“I need people to stop looking at me as the guitar player”: Slash reveals his Hollywood ambitions
To many, he’s the top-hatted rock icon behind some of the most famous riffs in history. But at 59, Slash’s creative pursuits lie far beyond music – though getting people to see him that way can prove difficult sometimes.
“I need people to stop looking at me as the guitar player,” Slash admits in a new interview with The Times.
The Guns N’ Roses axeman started producing for the screen more than a decade ago with the 2013 film Nothing Left to Fear, and is now channelling his efforts into his most ambitious project yet: a psychological thriller series titled The Crow Girl, based on the bestselling novel of the same name.
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For Slash, however, his fame is as much of an asset as it is an obstacle when pursuing his Hollywood ambitions.
“It’s a Catch-22,” he says. “Having a name helps get a meeting, but that can overshadow the project.”
“It’s great for a foot in the door, but harder to get people to take you seriously.” And the rather frequent selfie requests from executives (“There’s a lot of that,” says Slash) don’t help.
In addition to producing, Slash also contributed to The Crow Girl by co-writing its music. Even while on tour, he found time to work on the score, often sitting on his hotel bed with a guitar and laptop. “It keeps me out of trouble,” he jokes.
For the twice-divorced father of two sons, London and Cash, staying grounded hasn’t always been easy. Now in a long-term relationship and sober since 2006, Slash reflects on the years when rock ‘n’ roll temptations often got the better of him.
“I was just going headlong into everything,” the guitarist says of his early career. “Hardcore partying. But nobody ever spoke about what happens when the tour stops, and the adrenaline ends. Because I didn’t have a real life before this. I was a kid, then I got into a band. So when I had a break, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to go out and be recognised. That’s not my thing — though I would have been laid more, I guess.”
“But instead, I ended up doing lots of drugs — alienating drugs where you are just a loner. I did that for years and, so, finally, I got sober. And then just jumped into spending all my time doing music. It speaks to me in a positive way.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
