Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash discussed the difficulty of predicting which young bands will stand the test of time in a video published by Rolling Stone Australia. He pointed to Gojira as a rare example of a band that lived up to its early promise.
“It’s hard to look at younger bands and know what’s going to happen,” Slash said. “I think that the thing is more to be in the moment and appreciate what’s happening and hope that that continues on.”
He noted that Guns N’ Roses have shared stages with newer acts like Pierce the Veil, but said it’s impossible to know how their careers will unfold. “We’re doing- I think there are a few shows with Pierce the Veil, who are awesome,” he continued. “I have no idea where they’ll be 10 years from now, but it’s not about that; it’s about what you’re doing in the moment at the time.”
Slash added that even strong instincts about a band’s potential don’t guarantee anything. “It’s great to try and get a perspective on what’s going to happen, but sometimes, even if I was to say, ‘These guys [will succeed],’ you never really know what the fuck’s going to happen,” he said. “Anybody that you really dig, you just sort of have to appreciate in the moment what they’re doing right now.”
He then singled out Gojira as one of the few bands that fulfilled that early potential. “There aren’t too many young bands I can think of that have the kind of power that these recordings have,” Slash said. “So that’s what I mean: it’s hard to tell how really good bands are gonna blossom and turn into something great.”
“Gojira was one of those bands,” he continued. “Man, those guys are fucking awesome. But when I first heard them, I was like, ‘These guys are amazing,’ but I had no idea where they’d end up. But now they finally arrived at that place because they just kept going.”
Slash concluded by praising the endurance required to sustain a long career. “The perseverance and tenacity, the staying power to be able to do this for a long period of time, keep your band together, keep your head together, and endure, is a lot to expect from young bands,” he said.
For Slash, Gojira’s rise shows why predicting a young band’s future is so difficult. Their talent impressed him from the beginning, but it was years of persistence and growth that eventually turned that early promise into lasting success.
