SAUL HUDSON (BETTER KNOWN AS SLASH) was just 22 when Appetite For Destruction made him – and the other members of Guns N’ Roses – internationally famous. “It was a bizarre thing,” he says. “I don’t even know how to really describe it.” In the 26 years since, he has established himself as one of the finest riff writers around, the latest evidence being last May’s Apocalyptic Love, recorded with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, who are now accompanying him on tour. The album is his second as a solo artist; Alter Bridge frontman Kennedy contributed vocals to two tracks on 2010’s Slash, and the guitarist immediately knew he wanted to make it a more permanent arrangement. “We hit it off right when I met him,” says Slash, speaking backstage before his Dubai gig in January. “I thought ‘F***. This is the best singer I’ve ever met, at least recently.’” It helped, too, that Kennedy’s personality fits well with Slash’s laid-back approach – in sharp contrast to Slash’s previous partnerships with Axl Rose and Scott Weiland, two of rock’s more tempestuous characters.

“Tempestuous,” he says, smiling. “That’s a nice word. The thing about Myles is that he was originally a guitar player, so I think his personality is more guitar player than lead singer. He’s very mild-mannered, unassuming. No airs.”

Was he actively looking for a less stressful collaborator? “No. My need for a stress-free environment isn’t something I’m seeking out purposefully – although, having been through a lot of stuff, there’s certain things I avoid. I’ve been around eccentric rock stars all my life. I’ve seen every extreme, so I just thought it was par for the course. Plus, sometimes, really brilliant artists can have very volatile personalities. And I hung in there for as long as I could. But there was a point where I was just, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ So there you have it.”

While touring the Slash album, Slash and Kennedy were writing more songs, which they went straight into the studio to record when the tour finished. (Slash avoids writing lyrics if he can. “I’m hard-pressed to put my feelings on paper,” he says. “If you speak guitar, you can hear exactly what I’m talking about. But, singing and lyrics, if somebody else does it, it’s always going to be better than if I do it.”)