Ron Thal, better known by his stage name “Bumblefoot”, picked up guitar at the age of 6 and today, as we all know, plays in the legendary rock band, Guns ‘N Roses. He plays a guitar which looks like a foot with wings and can play your songs better than you. We saw him last year when Guns ‘N Roses came to Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi on their maiden Indian tour and we’re going to see him again with Point of View. We caught him for a little chat before the event. Read on…
Eight Octaves: Greetings from Eight Octaves! I believe this is the second time you’ll be playing in India. How was your experience last time? What are your expectations from the crowd this time?
Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal: Greetings! This is my second visit to India, yes! The first time was last December, playing Bangalore, Mumbai and Gurgaon with Guns N’ Roses. Now I get to return to these cities and more, in a more stripped-down face-to-face way, which I really enjoy. No barricades separating us. The Guns N’ Roses fans at the shows made us feel very welcome, it felt like a celebration. I’ll always remember their energy and passion. I hope they will also check out the Point Of View shows so we can have some more fun together!
Eight Octaves: Point of View is a young band with some really good and promising material. How has your experience of playing with them been so far?
Ron: It’s been a truly bonding experience to me they are a great example of how a band should be. We played together at the Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai last October, and I was very impressed with how they interact, how they play, they’re a solid band that does the right things the right way.
Eight Octaves: What is special about Point of View that raised your interest in them?
Ron: I was impressed with their songwriting, how well they play their songs – great guitar-work, solid and stylish rhythm section, and insightful lyrics. They have a fantastic D.I.Y. work ethic. They made a great sounding album, well recorded and mixed, very nice on the ears…! And as I got to know them, they are all unique very-likable characters. They believe in things and take action, like supporting animal welfare, and autism awareness. They have faith and invest in the world with an uncommon selflessness. They *give*, and that’s something you find in a real musician’s soul. They deserve the attention and respect, they’ve earned it. They’ve inspired me as well – I’m in the process of creating a special kind of festival that will give attention to new bands in a way that hasn’t been done before. I’m hoping to do something that will help our next generations of bands.
Eight Octaves: Besides a successful solo career and a position in Guns ‘N Roses, you’ve been writing TV jingles and theme songs for various things, which is very unlike any rock musician playing at such a level. What keeps you to continue doing that?
Ron: I like variety. I like stepping out of my comfort zone. I like to create in different environments. There’s TV themes like VH1’s “That Metal Show” and SpikeTV’s “MXC”, video game soundtracks, horror movie music, different styles from hip-hop to jazz to classical to any-way-you-can-dress-up-your-soundwaves, backing music on TV shows from WWE to Oprah Winfrey, laying guest solos for different artists, co-writing and producing artists – that’s my favorite music-making scenario, collaborating with artists.
Eight Octaves: We haven’t seen any solo albums from you since 2008 (that’s the time when G’NR’s Chinese Democracy was released), except for a series of nine cover singles in 2011. Would you say that playing for G’NR keeps you preoccupied with touring and other stuff, leaving you less time for your solo career?
Ron: Yes, totally. All the touring makes it harder for me to clear my head, re-charge the creative batteries and build momentum to write, record, release and perform my own music. For me the best thing to do was to release a song-a-month, rather than trying to take off for a year to complete the whole album process. It was a good decision. I was able to take on one song at a time and release them each month along with alternate mixes, guitar transcriptions and backing tracks, and recording ‘stems’ of each instrument so you can make your own mixes. It kept a constant simmer of music being released throughout the year, and had I waited for an album of music to be done, I’d still be waiting. It’s something I wish Guns N’ Roses could do, I’ve said it a lot over the years when the subject would come up – my idea was to get together in the studio one week before every leg of touring and write, record and release a song, play that song during that leg of the tour and do that every time. If we did that we’d have a full album’s worth of music right now, written and performed by this current band, and we wouldn’t have to choose between touring and recording, we’d be combining both. But when a band is operating at Guns’ level, it’s a complex machine with many parts, it’s not so easy to just say “Hey, let’s do this.” Many variables in the equation that need to be considered.
Eight Octaves: From what I know, the word “Bumblefoot” came into the story when you were helping your wife study for her vet exams. But how did it evolve from just being an album title to being your stage name?
Ron: Yes, it was over 20 years and I was helping my wife study for veterinary exams, one of the diseases was Ulcerative Pododermatitis, also known as “Bumblefoot”. The name gave me a laugh and I had this picture in my head of a half-bee-half-foot superhero flying overhead. I wrote a song called Bumblefoot, and when I had my first record deal in the mid ’90s we expanded it into the entire theme for the debut album, an instrumental guitar album called “The Adventures Of Bumblefoot” with that song as the opening track, every song named after a different animal disease, artwork depicting that superhero bee/foot creature flying over a city in turmoil. In ’97 I started my own label and releasing my own albums, under the band name “Bumblefoot”. I was writing the songs, singing lead and playing lead guitar, was handling all production and business, so over time the band name was viewed more as my nickname. And it stuck. Had I known I’d someday need to take my life seriously, I would have perhaps aligned myself with a less ‘Saturday-morning-cartoon’ type of nickname. Yeah, I can’t see a President “Bumblefoot” happening any time soon.
Eight Octaves: What’s the story behind the Vigier Bumblefoot Swiss Cheese Guitar, haha?
Ron: Starting when I was 12 years old, I would paint Iron Maiden albums on the backs of dungaree jackets for $20 each, to save money for music gear. I wanted a guitar with a floating bridge and vibrato bar and eventually got a black ’83 Ibanez Roadstar for $140 hanging on the wall of a local music store. First thing I did was take it home, chip off the paint, wire-in different pickups, and make it my own. It went through changes over the years, and at age 18 I tried modifying the body, I wanted it to look like a giant bite was taken out of it. It didn’t look how I wanted and I just started drilling away pieces and making odd-size holes without a plan. When I was done, it looked like Swiss cheese. So I took a slice of Swiss cheese to a paint store and slapped it on the table and asked if we could match the color. I painted the body, DiMarzio wired it up with a Tone Zone in the bridge and Chopper in the neck, and this was my main guitar that I’d tour with and record with for 13 years. Vigier Guitars wanted to make an exact replica of it – I sent them the body, and they made 12 replicas of it. Mine is currently on display at a music exhibit in NYC, another I have as a backup and will someday auction off for a charitable cause, and the others have happy owners around the world.
Eight Octaves: Have you given a listen to any Indian artists lately? If yes, do you have any favourites?
Ron: I did some homework. I listened to The Mavyns, Something Relevant, The Color Compound and Peter Cat Recording Co. I also got to watch and listen to GNR’s opening acts Thermal And A Quarter and Goddess Gagged. I like Adil & Vasundhara, they’re a blues jazz fusion group. Years ago in NY I had a very talented student named David Abraham – he lives in Mumbai and has a band called “The Koniac Net” . Check out their video. So well done!
Eight Octaves: Finally, can we expect any new releases from you any soon? Or is it gonna be more touring/studio sessions with Guns ‘N Roses?
Ron: The *most asked question*, yes. I’m hoping that after this last bit of US touring we could start writing together before life starts throwing curveballs as it does, haha. We’ll see how it goes, keeping fingers crossed that we can make it happen. As for how long it would take for that music to be shared with the world, that’s not something I can predict. (OK, this is where readers start posting their comments about how long Chinese Democracy took, I know…) What I can tell you for sure is this – I believe in my heart that if this current band dedicates itself to writing songs together, and if throughout the process the music remains true to who we are musically, you’ll get something great, that has what we all love about music from a band.
Videos link:
https://www.youtube.com/bumblefoot
http://www.bumblefoot.com/videos.php
