2021.03.12 - FaceCulture - Interview with Bumblefoot

Excerpts from Blabbermouth:
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Bumblefoot Looks Back On His Time With Guns N' Roses: 'I Was Inexperienced At Being A Hired Gun In A Stadium Band'

Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal has described his eight-year stint with the band as a "very intense" experience.

Thal looked back on his time with Guns N' Roses during a March 12 appearance on FaceCulture's "Behind The Music" livestream. He said (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net): "My dream was always to be in a John-Paul-George-Ringo, not John-Paul-George-and-a-hired-guy," he said, referring to The Beatles' classic lineup. "Not to put it down and not to understate the eight years that I had with [Guns N' Roses] — and I did write and play my own parts on 'Chinese Democracy' — but for me, I need to be a founding member and a writer of the music and a creative part of it.

"When I played with Guns, it was cool playing all the big stages and everything," he continued. 'Yes, that was wonderful, and it's what you aspire to as a kid when you start out."

Asked to describe his years with Guns N' Roses with one word, Thal said: "Intense. It was very intense. It was high highs, low lows and everything in between. And I made a lot of good friends. I hate to say I learned a lot of things, 'cause it's not supposed to be an education — you're supposed to be there 'cause you don't need an education, but you never stop learning, and that's the truth. And I got experiences and learned things that I didn't do yet. So that was good. But at the same time, I was touring a lot before Guns — a good 10 years of international touring. I mean, I played Russia before Guns did, doing solo stuff — things like that. So it's not like I was completely inexperienced. I was just inexperienced at being a hired gun in a stadium band or an arena band. So with that, that was a whole new thing. 'Cause for me, bands were your friends that you played together and you had this familial kind of relationship, and you're not just brought in to play with strangers. And I have done that kind of thing as well, where I've been called in to play gigs, but never on something on such a big scale and where it would be something that really is the biggest thing of notable name recognition or anything that I had done. So that was different. And there's lots that come with that that you didn't expect."

Asked if he still speaks with Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose, Thal laughed and said: "He's doing his thing, I'm doing my thing, and I wish them all the best. And I'm so happy to see how great they're doing with [classic-lineup members] Slash and Duff [McKagan]. I'm very happy for them."

[...]

Thal is currently a member of Sons of Apollo, which also features drummer Mike Portnoy, keyboardist Derek Sherinian and bassist Billy Sheehan. Sons of Apollo released its second studio album, "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20), in January 2020 via InsideOut Music/Sony.

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/bumblefoot-looks-back-on-his-time-with-guns-n-roses-i-was-inexperienced-at-being-a-hired-gun-in-a-stadium-band/