{"id":36020,"date":"2018-10-19T07:19:25","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T20:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=36020"},"modified":"2018-10-19T07:19:38","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T20:19:38","slug":"brent-fitz-of-slash-feat-myles-kennedy-and-the-conspirators-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2018\/10\/brent-fitz-of-slash-feat-myles-kennedy-and-the-conspirators-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Brent Fitz of Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe new record sounds like a very well-oiled machine of guys that do really understand each other well and I think it is our strongest body of work because of all that experience we\u2019ve had together\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

From release: Slash<\/strong> has amassed album sales of\u00a0over 100 million copies, garnered a\u00a0GRAMMY Award\u00a0and\u00a0seven GRAMMY nominations\u00a0and was inducted into the\u00a0Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.\u00a0Slash\u00a0landed on the top of the charts with\u00a0his first solo album,\u00a0Slash<\/em>\u00a0(2010)\u00a0which featured\u00a0Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie,\u00a0Myles Kennedy\u00a0and more. The album\u00a0debuted at #2\u00a0on the\u00a0Australian ARIA chart\u00a0and is\u00a0certified as an ARIA Accredited Platinum album.\u00a0Shortly after, he formed his current band\u00a0Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators<\/strong>–which features\u00a0Myles Kennedy\u00a0(lead vocals),\u00a0Brent Fitz\u00a0(drums),\u00a0Todd Kerns\u00a0(bass\/vocals) and\u00a0Frank Sidoris\u00a0(rhythm guitar)–who\u2019ve been\u00a0touring worldwide and making music for over four years.<\/p>\n

In Long Island on a needed day off Fitzy gave us a call to talk about their new album \u2018Living The Dream\u2019, the Australian tour, making music with this band, evolution, and more!<\/p>\n

To start off, \u2018Living The Dream\u2019 is a damn good record, what if anything did you set out to do differently this time around?<\/strong>
\nWell I think the time apart has been a very great, healthy, for everybody in the band to have gone on and done something because on the last \u2018World on Fire\u2019 tour and \u2018Apocalyptic Love\u2019 we didn\u2019t take a lot of time off, we sort of built on the OK we\u2019ve done a bunch of shows together, we\u2019re a very strong band and you know a lot of new music ideas always came from sound checks and being on tour together and riffs and ideas that Slash would come up with. Then we\u2019d be in the middle of a tour and sort of come up with ideas and then tour would end and we\u2019d go record them, but this time we had those two records back to back and we took a break, and I think the healthy not sure when and where and how we\u2019re going to do this again turned this into a great break that brought out a really great record, and Slash was very much always having intention to come back to this and that was explained out right near the end of the last \u2018World on Fire\u2019 tour when there was plans for him to go and do Guns N Roses and I\u2019m sure he didn\u2019t know exactly how long this was going to be but this is what is gonna happen and everybody supported and everybody was still able to go and be creative and doing musical things. I\u2019ve been playing with all different musicians my whole life and so right after Slash I was working with Brad Whitford from Aerosmith and then I was working with gene Simmons, so to come back around to this I think was the best thing to take a break and to go and play with some other people and get excited to come back and I think the album reflects some of that separation and that hunger to get back and make new music together.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s true as over three albums did you find that as each progresses that you have finally found your footing and groove with each other in the studio?<\/strong>
\nYeah that\u2019s a powerful thing. I don\u2019t tell Slash what to play, he doesn\u2019t tell me what to play and when you\u2019re in a comfort zone you might almost overlook things and go well, wow we just wrote a bunch of songs and it came together fairly organically and without a lot of\u2026 sometimes music you might run into where you\u2019re having a bit of like a road block of ideas, we\u2019ve never not had a steady stream of ideas coming from everybody, and Slash is you\u2019ve gotta be quick, he\u2019s always got great riffs and ideas and you\u2019ve gotta have a good group of a rhythm section like Todd and I to be like oh, Slash has a riff let\u2019s jump on it right away and nurture that idea. So when we came back on this record we literally didn\u2019t even talk, we just said hey let\u2019s get together on this date, let\u2019s start working on some songs, we already had a bunch of songs on the last \u2018World on Fire\u2019 tour that we had worked on, so we almost had half a record done so we were just waiting to finish those songs. Then we got back probably November, December last year, he was a on a break from Guns N Roses and I was on a break from Gene Simmons and Myles was on break from his solo tour, and Todd was on a break from his stuff, and Frank was available and we all just sort of got around and quickly got into writing new songs and nothing was difficult, and the record got recorded pretty fast and we\u2019re already on tour with it and it\u2019s hard to believe. Wow, we made a record and we\u2019ve already been out on tour with this and here we are in a couple of months coming to Australia and *laughs* it\u2019s just been happening really fast.<\/p>\n

So what can we expect on the \u2018Living The Dream\u2019 tour when you head down here?<\/strong>
\nWe like to play all the songs that we record, we\u2019ve already played six songs from the record in the set that we\u2019ve been doing in The States here, so we\u2019ll have had several months before we come to Australia to try a bunch of other songs from \u2018Living The Dream\u2019 in the set and see which ones are working. I\u2019m just hoping that anyone that\u2019s a fan of the band that we\u2019re gonna definitely be playing all the new music from the record, and we\u2019re gonna play lots of stuff from the last two albums and focus on that, that\u2019s what our band focuses on, the songs that this band has written and certainly playing anything from Slash\u2019s previous catalogue is always welcome and it\u2019s up to him if he feels like I don\u2019t want to play Guns N Roses or I don\u2019t want to play a Velvet Revolver song tonight we\u2019re happy to play *laughs* I think we played a lot of the Guns N Roses songs well and we even used to play an Alter Bridge song on the first tour and it\u2019s a great band, so whatever we play and hopefully we\u2019ll play mostly the \u2018Living The Dream\u2019 record but if we slip in a couple of Velvet songs and a couple of GNR songs then that\u2019s OK too.<\/p>\n

You guys are a force live too, what is it about the stage and this band that is such a powerhouse?<\/strong>
\nGod, we\u2019ve all been in so many bands and played with a lot of great musicians as well and with ourselves together collectively, so I think the strength is that we\u2019re all pretty seasoned guys and we\u2019ve been through lots and other bands, but there\u2019s a certain energy that works and we\u2019ve had success writing songs together, so not only is it playing in front of people playing live but we really get on well playing in a studio environment too, so it\u2019s the best of both, it\u2019s a great song writing band and it\u2019s a great live performance band and ultimately people have responded and enjoy coming to the shows because I think we look and act who we are which is we\u2019re having a good time and we all get along great together, and we all respect each other and that\u2019s how songs are written. I don\u2019t tell Slash what to play and he doesn\u2019t tell me and I respect everything about him as a musician and hopefully he feels the same and that\u2019s why we\u2019re in a band together that he hopefully feels the same about me and Todd and Frank and Myles and this is why we\u2019re gonna hopefully continue this band. All of us have other bands going on but it\u2019s been working and sometimes being apart from each other and looking forward to getting together again has been a great thing for this band.<\/p>\n

Over time it\u2019s easy to say what\u2019s change within a band but what would you say is the one thing that\u2019s stayed the same in your time in The Conspirators?<\/strong>
\nWell, I think when we write the songs just because I know the process of each guy in our band and how we have worked on songs up to this point together and we sort of have a formula that\u2019s understood where we don\u2019t always have, it\u2019s not a melody and a lyric that we build a song around with Myles, it\u2019s generally gonna be a guitar driven idea that we jump on right away. So Slash is never short of riffs and great little parts but not fully realised songs but a good part we can turn it into something. So I think we never have a problem, it doesn\u2019t ever have to be discussed other than we speak in music form to each other about like getting idea worked up into a song that eventually Slash comes up with a riff and we try and put it into song form so at least Myles can come up with something and hopefully he\u2019ll respond and go \u201cI love that riff\u201d.<\/p>\n

When you write songs does Myles bring in stuff and Slash brings in things and someone will say, nah, keep that for Guns or for Alter Bridge is there any time when it doesn\u2019t feel like a song for this band?<\/strong>
\nNo I don\u2019t think so, this band has a formula of jumping on a riff first not so much melody and lyrics, and we like to jam it together, there\u2019s no computer, there\u2019s no pro-tools, no technology involved just the instruments playing together and a lot of times the best time to do that is when you\u2019re on tour and you\u2019re doing a sound check and we like to sound check every day so a song can be written quite easily by starting a riff that Slash has come up with in a sound check and Todd and I will instantly we\u2019ve wrote enough songs together that way that we\u2019re pretty quick with coming up with something that will complement that and then we just kind of give it to Myles before it becomes too much of a song and just let him go \u201coh I like that section of a song you came up with\u201d and then let him start to come up with the melody. So we don\u2019t complete the song early on, we just start with the foundation of the music and then hopefully Myles has some inspiration for a lyric idea that will probably go along with the melody and then we circle back, it\u2019s almost like everybody has their time with to put their thoughts and stamp on it before we commit to something. In other words it doesn\u2019t go into a recording studio and on a computer and we don\u2019t start to cut and paste like \u2018oh let\u2019s make the chorus longer, or the verse\u2019 we\u2019ve sort of edited ourselves so well after a couple of record snow knowing and just understanding each other with the song writing that I already know where Slash is coming from with the riff and I know to leave space for him to let that riff shine.<\/p>\n

Me personally, my job as the drummer I\u2019m a multi-instrumentalist and to my own detriment I\u2019m coming in usually not focused on my drum parts but I\u2019m more excited about how\u2019s the melody gonna work over the music meaning Myles\u2019 melodies, so I love to hear what Myles has to say vocally, maybe not so much having full lyrics written but some of the melodies and those will depict what I\u2019m gonna play because I don\u2019t want to ever step on the melody because to me the melody is the most important part that complements the song and the music has to speak to the melodies, but my part as the drummer and as a multi-instrumentalist that plays piano and guitar and all the other instruments I\u2019m always thinking what\u2019s good for the song? So I know\u00a0 and everyone else understands that I\u2019m that person too, and they understand the kind of musician I am and I\u2019m not gonna overplay and I\u2019m gonna leave room for everybody, yet, I\u2019m gonna hopefully know what the right part will be, drum part to support the music. It\u2019s really interesting as the person that contributed to the albums and I look back and listening to the other records and I definitely hear an evolution ad a comfort. The new record sounds like a very well-oiled machine of guys that do really understand each other well and I think it is our strongest body of work because of all that experience we\u2019ve had together, and the first record reflects a very new band, and the second record is the expansion of touring relentlessly for several years, but the new record in having the time away from each other but already knowing each other so well and coming back with that new hunger of looking forward to that we\u2019re gonna finish all these songs that we worked on I think that really translated well to a really, really strong record.<\/p>\n

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Slash Ft Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators Australian & New Zealand Tour Dates<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tauranga –\u00a0Friday 25 January – Baypark Arena<\/strong><\/p>\n

Auckland –\u00a0Saturday 26 January – Spark Arena<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sydney –\u00a0Monday 28 January – Qudos Bank Arena<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brisbane –\u00a0Wednesday 30 January – Brisbane Convention Exhibition Centre <\/strong><\/p>\n

Melbourne –\u00a0Friday 1 February – Margaret Court Arena<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perth –\u00a0Sunday 3 February – RAC Arena<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tickets to Slash Ft Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators tour <\/strong>go on sale at 12 noon on Friday 26 October from <\/strong>Ticketek.com.au<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

A Telstra Thanks presale, exclusive to Telstra customers, starts Tuesday 23 October, from 2pm <\/strong>and is open until Thursday 25 September, 2pm.<\/strong> Go to telstra.com\/presale<\/a> for further details.<\/p>\n

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Essential Information<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Los Angeles, CA, USA<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Slash \u2013 Guitars, Myles Kennedy \u2013 Vocals\/ Guitar, Brent Fitz \u2013 Drums, Todd Kerns – Bass<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.slashonline.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Living The Dream ( Out Now – Sony Music Australia) – Check out our review of the album HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

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