In a new interview with Brave Words, Chris Slade discussed the special connection between Angus and Malcolm Young.
“They didn’t say anything actually. They don’t say anything,” the drummer replied when asked what Angus and Malcolm expected from his in drums. “Not even to each other. They talk to everybody, but they really don’t talk to each other.”
He continued, “They just look at each other. They are playing their guitars and they just look at each other. They don’t even nod. They just turned to each other and look at each other in the eye and turn back. It’s uncanny. They don’t seem to have words, they just look at each other.”
In a 1983 interview for Guitar Player, Angus talked about his brother Malcolm. He shared how much he relied on Malcolm for guitar work. When asked about their different rhythm styles, Angus praised Malcolm and downplayed his own role in AC/DC’s sound.
The guitarist explained, “I’m just like a color over the top [on AC/DC’s sound]. He’s the solids and he pumps it along. His right hand is always gone. I think he’s probably in that field [where] I don’t think anyone could do what he does. He’s very clean, it’s [his riffs are] very hard; it’s an attack. Anyone that sees him [playing] just goes ‘What?’ Or anyone who knows about guitars.”
“Malcolm [is] more experienced than me,” Angus also said of his late brother. “He knows what he’s doing with it [the guitar]. He’s got his own style. I can copy it [but] I don’t think I could feel it, not like he does. I could copy it.”
“Yeah, [he can copy it], he’s so awesome,” the rocker replied when the interviewer asked if Malcolm could follow his style. “I do the longest way, that’s the easiest part with the solos. There’s no great singing, being sort of… I think the hardest thing is to play together with a lot of people. I mean when four guys hit one note at once, very few people could do it right.”
Malcolm struggled with dementia for years and passed away at 64 in 2017. He left AC/DC three years earlier to focus on his health.