bumblerose

After Buckethead left Guns N' Roses in 2006, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal was recommended by Joe Satriani to join the band. From 2006 till now, Bumblefoot, one of the lead guitarists of the current Guns N' Roses line-up, has juggled many hats. A solo artiste, the guitarist in one of the world's most famous bands, a teacher, a music producer and so on. In this candid tete-a-tete, the musician speaks about his 'different' stage name, his feelings before and after joining Guns N' Roses, how performing on stage is a challenge for him and more. Excerpts:

You have a pretty strange stage name. What's the story of Bumblefoot? When did Ron choose to become just Bumblefoot?

Aah...the name! So, it started off with...sorry, today's my wedding anniversary. So, we've been married for 19 years; we've been together for 25 years. My wife's a veterinary doctor. When she was in med school, studying, and we were dating, and I was helping her study, I came across the name of one of these animal diseases, which was called 'Bumblefoot'. I made a song called 'Bubmlefoot', and when I had my first record deal in late-90s, I named the album 'The Adventures of Bumblefoot'. Every song in that album was named on a different animal disease. And in 1997, I started my own record label and the band was called Bumblefoot. Now, after 18 years of putting out albums under the name Bumblefoot, it sort of became like my nickname. So, it went from a disease, to a song, to an album, to a band and to my name. It felt different.

You've had a major accident in 2012 and hurt your neck; and you've earlier said how you've found it a challenge to perform after that. How have you dealt with it all these days? It's a 35-pound double-neck Vigier around your neck, after all!

It's a 35-pound guitar, yeah... It's been so challenging. In trying to find the best remedy for the pain, I found a lot of things that didn't work, or maybe worked for a few hours. But finally, the thing that made a difference was food. I went to a doctor who checked my blood, and went through the way my body functioned and figured out exactly what I needed to eat to be healthy and reduce the pain. After a year of medicines and pills and injections and all that crap, finally, I changed the way I was eating. And within three weeks, the pain was gone. Earlier, with the pain, I wasn't even able to think straight. There were people watching me to make sure I didn't commit suicide, and it was just impossible to live. The pain's still there, but now I've learnt how to eat better and how I can move or not move. And getting proper rest when I need it and eating the food that I need to, I can continue. Food was the best medicine.

What's the story of the double-neck Vigier? It's been around since, what - 2009?

Well, before that, I'd choose between using a fretless guitar and a fretted guitar. And in a lot of my own music, I'm using both. So, I finally realised that I needed access to both quickly...I was throwing one guitar to my guys in the middle of the song and they'd throw the other to me and so on. So I now have a double-neck which has a fretted and a fret-less.

You've had your first guitar at 5. How did that happen? Did someone make you take up a guitar, instead of, say, the drums?

Ah, well. I'd heard the KISS Alive! Album when I was 5, and that's when I wanted to be a musician. So by the time I was 6, I had a band of my friends, and we were writing songs, playing together, doing shows, making recordings...everything that a band does, completely on our own. I had a cassette recorder and would go to the corner of a room and record. We figured it all by ourselves. I originally wanted to be a drummer, and I also wanted to be a bass player, but I was too young and too little to play bass, so I took up a guitar and stuck with it.

You've grown up in the 80s, when Guns N' Roses was THE band. It still is. Could you ever imagine you'd be playing as a part of the band?

Hell, no! When there's a band like that, you don't picture being in that band; you picture being someone who enjoys that band and watches that band and enjoys that band. You don't want to interfere, you don't want to join the band; you want to enjoy them as they are. The last thing I ever thought about was joining a band like that. Because if I liked them, I liked them the way they were.

I'd had offers from all kinds of bands in the past, but I'd turned them down. Originally, I'd turned down Guns N' Roses also, sometime in 2004. Then, a year-and-a-half later, they reached out again, and they had a tour and asked me to go jam with them. So, then, I was like, why not. And that was it. We jammed seven times; we got together and played a couple of songs, and they asked me to work with them.

Is it tough, filling in Slash's shoes?

How did I manage filling in other people's shoes in a band that has had so many pairs of shoes... I didn't really think about it much. I'd jam with so many people; I'd played with a lot of people. So, for me, playing with them was the same as a musician playing with other musicians. And I guess I was a little naive and not really thinking about how the world would react. I didn't think I was filling in big shoes. I was able to just be a musician and make music. I believe in expressing myself as a musician, and that is all. And that is important because a band cannot be everything for you.

How much has GN'R as a band influenced you in person? As a youngster, as a member, and on seeing all the affection love, from the stage?

It's always good when you're playing and making a lot of people happy. That's the main goal. That's why people become musicians. You can make ten thousand people happy at one time, or you can make a hundred people happy at one time. It's the best thing in the world.

You just said that when you used to listen to GN'R, you didn't want anything to change. Did you find it intimidating in the beginning? Having to play these classics that people have loved and grown up with for these many years?

I've never found it intimidating. I always felt that I was capable of doing it, and I never felt like I was thrown into a situation that I wasn't prepared for. I was surprised by it, because when I first joined the band, I didn't know that the shows would be as big as they were. I didn't know we'd be playing in front of a hundred thousand people. It makes no difference, though. Because when you close your eyes, playing in front of one person or ten people or a million people, and you're still doing what you do.

I was surprised at how much people still love rock music. Even now. And it's funny because it's a lot of bullshit when people say, 'Rock is dead'. Rock is far from dead. I do a lot of workshops all over the world. In England, they have this school called the Witchwood School of Rock, where they have bands with 7-year-old kids to teenagers. If anyone ever has the audacity to say rock is dead, come travel with me for a month. Rock is still alive and kickin'.

Do you try and infuse your bits into numbers like, say, a November Rain or a Sweet Child o' Mine?

Well, when you're playing a song like that...if you're playing a song that everybody loves, you don't want to re-write the song. That would mean changing the lyrics or changing the melody, and that would just be disrespectful to the audience. I know that I'm there to provide those songs to them the way they want them. I'm not there for myself; I'm there for them. I think I have a good sense of what the audience wants. If there's a song that can give me the chance to improvise, then I'd play my own bits. When it comes to songs that people really care about, I want to give it to them the way they want them. If they are happy, I'm happy.

When you were in India for the GN'R tour in 2012, I remember you'd played an acoustic piece as a tribute to Pt Ravi Shankar, who'd passed away that morning. Was it an impromptu thing or was there some kind of preparation beforehand? How much of Ravi Shankar were you familiar with?

Yeah...I don't remember, actually. If that was something we'd started working on earlier. A lot of things we did on stage were spontaneous. It was probably that, if I remember well.

Tell us one unique experience that you've had in India. Like, something that you haven't seen anywhere else.

There are so many things... India is a place that has some of the most profound, distinctive, identifiable, original things - from the streets to the temple, everything. Being there, nothing like it. Even sitting in the traffic is an experience. You're driving on this road, perfectly paved, except for the left wing, which is all rubble (bursts out laughing). You see everything all at once. When you go to India, it says a lot about yourself. You can see everything; it's a giant picture. When people come back, the part of that picture they focus on, tells a lot about them.

I remember going to the markets and getting a saree for my wife. Going through all these different locations in the cities... And I remember being at the airport at 1 in the morning, and the only store open at that time of the morning, was a toy store!

Now that you're planning to concentrate on your career as a solo artiste, will we see less of you during the GN'R tours?

Aah, right now...my focus is just putting out a lot of music. I've been putting out albums. I don't really know what it'll be like, performing. If it's a question if I'd ever tour with Guns N' Roses again, you can never say never! Right now, what I see in my future, is focussing on my music, and then using all of that for charity. I did a show in Thailand, and we managed to raise $1,63,000 for a children's charity. That's the most important thing you can do as a musician...things that can help improve people's lives.

What do you think of the Indian audience? You've played in several cities. Is there a city-wise difference in the way they perceive your music? Or is it all the same?

The Indian audience is composed of rock musicians, music lovers, Bollywood, and a lot of other people.

Oh, so you do know Bollywood!

Yeah...a little bit. I have friends from India, and through them, I've gotten exposed to a lot of stuff that I may not have been able to on my own. I know a little bit about Bollywood and the musicians there.

GN'R is a band that has courted a lot of controversy over the years - including the (in)famous Slash-Rose split. Do you see the possibility of a reunion - from an objective viewpoint; as a person who plays so closely with one of the two?

Now, if I say anything, it's gonna cause me a lot of headache with people; there will be all kinds of crap no matter what my answer is. So, the best I can do is shut up and not answer. Off the record, I can give you my opinion about what I think or what can happen, but I think the best thing I can do is just shut up and not answer! And as much as I want to keep talking, but I'm just going to quietly shy away from that question (laughs)!