Slash grew up and came of age in Los Angeles, so you’d think he’d be really into the ’80s music scene in LA. Alas, you’d be wrong.
Slash detailed in a new interview with Classic Rock, “Actually, I have wonderful memories of LA from when I was seven years old all the way up to when I was twelve. I was kind of raised in the LA music scene and it was great. I watched it go through these music trends in my short little lifetime up to that point. But what it turned into in the eighties was something that was unrecognizable from an integrity point of view and a creative point of view.”
He continued, “The whole thing had just sort of been diluted. I have to say, in hindsight, that at least it was exciting in the eighties, at least there was a scene. Right now there is no LA scene. But there was a huge scene going on in the sixties and right through the seventies. It was really identifiable and really musically revolutionary. And in the eighties, it just turned into this other thing. I f—ing hated the whole scene, man.
Slash added, “At least if you were in the UK you had some cool bands that represented the eighties, at least from a rock’n’roll and metal point of view. You had some really cool, credible music coming out. But in Los Angeles, it was just bulls—. And we were coming up in the midst of all that. Everybody was f—ing converting to the industry standard to get a record deal and get girls, this whole thing. Where our band was coming from was the antithesis of all that, and it’s something I’m really proud of.”
Something else Slash is likely really proud of is 4, his latest solo album with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators. The LP was released last month and is available for streaming and download here.