SLASH (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES) threw the first-ever musician-focused Hackathon, titled Slashathon, at Capital Factory during Austin music week (March 12th). For seven hours straight, teams of technology developers worked to create new and interesting music-oriented applications for promotion on-the-spot. Slash spoke with Artisan News at the event, explaining the process and some of the creations of the winners:

Slash was also at SXSW to play and pay tribute to JIMI HENDRIX, whose new postage stamp was unveiled by the United States Postal Sevice. He talked about the gig, what the legendary guitarist means, and thoughts about Outkast's Andrew 3000 starring in the new Hendrix movie Jimi - All Is By My Side:

The winners of the 2014 Slashathon are as follows:

Winner of the 1st prize, presented by Slash: Slash TV - Any user in any place can create a rock video for a new album from any mobile phone within 30 seconds. On a mobile device it’s hard to film a video, but music stickers are a way to make a video more compelling. With Slash TV you’re able to promote an experience with stages and digital stickers to record your own rock video.

2nd Place Prize: Pretune - As an artist you don’t have time to spend marketing new songs. Pretune would automatically promote your album and have the crowd reveal the song bit by bit. Fans can unlock the song progressively by logging in with Twitter or providing their email address.

3rd Place Prize: Crowdroar - Real time feedback from the stage on how people are reacting to songs you never played before via a loudness meter that shows up on a Google Glass display.

Ernie Ball, one of the world's leading manufacturers of guitar strings and musical instrument accessories, recently launched a new digital series with Grammy-winning, iconic guitarist and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame artist SLASH and his band MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS. The innovative online series, titled Real To Reel with Slash, documents the entire in-studio recording process of the iconic artist's forthcoming third solo album, along with world-renowned music collaborators Myles Kennedy, Todd Kerns and Brent Fitz, returning to the studio for a third time.

From the first day of recording to the last, the multi-segment fly-on-the wall series will follow Slash and The Conspirators from pre-production at NRG Studios in Los Angeles to Studio Barbarossa in Florida, as they write, play, create and record the new album from start to finish.

Each clip will showcase a behind-the-scenes sneak peek inside the recording sessions, giving fans unprecedented exclusive access to some of the world's most legendary musicians. The segments will give viewers up-to-date, virtually real-time progress on the recording journey each week, along with commentary from the band members, gear talk, and more.

“We're incredibly excited to give music fans an inside look into the recording process of one of the most anticipated Rock albums of the year!” said Brian Ball, Vice President of Ernie Ball Inc.

Both Slash and Kennedy emphasize that creatively, it is was crucial for them to bring the recording process back to basics, keeping it simple by capturing the essence of a classic rock band utilizing the often forgotten art form of recording to two-inch analog tape.

"I love the process of recording live in the studio and the sound of a rock n roll band recorded on 2" tape as opposed to digital,” explains Slash. “I thought it would be cool to show some footage of us doing exactly that."

In Episode 1, Conspirator Brent Fitz talks about his part drum tracking in the recording progress of the new album:

In Episode 2, we meet Conspirator, Todd Kerns, who talks about recording bass for the new album:

In Episode 3, we hear more about the recording process: