Slash Discusses New Blues Record Featuring Brian Johnson + More

On May 17, Slash will release his latest solo project, Orgy of the Damned, a 12-track record that is almost entirely made up of covers of blues songs.

Ahead of the official announcement of the album — and following a brief tease on social media — Slash joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday (March 7) to dive into the new music.

“We did the record a little while ago and I was waiting for a window to release it,” Slash revealed to host Chuck Armstrong. Not surprisingly, Slash is a busy guy, thanks most recently to the recent world tour with Guns N’ Roses and his upcoming European trek with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.

“When that tour is over, the record comes out. It’s nice to be able to finally get into it — it was a really fun record to make.”

Slash’s Orgy of the Damned — Album Cover

Slash explained that Orgy of the Damned came together relatively quickly, which may come as a shock considering the album is stacked with special guests ranging from the Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson and country superstar Chris Stapleton to Demi Lovato and hard rock’s own Dorothy.

“It was a fun time in the studio.”

Bringing Brian Johnson and Steven Tyler Into the Studio

The first song released from Orgy of the Damned — Slash’s take on Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” — might be the most impressive as far as special guests go because it features two iconic artists who have dealt with personal health issues over the last few years: AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

“When it came to ‘Killing Floor,’ I thought Brian Johnson doing his sort of low register kind of approach to this would be really cool,” Slash said.

“Brian and I are friends, so I called him up. I didn’t know what the legalities of him doing something outside of AC/DC would be, but it all worked out great and he’s just such a sweet guy. He was so much fun to go in the studio and do this with.”

When fans hear the song, they may not instantly connect that low register with Johnson’s unmistakable AC/DC voice — but that’s exactly what Slash was going for.

“He did actually sing it for a second in the higher register,” Slash recalled. “But it just sounded like AC/DC, so I was like, no, keep it true to the original because he loved that song. It was a big part of his growing up, you know? So he knew the song backward and forward, which I had no idea. He felt most comfortable trying to do it in the way that it was originally sung.”

As Slash explained, it was really easy working with Johnson on this song.

“Brian’s a pretty awesome individual,” he said. “He’s very down to earth and just a really, really fun guy in general, a really lighthearted, amiable person … We just got in the studio together and sat in the same room…and we just started, we just ran the tape and he just started singing it. And I’m just hanging out.”

READ MORE: Jesse James Dupree Dives Deep Into Working With AC/DC’s Brian Johnson

While Slash sought out Johnson to sing on the track, Tyler’s involvement was more of a welcomed surprise.

“Steven just came into the studio,” Slash remembered.

“He just came over to my studio one day for something else and just happened to put harmonica on. He heard [the song] and he loved it so much and he goes, ‘Yeah, let me get on that’ … When I was on tour with AC/DC with [Slash’s] Snake Pit back in, I think it was 2000, and when we played in New York, Steven came down to the gig and we all hung out together. So it was great to see Steven and Brian working in that kind of harmony for this particular track.”

What Else Did Slash Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• What it is about blues that he connects with: “When you go back and you really check out those original tunes, the vibe and groove and the soul and the rocking sort of pure spontaneity that comes out of those original songs, that is something that us rock guys have been trying to capture ever since.”
• Why he wasn’t nervous about covering the songs featured on Orgy of the Damned: “It was just a fun thing to do, so I wasn’t thinking about any of that. It was just good to get into a room with some guitars and some combo amps and, you know, just jamming this stuff.”
• What originally got him into the blues: “B.B. King…he definitely spoke to me at a really, really young age, but I had absolutely no aspirations to pick up a guitar…it was just good music and I appreciated the tone of it and then later as I got into playing guitar and I started getting into rock guitar, they just took me right back there and so then, you know, when I was like 15, 16 years old, I was really getting into Albert King, B.B. King, Freddie King, all the Kings.”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Slash joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday, March 7; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand. Get more details on Orgy of the Damned here.