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Slash reveals why he doesn’t like to shred
“I’d rather keep it rock ’n’ roll”.
Photo: Steve Jennings/Getty Images
Slash has revealed in a new interview that he is not a big fan of shredding for the sake of playing fast, instead he’s said he’d “rather keep it rock ’n’ roll.”
While he does not claim to have an issue with the technique, the guitarist explains in a new interview with Guitar World how he thinks shredding should be done with intention and energy, rather than an attempt to sound more technical.
“I don’t have an issue with playing fast. When I’m talking about Eddie Van Halen or Alvin Lee, there are a lot of great fast guitar players but they have an emotional quality. It feels like they’re doing it for a reason, there’s a feel to it, and it’s part of the energy of the tune.
“It’s not playing fast for the sake of playing fast, and it’s not playing technical for the sake of playing technical. Like, ‘how many tricks and how many techniques can I put into this?’ sort of loses the plot for me”.
His work with Guns N’ Roses, as well as his subsequent efforts with Velvet Revolver, Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators and many more have planted Slash into the guitarist virtuoso hall of fame.
Despite this, shredding still doesn’t seem on the cards for any time soon for Slash – he admits that he wants to stick to what makes him excited to play the guitar “I just don’t feel like I want to go that direction. I wanna still feel like what turns me on when I listen to other people playing. I want to stick to what excites me rather than trying to conform to what might be popular at the moment. I’d rather keep it rock ’n’ roll.”