Slash feared for 'frat boy' video

Slash says he feared the lyric video for his track World On Fire would be too "frat boy".

It’s the title number from his upcoming third album, which is to be released as a Classic Rock Fanpack on September 15 – a full four weeks before its official launch.

The provocative promo features everything from sex to arson, and although the guitar hero is happy with the results, he admits he had some concerns when he read the original idea from director Laban Pheidias.

Slash says: “The video for World On Fire is definitely a little bit edgy. Compared to what most people are doing these days it might be a little risqué. The actual plot line is something that you’d have to watch – it’s self explanatory but pretty entertaining.

“I wanted something that was specifically dark but specifically fun. Definitely something that you couldn’t play on regular TV. We interviewed a bunch of different directors and got treatments from them on the song.

“The guy who wrote and directed it had an idea we thought was cool. As long as it’s not too frat-boyish, is the thing I was concerned with. When I went down to the studio to shoot my cameo he definitely had the right vibe, so I’m very happy with it.”

Vocalist Myles Kennedy adds that he expected a regular old lyric video – but got a shock when he saw the finished product. He says: “I’m expecting the lyrics going along the bottom with a little ball bouncing. There were things bouncing, but not a little ball. It continues to progress and gets more provocative as it goes.

“By the end, all bets are off – there’s a certain shock value and it’s very rock ‘n’ roll.”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.