In a new interview with Rolling Stone Australia, guitar icon Slash discusses a number of topics, including his formative years. An excerpt follows:

Q: Did guitar give you focus as a teen?

A: "I didn't have any particular focus on anything except for BMX at the time. I wanted to be a motocross racer. I always drew, I was an artist, but I just did it for the fun of it. When I started racing BMX is when I started to realise I had some sort of goal [laughs]. And when I picked up the guitar, I guess the ability to focus extremely all of a sudden presented itself."

Q: What did your school reports say about you? Was there a recurring theme?

A: "I had issues in school because I was on a different planet from everybody else. If I liked the teacher and found things to be interesting I could really excel, and if I thought the teacher or the subject was full of shit, then I would not make an effort whatsoever. I was really good at art and English and sometimes history depending on what we were studying. I was never good at math. I definitely walked to the beat of my own drum throughout school. And I went to a lot of different schools, so I never really adapted, I never really fit in."

 

 

Slash in his bedroom, 1983

 

 

Q: What do you mean by being on a different planet?

A: "I was on a different plane than everybody else. My head was always somewhere else, my way of thinking was definitely not in line with what anybody else in my class was thinking, from what I could tell."

Q: Were your parents worried?

A: "My mum, yeah! [Laughs] My mum, God rest her soul, she really tried to keep me in school and make sure I had a good education. But then when the guitar appeared, it made her job that much more difficult because I stopped caring about fitting in with anything and just became that much more insular, so rules no longer really mattered. And I ended up quitting school in the 11th grade."

Read the complete interview at this location.

Watch as Slash reacts to the Clowns 3D maze, part of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. Clowns 3D features all-new original music by the former Guns N' Roses guitarist and is now open through November 2nd.

Slash has joined forces with Universal Studios Hollywood to compose an original score for the theme park’s hypnotizing new 3D maze, Clowns 3D Music by Slash at Halloween Horror Nights, which launched on September 19th. An extended preview video can be seen below:

While partnering with top recording artists has become a signature of Halloween Horror Nights, this collaboration with prolific guitarist, Slash, marks the first time a musician has created an original maze score for the popular event.  This inspired effort comes at a demanding time for Slash, whose new album World On Fire debuted on September 16th, on the heels of his Let Rock Rule World Tour performing with Aerosmith.

Infused with the rocker’s hell-raising electric guitar riffs, the ominous new Clowns 3D Music by Slash haunted attraction is no laughing matter as it unmasks the psychological disorder known as Coulrophobia, a disturbing condition affecting those with an extreme and irrational fear of clowns.

The psychedelic 3D maze will horrify guests, taunting and tempting them with terror and treats as they parade through Sweet Licks Frozen Clown Pops Family Amusement Center, a dilapidated roadside attraction and one-time thriving ice cream factory run by deranged siblings and their mad clown father, Sweet Licks. As this demented trio schemes to restore the family business by luring visitors with free ice cream, guests will soon find themselves on the menu as the key ingredient of a sick new high-protein ice cream concoction.

“I’m a huge fan of Halloween Horror Nights and was inspired to partner with Universal Studios Hollywood because they are the founders of creating extreme horror,” said Slash. “I’ve been composing music for as long as I can remember and jumped at the chance to be an integral part of this year’s event and create the original score for this creepy clown maze. I can’t wait to see the fans’ reactions and will be first in line to experience the maze myself.”
“It’s an honor to collaborate with one of the most iconic rock legends around,” said John Murdy, Creative Director at Universal Studios Hollywood and Executive Producer of Halloween Horror Nights. “From the moment I heard Slash’s original composition for the maze, I immediately knew he got it, as the vibe and feel of his score are so right on. He captured the exact tone we were looking to convey to our guests, and it’s great having Slash be a part of this incredible event.”

Halloween Horror Nights 2014 at Universal Studios Hollywood will be “More Dead Than Ever,” as it brings together the sickest minds in horror to immerse guests in the living, breathing, three-dimensional world of the most notorious and terrifying creatures in existence. This year’s event will feature a slate of all-new unrivaled film production quality mazes, terror-filled scare zones and a fully re-imagined Terror Tram experience, uniquely themed to today’s most definitive horror properties.