MJMazzarone

So who do we know is 100% and who is not? Just to recap?

Hello everyone.

Once again, this is Mke Mazzarone from AlternativeNation. I will do what I can to explain what happened. To those who have said that I knew GNR questions weren't allowed, that couldn't be further from the truth. When I booked this interview, I was never given a full fledged anything regarding topics being "off limits". I have also spoke to BBF's PR, numerous times, he had the chance, numerous times to explain to me that GNR questions were "off limits" and he failed to do so. I also, was never given the album by the PR and any further follow-up in an attempt to be able to listen to it was swiftly ignored. Once again, I do ask, how can I ask Bumblefoot about his new album, in any context when I was never given it? It's just not possible.

We asked a few soft ball questions, we asked about a potential tour and about AOA, not only was I told during the interview that he did not want to talk about GNR, which again was the first time I heard about that but he also seemed very hesistant about talking about Scott Weiland.

I did not question anything, I ran through what I had and I published everything in the correct context. I don't feel I was being "unprofessional" when I was given a limited amount of resources by BBF's publicist. I actually got an e-mail from BBF today and he apologized about the how he handled the awkwardness of the interview on his part and made sure that the PR sent over the album. So we will give it a proper review within the coming weeks. I will also note that had I gotten the album, like I was meant to then I would of asked more questions on it. However, I am not going to spend a majority of the interview asking questions about the album and his solo career. My goal is to ask the questions that the majority of music fans care about, and that is questions about Weiland and GNR. All softballs don't cut it. Had I had known that he wanted questions strictly about the solo album and nothing else, I most likely would never have booked this interview. It would be like talking to Mick Foley and not being able to discuss wrestling.

This is the first time that I've ever had such a massive crossing of the wires with any publicist. Whether it be sports, music,film/TV, anything and I believe any blame should be directed towards BBF's PR. Had I gotten the album ahead of time, I would of included a few extra questions. It's really as simple as that. However, this was an isolated event and should not be reflective of my work. I understand that with any interview comes the risk of criticism, however, all of my past interviews that I have done have been done in the upmost professional manner. Sometimes, you get a few rotten publicists that aren't the best at communication. That happens in my field. Rare, but it happens. After speaking to BBF today though, we are on good terms and it is all basically water under the bridge. He understands that what happened was a massive misunderstanding and not the fault of anyone but his publicist.

Hopefully you all can see that as well.

Don't worry, pal..... No one cares about BBF! Most people don't know who the hell he is and he should be thankful he's getting interviewed because the main reason why he's even raising a bit of interest to be interviewed is because of Guns N' Roses.

Props to you and move on to your next interviewee. For sure will be someone more interesting than BBF

Plenty of people care about BBF and his solo work. Of course it's no where near the amount of people that are interested in GN'R but there's still interest.

Which is why I would of never made the solo work the priority. I could of very well asked about the basic stuff but there is little point, IMO, when other sites have covered it. I rather have listened to the album and gotten into things song by song. When 5 or so different sites cover the basics of the process, inspirations and all that, it becomes redundant and borderline-generic. Which is not what I am about.

Was it a botch? I think that term is a bit harsh. Bumblefoot is open to doing another piece once the album is listened to fully, which I did consider doing. Again though, had I known he would of wanted to talk about the album and nothing more then I wouldn't of booked the interview. We got what we needed and that's the end of it.

It's like when we interviewed Travis Barker of Blink 182. Their publicist wanted us to talk about NOTHING but this festival show we were doing. While we asked about that, we made sure that wasn't a priority. We asked about the stuff that would get traffic. The DeLonge situation for example. The result? The interview went viral and was wildly successful. More so then if we just stuckto the guidelines of the publicist.

I understand that certain interviewers have their own set of rules. Mine is to get as many hits as possible, without lying or disrespecting my interviewee. I don't make any apologies for that. While this could of been handled better, I think I didn't go out of my guidelines. There should of been better communication on the end of BBF's publicist and that's the end of it.

I coincide that this could of been handled better on all fronts. However, I do not apperciate being told, and being implied that I am not qualified to do what I do. You gain good experiences from learning from the bad ones. This was a misunderstanding and nothing more.

Hello everyone.

Once again, this is Mke Mazzarone from AlternativeNation. I will do what I can to explain what happened. To those who have said that I knew GNR questions weren't allowed, that couldn't be further from the truth. When I booked this interview, I was never given a full fledged anything regarding topics being "off limits". I have also spoke to BBF's PR, numerous times, he had the chance, numerous times to explain to me that GNR questions were "off limits" and he failed to do so. I also, was never given the album by the PR and any further follow-up in an attempt to be able to listen to it was swiftly ignored. Once again, I do ask, how can I ask Bumblefoot about his new album, in any context when I was never given it? It's just not possible.

We asked a few soft ball questions, we asked about a potential tour and about AOA, not only was I told during the interview that he did not want to talk about GNR, which again was the first time I heard about that but he also seemed very hesistant about talking about Scott Weiland.

I did not question anything, I ran through what I had and I published everything in the correct context. I don't feel I was being "unprofessional" when I was given a limited amount of resources by BBF's publicist. I actually got an e-mail from BBF today and he apologized about the how he handled the awkwardness of the interview on his part and made sure that the PR sent over the album. So we will give it a proper review within the coming weeks. I will also note that had I gotten the album, like I was meant to then I would of asked more questions on it. However, I am not going to spend a majority of the interview asking questions about the album and his solo career. My goal is to ask the questions that the majority of music fans care about, and that is questions about Weiland and GNR. All softballs don't cut it. Had I had known that he wanted questions strictly about the solo album and nothing else, I most likely would never have booked this interview. It would be like talking to Mick Foley and not being able to discuss wrestling.

This is the first time that I've ever had such a massive crossing of the wires with any publicist. Whether it be sports, music,film/TV, anything and I believe any blame should be directed towards BBF's PR. Had I gotten the album ahead of time, I would of included a few extra questions. It's really as simple as that. However, this was an isolated event and should not be reflective of my work. I understand that with any interview comes the risk of criticism, however, all of my past interviews that I have done have been done in the upmost professional manner. Sometimes, you get a few rotten publicists that aren't the best at communication. That happens in my field. Rare, but it happens. After speaking to BBF today though, we are on good terms and it is all basically water under the bridge. He understands that what happened was a massive misunderstanding and not the fault of anyone but his publicist.

Hopefully you all can see that as well.