Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators member Todd Kerns recently appeared on Appetite for Distortion and disclosed Slash’s reaction to having his idea challenged.
Giving the story behind the name of the band, the bassist explained:
“He [Slash] had said he wanted to name the band the Collaborators, and I was kind of like, ‘Okay.’ I didn’t think it was that cool of a name. The Collaborators sounds like something you see at a Holiday Inn or something, but I remember Fitz being kind of like, ‘I don’t know if I like that.’ I go, ‘Shut up because it’s good for us. It’s good for us to have a band.'”
He also revealed why he is glad to have a band name:
“It’s good for us to have a band name because we’re in the photos and stuff like that. He very well could have just put himself and even just himself and Myles in those photos. Slash featuring Myles Kennedy became the sort of touring thing eventually, which was funny because on our dressing room doors, it would often say S&M, and I would always kind of giggle to myself, ‘Don’t go in that room.'”
Kerns then recalled how the Conspirators name came about:
“We were watching a scroll of shows, and it said the Conspirators, which was a World War II documentary of some sort. I have no idea what it was about. I said, ‘That’s a cool name. That sounds like a punk rock band that never existed.'”
The musician went on to share Slash’s initial reaction to any new idea:
“Slash is the kind of guy… It’s even funny when you talk about any suggestion, like say, ‘We’ve never played ‘Double Talkin’ Jive.’ He’ll be like, ‘Yeah.’ It’s sort of like he’ll look off, and he’ll sort of quietly say, ‘Yeah.’ A little while later, he’ll come back and go, ‘I think we should do ‘Double Talkin’ Jive’ or whatever. He needs to ruminate on it and think about it.”
After playing their last gig during a US tour back in February and March 2022, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators is set to make a comeback with their first live performance in almost two years at Argentina’s Cosquín Rock festival on February 11, 2024.
You can watch a part of Todd’s interview below.
