Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan Was Shocked When He First Met With Slash: “It Was So Foreign To Me”
The bassist of the American rock band Guns N’ Roses, Duff McKagan, remembered his first meeting with his bandmate Slash and revealed some shocking words while taking fans back to those moments.
As some of you might know, Duff McKagan and Slash are both closest friends of each other. They have been in the same band called Guns N’ Roses, which was formed in 1985.
Duff McKagan Says He Met With Slash In A Restaurant
However, in a new interview with Rock This With Allison Hagendorf, Duff McKagan recalled the first time he encounter with Slash. According to Duff McKagan, he met with Slash and Steve Adler in a restaurant.
“I met him and Steven Adler at Canter’s,” says Duff. “It’s a restaurant. I had never been to Canter’s. Marc Canter was Slash’s boyhood friend – these guys grew up with each other in L.A.
“It was so foreign to me. I had come down and played punk rock gigs, but I didn’t know anybody in Hollywood, and here I was – I walked in.”
Continuing his words, Duff shared his first thoughts about Slash and stated that he thought at the time that he would be some punk guy like him.
“His name was Slash in the ad,” McKagan added. “We talked on the payphone, and I thought he’d be some punk guy like me. ‘Cause, it was ’84 and by ’84 – and Green River is a good testament to this – by ’84, people were looking like, ‘Whatever’s gonna be next is gonna be on our shoulders. Punk’s done.’
“The hardcore had come in and ruined a lot of punk scenes. It was these suburban jock guys who shaved their heads and started beating up people and doing ‘Sieg Heils.’
“It was, like, ‘This is not punk, guys.’ So whatever was next, it was gonna be up to.”
He Also Touches Slash’s Influences
Later, Duff McKagan touched the people Slash inspired by. Fear, Aerosmith and Alice Cooper were some of those who Slash inspired.
“So this guy’s name was Slash,” McKagan continues. “The influences he liked were Fear, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper… I’m like, ‘OK, but this guy’s going kind of where I’m going.’ I had blue hair, short blue hair.
“I walked into Canter’s, and they told me what booth they were gonna be at. So I found the booth, and it’s these two long-haired guys and I’m like, ‘Woah.’ It was kind of a culture shock, and I think I was a little bit of a culture shock to them.”
Concluding his words, Duff revealed that they went into Slash‘s house’s basement to play some music.
“But we sat down and started talking,” McKagan said. “And we talked about music, and that’s the thing that… it’s a universal thing. We went back to Slash’s house, his mom’s basement, and he started playing acoustic guitar.
“I had played with these guys. Stone mentioned Paul Solger – he was the guitar player [at the time]. He could play leads and he was smooth and slick, and I thought he was the best guy on the West Coast. And I got in this basement with Slash, and I’m like, ‘Oh, wow.'”
