First episode available for the making of Slash’s latest album “Orgy Of The Damned”

The first of several webisodes showcasing footage from the recording of his star-studded new album “Orgy Of The Damned,” which was published on May 17 via Gibson Records, was shared by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash. Guest performers on the album include Brian Johnson of AC/DC, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Iggy Pop, Chris Stapleton, Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes, Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ TOP, Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, Demi Lovato, and Gary Clark Jr. On the album, Slash is supported by former bandmates Teddy Andreadis (keyboards) and Johnny Griparic (bass), as well as drummer Michael Jerome and guitarist/vocalist Tash Neal.

About the album title, Slash states:

It’s the only title I came up with. It was just because blues and rock and roll have always been considered taboo and devil’s music and all that kind of stuff. And it’s ‘hide your kids from that.’ And I wasn’t raised to think that, but I know society at large has always had that kind of attitude towards it, but of blues especially. And so when I thought about having a collaborative thing with all these different artists doing a blues record — ‘Orgy Of The Damned’, right? It seems so obvious to me, and I actually Googled it to see if somebody else had already used it, but they hadn’t.

It wasn’t certainly easy to have all those guests on the album.

It’s difficult. I mean, you basically just have to get on the phone, and if they say ‘yes’, then okay. So that’s really the hardest part, is calling people up and asking the question and seeing if they’ll do it. And I was fortunate doing this, because I picked songs that… What I would do is I’d have the song and then go, ‘Okay, who should sing this?’ And whoever came to mind as being the appropriate singer, I would call them up. But, fortunately, I picked the right song for them to sing and so they would identify with it automatically. And so then that would make them feel more obligated to get involved and sing it properly or whatever goes through one’s mind. But it was great because all the different artists were so open to the material and it really meant something to them. So, what happened was the vocal delivery really came from the heart; they were really singing from a place of connecting with the material.

And there was someone who Slash wished he could have on the record, but couldn’t.

Well, the biggest one, really, the one that bums me out was Lemmy. That was because there was a moment there where [I thought], ‘Fuck, man, Lemmy would be great.’ And I still haven’t gotten used to the fact that he’s not here, ’cause I’m so used to him being there. So that was the big one. I try not to make a big deal out of it. There’s some people that I couldn’t contact until after the record was done. And then they showed up, and [I would tell them] the record’s done already. But other than that, everybody that I thought of were there.

Slash was raised in England, but his American grandmother introduced him to the blues at a young age, and he fell in love with B.B. King right away. In addition, his parents exposed him to a wide variety of British rock ‘n’ roll from The Who to The Kinks during his upbringing. Rock and folk vocalists like Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Neil Young surrounded Slash after he relocated to Laurel Canyon, and these artists eventually influenced his playing and composition. Slash didn’t know that all of his favourite bands had been affected by the same B.B. King blues songs he’d listened to as a child until he started playing the guitar himself.

More info on the record and the upcoming shows can be found here.