2010.08.25 - Digestivo Cultural (Brazil) - 3 Questions: Bumblefoot

3 Questions: Bumblefoot

By Rafael Fernandes

1) We've talked about 6 months ago and since then you've been really busy with GnR. You did the whole South American tour, the 1st European leg and the band is returning to the road to do the 2nd European leg. How is the tour going so far? How are you feeling the feedback from the fans to this "not-so-new" version of GnR and to the songs of Chinese Democracy?

It's great to be back on the road, with a not-so-new but very fresh version of GNR. We've grown from the touring, and it's been the best GNR gigs I've been part of. As we near the two-year anniversary of Chinese Democracy's release, it's good to see the audience singing along with the newer songs, not just the classics.

2) Even with a busy GnR schedule you are managing to launch some great stuff of your solo career. You are re-releasing your first solo record, Adventures of Bumblefoot; you are about to release a transcription book and you just got a song available in Rock Band Network ("Guitars Suck"). How does it feel to release your first record again? What were the main challenges to develop the transcription book? And how about the opportunity to have a song in Rock Band Network?

Re-releasing my first album “The Adventures Of Bumblefoot” feels like I've re-gained the use of one my limbs that I had lost for 15 years. Shrapnel Records released the album in 1995 in the US, Roadrunner Records in Europe and Japan. It's an instrumental guitar album, sort of experimental, Zappa-ish... it did well at the time, great reviews, was a good first album. After my record deal was finished the album was never re-printed by the label, it was no longer available. Last year Shrapnel got in touch about re-releasing the album, and we worked together on updating the artwork, we added additional bonus tracks from a SEGA videogame soundtrack I made in 1996. I'm so glad it's available again!

The transcription book is something I started in 1997. I put every guitar part from every song onto cassettes and would listen back with a guitar in hand, a few seconds at a time, re-learning everything I played and writing it out with notation software. It took six months, 200 pages of exact fingers, picking, musical notation and TAB for every note hit on the album. The whole thing was a huge challenge, but I'm so glad I did it. The book and the CD are both available at my webstore ( www.bumblefoot.com/store ). The CDs are autographed and I'm donating $5 from every CD sold to Multiple Sclerosis research.

Yes, my song “Guitars SUCK” is now available on Rock Band Network! It's the first of many songs that I hope to make available on Rock Band. I'd like to do some songs from the Normal and Abnormal albums next.

3) I know that you are selling two of your records (Normal and Abnormal) here in Brazil through a kind of fan-based distribution. How it works and why did you choose this way? Any plans to sell more stuff here?

I've been looking for distro in Brazil and South America for a long time, but never found a good situation. I wanted something convenient and easy for the customers, something where the price wouldn't become too expensive from distro fees. When I learned about Mercado Livre, it seemed like the best option, the most direct connection to people. With the great help of friends in Brazil, we were able to make it happen. We're selling Normal and Abnormal CDs, and if there's a demand for more CDs and merch, we'll make them available. http://lista.mercadolivre.com.br/bumblefoot

Thank you!

Ron

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