2014.12.17 - Horns Up Rocks! - Interview with Bumblefoot

Transcript:

Bumblefoot: Alright, take two! Everybody, I'm Ron Bumblefoot Thal. I'm here in Brooklyn at the Good Room in Greenpoint. Just had a really cool listening party for my upcoming album. I'm here with the Horns Up Rocks! people. Everybody put your horns up, horns up!

[cut]

Jö Schüftan: We're inside the Good Room. Used to be Chloe European. To give you a little history, we used to do basically every interview when we started out, just like this, waiting for the artist until the end of the show. They used to have bands like Gold Horde [?] and underground metal bands playing here a lot. Now it is a different scenario. Now we have Bumblefoot here. How are you, man?

BBF: Good evening. I'm not Gold Horde.

JS: You're celebrating the pre-release of your solo album, your next one, you still don't have a title for it, but you figure you'll bring some fans, give them a taste of it, see what they think, and get them involved by having a listening/singing party. I've never heard of such a thing. Really cool concept.

BBF: Never been done, or has probably been done. Who am I kidding? Yeah, so the album is not done yet. It's getting close, you know, the mixes are getting there and everything. I don't even have a name for the album yet. Oh, I'd better figure that out because I'm releasing it in two months. So yeah, but yeah, I wanted to have group vocals. I wanted to have, you know, big crowd chants and things. So I figured, why not let people get a sneak peek at the album before its out, like two months before, and then record them doing all the parts, singing everything and stomping their feet and "Hey! Hey! Hey!" all of that.

JS: Pretty old school.

BBF: It was a good time, yeah. It was fun. And then just doing a little Q&A and just kind of hanging out and just, you know, yeah. It's good. It's good.

JS: And by the way, this is not what we're hearing right now. You'll get to hear it... your gonna have it on your website soon? How are you gonna release the album?

BBF: Oh yeah, I mean, it'll be on iTunes and everything and CD's and all. Oh, there are little sneek peaks, little clips and stuff in the studio. I've been just putting little videos on YouTube as I'm working on the album, you hear it sort of constructed and coming together, and working on a guitar solo and working on whatever it is, you know. So, if you're going to youtube.com/bumblefoot.

JS: We'll put the link on the screen. What does it take to build, not the right guitar solo, because music is so personal for everybody, but what are some of the steps that you go into, like, when you're writing a guitar solo, whether it's for yourself or for GN'R, what are some of the things that you think about to make sure it fits this song?

BBF: You don't think. Thinking is the enemy. You have to stop thinking and just feel. Like, feel the vibe of the song. What does it make you feel like? And then just, you know, play on that, on that feeling. And don't think about. Thinking is the enemy. Don't think. Just vibe out on the music and just whatever happens, happens. If it's good, great. If it's not, try it again.

JS: I like what you said before, that when you're on the road, it's impossible to really concentrate, probably because otherwise you're kind of forcing it, thinking too much. "I gotta go do this now," instead of kind of being like, "Hey, let me grab the guitar right now. Oh, look at that, it's recording!"

BBF: Exactly.

JS: Go with the flow. And I got to ask you, you grow up around here in the area, in Staten Island, how did that influence you? Not as a musician but as a person, going out there and conquering the world.

BBF: Wow. I started off in Brooklyn, my dad's from here, he's from Williamsburg. My father used to babysit Barry Manilow. My dad was Barry Manilow's babysitter. Yeah, he went to their wedding when he was like 14 years old, my mom and dad, and it's pretty funny. So I was born in Brooklyn, left here as a kid, then moved to Staten Island and lived there for 20 years. That's where, you know, really, the social years were there. That's where I heard Kiss for the first time and that's what made me like music and that's why I just play with all the bands and then just getting into all my metal and everything. And so, yeah. And then for the last 20 years, we're living in Jersey and just working. Yeah, basically everything, all those building blocks that I got in Staten Island have now, whatever that built, and just putting to use now and living, yeah.

JS: Well, what were some of the first concerts you saw in the area?

BBF: Well, the very first concert was Kiss at Madison Square Garden at Dynasty Tour of '79. What else have I seen? I've seen, oh man, tons of stuff. I saw Yngwie and Ted Nugent at the Pier in like 1983. That's all kinds of wacky stuff. I saw Jethro Tull, Aerosmith, Foo Fighters. What else? What else? I can't even remember.

JS: Everybody comes around here. It was just cool. And for your new solo album. Did you record everything yourself? Were you working with anybody else? How did it all work out?

BBF: The drummer, Dennis Leeflang, he played drums and then I just laid everything else. And the other people on the album were all in this room tonight. So yeah.

JS: You told me that some of the hardest parts to record were the cello. Are you a cello player? Or you just grabbed it? How did that come about?

BBF: I'm a cello owner. I don't know if I'm a cello player. I own one and I can make some sounds out of it. So yeah, a lot of that is just playing note by note and trying to nail it. And yeah, I'm not a great cello player. I could do a a run here.... and yeah.

JS: And we heard today some influences, definitely some punk rock in there from the New York punk rock scene, some Bowie. But you know what, the way I saw it, it was like a whole potpourri of cool stuff, you know what I mean? There's not like one genre specific, it's just like, you know, cool music.

BBF: It's just kind of like all the things that I listened to all my life, from, like, all the old punk stuff in the 70s, to a lot of Queen and Bowie and things like that, and The Beatles. So like kind of a mix of like those melodic things with more of the energy of, like, old school metal and punk that's in my blood. Yeah.

JS: Hey, man, you were mentioning that the last time we basically saw each other, you were fighting cancer. And I'm glad. I mean, are you OK now? Because, dude, I mean, I don't think anybody know that, really.

BBF: I don't even know. Yeah. It was just... It was really a quick thing, you know, it doesn't compare to people that really have it and really fought it. For me, it was.... I was lucky, it didn't spread, it didn't get worse. It was just, they cut it out and that's it, you know? But yeah, it happens. Shit happens. Yeah.

JS: And I'm glad you're you're standing strong, you're here and you named her Gladys, you were saying? She went on tour with you?

BBF: I'm such an asshole. So, yeah, yeah, the tumor, I named the tumor Gladys.

JS: She's out somewhere else now, bothering somebody else?

BBF: Yeah. I got rid of her. Yeah. So, yeah, we saw the Grammys, I took Gladys to the Grammys, took Gladys to That Metal Show. I mean, we saw the world together. I mean, yeah. Gladys had a good run.

JS: I think she was at the Golden Gods, last time we saw each other.

BBF: She was. First Golden God, she was there, second one, no.

JS: She was gone already?

BBF: Yeah. [?] end of January.

JS: Nice, nice. You had to let her go? I mean, I'm glad you are doing...I mean, perfect, right? So they know, you hundred 100%?

BBF: To my knowledge. You know, death and taxes. Enjoying the time, enjoy now.

JS: And what's the update on Guns N' Roses right now, what are you guys working on at the moment?

BBF: I'm focusing on my stuff. I'm sure it's gonna be an exciting, interesting year for everybody, for Guns, for me, for everybody. A lot of stokes in the fire, for them, for me. Let's see what happens in 2015.

JS: You're going to be focusing on your solo career, is that what you're saying?

BBF: Yeah.

JS: But that was coming, because you said, like, here to your fans which were in front of you, basically telling them that you want to create your own music, kind of letting your ideas flow.

BBF: It's what I've done my whole life. I try to do both and it's been really difficult. You know, there's only so much time. You can't be in two places at once. Teleporters, no. Army of clones, no. It can only be one place, one time, and it kind of gets in the way of things. You have to start making choices.

JS: Guys, definitely stay tuned for the name of the album. Once you have it, you let them know. Bumblefoot, brother, it's always awesome to see you.

Excerpts form jeaubear at mygnrforum:

Bumble says that 2015 will be an exciting year for everyone and for Guns… and that there is "a lot of strokes in the fire… for them, for me. We will see what happens in 2015"

Bumble confirms that he will spend most of 2015 working on solo projects, explaining that is difficult to manage Guns as well as his solo work. He Goes on to say "You can't be in two places at once. You can only be in one place at one time, and that kind of gets in the way of things, and you have to start making choices"

Bumble mentions he underwent surgery in january to have a cancerous tumor removed, and he is cancer free.

Sounds like he's still "in".
(or maybe not...)

Excerpts from Blabbermouth:
-----------------------------------
Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal says that he is focusing on his solo career after spending eight years playing in the Axl Rose-fronted band.

Thal, who is putting the finishing touches on his next solo album, held a press event on Friday, December 12 at The Good Room in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, where he gave attendees a taste of the upcoming CD.

Speaking to Jo Schüftan of Horns Up Rocks! at the listening party, Thal stated about his future with Guns N' Roses (see video below): "I'm focusing on my stuff."

He added: "I'm sure it's gonna be an exciting, interesting year for everybody — for Guns, for me, for everybody. A lot of stokes in the fire… for them, for me. We'll see what happens in 2015."

Thal went on to confirm that he will spend his most of his time nurturing his solo career, something that he has been unable to do properly while he was a member of Guns N' Roses. "It's what I've done my whole life, and I've tried to do both, and it's been really difficult," he explained. "There's only so much time, and you can't be in two places at once. Teleporters, no; army of clones, no. You can only be in one place at one time, and that kind of gets in the way of things, and you have to start making choices."

Ron also revealed that he underwent surgery in January to remove a cancerous tumor and that he is now cancer free.

"It was really a quick thing," he said. "I mean, it doesn't compare to people that really have it and really fought it. For me, I was lucky. It didn't spread, it didn't get worse. They cut it out and that's it. But, yeah, it happens. Shit happens."

https://blabbermouth.net/news/guns-n-roses-bumblefoot-to-focus-on-his-solo-career-ive-tried-to-do-both-and-its-been-really-difficult

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