FRANK SIDORIS of SLASH feat. MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS: Another Coffee Please
An interview by Sarah Kidd.
It’s the stuff of legend, being called up to audition for easily one of the most iconic guitarists in the world; something most musicians could only ever dream of, but in 2012 it became a reality for Las Vegas guitarist Frank Sidoris.
Beginning his guitarist lifestyle in local Vegas band Saint Rose, Sidoris soon joined The Cab after meeting vocalist Alex DeLeon. But Sidoris was clearly meant for bigger and better things, a quickfire audition soon seeing him become a member of Slash’s band Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.
Despite being a touring member for the last few years, Slash’s latest album Living The Dream released in 2018 saw Sidoris contribute in the studio for the first time; playing rhythm guitar it only further cemented his place within the band; Slash himself stating that since the addition of Sidoris to the ranks he feels that the band have “hit a creative stride”.
Playing both Mt Maunganui and Auckland at the end of this month I caught up with Frank Sidoris to discuss his musical journey so far, that audition and his love for New Zealand coffee…
You began your professional career in the rock band The Cab; so obviously all those years of guitar lessons paid off! You began your lessons at the age of fifteen correct?
“Yeah, I started playing guitar at fifteen, I believe I was in … ninth grade or tenth grade of high school.”
Musically you grew up with Alice Cooper as one of your major influences; would you say that it was the more old school rock that influenced you?
“Yeah, that kinda stems from my father too; it’s interesting because driving in the car with him and my mum it was definitely an education in the music world because they were both very well versed in a lot of different genres and it was cool. I think that definitely helped me out as far as branching out with playing all sorts of music
But Alice was definitely my Dad’s favourite and so I listened to him all the time. As time went on I was definitely a fan – and not by force! [laughs] I absolutely gravitated towards him myself, and especially when I started playing guitar. That was one of the first things I did was learn as many Alice Cooper riffs as I could and just showed my Dad and so we were both happy.”
Yeah, I have been lucky enough to have seen Cooper perform live several times and he always – without fail – puts on a great show!
“Yeah and he’s a great guy too. Just super nice, down to earth person – awesome to talk to.”
So why did you choose guitar in particular? Listening to the music that you did, there were several instrumental avenues you could have chosen…
“It’s interesting, I did start with the drums first – if you can believe it – as a kid, like really young. I tried, and it just didn’t click for me at the time. But around fifteen years old I was skateboarding – and that was all I cared about was skateboarding – and I guess a lot of the skate videos and everything, the songs were just very guitar heavy and guitar driven and a lot of my friends I skated with played guitar too and it was kinda like ‘That’s something that I could get into to’.
I had a lot of support from friends who did it too, so we all kind of learnt together at the same time; and the guitar of course it’s a very frustrating thing to learn – like any instrument – and yeah, I just stuck with it and eventually got round to playing the drums down the road as a side note. That was something I ended up loving to do.
So I always gravitated towards the drums, and since I had been playing the guitar for so many years it was one of those things where I kinda knew how to take it slow and learn another instrument if that makes any sense?”
Yes, completely…
“It’s like I had already gone through the paces of the initial trainings of playing the guitar; it’s like you can apply all the same stuff to other instruments you know?”
So do you play the drums in a side project band at all? Or is it more just for recreational purposes?
“Yeah, it’s just for fun, I just love to do it. It’s great because like anything you get kinda burnt out in a way, or you just need to take a break. And it’s nice to take a break from one musical instrument and play another, so I have a drumkit at the house.
Luckily for me, my drummer Brent, he can play any instrument; he’s a piano player – I think originally a piano player – and he can play guitar and drums and everything obviously; but it’s great because any questions I have about the gear or anything … he’s the guy. So I have a master of the drums to go to school off of.”
I am completely jealous of people that can play any instrument – you know the types, they just become masters of whatever instrument they choose to pick up! [laughs]
“Yeah there is definitely something to that. I definitely believe that anybody can pick up an instrument and learn and get to play no matter what. But there are definitely some people – such as Brent Fitz my drummer – that I think just hear it a certain way naturally. It’s amazing to watch.”
As I mentioned earlier, you started your professional career playing in The Cab. How did you go from there to performing with one of the most famous guitar players in the world?
“Well that story – a lot of people wouldn’t assume… like I mean I wouldn’t assume that Slash would have even considered me. Based on the idea that this guitar player, he plays with who? Like what is this [The Cab] band all about? They are so poppy… a pop-ish band, more like Maroon 5-ish if that makes any sense…
The reason I was even thrown into that picture at all was because of Brent, he recommended me. We were just friends in Vegas; there was no promise of any gig from him and I never expected anything of that, it was just a friendship, we would just hang out and get coffee.
And then I had been playing with this band [The Cab] I had been with them for like less than a year but I had been touring all over with them and I think maybe February 2012 I ended up getting a call and he [Brent Fitz] was like ‘Hey we are auditioning guitar players, but it’s not like a big open publicised thing, if you can fly down here and play we’ll just see how it goes’
And we just took a chance essentially; Slash ultimately decides who’s in the band – of course he would wait for everyone else to agree – but once I jammed with Slash… we just played a bunch of Guns songs he ended up calling me back like four days later; so it was such a famous jump!
To your point; for me this band that I was in – it was fun but as a guitar player to move from that world to playing with Slash was definitely a bit of a shock, but it felt right because that’s more my thing you know playing in a rock band.
I play all sorts of music and I am happy to play anything, but I think what really hits home the most and feels like it’s coming from the heart is rock music, so that transition wasn’t as – I mean obviously it was awesome! – but it wasn’t absolutely as crazy as it sounds” [laughs]
So how many years in total have you now been playing with Slash?
“I believe it’s going on… seven years…”
Wow…
“Jesus… [mutual laughter] Yeah that’s crazy! Yeah, the audition was February 2012, and then he called me four days later so that means when I was done with the tour – I was actually in Australia funnily enough with The Cab – I ended up flying back and being in The Conspirators as of March 2012. So, it will be going on seven years as of March.”
Obviously, the entire group is a very talented group of musicians and I would love to talk about each and every member; but not only are you working with Slash, but you are working with Myles Kennedy. I have had the pleasure of both meeting and interviewing Myles and I have to say he is indeed both very intelligent and a gentleman.
“Oh yeah, very soft spoken, intelligent and I would have to say the most disciplined person I have ever worked with and have known in my life. It’s really impressive and admirable to watch someone who is so good at what he does because he works so hard at keeping it that way; he just really is an inspiring person to hang with.
His voice is a number one you know what I mean? That’s it, he has to take care of it and he really does such an amazing job of doing that. I’ll leave you with this on Myles, he is probably one of the best guitar players that I have ever met in my life and a lot of people don’t know that if they know him specifically from the Slash world, but when you hear him play that guy is like really good, he is just an amazing guitar player.
A lot of people don’t really think about it – but if you have seen him in Alter Bridge then you’ll understand obviously… He’s a better guitar player than I am, trust me. But Myles is always like ‘No, no, no’ – super modest you know?”
So, with both Myles Kennedy and Slash in the group – and I understand that you are a bit younger than most of the members – do you feel like you are constantly learning despite your already lengthy tenure with the band?
“Oh absolutely, yeah there is no doubt about it. Cause I joined the band when I was twenty-three and everybody at the time was in their early forties at the minimum and so in the beginning I felt a bit of pressure like ‘Ok, well I’m here for a reason, I’m not trying to mess around!’
That was never the idea anyways, but I was constantly trying to prove myself because you get a gig like that and people are like ‘Wait how old are you? Twenty-three?? Like … why?’ and I wanted to give everybody a reason why I was in the band.
And then learning wise, there’s no doubt about it, it’s the best. And again, in the proximity of Myles, Brent, Todd and Slash it’s like constant inspiration because you see someone like Slash who is always playing the guitar more than he’s not – and I really mean it – that’s the type of level of dedication that definitely gets you excited about playing the guitar. Just being in his proximity makes you want to play as much as he does!”
Obviously you guys are coming down to New Zealand soon which your fans are very excited about – looking forward to seeing New Zealand again?
“I love our trips down there! I have been there a bunch and seriously you guys and your coffee!”
[mutual laughter]
“Every time I am down that way, me and Brent get ridiculous with the coffee. You guys know how to do it, it’s just the greatest, so I am looking forward to that.”
I hear that a lot from international musicians who tour here! You all love our coffee!
“It’s funny, it’s one of those things – the preparation and everything about it, like the love that goes into it from you guys, it’s like you guys don’t even think about it!
So when you come to America and you get a coffee it’s kinda like ‘Wait … whut?’ [mutual laughter] It’s no where near your level, I’ve done the studies trust me!”
So what can your New Zealand fans expect this time around?
“You know this last leg – it’s funny we normally play a couple of songs off the new album and slowly work more in and one thing I can guarantee is that we always eventually play the entire album live.”
Nice!
“But this last tour we played like seven of the new songs already which is just unheard of because we normally play like three. But what is cool is that Slash always wants to change the set list up, like every show we always play a different song usually. We always have like thirty songs in the back of our heads that we can just play; so you’ll definitely get a nice mix.
We’ll probably play a couple of different Velvet Revolver songs, go a little bit deeper into some of our older work, you know like the first Conspirators record, maybe a deeper song off World on Fire. It just keeps it interesting; but I can bet that we’ll play another two or three songs off the new album [Living the Dream] too, which is hilarious because we don’t have many left until we have already completed the album live in only one tour – it’s crazy!”
Brilliant! So Frank just before we go do you have any personal message for your New Zealand fans? Besides the fact that we have great coffee…
“Besides that, you guys have the best coffee… uhhh [laughs]
I really do love the scene – just the scenery in general! Flying into New Zealand is one of my favourite things ever!
Just expect that high energy gig that we always love to give and even though it’s a short run we’re definitely going to make the best of it so we’re really looking forward to it! As always!”
Slash feat. Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators will be performing two quickfire shows alongside Devilskin this January – Mt Maunganui on the 25th and Auckland on the 26th. Check out the announcement here for ticket and venue details, but get in quick as tickets are selling FAST!
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