Guns N' Roses guitarist Richard Fortus shed light on how he and Slash combine guitar duties in the most recent lineup of the band. Blabbermouth transcribed Premiere Guitar's chat with Fortus, in which he explained, “It's a tricky thing, 'cause you obviously wanna bring your own character to the role, to those songs, but you have to really have some reverence for the song and the original parts. So it's a fine line, it's a delicate balance that you walk between your own personality and honoring the originality of the song to begin with.
He went on to say, “And especially with Guns, because fans are so attached to the Appetite (For Destruction) album — there's not a lot of room for bringing your own thing. But especially since Slash's come back, there's a lot more openness and room for me to inject myself in.”
Fortus went on to recall, “When (Slash) first was coming back, mutual friends of ours were, like, 'Man, good luck getting to be on the fifth fret.' (Laughs) But I have not experienced that at all. He's been incredibly gracious and really an inspiration to play with. It's very competitive in a very, very friendly, same-team type of way — always pushing each other — which I am flattered to be in that role, and for him to welcome it.”
