Slash to Record With Unsigned Band Via Guitar Center Contest

"Mike is one of these guys I got to be really close friends with when we were making the 'Appetite for Destruction' record," Slash tells Spinner of the album's producer, Mike Clink. "He's a really stellar individual and as a technician, he's f---ing amazing. We've been friends this whole time."

The two haven't worked together in 15 years, since Slash's Snakepit's 'Ain't Life Grand' in 1995. Why the gap? "There was always a stigma that anything anyone of us from Guns N' Roses would do with him would sound like Guns N' Roses, Slassh says. "All things considered, he did capture the best guitar sound."

Now, the two are reuniting for a Guitar Center contest to find the next great rock band. The winning act will write and record a song with Slash, who will appear on the band's single, while Clink will produce the band's three-song EP. Additionally, the winning act will get a development deal from the Collective management firm (Linkin Park, Slash) and the chance to open for axeman.

For Slash, who's lending his name and talents to the winning act, what is he hoping to see for his involvement? "Ideally, what I would like to see happen is to have something that doesn't need me to go, 'We have to fix this or we have to fix that,'" he says. "I'd like to have it really come from the group. At the same time it's really inspiring that I could do something with it musically or I could add something to it that would be very cool."

Naturally, Slash understands his fans' enthusiasm at the amazing chance. "A lot of the kids seem excited about it. It's an opportunity that doesn't necessarily exist anywhere else," he says. "It's not brain surgery, the concept of it, but I feel like there are no real outlets for sort of eager young rock 'n' roll bands to find somewhere to go to get their f---ing foot in the door."

To submit entries go to YourNextRecord.com. Submissions are accepted until April 30.