Getting that energy of what the band is about. But yeah, this time we’ve been able to capture the band in its essence. With the songwriting and performance, it’s never stuck in one place or going backwards. It’s a combination of a lot of things but first and foremost, every time we do a record, it seems to evolve or improve on the previous one. Image: Austin Nelson Do you think this makes 4 the most authentic SMKC record you’ve done? In my whole career, I haven’t found one person who’s been willing to just set the band up in a room and record as is, so that was refreshing. I called him up and he wanted to do the record live. Then I saw Rival Sons on the list and that was the icing on the cake. When I checked out Dave’s discography, I noticed that the records he’s done, which are primarily country, were really earthy, raw, soulful records.

The reason he came up was because I was looking to find a good contemporary rock ’n’ roll producer and it was a short list. We did some shows and hung out with them around Europe but I never knew anything about Dave Cobb. What happened was I heard Rival Sons on the radio in LA and thought, ‘That’s a good fucking band’. Image: Austin Nelson What was it like working with Dave Cobb? Did it come about because of his work with Rival Sons? You’ve previously said that you’re a fan.

As with Sons, Cobb has captured Slash and co at their most feral. Dave Cobb the country music producer extraordinaire but also Dave Cobb the man perhaps best known for his Grammy-nominated work with Californian modern-day rock powerhouse Rival Sons. The album was recorded live at the historic RCA Studio A in Nashville, Tennessee, with Dave Cobb at the helm. Prior to the band’s recent US tour – their first live engagements in nearly three years – it was finally let off the leash, and is evidence of a band in rude health. Thanks to covid-19, 4 spent almost a year on the shelf. READ MORE: Five iconic Telecasters from rock history.It’s his fourth with this outfit and fifth solo outing overall, and he reckons this one might be the best yet. His band, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, has just released its first studio album in four years: 4. Not that rock stars tend to exist within the confines of the traditional working week but you might say that Slash seems surprisingly chipper for first thing on a Monday morning.

Slash band