Ep 7 - Slash of Guns N' Roses

Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·19m 0s·analyzed·Oct 13, 2020

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Slash discusses co-designing Guns N' Roses pinball with Jersey Jack ahead of Oct 2020 release.

Summary

Ken Cromwell hosts Jersey Jack Pinball's podcast featuring an interview with Slash of Guns N' Roses discussing the development and design of the Guns N' Roses Not In This Lifetime pinball machine, which was officially revealed on October 5, 2020. Slash shares his passion for pinball, his collaborative process with designer Eric Menier, and details about game features including original guitar work, artwork by artist Dane Henry Jr., and hidden Easter eggs like the Sweet Child o' Mine musical notation on the platinum record spinner.

Key Claims

Slash became obsessed with pinball in the late 1990s and has been into it ever since.
high confidence · Slash directly states in interview: 'I got into pinball really, really late. I didn't really discover pinball until I guess it was in the late 90s.'
Slash is co-credited as a design asset contributor on the Guns N' Roses pinball machine, not just a celebrity endorser.
high confidence · Ken states: 'We've got Eric Minier, the designer here, co-designer, I should say, because Slash is also credited with design assets.' Slash confirms he drew playfield sketches.
Slash owns 14 pinball machines total: 8 at his house and 6 at his studio.
high confidence · Slash states: 'One two three four five six... There six here at my studio now. So there's six here and there is, um, eight at the house.'
The Guns N' Roses pinball game was designed to recreate the 'Not In This Lifetime' tour experience with concert digital art, lighting rigs, and set materials.
high confidence · Slash explains: 'the whole concept of the game was to sort of recreate the not in this lifetime tour experience... digital art that we use during the concerts... lighting rig... all the material that we do in the set in in the game included in the game'
The platinum record spinner features Sweet Child o' Mine musical notation in the first 16 bars, with lights underneath the notes.
high confidence · Eric Menier reveals: 'the platinum record that spins around that you whack with the ball, there's music notes around it. And those music notes in the artwork are the first 16 bars of Sweet Child of Mine... And the lights that light up are, there's lights underneath those notes.'
Slash composed original guitar music for specific modes in the game that needed background themes beyond Guns N' Roses songs.
high confidence · Slash describes: 'There was a couple of different modes in the game that were created that needed some background music, needed a theme and something original and not using Guns N' Roses songs per se... So I put some guitars on.'
Slash was reluctant about doing voice work/callouts for the game and found it challenging.

Notable Quotes

“I got into pinball really, really late. I didn't really discover pinball until I guess it was in the late 90s. And, you know, I just started playing around that time and then just got obsessed with not only the game itself, but just the art and the technology that goes into it.”
Slash @ early interview — Establishes Slash's genuine passion for pinball beyond celebrity endorsement
“I remember calling Jack up from the airport and standing in some quiet space in between the security and my gate and explaining to him what this was all about. Because I just called him up out of the blue and said, I want to do a Guns N' Roses machine, and I want to do it with Jersey Jack.”
Slash @ mid-interview — Demonstrates Slash's authentic obsession—he initiated the project himself, not vice versa
“Eric's been great and he has been able to take whatever concepts I might have come to the table with and double down on those and make them 10 times greater than what I was expecting.”
Slash @ mid-interview — Describes the collaborative design relationship between Slash and Eric Menier
“My favorite thing is definitely not doing voice work... I was just miserable... It's one of those things that just doesn't come natural. I mean, I'm not a real outspoken kind of person.”
Slash @ latter-half interview — Reveals Slash's self-awareness about his limitations in voice acting/callout work
“You're one of the few people that I've ever met who can visualize what a game will be without needing to physically see it and play it and have it all laid out before you. That's not an experience that even most people that work inside a pinball company understand.”
Eric Menier @ mid-interview — Highlights Slash's unusual design intuition and visualization skills
“Most people in pinball know that you're into pinball, but I don't think they know how much you're into pinball. People assume you're just like an ambassador with maybe your face is associated with this game because you're Guns N' Roses, but you're co-designer on the pinball machine. I've never seen anything like that before.”
Ken Cromwell — Ken explicitly states Slash's unique status as actual co-designer, not just celebrity face

Entities

Slashperson Ken CromwellpersonEric MenierpersonDane Henry Jr.personJackpersonGuns N' Roses Not In This LifetimegameJersey Jack Pinballcompany

Signals

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community_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball conducting multi-episode podcast interview series with all band members (Slash, Duff, Richard, Frank, Melissa, Dizzy) indicates comprehensive fan engagement strategy.
high · Ken announces: 'we do have Duff, we have Richard, we have Frank, we have Melissa, we have Dizzy. They're all on the show... we'll have those shows coming up'
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design_philosophy: Hidden musical Easter egg—Sweet Child o' Mine first 16 bars encoded in platinum record artwork with corresponding LED illumination—demonstrates sophisticated integration of band IP with mechanical design.
high · Eric reveals: 'the music notes in the artwork are the first 16 bars of Sweet Child of Mine... And the lights that light up are, there's lights underneath those notes'
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design_philosophy: Slash intentionally differentiated new Guns N' Roses game from 1993/94 original to avoid repetition despite shared IP, showing mature design thinking about rethemes.
high · Slash states: 'I didn't want to do a repeat of the first guns and roses game... I didn't want to have the g and the r ramp... I didn't want to have uh some of the same details... I don't think this game reminds me of that game really in any way'
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market_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball planning merchandise store with Guns N' Roses pinball-related items and 'merchandise ribbon cutting' event; multi-channel social media rollout strategy.
high · Ken announces: 'we are going to have an official store merchandise ribbon cutting... Guns N' Roses pinball related... updates on our Facebook page'
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Topics

Slash's involvement in pinball game designprimaryGuns N' Roses Not In This Lifetime pinball development processprimarySlash's personal pinball machine collectionsecondaryCollaboration between celebrity/musician and pinball designerprimaryEaster eggs and hidden details in pinball game designsecondaryRecreating live concert experience in pinballsecondaryOriginal music composition for pinball game modessecondaryJersey Jack Pinball's product launches and marketingsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.92)— Universally enthusiastic tone throughout. Slash expresses genuine passion for pinball and satisfaction with the collaboration. Eric Menier is effusive about the final product. Ken Cromwell celebrates the game's release and reception. No criticism or negative sentiment expressed by any party. Minor note: Slash expresses mild discomfort with voice acting requirement, but frames it humorously and constructively.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.057

Hey, what's going on Pinball Land? Welcome. It's the Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast. My name is Ken Cromwell. I'm your host. Excited to get this show going today because as you know, Jersey Jack Pinball, we just released our sixth game in the catalog and that's Guns N' Roses, Not In This Lifetime. tons of stories surrounding this pinball machine going back quite a long time and we're going to cover that as best we can over the next several weeks but today I wanted to take a minute and I wanted to sit back as I sat down with Eric Meunier and Slash from Guns N' Roses as we kind of discussed this pinball machine leading up to the rollout or the official reveal of the game which was October 5th of 2020 so this podcast was just prior to the official release now we're going to have a follow podcast with Slash. After everything kind of sets in, there's been an overwhelming response to the game. We couldn't be more thrilled as a company to see people really appreciate what's gone into this pinball machine because we've been appreciating this for such a long time to finally have this game out and to see the reaction, the overwhelmingly positive reaction in this pinball machine is a feeling of elation for the Jersey Jack pinball team and for myself just kind of coming over to the company in April of this year. I'm kind of riding in on the end of the coattails and I couldn't have gotten into pinball from an industry side of things at a better time than I did with this company, with this title, with this team. It's unbelievable. Let's get into a conversation I had with Eric Meunier and Slash. Now there are other interviews that we have coming up with the other members of the band. So if you're a Guns N' Roses fan, if you're a pinball fan, you're going to want to stick around the next couple of weeks because we do have Duff, we have Richard, we have Frank, we have Melissa, we have Dizzy. They're all on the show. They're all on the podcast and we'll have those shows coming up today. Let's talk to Slash. And again, this was recorded just prior to the release of Guns N' Roses, Not In This Lifetime. All right, Pinball Land, the Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast is honored to have legendary Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash on the show. Slash, thank you so much for joining us today. Oh, thanks for having me. It's great to have you on the show. We're going to ask you a couple of questions. And I know yesterday after we had some conversations with Duff and Richard and Dizzy, it became really obvious to me just how passionate that you are specifically about pinball. And I was just curious, how did this love for pinball come about? Well, I got into pinball really, really late. I didn't really discover pinball until I guess it was in the late 90s. And, you know, I just started playing around that time and then just got obsessed with not only the game itself, but just the art and the technology that goes into it and just everything about sort of the pinball details, you know, and I've been into it ever since. It's outstanding. And I know firsthand how involved you've been with the creation of the pinball machine. We've got Eric Minier, the designer here, co-designer, I should say, because Slash is also credited with design assets. I was wondering, can you guys talk a little bit about the process of how it was kind of working together and collaborating on getting this pin up and running? well you reached out to jack a while back um and i'll let you tell that story of how this actually got kicked off but we basically you drew up a play field a sketch that you kind of wanted to see in the game and we've been discussing since day one what the concept of the game will be and how it's going to work and some different mechs that were cool that you wanted to see in there and we took all that and i you know threw it in my uh dishwasher brain and stirred it all around and came up with a play field that I think worked out pretty well. The feedback that I've got from you the entire time was always over the moon excited, over the top, happy to be involved with it. And you're one of the few people that I've ever met who can visualize what a game will be without needing to physically see it and play it and have it all laid out before you. That's not an experience that even most people that work inside a pinball company understand, what it will be someday as opposed to what I see right in front of me. Interesting, interesting. How was it working with this Eric Meunier guy? Oh, Eric's great because Eric, he's totally into it. He has an amazing brain. He just comes up with ideas, and whenever there's anything that seems like it could possibly be challenging he doesn get intimidated by it he actually gets more into it to try and sort of you know be able to make whatever it is that we trying to make happen happen So he great And he tireless And he a lot like me like obsessed you know So it's great for me to work with somebody like that, because otherwise, it can be very discouraging to work with somebody who is, you know, just sort of like asleep at the wheel or whatever. But anyway, so Eric's been great and he has been able to take whatever concepts I might have come to the table with and double down on those and make them 10 times greater than what I was expecting. So it's been a lot of fun. Would you say, were there any features that you were adamant about including or maybe even excluding in this latest Guns N' Roses release? um well i mean you know what the the whole concept of the game was to sort of recreate the not in this lifetime tour experience right right so you know the things that we were bringing to the to bring up uh some of the the digital art that we use during the concerts to have a lighting rig to have um all the material that we do in the set in in the game included in the game and to have a feature for myself and a feature for Axl and a feature for Duff and then to have all the other members of the band also included in there so there's I mean I could go on and on there's a lot of detail in this game and there's a lot of stuff happening but there's a you know there's a video screen that that is similar to what we have going on during a live concert there's um pyro there's all the kinds of you know stuff that we're trying to implement into this so that if you've been to a gig you know what you're seeing so we've been able to do all that what i didn't want to do was sort of do a repeat of the first guns and roses game that we did that we did back in 1993 i don't know i think it was 94 93 um you know so i didn't want to have the g and the r ramp i didn't want to have uh some of the same details you know i didn't want to do any kind of repeating of any of the details in that particular game which actually you know all things considered was a little bit difficult because there's a lot going on in that game. Because it has to do with the same band, it's hard to sidestep some of those first thoughts that you had back then. But we managed to do it. I don't think this game reminds me of that game really in any way. Obviously, coming from the company, we're excited about seeing the game and about how it's come to fruition and seeing it evolve on a day-to-day basis. But in my opinion, it's going to be very impactful. It's going to be one of those big moments in pinball where people sit back and they go, wow, I didn't even know you could do anything like this in pinball anymore or ever for that matter. It definitely is like that. Let me ask you this. I mean, how do you think that this pin and the not in this lifetime tour that it features, do you see a correlation of it benefiting both pinballers and guns and roses fans alike? Yeah, for sure. I mean, um, okay. So Jersey draft is a great pinball company. So any, uh, Any pinheads are going to love it because they know how to create a really great visceral game in and of itself. And then the concept of having a Guns N' Roses theme and all the visuals and everything that goes along with that is something that any hardcore Guns N' Roses fan is going to go completely nuts over. Because it's new, it's unique, it represents a band getting back together, or at least some of the original members getting back together. So it represents a moment in time. And also all these, you know, this big, massive global tour that we embarked on that's been going for the last four years. So, yeah, it'll mean a lot to Guns N' Roses fans. In general, pinball fans will love it because the music's great. And we use real tracks off the albums. And it'll be just a whole sort of rock and roll experience. unlike any other game that they've played, any other music-themed game that they've ever played. You think when the country's up and running and welcoming bands touring again, will this game be coming with you on tour? I could see definitely carrying it around in the States if we were able to do that. I don't think we would actually go as far as packing it on the plane and taking it overseas. I definitely would want to have one around, yeah. So if I were to wander in the house of Slash, Where will this game be set up in your residence? Well, let's see. We've actually talked about that. I have a guess because I'm running out of room for pinball machines. But there is a place in the main pinball room in the house that I can squeeze it into It got a space reserved huh Yeah It has a space reserved How many pins do you have right now Um let see One two three four five six Uh a lot of them There six here I at my studio now. So there's six here and there is, um, eight at the house. That's amazing. Well, good for you. Yeah. It keeps me busy. This, this one's kind of out of left field, but I was just curious because I mean, you've, this is your second pen, right? And with guns and roses, um, two pins, would you ever consider collaborating on another pen that's outside of the guns and roses theme? Oh, definitely. Definitely. Um, if it ever came my way where I say, Hey, you know, we're doing, I'm a big horror guy. So if it was something sort of, you know, horror movie related, and if it's last, do you want to get into working on the design for this? I would probably say, yeah, in a heartbeat. Nice. Wow. Maybe we'll cut that part out. Keep that in mind. It's like, make sure Slash is on. Hold that one close to our chest here. Good Jersey Jack, right? No, this is great, man. One of the big attractions for me with pinball was definitely themes. You know, like, what's the game about? What's the artwork? What's the sort of character-driven aspect of it? You mentioned the artwork on the game, on games in general. and we came at you with a new artist who'd never been in pinball before, Dayne Henry Jr., a guy who's out in LA actually, who'd never done art. And this guy was so intimidated by drawing you and drawing Axel and Duff that he was so nervous the first time I showed you his artwork. What did you think of the way that the art turned out on the game? Oh man, it looks amazing. It really looks amazing. It's funny to me that he's never done any kind of pinball work before because it's so fitting and it looks so cool. so and it's it's it's it's he did it actually you know fairly quickly and and it just was really natural so i was very excited about it and it doesn't look necessarily like um you know sometimes pen art can be a little bit predictable but his has definitely got its own unique kind of vibe to it now you've got call outs in the game obviously there's a mode there that slashes solo i mean you did a lot of individual uh work specifically for this pen right right Why don't we talk about your favorite thing in the world, Slash, which is doing voice work. Oh, yeah? That's your favorite, Slash? Yeah, yeah. My favorite thing is definitely not doing voice work. And I knew when we got into this that that day would come where Eric will call me up and go, okay, we got to do some voiceover stuff. And lo and behold, that day came, and I was just miserable. And I think not miserable. It's one of those things that just doesn't come natural. I mean, I'm not a real outspoken kind of person. So to try and sound enthusiastic and yell out these different sort of game rules and whatnot is not a natural thing for me. And I haven't even heard them yet, and I'm sure they're not that great. But I know that Eric managed to get some good ones out of some of the more vocal people in the band. I think it's award-winning call-outs from you, Slash. So we'll see how that pans out. Yeah, I can't wait to hear them. The part where you... But I did have fun doing the guitar stuff. Yeah, definitely. Why don't you talk a little bit more about that for the listeners? I just needed to... There was a couple of different modes in the game that were created that needed some background music, needed a theme and something original and not using Guns N' Roses songs per se. So they sent me some artwork as to what these themes were going to be and sort of what the ideas behind these little modes were. And so I put some guitars on. And from what I remember, you know, I haven't heard them in the game yet, but when I actually did them, they sounded really cool. Yeah, they definitely came together, and it's a really, really cool feature in the game that you made original music for these modes. I'm just super, super excited for the completion of the game and then it coming out there and having people check it out and play it and all that kind of stuff. Like I said, there's so much going on in this game. There's so many details and there's so many just cool features on it that it's almost overwhelming, you know? And everybody been working so hard on it So I think really it just getting it out there is the main thing There a little detail that I put in the game that I don know if I ever told you about Slash So the platinum record that spins around that you whack with the ball, there's music notes around it. And those music notes in the artwork are the first 16 bars of Sweet Child of Mine. So they're actually... I think you did. You told me about that. You were going to do that, but it hadn't happened yet. Yeah. So we got him in there. That came to life. Yep. And the lights that light up are, there's lights underneath those notes. And so they light up. It's such an iconic opening too. I mean, when somebody picks up a guitar for the first time, or if they've had a guitar for a while, you're always trying to learn that opening, Sweet Child of Mine. And to have that readily accessible and playing the game is pretty awesome. Wow. Yeah. No, that's very cool. That's very cool. Most people in pinball know that you're into pinball, but I don't think they know how much you're into pinball. People assume you're just like an ambassador with maybe your face is associated with this game because you're Guns N' Roses, but you're co-designer on the pinball machine. I've never seen anything like that before. That's pretty amazing. You know what's funny? Yeah, because you know what happens is a lot of people endorse stuff, but they don't really get that into it or they don't really use it or whatever. But, I mean, originally when this concept for this game came up, I remember calling Jack up from the airport and standing in some quiet space in between the security and my gate and explaining to him what this was all about. Because I just called him up out of the blue and said, I want to do a Guns N' Roses machine, and I want to do it with Jersey Jack. That was specifically who I wanted to do it with. And so I remember explaining all this to him at the airport right before I had to get on a flight to go out to a show somewhere. And so that's how obsessed with it I was. And so to actually be at this place now, pretty exciting. Congratulations to you, not only on an unbelievable career, but for what you've done with this pinball machine with Eric. Congratulations to you, Eric. It's great to see you guys collaborating together. And without a doubt, you guys have nailed this pinball machine. Thanks, Ken. No, thanks, man. It's amazing. I just want to say the whole team that works on the game are amazing. I met them all, and they're just a fucking rocking bunch of people. And Eric's awesome, and so it's been a really great opportunity to be able to work with such a talented bunch of people. Man, I couldn't have said it any better. Nicely done, Slash. Thanks, buddy. All right, man. Good talking to you guys. All right, brother. Talk to you in a bit. Bye, man. So all of us here would like to thank Slash for his time coming in and spending on the podcast to talk a little bit more about Guns N' Roses, Not In This Lifetime. The game is now out. If you haven't seen the game, you can check it out on any of our social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn. It's there everywhere. You can hit YouTube if you'd like to see additional videos. We're going to be pretty heavy on GNR for the next few weeks as we kind of roll out the additional interviews and talk about the game. Now, listen, the game itself is fun. The making of the game is incredible. And what's happening currently with the game is also unbelievable. So we're going to keep you up to date on a week-to-week basis. If you'd like to go ahead and reach out to the show, this show here, you can reach us at podcast at jerseyjackpinball.com. You can go to jerseyjackpinball.com and you can check out the entire store. If you're looking for Guns N' Roses merchandise as it pertains to pinball, you're in luck because we are going to have an official store merchandise ribbon cutting with some really fun items that we have that are Guns N' Roses pinball related. So go ahead, stick around for that. There will be some updates on our Facebook page. Listen, I would recommend just doing this. If you haven't followed us on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or LinkedIn or YouTube, go ahead and do that now. Be in the know because there's a lot of fun things that once they hit, depending on demand, we want to make sure that we can get those items to you as best that we can. So we're going to see you next week with additional Guns N' Roses fun for Jersey Jack Pinball. Man, what a wild ride. My name is Ken Cromwell. Don't forget to take some time out of your day. Play some Guns N' Roses Pinball. So long, everybody. getting ready for the highlight of my podcasting career couldn't have done it with two better people eric minier and slash hey before i start i do want to say it's an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to uh record this with you so for that i thank you very much it's an honor and a privilege to do this recording with you too well that just made my day slash i appreciate it i can now put in my two-week notice There is no doubt you're in my heart now