SLASH describes forming his own band as a cathartic experience and who can blame him?

The guitarist became one of the biggest icons in rock when he joined 'the world's most dangerous band', Guns N' Roses, in 1985.

But a decade later Slash's relationship with frontman Axl Rose began to deteriorate and it continued to sour after he left the band.

Even just two years ago, fans were reportedly banned from attending the Guns N' Roses gigs in the UK if they were wearing a Slash T-shirt.

But it was not volatile band politics that annoyed Slash when he was in the hard rock group, it was the inactivity. The agony of waiting.

Slash left the band in 1996 but it would be another 12 years before Guns N' Roses' latest album, Chinese Democracy, was released.

In that same time frame, Slash released three albums with Slash's Snakepit and Velvet Revolver. He then released a solo album in 2010 before forming his own band with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.

"For me it’s just about getting stuff done," Slash told Weekend.

"This is no fault of anybody’s but in most group situations there are a lot of voices. Everyone in the band has something to say so it is really hard to follow one particular vision.

"So forming my own band has been very cathartic for me because I don’t have to answer to anybody.

"I’ve had a lot of input in all the bands I’ve been with creatively but in this situation I guess I have even more input because I’m really responsible for getting the whole thing up and running.

"But Myles is my writing partner and I consider Brent (Fitz) and Todd (Kerns) guys that I lean on to come up with the weight of the rhythm section."

Slash, whose real name is Saul Hudson, was born in London.

His dad Anthony was an artist who designed record sleeves for the likes of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and his African-American mum Ola was a costume designer who had David Bowie on her books.

But Slash's love of rock music stemmed from his friendship with Steven Adler after he moved to Los Angeles.

The pair both went to Bancroft Junior High and met when Slash came to Steven's aid after a skateboarding accident.

Slash, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, added: "He happened to have a guitar and that was really my first up close and personal experience I ever had with a cool instrument and it went from there.

"The bands I first loved and felt really attached to were the ones that my dad listened to – The Stones, The Who and The Kinks."

Then his grandmother bought him a guitar.

Slash, who attended Beverly Hills High School at the same times as Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz and David Schwimmer, said: "I remember when I first put a couple of notes together.

"That was sort of the nucleus of what it is that I do now with a basic rock and roll lick. Really when I saw tablature in a book it was like the heavens parted. It was a really defining moment."

Slash's first proper gig was Al's Bar in Los Angeles when he was 16 and now the 49-year-old has probably played in most of the world's arenas.

But did the dad-of-two have a back-up career plan for if it all went wrong?

"I honestly never thought of that," added the dad-of-two.

"I didn’t have any plans for the future. Obviously I had aspirations to play live and make records but I didn’t have a set goal.

"I didn’t know that this was going to be my alternative career to being a bookkeeper or a manager of a supermarket or whatever. I was in it and that was it."

Slash is also renowned for his jamming sessions with some of the biggest names in rock.

Earlier this year he joined Aerosmith's Steve Tyler and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl to play 'Walk This Way', an incredible moment given that Aerosmith's album, Rocks, was one of the records that inspired him when he was 14.

But Slash does not really think about it that way.

He said: "I don’t have like a bucket list of bands I have to play with before I die but when situations arise I jump at them.

"Seeing a band and hearing certain songs can take you back to a certain place in your past but actually playing with any of your idols? It doesn’t really hit you like that."

Nor does the guitarist like being idolised himself.

This is despite amassing 100 million album sales throughout his music career and being ranked number two in Time Magazine's 'Ten Best Electric Guitar Players of All-Time'. He was only beaten to the top spot by Jimi Hendrix.

"I don’t think about it," added Slash.

"I’m not that guy. I’m a fairly normal, down to earth guy and I really have a hard time imagining myself in that position so I put in out of my mind."

One thing is for sure. After surviving three near-fatal heart attacks, going sober almost a decade ago and brushing off some bitter years with Axl Rose, Slash is here to stay.

- Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators is at Manchester Arena on Friday, November 28.