Guitar icon Slash returns alongside his buddies Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators with their third album together in “Living The Dream“, a hard rock goldmine full of classic guitar riffs and grooves that showcases the great chemistry in the band. Drummer Brent Fitz talks to us about the new songs and why the band are creatively doing so well.
Following a recently completed US tour, news has come in that they are set to tour Australia in early 2019 which we love to see and which Brent enthusiastically concurs.
“Oh gosh we love it too. It’s always my favorite on tour when the Australia run comes in and I just had to pass on a recent Gene Simmons tour that I was scheduled to be on but prioritising my career and my commitments to Slash and our new record and our new tour, it got a little conflicting. Gene was just there a month ago or less and I had to back out of the shows last minute because we sort of changed our rehearsal schedules with Slash and I had to tell Gene that I’m not able to go to Australia, I’m going back over to Slash! So let’s just say that everything worked out, I never thought the kid from Canada that grew up liking Kiss and whatnot would have to unfortunately pass on some shows. But I’m very happy and the reason being because I have a new tour and a new record with Slash so that’s wonderful.
Andrew: Of course! I’ve been listening to the album for the last few weeks and you guys always seem to nail it, it’s fantastic stuff. I know you guys are on tour in the US at the moment so how have the songs been going over with the crowd so far?
Brent: Well we’re playing 6 new songs already and we are playing pretty much only, other than 1 or 2 songs so far in the sets, our own music. Everything that we’ve done on the last 3 records is being played and Slash is really happy to get to play all the new stuff and the old World On Fire and Apocalyptic Love stuff, and everyone have been thrilled to have us, shows have been sold out. It’s hard for me because I’ve been a part of all these songs that we wrote and you just never know how a new song is going to be accepted, we came out at the start of the tour with a bunch of new songs that we were playing before the record came out and that’s always interesting to watch people’s reaction in the crowd like, ‘I’ve never heard this song before, hmm is it good?’ But now we’ve been out for almost a month and we see how some of these songs have taken on a life of their own and there couldn’t be a better feeling, to play your own music and have people respond to it and some of the cool older songs, “Anastasia”, “You’re A Lie”, “Bent To Fly”. “Anastasia” being something from the very first record that we did that maybe at the time we didn’t know, ‘Is this song going to have any life to it? Are we even going to play it live?’ It’s pretty much been in the set every night since the day we first introduced it and that’s a great feeling is to have those songs that have become the fan favorites.
Andrew: Yeah and “Anastasia” is certainly one of my personal favorites as well and something that a lot of fans agree that it’s such a fantastic song. But obviously this new album “Living The Dream” is a little more diverse than the first 2 albums, it’s a little bit different but still having that trademark sound that you guys are known for. What was the idea when you were going into the studio to record it, what were some of the things you were trying to achieve with these songs?
Brent: Well the record had a bit of “we need to finish the unfinished” vibe because we already had half of a record already sort of thought out before we all parted ways back in 2015. So we already had a good chunk of it there to work on and although we didn’t fully realize all the songs, we already knew where the direction was going which was just again another expanding off being on tour together and playing every time everyday on the World On Fire tours. And then those songs that were already half written got completed but after 2 years and then we came up with the second half of the record, so you could say 6 songs were already written and then another 6 songs or so got more realized more recently. But it was cool to say,’ Well we all had some time apart and clearly that was good and it was healthy’. Because on the last 2 records we didn’t take a lot of time, we sort of had short breaks and Myles had worked on an Alter Bridge record and a tour but for the most part we were consistently working together. So we took a break and I think it’s been one of the best things was to have a break and some time apart and look forward to getting together. Slash always knew we were going to make the record because he was always communicative from day that, ‘I’m going to do Guns N’ Roses but I also want to make sure that we all understand that we’re going to record a record, I just don’t know when exactly’. But we realized it’s going to happen and it’s happened so the healthiness of the new music is that we had a chance to break away and play with some different people and come back together and look forward to making these new songs together.
Andrew: Yeah it seems to be the key to the success of the band and the longevity and the chemistry of you guys, and it’s rare to see these days where the lineup for this band has been stable pretty much since the beginning really.
Brent: Well I will take some credit that early on when I as first asked to join the band, the very first version was to support Slash’s first solo record with all the different singers on it and that band is very much a distant memory because when we first rehearsed – and Myles Kennedy was not even part of the first rehearsals – what was going on was I was being asked to be a part of the band but Andrew Stockdale, a fine Australian, was coming to America to sing with us on some talk shows and whatnot. Because the first song they released in America as a single was “By The Sword” which featured Andrew so it was very interesting the first platform of the band, I didn’t really know Myles right off the get-go because we were sort of preparing for this support band and maybe Slash didn’t quite know at the time how long were we going to do this. Everything was a what-if but as we were putting the band together in rehearsals, I was the one that kind of felt like it wasn’t quite the exact…I mean I didn’t even know Slash barely at that time, I had only been working with him for a couple of weeks and I had suggested inviting Todd (Kerns, bass) into the band and I wasn’t sure if that was going to come with a reluctant no or whatnot but having the option to suggest Todd I think made the band that much better as then when we did all the talk shows it was right.
Then adding Frank (Sidoris, guitars), I’ll take a little credit for that too because Frank is a fellow Las Vegan and I had met Frank while we were touring and for some reason it just seemed like I wasn’t sure where the band was going to go but I always thought, ‘That guy is a great player, he’s younger but he;s an old soul’ and how he ended up in the band, the story has always been written but I’d like to take some credit. Obviously Slash and Myles being the important principles, the chief guitar playing songwriter and the lyricist and the melody guy but to put the other spice of the band back together, I like to think the Conspirators was a very conscious effort on my half to make a great band to support Myles and Slash so I think it’s been working.
Andrew: Yeah definitely it has been working which is great to see. And as you mentioned, Slash and Myles being 2 key points in the band, what is it like for you personally to be working with those 2 guys in particular?
Brent: Well they’re the most prolific guys I have ever worked with, because Slash is so full of musical ideas, riffs and melodies all the time and Myles is the ying to the yang where he is so great with immediately jumping on an idea that Slash has and they are both communicative. If it’s not working we don’t worry about it but we’ve really found that all I need to do between my support of Slash and Myles is just to be ready for those guys. Todd and I are very strong with, as soon as Slash has an idea we jump on it with him and get it up and running and we are a very prolific band that can write songs. Sometimes, and I’ve been in many bands over the years, you just run into these road blocks where a guy will be like, ‘Come on, come up with something’ or ‘I got nothing’. I’ve never felt that with this band where nobody had an idea and I think it’s because we all respect each other individually as players and we’ve got the right guys together and we don’t wait for some inspiration, we just get busy. Slash is a very hard worker, Myles is a very hard worker. You put two hard workers together and they don’t clash, they get busy together and the rest of us sort of fall into place and make sure that it’s a complete thought and that’s how records get done and we don’t worry about it because it’s just getting done and we’re like, ‘Wow!’. Even though we took a break, we were able to put a record out and now we’re touring it and we’re moving forward, it’s hard to believe that happened and it’s happening well and successfully. Clearly if I could say for the future, it will probably continue this way.
Andrew: Yeah let’s hope so, as said before it’s a great chemistry between you guys. You mentioned that you have worked with a lot of different bands over the years, worked with some great names in the past but has this particular band been one of the highlights or the favorite that you have done so far?
Brent: Yeah and just to reiterate what I just said, the comfort of the chemistry feels right and having the right guys together because I’ve been in several bands and maybe we all have been in different bands where something wasn’t quite right and to find that happy place and I think for me to have that happening currently today in a band where I’m not reflecting and currently in a band where, ‘Wow that band was really great I had 25 years ago’. No this is the best band and I’m doing it now and we’re able to play together and get along and it’s been healthy to play with other musicians who I respect and you learn from everyone you work with and I think Slash has learned a lot going back to a former comfortable band in Guns N’ Roses where he made so much successful music before and they were able to go on tour and have a very successful tour and get along. Myles’ solo tour has been fantastic, he put out a record last year and just came out and grabbed an acoustic guitar and went out and just played in front of people and it’s been huge. All of our little projects, coming together with this band, it’s given us a powerful…nobody is bored, we’re all so busy that when we get together, we look forward to playing together because we all like each other and we all have these other experiences that we can bring to the table. So it’s a very powerful thing to get us all together after all these other things and get around and make new music.
Andrew: Yeah definitely for sure. Well congratulations on the new album, it’s brilliant and you guys have really knocked it out of the park with this one again and we look forward to seeing you on the Australian tour coming up. We love to see you live as we always do so thanks for your time Brent, really appreciate it!
Brent: Thank you so much, looking forward to seeing you early in the next year.
Slash Ft Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators Australian & New Zealand Tour Dates
Tauranga, NZ – Friday 25 January, Baypark Arena
Auckland, NZ – Saturday 26 January, Spark Arena
Sydney – Monday 28 January, Qudos Bank Arena
Brisbane – Wednesday 30 January, Brisbane Convention Exhibition Centre
Melbourne – Friday 1 February, Margaret Court Arena
Perth – Sunday 3 February, RAC Arena
Tickets: www.tegdainty.com
