Guitar legend Slash took a minute from his busy South by Southwest schedule to answer a few questions for MC.
MC: Tell us about Slashathon. What influenced you and what brought you to SXSW?
Slash: The idea came from the idea of putting out a record soon. I’m always looking for new ideas as far as promoting, and engaging with fans, we were looking for new ideas in the music realm, we did this Slasathon to see what young developers were coming up with in spur of moment. SXSW seemed like the best place to do it.
MC: Can you tell us about the Winner?
Slash: The funny thing is out of all the ideas we saw, the best one was the one that had no practical application at all. You could do it on your mobile phone, utilizing a background and sticker and put it to music, then you’d have a video. I thought it was something people could spend a lot of time on. So my imagination got spurred, so it was the best idea. Anybody can do it and it’s totally personal, but you can share it.
MC: As an established artist would you say that SXSW is a good or bad thing for young musicians?
Slash: I have nothing negative to say about SXSW, I think it’s a great place for new artists, to be bale to be in a environment where a lot of people in the music industry are hangin’ out. I think its really healthy. I remember my first trip was looking for singers, I went to every club, every place people were playing. I think a lot of people are here to look for something new and exciting, whatever turns them on.
MC: Any advice to newcomers about SXSW?
Slash: I don’t know what kind of advice I could possibly give. It’s definitely a place to put you’re A game on, it’s very fun but at same time people are very scrutinizing, so don’t just come down here and get drunk.
Interview by Victoria Patneaude
Recorded by Siri Svay and Victoria Patneaude
Additional Photos by Jody Domingue
