideal, you know, border crossing. But you know, now it’d be great to get back to touring internationally. And of course, Australia, because we love Australia. It just seems like we’ve been lucky that, you know, Australia has been very, very supportive of the Slash Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators band. So it feels great, great having a new record out that was recorded all during these crazy times.

Yeah, it’s definitely a story that one hey, I believe you all caught COVID except for Frank?
Yeah, but he got his COVID, he got it over Christmas. Sadly, I got it again, at Christmas. This, you know, most recently. So we want to specifically explain how we dealt with it while recording. You know, coming out of our bubbles at home after a long time, and just talking about new music together, in our homes in different, you know, cities. And then Slash was really excited about, well, maybe we can find a way to get together. And, you know, meet up in LA, and, and get some ideas put together. And we did you know, it took six months through the pandemic, we all were figuring out that man, we you know, we’re just going stir crazy. So we put songs together in LA. And then we all got together in a tour bus to travel to Nashville, rather than flying, because flying we thought would be an absolute deal breaker so we were together in a bus all testing ahead of time. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, creating a great bubble that shouldn’t be broken. So we thought we had it figured out and then we got there, we got real busy. And, you know, we still tested and, you know, made sure that even before we went in the studio with the band, the people were working in the studio and our crew guys, everyone was negative. We got a lot, basically, we got the album done in five days. Which is amazing. 

That’s insane.
You know, I think we were so excited to play together because it had been, you know, a long time, not touring you know, on the road, and being at home.  It’s a testament to the band that you know, we really do like each other and like what we do musically together and it’s a pretty comfortable and seamless, you know, band of guys that get busy and get to work together and go, ‘Okay, let’s work on some new songs. And let’s record them’. And a lot of these songs were done on the road previously on the last tour, and that’s another place where we get real busy. We go and work on songs in soundcheck, and then you know, on the downtime, Myles and Slash get together on you know, lyrics, and you know, to go with the songs the band’s put together, but as soon as the fifth day hits, and then all of a sudden, unfortunately, Myles wasn’t feeling good. And it was just a ripple effect of one by one. Myles tested positive, and that same day, you know, Todd and I tested positive later and we all started to feel terrible. And we were like, ah, thankfully, we got most of it recorded. And the story about the record is that we purposely recorded live. In other words, like together. Not a lot of singular performances, but the whole band in the same room recording at the same time playing the songs down live. So the record even though we did get COVID we intended to record that way. So yeah, COVID is part of the story and we did feel like shit. I got to give Myles Kennedy especially credit because as the singer, and you know, health is everything and he’s the guy that’s having to sing. And you know, he sang down that whole record and he’s sick, and you don’t hear it. So you know, good on Myles for being such a trooper and he powered through.

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Yeah, absolutely. And I think that speaks a lot to the fact that like you said, you wanted to capture that live rock and roll, you know, energy that sort of gets a bit lost when you, you know, chopping and changing guitar pieces here and, you know, removing mistakes from here. And you know, it’s not as polished but it’s more raw, and it’s more real.
Yeah, and we’ve done it the other ways too where it’s been very, you know pieced together, not completely, because one thing for sure, our band has always never taken, you know, the whole approach of, all separate tracks in like a digital format. And, you know, kind of piecing it together. We’ve always had the nucleus of the music recorded together. So if it’s Slash, Todd on bass and myself on drums, that, you know, that rhythm section with the guitar has always been our platform to create our songs when we record. So it’s never like we’re not, you know, there’s definitely a live element anyway. But there’s just something to be said for let’s try something different. And you know what, it’s risky. And it’s scary. We hadn’t, you know, Slash always wanted to record this way. And I’m sure even back from day one with Guns’n’ Roses and early recording on, it’s almost impossible to do what we did. But you know, give credit to Dave Cobb, our producer, who said, Oh, fuck, yeah, this is absolutely what we’re gonna do. And, I mean, it was so raw. You know, sometimes the basics would be like, well, we’ll play maybe to a click track, and a click track just for consistency, because a click track recorded. And say, we play the song down together, once, twice, three times, four times, four different takes of a track. If you record to that click track, you can piece different tapes together and find little sweet spots. Well, we never recorded with a click track. So that kind of makes it impossible to piece parts together. Now, look, the Beatles and Stones did it years ago, but it was very difficult. But we did the same thing. We just said, well, we’re going to take these songs. And if the take is good, we’re going to use the one take. And that’s what happened. So you’re hearing live, one takes on the record, for the most part with a few little background vocals added later.That’s what’s cool. That’s what you get, that record is as raw and live as anything I’ve ever done, or Slash has ever done. And we kind of think the happy accidents, you know, getting a good response.

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, that alone is so impressive, like, honestly, and the fact that you did it in five days is just like mind blowing.
Well, we might not have been able to 10 years ago as a new band, but we have three records already together, you know, we all you know, we speak well, in music terms. You know, our sentences are all about music. It’s just that great chemistry of so many live shows together, you know, so many,  tours around the globe, and working on songs in the studio together. It’s, it’s amazing to play with people you like and respect. And, you know, everybody owns their parts and owns their instrument so strongly that we don’t have to, like lean on each other like, everybody gives everyone space to do their thing. That’s why a band could go in and blast out, you know, songs in five days. And a lot of the songs weren’t fully fleshed out in the over pre production idea either, of going and practicing them, you know, so that we beat them up before we even got to the studio. We had a good template of how the songs would go, but some of the stuff got changed, and some on the spot. You know, ‘River is Rising’ is one of the songs that always comes up in conversation because the arrangement was there up until the minute we recorded it. And then right before we went to press record, Dave had an idea of changing the middle section and making it double time. And then it reintroduced at the end. But that’s not how the song started. But soon as we went to record it, we were like, Okay, let’s try that. So that try is what’s the end result? You know, we were just like, I was still getting to know the song. And we were like, well that feels pretty good, let’s leave it. So there you go, you know, it just kind of had a lot of spontaneity, in the songs as well, as we were recording live we were actually being spontaneous with the arrangements.

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I think that’s what’s special about it, too. The way that you speak so passionately about it as well. Going back to the fact that it’s now a decade since the release of Apocalyptic Love, how does it feel looking back on it, and how do you feel things have changed since the early days.
So you know, having three other records and now the fourth one to just sort of put them out there and think about, you know, it’s great to take a recording and a bunch of songs that were, you know, we’ll start with apocalyptic love. Well, I remember how I felt and   how we were as a band, recording those songs together. And those were early stages of us getting to know each other in the studio, because we did a whole bunch of live playing together, but hadn’t been in a studio together. So actually, this is interesting. The first thing I recorded with Slash was actually something for Australia, for Triple M, that was the first thing we got to play together, it was an Australian based recording. So there you go, that was pretty cool. That was our, you know, get to know each other in the studio track. But, you know, there’s a lot of songs to look back on that we got to revisit recently, when we started to put the setlist together for this current tour. A lot of it was going back and going, “Oh, what about that song?”, you know, not that you forget about a song from a previous record, but it’s great to go back and listen and go, “oh, there’s a bunch of cool songs, that, you know, we hope to you know, bring back a little bit and get to play again”. And there’s a lot of music that, you know, all over style wise, and the way we recorded them, where we recorded them, there’s just a lot of great memories. It’s just cool to look back, because 10 years is a long time for a band. The Beatles were together 10 years, and you know, they created an amazing body of work. But now, you know, this four album band has a pretty cool catalogue, and we play all of those songs live, every song we’ve ever recorded, has been performed once or many times in a live setting, and I don’t know any other bands, that I love, that I look up to that has actually done that. You got to give Slash credit for that, is to be mindful of like, if it’s the last song on the record, or the first song, every song has as much weight and is important to us. So yeah, we were already about five songs in on the new record that we’ve been playing live, and the records only been out a couple of weeks. So we’re really pushing the limits, to have people come to the show, and it’s like you’re getting five new songs.

I mean, yeah, like you said, you know, you’ve got a discography that spans over a decade. The fact that you’ve played every single song that you’ve recorded, at least once is testament, like I take my hat off to you.
I appreciate that. I look at it myself and go, this is a great band to be in because every song has a chance, you know, it’s not just a filler. Every song has a meaning. That’s what this band is now it’s SMKC Greatest Hits setlist, but yet, we’re heavy on new music. Every time we come out on the road, we’re heavy on playing the new record. We’re never just like, “well, one song, we have a new record we’re gonna play one song”. Nope. It’s always the apocalyptic love tour was of course, we played almost the entire record give or take a few of the other songs from Slash’s catalogue and Myles’. But now we’re just all SMKC. And we’re you know, in fact, we’ve been out for about two weeks now. And we played a whole bunch of songs and the setlist is almost changed every night. And now, as of today, we’re like, “okay, we’re going to reintroduce some new songs starting tomorrow, and we’re going to keep changing it almost every night”. And that keeps us very fresh, and we never get tired of playing our music because we know we never get bored playing it. We look forward to playing different songs all the time.

I think you know, for your fans that attend multiple concerts and things as well, like that keeps it fresh for them too so that they’re not seeing the same setlist performed every single night.
No kidding. And you know what, we see a lot of friends in the front row and I feel that way. I feel like okay, if we’re playing for those people, they’re diehard.

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So, do you remember your first ever debut show with Slash?
I do. Our first public gig was at the Roxy in Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard. I mean, how fitting. And that whole week leading up to it, there was a whirlwind going on. And again, there was an Australian connection to my first with Slash, which was, the first single that came out on the Slash solo record that came out previously before we were, you know, Slash Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, the record with all the guest singers. Well, Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother who sang on the first song  ‘By the Sword’, so we actually did some American TV stuff; the Tonight Show and a couple others that whole week, we taped a bunch of things with Andrew. So before we were really a well oiled machine, I was playing, we were rehearsing with Myles but we also rehearsed with Andrew. And so we did a bunch of talk shows, that was sort of our first thing. And I think playing the Tonight show, we shot a music video with Andrew. So my first day was like a talk show, the next day was shoot a music video, then the next day was play at the Roxy, like it was a banner week. Honestly, the expectations, I don’t know if Slash specifically had a master plan past maybe a month of “well we’ll see what happens. You know, we’ll do some talk shows. I have this record coming out.” I don’t know if a tour, you know, proper around the States or around the world was even thought of. You know, it was just like I joined his band on an expectation of like, maybe I’m playing with Slash for a month, I’ll see, I don’t know. And then we did go, again here’s the Australian reference. We came down when MTV classic was reintroduced, and we did an amazing show at I think it was the theater in Sydney. We played like a whole concert that was filmed. We flew down, probably the week after our first crazy week, we flew down to Australia, and did a one off and flew all the way back. So and again, Andrew came up and sang and I think Angry Anderson sang with us too that night, which was pretty awesome.

That’s incredible. That definitely takes the whole living the dream thing to another level, doesn’t it, in the two weeks!
I know. It’s great. Every time we say well, it’s 10 years now. And you know, it started with a quick week of whirlwind shows and then it turned into a month it turned into like, “Okay, well, let’s do some US shows. Let’s go to Europe, let’s go to Australia, and it just kind of built organically into a band. And I know Slash didn’t know at first like, “is this going to be the band I record with?” Who knows, you know, you just have to try it. So luckily, the chemistry was definitely there, most importantly with Slash and Myles, you got to have a singer and guitar player thing that works. And then luckily, the band that was, and I’ll take credit for introducing some of the key people into the band. I mean, you know, when Todd and I joined together, Todd was my recommendation. Todd at first was, you know, when we first jammed, it was Bobby Schneck on guitar and a different bass player. And it wasn’t the band that eventually, you know, everyone got to realize, but Todd got brought in as a recommendation on myself so I’ll definitely take credit for that.

Yes, definitely take credit for that.
He’s for sure the secret weapon and it’s been so great having you know, two strong singers in the band, and multi instrumentalists, and it just makes our band that more you know, the dimensions open things up for live and in studio. Because Todd’s a great guitar player. I mean, he’s a great lead singer. And meanwhile, he’s the great bass player, background vocalist in the Slash band. Then having Frank Sidoris come in after the first tour. And Frank has so many like, he just complements Slash, you know, you got to have someone. It’s an interesting role to be the rhythm guitar player with such an iconic star guitar player, and you have to find your voice. I use AC/DC as the best example of the powerhouse of how Malcolm Young was so strong in AC/DC, but Angus was you know, the character. So that’s sort of, you know, a great template that we created.

Wow. So for you personally, where did your journey with music first begin? Like, did you grow up in a musical family? Or where did it start for you?
Yeah, I mean, I could say, “Yeah, I heard Appetite for Destruction one day, and then I said, Okay, I want to be a musician”. No, I grew up in a musical family playing piano as a kid at a very young age. My sister and I are both musicians. My sister is the much better looking, more talented one in the family. And she lives in Vegas, and she’s in a million shows and bands; she’s in a Michael Jackson show, you know, on the strip in Vegas. So her and I just found our love for music early on. What happens is, you know, eventually in your neighborhood growing up around kids, a couple of guys in the neighborhood have KISS records and Van Halen, and AC/DC records and guitars. And, you know, you just gravitate towards playing music with your friends, at least I did in the late 70s growing up in that time. And, you know, thankfully it was a social thing playing with other kids. And it was the best was, you know, having my parents being very supportive, and you put a band together in the basement. Usually it’s terrible but you play along to your favorite records, and then one day it gets better. And then, you know, you start putting bands together that go out and play shows and get to play in front of people and get all your bad notes out and, and figure out how to, you know, find your, your voice musically. And then, you know, touring in Canada, that was my biggest early lesson. Getting on the road and playing across the country and getting out of my comfort zone. And then my biggest, most important leap from the Canadian, you know, that all those years of being in clubs, and when I moved to LA, that changed my life, I left Canada. I moved to LA, where a lot of my heroes and, you know, move to a big, bad, scary city, but with a land of opportunity in my mind as well. So, that changed my life. Then meeting all the right people. And, you know, the reason I’m in a band with Slash, I don’t know how that works. Other than, you know, the seeds are planted, you know, 10-20 years before that. Then when I get a phone call from Slash one day, it’s usually because of other people I knew and gigs I did, and somebody recommends you. And hopefully, every time you’ve done, you know, you’ve done your thing, play on a record or play shows, somebody went, “Oh, that guy, I like that guy. You know, I like his playing or, you know, he’s got a great personality.” And then when, years later, after doing a whole bunch of things around the planet with other bands, which we could mention or not, but when Slash calls, it’s because of other things I had done. Because I didn’t know that I was gonna get a call from Slash one day. In fact, I think the day Slash called me, another call had come in earlier in the day from a management friend of mine, who said that the Billy Idol band was looking for a drummer, the same day. There was a chance that someone was going to call me from that camp. And literally in a couple hours, another person called back and said, “Hey, by the way, Slash’s, you know, putting this new record out and was looking at drummers too, this is your lucky day Brent.”  I’m like, okay, so, you know, sometimes the phone call rings, never or you get multiple phone calls in one day. So it’s just crazy, what a business! It’s so random.

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Isn’t it funny the way the world works? Now, as much as I would love to talk to you all day, I do have to wrap it up. So I’m going to finish with my favorite little segment I call fan faves in a minute. So your favorite Disney movie?
Oh geez, now you’re making me think, favorite Disney movie. It’s been a while, I don’t have children, but I love Disney things. Okay, now, let me twist this. Okay, growing up I grew up on all things Disney. I went to Disneyland, Disney World, but I’m going to plug something new. Now hear me out because the Disney Channel exists. We just did a soundtrack on a new Disney movie called ‘Stunt Man’, featuring our friend Eddie Braun, who jumped an Evil Knievel rocket jump that Evil Knievel failed in the 70s. Anyway, I was just talking to Eddie via text today. He’s a stuntman, a famous Hollywood stuntman. I was just telling him how great, during our show every night, we’ve been playing the song from the movie, which is a cover of Rocket Man by Elton John. Eddie’s quote to me was, he goes “Brent, doesn’t it feel awesome to know that we’re part of a Disney movie?”. So I’m just going to reverse that and say, you know, Eddie and I participated in a Disney based movie together. So that’s my favorite Disney movie now.

Amazing. Well, thank you so so much for chatting to me today. Definitely please come down under as soon as you can. I’d love to come and photograph you and experience the beauty that is Slash and everything else. Thank you so much for your time Brent, best of luck and I hope we get the chance to meet in the future.
Thanks Brittany, what city are you in?

I’m in Melbourne.
Yeah, that’s the best coffee city. I love coffee, I love the culture. I literally have been on tour the last two weeks doing my other love, which is drinking coffee and enjoying it everywhere. And I usually quiz people who are really, who think they’re in the know. I always ask them, “Where do you think the best coffee city is in the world?” and, nine times out of 10? They don’t give the correct answer. But my answer and I know better, is your city, Melbourne, Australia. 

Well amazing. Definitely come for the coffee.
And the rock ‘n’ roll.

Of course, and the rock and roll, it’s all about the rock and roll. You bring the rock and roll and we’ll supply the coffee.
 I love it. Okay, it’s a date soon enough. Thanks Brittany.

It’s a date! Thankyou, take care and enjoy the rest of the tour. Bye.

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SLASH FT. MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS (L-R): BRENT FITZ (drums) MYLES KENNEDY (vocals), SLASH (guitar), TODD KERNS (bass & vocals) and FRANK SIDORIS (guitar & vocals).

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About SLASH and SMKC:

Slash the iconic, GRAMMY-winning, American rock guitarist, songwriter and film producer–has amassed album sales of over 100 million copies, garnered a GRAMMY Award and seven GRAMMY nominations, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is a New York Times Best-selling author. Slash is considered one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time and one of the most recognisable faces in pop culture worldwide. Time Magazine placed Slash at 2 (Jimi Hendrix was #1) in its list, ‘The 10 Greatest Electric Guitar Players.’ Slash created signature sounds like the guitar riff on #1 hits for Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child o’ Mine and Welcome To The Jungle. After leaving the band, Slash went on to critical acclaim with Slash’s Snakepit and global success with the supergroup Velvet Revolver before embarking on his own solo career. After landing on the top of the charts with his first solo album, Slash (2010)–which featured Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie, Myles Kennedy and more–he formed his current band Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators (SMKC) which features Myles Kennedy (lead vocals), Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass/vocals) and Frank Sidoris (rhythm guitar)–who’ve been touring worldwide and making music together non-stop for over a decade. Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators (SMKC) released their debut album, the critically acclaimed Apocalyptic Love (2012) which stormed the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart debuting at #4 on the overall chart as well as the #1 Top Rock album, and spawned Slash and the band’s first-ever #1 solo radio hits You’re A Lie and Standing In The Sun. 

The band’s second album, World On Fire (2016) debuted to global praise and the album’s title track, World On Fire ascended to #1 at U.S. Rock Radio. In 2016, Guns N’ Roses re-united and Slash joined Axl Rose and Duff McKagan for the historic and ongoing world tour which Billboard magazine now ranks as the third highest grossing tour of all time. Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators’ most recent release is their critically–acclaimed third album Living The Dream (2018) which Rolling Stone declared “a biting blues filigree at the end of a riff, weeping solos full of long notes and boogie-woogie riffs” and the Los Angeles Times added is full of “unexpected funk, boogie, blues and garage rock influences.” Living The Dream debuted with 10, Top 10 Chart placements across the globe and fueled by the Top 5 song Driving Rain, and the single Mind Your Manners was hailed by critics as the best songs of the band’s career. By the end of SMKC’s worldwide tour in 2019, Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators had achieved seven, consecutive, Top 10 Hit singles at radio. The group’s first new music in three years, Slash (guitars) and Myles Kennedy (lead vocals) along with their fellow co-Conspirators—Todd Kerns (bass), drummer Brent Fitz (drums) and Frank Sidoris (rhythm guitar)–will release their new album 4 via Gibson Records in partnership with Sony Music Australia on February 11, 2022. The new album 4, is co-produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, John Prine, Brandi Carlile), was recorded at the famed RCA Studio A in Nashville, TN, and will be Slash’s fifth solo album overall and the fourth album to feature Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators; watch the teaser clip HERE

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Follow SLASH
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram

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Press Release 18th January 2022 (below) HERE

SLASH
Ft MYLES KENNEDY
& THE CONSPIRATORS
Release new song
‘CALL OFF THE DOGS’

From New Album ‘4’ Out February 11

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AMNPLIFY – DB