Now, that Chris Slade is out of AC/DC again, an interview he did for Eonmusic (when he was still in the band) has resurfaced. In it, the drumming legend talks about the circumstances of his departure from the group the first time around.
“I got a phone call from Malcolm [Young], actually. I’d been doing demos with the guys in London; Angus, Malcolm, and myself. Mal was playing bass, and Angus was playing rhythm – no lead guitar, just rhythm guitar, which seems very strange, because Malcolm, being one of the greatest rhythm guitarists ever. But he played bass in these sessions, and that went on for weeks, and they were writing as they were going along as well. I thought: ‘Well, the guys are in the studio and I wouldn’t mind playing drums’, and I put that to them, and they said; ‘Yeah, come along’, so that’s what I did, again, for weeks and weeks. I’m terrible with titles, but it was for the next album that came out [‘Ballbreaker’, released in 1995], and I demoed every track for that album.”
When asked if he had played on the ‘Ballbreaker‘ demos, Chris Slade said:
“I know this is a fact, because after I’d left the band, I went to visit Cliff and Brian. I went to have a pint with them, and they were all in the same apartment complex, and I said: ‘Oh, where’s Phil [Rudd]?’ This is after he’s back in the band, and they said: ‘Oh, he’s upstairs’, and I heard him playing, learning my drum tracks, which is a turn up for the books, because I usually have to learn his tracks! So, he played my parts that I had demoed for the next album, so that was a little bit of satisfaction, actually.
So, I got a call from Malcolm saying; ‘We’re going to try Phil out. Apparently he’s straightened himself up, and we’re going to try him out’, and I went; ‘Well, I’m gone then, Malcolm, Thanks very much, but…’, and he said; ‘No, no, we want you to stay on. We don’t even know if he can play drums anymore, because it’s been a while’, and I said; ‘And you’re going to try him out?!’, and he said; ‘Yeah, well, we’ve talked to him’, and I said; ‘Well I’m gone, and if he can’t play drums, that’s your problem now, Malcolm’. And he said; ‘No, we’ll keep paying you’, and I said; ‘I don’t care’. And that was it, I resigned, right there and then. […] After that I didn’t touch a drum stick for three years. It just knocked me back. I thought, you do your best – as I always do, as I always have – and it’s not appreciated and I thought: ‘I’ve had enough of this business’.”
Answering the question about getting asked to re-join AC/DC in 2015, the legendary drummer said:
“I was shocked to get that call, especially after the way it ended before. I was very pleased to get it. […] So it was amazing, especially with my age. I was late-sixties at that time. But it was fantastic, and the tour was great. It always has been a great honour to be in that band.”