Slash Unites Gn'R Vets

Axl Rose may have declared "Round One" at Guns n' Roses' recent performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, but Slash is getting ready for Round Two. "I'm doing a fucking record with me, [bassist] Duff [McKagan] and [drummer] Matt Sorum," the former Gn'R guitarist said this past weekend at the San Diego Street Scene festival, where he was on hand to pay tribute to Jimi Hendrix. "Dave Cushner is playing guitar right now, and we got the baddest fucking, be-all, end-all rock & roll band."

The as-yet-unnamed band ("If I had a name, I'd tell you," Slash says) is now in the process of looking for just the right vocalist to perfect the ensemble. "There are no rock & roll singers out there right now, and you know it as well as I do, except for the guys who have been around a long time," he says. "As far as new bands, there's not one. If I knew one, I probably would've stolen him by now.

"When Billy Idol goes ballistic, that's the kind of singer I want all the time," Slash continues. "There's nobody I've listened to since before Guns came out or anytime in the Eighties who's been like that, except for Billy. He's one guy who when he belts it out would be good at it."

As for being selective about rounding out the band with a vocalist, Slash needs to be choosy if he hopes to achieve his lofty ambitions. "I want to be the guy who spearheads the next rock & roll movement; I've done it before, so I want to do it again."

In the meantime, Slash and wife Perla are happy being parents. "We just had a baby ten days ago," he says proudly. "His name's London, nine pounds, four ounces. He's only ten days old, but he's got a cool personality . . . This is the first time I've been away from home since he was born, so I've called home like six times. And as soon as the gig is done, I'm going home."

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

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