2013.01.18 - White Line Fever - Interview with Bumblefoot

Video description: On January 18, 2013, I made my way to the Cutting Room in Manhattan for an acoustic show featuring former TNT frontman Tony Harnell and then-Guns N'Roses guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal. My chat with an upbeat Thal made the news based on a few angles: the fact he didn't favour GNR doing a new record, a no-show at the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame, allegations of lip-synching and on-stage tantrums. Enjoy.



Transcript:


BBF: Hello everybody, this is Ron Bumblefoot Thal. You might know me from Guns N' Roses... or not! [laughter] And you're listening to White Line Fever.

Interviewer: Okay, so welcome back to the program. We're in New York City, we're at the Cutting Room. I don't know much about the history of the place but it seems to be quite a new place, it just reopened and we're with Bumblefoot from Guns N' Roses and tonight he's with Wildflowers and Tony Harnell. And maybe we should start by talking about that, Ron. How did you end up in this band? You first met Tony Haarnell 20 years ago, is that correct?

BBF: 20 years ago. We were going to be putting a band together and he was... you know, TNT was on the rocks and I wasn't doing anything at the
time of it in my own band, so we're gonna put something together but it didn't work out back then. But we always had each other in mind and I've always been a great fan and admirer of his. He is amazing. So yeah, years later we met up. Actually he was at a backstage at Nine Inch Nails a few years ago and we met again. And then more recently at NAMM, we met up there just in a year ago, in January of 2012, and we started talking about it. He was telling me what he's doing out here with this acoustic thing, I went to see and I loved it. It was just so good. And I was like, "Hey!" you know, we just started talking about working together and finally doing it 20 years later, and we're doing it so yeah.

I: Now, the band you were going to put together 20 years ago, what would it have sounded like? Is there... did you actually record anything or?

BBF: No, we just.... we met up, we... you know, we played a lot of each other's stuff, we just played demos to each other and just talked and that was it, but it never got past the talking.

I: And how is this project going to work for you? Like, how involved can you be with your other commitments?

BBF: Oh with this? Well, you know, when I can't be here I have someone that's going to take over for me to do it all. So I have a, what do you say? A replacement.

I: Stunt double?

BBF: Yeah, stunt double. I was trying to think of it. A stunt double. I was like, "What's the right word, a placement, an understudy?" Stunt double, perfect. So yeah, yeah, I got a stunt double to take care of when I have to be on the road and everything But yeah, you know, I'm writing music, he's writing lyrics, and we're recording right now and we'll put out this this EP very soon. All acoustic with on Cassandra Sotos on violin, she kicks ass herself.

I: And you're using PledgeMusic as well so how was that? I mean, like-

BBF: It was great. I mean, a great way to have support from people and offer them incentives that aren't the usual thing. Like even tonight, you know, there's people here that pledged to be part of the sound check and they came and hung out for that and things like that. So it's good and then anything beyond a certain point, which we did hit, is going toward toward a breast cancer organization for a, you know, fundraising group there.

I:  Now before we go to the first song, Tony has said that well-known musicians, quote/unquote, will be involved in an electric version of this band.

BBF: That's the plan.

I: Any names, can you drop any names?

BBF: I mean we've talked to a few people... I don't want to mention any names. We'll see what happens, you know, because at this point we're still just thinking acoustic. We haven't moved it on to the next thing yet, but we've reached out to a lot of the local drummers and bass players-

I: And there's overseas interest from promoters? I mean, you'll be touring outside the US?

BBF: Oh yeah. I mean, if we're gonna do it... everything today is worldwide.

I: Okay, we're gonna go to a song, you pick any song in the history of recorded music, it's my job to find it, okay. But you can pick something of your own as well.

BBF: All right, how about... I think you got a lot of metal listeners out there so how about the song Invisible?

[cut]

I: Actually, welcome to the program this weekend and I'm confusing myself. We're with Bumblefoot-

BBF: [?]

I: Yeah, it's very gothic, quite a gothic little area the Cutting Room. Now, part of the reason we're doing this is because Guns N' Roses are off to Australia in March and what are your recollections of your previous visits to Australia? Did you have any-

BBF: Oh my gosh.

I: -preconceptions, like, was it... anything surprise you?

BBF: No, you know,  it was what I expected and I wasn't disappointed at all. It was wonderful. Strong memories of Perth and Fremantle and, you know, just visiting all the little shops over there and visiting Bon Scott's grave, paying respects, and going to the wineries in the area. Wonderful time there. What else? I mean, we've been to Brisbane and Adelaide and Sydney and yeah, and was Townsville?

I: Yeah, that was a bit off the beaten track.

BBF: That was December 2nd, I think it was or something like that. Yeah, it was December 2nd I think-

I: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

BBF: -that we hit that of 2010, that we came down to Sydney. I remember I jammed with Fozzy  and then we played in Sydney at the big race and had a lot of good times.

I: It's funny you mentioned Townsville because I was away at the time, I was overseas, but the local TV crew got into the show, I don't know if you remember, and they took footage and they said, "Oh, these guys are miming," and all this sort of stuff. Do you remember that? There was some sort of... maybe it was after you left town? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was the big big drama in Townsville, which is off the beaten track for a rock... the big rock bands-

BBF: I assure you, nothing is... everything Axl sings is real, everything I play is real, everything I sing is real.

I: Yeah, yeah.

BBF: Trust me, we fuck up enough so you know it's real.

I: Now, the last... you've been in the news a little bit lately because you're upset... you said, you're asked by a magazine-

BBF: Oh shit! That's stupid fucking UK bullshit.

I: You're asked by a magazine and what advice would you give a young musician and you said, "Be on time," and that was interpreted as criticizing your singer, you know.

BBF: Well, no, it's just, you know, people are always looking, you know, if you get some rag that doesn't have any credibility and can get people to read their shit, you know, based on how good they are, they just look for bullshit that they can twist in other people's work that they can steal. So I did a really nice interview, it was very positive, and it was talking to young musicians about what is important [when] starting out. So I told the three things that I usually give is advice, which is to be early and make sure that you're on time, don't make anybody wait, which yes Guns N' Roses blah blah blah, you know, I know... you know what, when you're waiting, I'm waiting too. I don't want to fuckin' wait three hours to get on stage, I want to give you guys a show and I want you to be happy when we're doing it, yeah. But hey, it's out of my control. So yeah, so there's that, it's be on time to whatever you're doing, be extra prepared, meaning just, you know, don't just know what you need to know but know a little extra, know everything surrounding it in case something happens and you need to be dependent on or you can be dependent on to do what needs to be done, and to be relaxed and be calm so that if everyone is freaking out and, you know, feelings, that kind of stuff, it's all contagious if someone is going into a panic other people start going into a panic and someone's stressed and makes other people stressed, just don't do that, don't be part of that, just stay relaxed, stay calm and you'll be appreciated for it just by not being part of all that crazy shit.

I: Tell us about this year, big year for everyone. But for Guns N' Roses, recording? Writing? What's happening? Anything-

BBF: So far a lot of touring. You know, there's been talk all the time, you know, within us about the next album and what we're going to do, when we're going to do it and everything. But, you know, life always gets in the way and things get in the way and it's hard to have the momentum and the focus and everything that you need. It's hard to put everything aside to do a whole album. Me personally, I don't want to do an album. I would just want to do a song, let's just bite off a song and get a song out there and then bite off another song and get that out there. It's easier to do and that's... look, waiting for an album to get done is too much, I can't even do it myself. I started doing just songs in 2011 and if I waited to finish an album it still wouldn't be done and the album wouldn't be out.

I: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

BBF: So yeah, at this point when there's so much touring and so much other stuff going on, don't try and take on 14 songs, do a song and then another song and then another song and then figure it out from there.

I: Ron, one question I wanted to ask for, I think, since late last year, was, you know, if you remember KISS Unplugged? You know, and I always imagined what it was like to be Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer when they got those guys on stage that night here in New York City, you'd be going, "Here we go, here we go," and when all that talk was happening about the Hall of Fame I just wonder for you and for the other guys in the band, was it a bit of the same feeling? "Here we go, here we go, the push is on," you know, was there a bit of that feeling on...

BBF: I knew it was gonna be another event in the history of the band, I knew, no matter how it turned out. But, you know, honestly we tried to work it out with the Hall of Fame, to come up with something but they had it in their mind what they wanted and it was their way or no way.

I: Yeah.

BBF: So they wouldn't budge and they were just trying to force a situation that wasn't good for everybody and we wanted it to be good for everybody.

I: So despite the fact that maybe certain people were played as villains, that wasn't the way it really was?

BBF: No, no. It's like, you know, what-

I: Speaking of KISS, they're not in the Hall of Fame yet, yeah, yeah.

BBF: Yeah, you know, right?

I: And a lot of other great band.

BBF: A lot of people should be in there that aren't.

I: Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna let you go... no sorry.

BBF: Deep Purple isn't in there, either right? That's a fuckin' travesty. Rush isn't in there, right?

I: They just got inducted-

BBF: They just got adopted now, yeah.

I: Yeah.

BBF: Finally.

I: Yeah, yeah.

BBF: So yeah.

I: Yes, another song, Ron.

BBF: Another song... [talking to someone else] What's up? How you... let me finish this. Another song, all right, how about so I'm Glad To Be Here?

[cut]

I: Okay we're back and we're with Ron Thal Bumblefoot. Thanks for your time tonight, you've got a big show, big show. Now tell us about... we've got to give you a chance to talk about your hot sauce, how does a guy go from playing music to maybe designing t-shirts, most guys in bands design t-shirts as well, but then hot sauces, what's what's going on?

BBF: You know, it's actually... it hasn't been any different from music, it's like, I think back to when I first started making music, it's like, you're passionate about it, you have all these bands you like, I love... there's all these hot sauces I like, so then you start making your own music, you learn to play, and you start making songs and start doing stuff, you start writing and start recording and you start making your own music. Same with food, you start making your own things, your own concoctions, your own combinations. And then you start to share your music, you start to do shows, you start to, you know, put out albums, you start to do everything. And it's the same with the hot sauces. And finally after years I found a company that was working with me, we could bottle everything up. Yeah, so we worked it out with a company called CaJohns Fiery Food.... there we go, all right.

I: That's it for the video, I think. Let's just keep talking but the video is done, I think.

BBF: So yes, so with hot sauce CaJohns Fiery Foods, they're a fantastic company and they were willing to let me come in there with all my crazy ideas for the different sauces. I had a Bumblicious with cherry bourbon, it's mild, it's great on steak, any kind of barbecue type stuff as well as a hot sauce.  Then there's a Bumblefucked which is the hottest one, it's crazy, it's got over 6 million Scoville units and heat of pain, it has ginger and tropical fruit flavors in there. I mean, and everything is all real ingredients, no preservatives, nothing fake, it's all natural. Gluten free. It's healthy stuff.

I: Yeah, that's awesome.

BBF: Yeah, and that one also I added a ginseng and caffeine so it's almost like a serious kick so yeah, it's almost like an energy shot, extreme hot sauce, Bumblefucked.

I: Okay, before you leave we'll get you to play one last song. Five years from now, Ron, what have you got? Any idea where you'll be? What you'll be doing? Is there a timer-

BBF: Hopefully in the studio making more music, that's my favorite place to be. Hopefully I'm still doing everything that I'm doing, I'm hoping that I'm happy and healthy and still able to do what I do and hopefully people will enjoy what I'm doing and want to share it with me and be part of it and, you know, because I can't do it without you. You know, it's like playing to a wall, you know, I need you or it doesn't exist. So hopefully we can all be doing this together, continuously.

I: One more question from the clippings, before I forget, from the newspaper clippings. India, it sounds like it was a great tour. The last was the encore and a bit of Australian theme here, it was Nice Boys, the song was Nice Boys, Rose Tattoo, and what happened? One member of the band didn't want to do the encore according to the newspaper.

BBF: No, it wasn't that. What happened was we settled our back... you know, we did our bow and we're walking off stage and it was like, "Hey, let's do some more." They were already packing up the gear and shutting everything down, all right, so they had to first fire up everything all over again and half the shit was away so we started playing with half our gear and finally was just like, "You know what, fuck it," you know, like some shit wouldn't go on and like reconnecting cables and so the crew is going crazy trying to get it all done and it was like, "All right, just another moment in the history of the band."

I: I'm sure you'd like to wish Doc Neeson,  the band's... the best?

BBF: Yeah, oh my god, please dude. Positive thoughts, just, you know.... That was so out of nowhere and it hit everybody by surprise and just everybody, everybody just wishes you well, wishes you health and comfort and to get past this, you know, the best you can and to just stay positive please and just get through this shit, get through it.

I: Thanks Ron. Yeah, give us one more song and we'll leave you in place.

BBF: One last song, okay. Shackler's Revenge off of Chinese.

Finished transcribing this.

I can't understand who they are talking about at the end, the person who is injured or sick or something. Anyone else catch the name? I was thinking Armand Butt Crumps but it doesn't sound like that name.

Soulmonster wrote:I can't understand who they are talking about at the end, the person who is injured or sick or something. Anyone else catch the name? I was thinking Armand Butt Crumps but it doesn't sound like that name.

They are talking about Doc Neeson, singer in the Australian band The Angels, who was diagnosed with brain tumor in Jan. 2013 (he died in 2014)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Neeson

The band played Marseilles in 2014 as a tribute to Neeson