Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal of Guns N' Roses InterviewThursday, 26 November 2009
Written by Gus Griesinger
There aren?t many times where you get to talk to a real genuine person who cares not only his work but the people who he works with and is involved with on a daily basis. Ron ?Bumblefoot? Thal is definitely one of those people. I met Ron back in July when he was touring with Lita and at that time we talked bout doing an interview. Not only did Ron stick to his word, he couldn?t be more accommodating to do it. We talked about how he got involved with Axl and GNR to his involvement with raising awareness for Multiple Sclerosis. Didn?t Axl sing ?We got your disease?? Well, we have your disease right here live in the flesh, an interview with ?Bumblefoot!?
Gus: One of the big CD?s that came out late last year was ?Chinese Democracy.? It was a huge buzz surrounding the release of the CD. Why did it take the band so long to tour in support of the record?
Ron: There were other possible or potential tours or itineraries in the works that just didn?t happen for whatever reason. This one did though. Why? (laughs) I don?t try to know anything. My philosophy as time goes on is swinging more towards 'ignorance is bliss.' The less I know the happier I am. I don?t want to know a damn thing except tell me when to get on stage and play.
Gus: Guns N? Roses are scheduled to perform in Japan in December. I?m sure your looking forward to it. What can the fans expect when you guys do perform live?
Ron: I can't give anything away as we are trying to keep it a surprise until we do it. We will be playing a lot of old stuff, newer stuff, a lot of bombs n' pyro (laughs.) I'm dodging the question ? you know, the stuff you see at a big rock show.
Gus: You just wrapped up doing rehearsals and you have anew guitar partner in DJ Ashba. How did your rehearsals go with DJ?
Ron: It went great! He is a damn good guy to be in a band with. He gives a lot of himself and adds a lot of himself to every aspect of it. He gets involved artistically. He?s a damn good guy. I?ve enjoyed getting to know him and playing with him. And working through the insanity of getting the stuff down with him. Now, I?m just really looking forward to getting on stage with him.
Gus: So he is fitting in quite well and fitting in nicely with everybody?
Ron: He?s good to go!
Gus: That?s good to hear. How did you originally get involved with one of the biggest marquee name bands in the world?
Ron: It was about 5 years ago. I got an email from Joe Satriani to tell me he recommended me for the gig (Guns N? Roses) so if someone did reach out that I knew it wasn?t a joke or something. Very soon after, one of the guys from the band emailed me and we started talking. I started talking to guys working on the album about recording and then spoke to management. Eventually we hit the road and started touring and in between legs of the tour started recording tracks for the album, putting my 2 cents into it. That was it, and here we are.
Gus: Looking back since the release of Chinese Democracy, are you happy with the finished product or would there be something you would change?
Ron: On my behalf, I?m as happy as I possibly can be. Which goes like, I?m happy for a week, and then I start hearing all the things I would like to change. That?s the way I am with all my own albums too. Anything I?m involved with I?m like that. The honeymoon period lasts for about a week, then the little things start to haunt ya (laughs.) It?s always like that but I've gotten better at rolling with it and now it doesn?t drive me as crazy. You've got to treat it like a moment and that moment was captured, and then move on to the next moment.
Gus: In 2008, you released 2 solo CD?s ?Barefoot,? which is a collection of acoustic songs and ?Abnormal,? which is a continuation of your previous solo effort ?Normal.? Are you working on any future solo material?
Ron: I've been so focused on all the GNR stuff for the whole year that I really haven?t been able to. Hopefully next year I will be able to write some stuff, and I wouldn?t mind getting more into writing for films and stuff like that.
Continue reading here:
http://www.backstageaxxess.com/index.php/interviews/169-bumblefootinterview
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