Bumblefoot To Focus On Solo Career

[tomfriend]

My guess is if Axl announces an album release, BBF is there. If he doesn't he won't be. Of all the current band he seems to be the only one as bored and fed up with the lack of progress as the fans are and I really hope this is the case.

Who the fuck wants to be in a band year after year and not have a hand in writing a song here and there? Only an idiot would be content with that (hence Ashba).

[Iron MikeyJ]

Who are we talking about again??? Never heard of him before....

Before he joined gnr that is.

[stella]

Maybe so...he's been bitching for so long but ain't complaining about his checks. I know he's been ill, car accident what not but there's no need to bitch when the band your in increased your profile 80/90% compared when you were playing on your silly guitar & raping Brian May's guitar solos.

So if your job advances your career or brings you recognition in any way you're never allowed to complain about your working conditions? That's kind of silly. BBF's complaints were valid, and he was justified in making them.

[wkuk04]

Maybe so...he's been bitching for so long but ain't complaining about his checks. I know he's been ill, car accident what not but there's no need to bitch when the band your in increased your profile 80/90% compared when you were playing on your silly guitar & raping Brian May's guitar solos.

So if your job advances your career or brings you recognition in any way you're never allowed to complain about your working conditions? That's kind of silly. BBF's complaints were valid, and he was justified in making them.

I don't deny that. Its just in future when he makes appearances he's going to get bigger crowds due to his time in Guns and his solo efforts will be more known also. I'm not denying his talent i like him in Guns and i think without him the current line up might struggle, it could take a while before a replacement is found and that could delay Guns in 2015 and beyond.

[DR DOOM]

Good luck to Ron using the GNR name to further his career/get exposure/recognition, he has spent 9 years in "the band" so it's fair enough.

He has and will always cop shit for being a "hired Gun" in Axl's GNR, so is he supposed to just carry that weight around his neck and not mention GNR?

Gotta take the good with the bad here.

[stella]

Maybe so...he's been bitching for so long but ain't complaining about his checks. I know he's been ill, car accident what not but there's no need to bitch when the band your in increased your profile 80/90% compared when you were playing on your silly guitar & raping Brian May's guitar solos.

So if your job advances your career or brings you recognition in any way you're never allowed to complain about your working conditions? That's kind of silly. BBF's complaints were valid, and he was justified in making them.

I don't deny that. Its just in future when he makes appearances he's going to get bigger crowds due to his time in Guns and his solo efforts will be more known also. I'm not denying his talent i like him in Guns and i think without him the current line up might struggle, it could take a while before a replacement is found and that could delay Guns in 2015 and beyond.

Yep, in any job where someone does well, they enjoy recognition in the future and perhaps have an impressive entry on their resume that might give them a little more clout. BBF's no different than anyone else with that.

I will miss BBF in the band. I thought he brought a lot to it, and he seemed very dedicated to trying to do the very best work he could. It's a pity he didn't have a chance to write and record new material with Guns; he would have been wonderful at it. I also agree that his departure will set the band back - if nothing else, finding a replacement or reworking the songs back to two guitars could take time.

IMHO it could have been avoided if TB and Axl had listened to his concerns a little more, though. It seemed as though all he was really asking for was better communication, and more advance notice of tours, and that wasn't unreasonable at all. Add in some tangible proof that recording might happen, and he probably would have been glad to stay. One can't fault him for moving on with his life at this point.

Edited December 22, 2014 by stella

[Amir]

Nuno Bettencourt time.

He was asked a few years back and said no. Dunno if it was when they were looking to replace Bucket in '06 or when they were looking to replace Robin in '09 (think it was the former).

http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?/topic/179261-nuno-bettencourt-was-asked-to-play-in-gnr/

[wasted]

It is strange that Dj n Fortus have been working on material and Ron has been out of the loop.

Maybe Axl does want to strip back the sound to a more hard rock band. Dropping the more prog rock elements on CD. Dj seemed to be doing solos that Axl liked live. Maybe Ron will be on some of the old material but won't be part of the new material.

[Apollo]

I know he's been wanting to do this for a long time.

How do you know this? You guys friends in real life?

[Rovim]

It is strange that Dj n Fortus have been working on material and Ron has been out of the loop.

Maybe Axl does want to strip back the sound to a more hard rock band. Dropping the more prog rock elements on CD. Dj seemed to be doing solos that Axl liked live. Maybe Ron will be on some of the old material but won't be part of the new material.

I look at it as fucked up, but Axl seem to just use whatever guitar player he needs for specific ideas now that he has a lot of music recorded.

When Robin stepped into the bubble in '97, there wasn't much I suspect. Robin, Bucket, Paul, and Fortus have all written material for Axl. He has no problem taking a riff or a solo from years ago from the vault by someone and mix it with something that came after it by someone else.

He does seem to prefer DJ's approach right now. It's kinda like how you said: Axl is the director. He knows what he wants to hear, what idea is right for a Guns song.

I think it can be very frustrating to the band members and maybe to the fans too since it loses some of it's identity when you don't know who's doing what and more then one guitar player is responsible for it or it's 2 or 3 people playing their own idea of what it should be at the same time on top of each other.

But it's also exciting, cause now Axl can mix a lot of different styles of guitar playing and fuse it to form something more varied, and in it's own way, interesting enough to compete with the high quality of some of Slash's Guns work.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Rovim

[wasted]

Slash really didn't write that many songs. So from the perspective of CD, he's like as important as Ron. I guess I don't mean it like that. Once you have the basic material/songs then how you play it and tie it all together. With CD we know how it's balanced with the percussive element as strong as riffs, if not more so. In that landscape dropping in various guitarists doesn't seem to matter, other than the cohesion and holding it together.

But yeah there is a feeling like Axl is the control freak executive producer who comes down the set and fires everyone.

As good or interesting as DNB is it works more as a GNR song when Axl is lead and is involved like YCBM.

[Faxl Rows]

I think Ron's just trying to lay his plans out before Guns lay theirs out, a pre-emptive strike. If they have something that overlaps his plans he can turn around and say 'Nope, busy that day'.

[Majestic Beast]

His solo career not going to be more successful than his gnr career,people will forget him very soon.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Majestic Beast

[Iron MikeyJ]

My bet is he will whore himself out to That Metal Show as often as they'll let him. He'd probably be on every episode if the Trunk lets him...

[Trin9498]

Funny how people rip bbf. This guy wants to be in a band, not a cover band. No new material since '08. It could be debated if that was even "new" since the majority of it leaked. Hell, never mind new music, they can't even produce a new band photo. Bands write and release music somewhat regularly. Cover bands don't.

[Tom2112]

Look at the stepladder Axl has descended with his employees over the years. I mean, imagine in 1996 if you said that Axl will hire Ron and DJ and Fortrus and THAT is GNR, all hail GNR, these guys ARE Appetite, they ARE Illusions. What a crock of shit.

Who's Axl's gonna get after Ron? Bobby Joe from down at the local middle school? Fat Dad Rick from the local suburban bar band?

It doesn't matter, just put on an mp3 of Slash's playing. That's all that these employees are doing anyway.

Such nonsense! Exactly which one of those was Ron? fat dad rick or bobb joe... because I'm pretty sure that the worlds most successful instrumental guitar player Joe satriani wouldn't recommend just anyone for a job. Facts are Bumble is a fantastic guitar player, but he's not Slash so you people will always hate him, just like you hated every other player in the band before and after Slash. People really need to get on with their lives. Bumbles style is something completely to the left of Slash's playing style, Bumble can play all the pretty Blues inspired solos and Queen type things, but he can also play souped up EVH guitar, and there's not many who are aware of Bumble that aren't wildly impressed by his playing, the amount of times his name gets dropped in guitar techniques, total guitar and guitar world by all sorts of players is astounding (guthrie Govan certainly gives him plenty of kudos and Guthrie's considered to be one of the best players currently around).

It's also funny how people conveniently forget how much CD material the band played and continue to play when they tour, the band obviously play old material and they obviously play it like the record... what's the problem with that? I remember when he didn't play the solo's just like Slash and people were quite unhappy. If the band reinterpreted the old GnR catalogue you wouldn't be happy and you're not happy right now that they play spot on versions of great songs with great energy, technique and enthusiasm. This argument of "He didn't write that song, they should retire all the songs written by the old band and only play CD material or retire" is complete horse dung! Some people will never be pleased, so I would suggest moving on or taking music a little less serious so you can enjoy things for what they are.

[star]

I guess by *Guns* he means the hired hands..

..as Axl is Rose(s)

I guess all the Guns/Hired-hands will be busy in 2015 just like BF will be busy in 2015.

Dizzy will be doing his thing, DJ will be doing his thing, I'm guess Pittman and Tommy and maybe Frank will be doing something.

That leaves Axl, who might be playing all those tapes he has, sent over from the CD sessions ?

[AxlsMainMan]

Nuno Bettencourt time.

He's touring and making a new album with Extreme in 2015.

I'm sure he could fit Gn'R into his schedule. Everyone in this band seems to have no shortage of time to do their own thing.

[maynard]

What can the fans expect for 2015? Are there any major projects that you are working on for that year?

Well, if I stick to the deadlines, my new album will be released on February 24^th. I don’t even have a name for the new album yet. The mixes are almost done. There’s also a band that I produced, as a recording project, that’s turning into something more which is going to have a release next year. It’s called Art of Anarchy. That should be pretty interesting. We shot some videos for it. It’s going to be an interesting year, 2015, between Bumblefoot and Art of Anarchy and whatever else. I have some mini-tours coming up in February and March. I have some Thailand and UK shows. I have something at a guitar festival in France also. I’m also doing a rock school in the island of Corfu in Greece in August. People can come down to Corfu so I can torture them musically for a week! So we can work on music during the day, chill on the beaches in the afternoon, and then go to different pubs at night and jam. It’s going to be a busy year!

Source: http://www.metality.net/2014/12/interview-with-bumblefoot-and-nik-uzi.html

Edited December 30, 2014 by maynard

[The Glow Inc.]

Finally. Looks like he took the right decision.

[dando]

99.9% he's out

[Rovim]

Bumble out? great. Now there's no one left to shredfuck 14 Years.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Rovim

[Nosaj Thing]

He didn't say he was out, did he? I guess he still needs the Gn'R name to promote his solo efforts.

[Tom2112]

If that's how he intends to do things in 2015... why does he still advertise himself on the corfu website as the GnR lead guitar player, why are his UK Bumblefoot shows still using the GnR name on the posters? surely he approves these things. If you're walking away, walk... with your head up! don't scrimp away the last bits of exposure from the band that has propelled you to the mainstream. To do something like that is fine, but in his interviews he's always came across as someone with integrity and confidence in himself... doing this shows that he knows the power of the GnR brand, he wants to quit but if he outright quits the band he can no longer use the GnR name with promoters and the album in February will not get the same attention.

Disappointing, but it his career to do with it as he pleases, In my personal opinion I think Guns tour and record so sporadically that most musicians could have a pretty healthy solo career going at the same time.

Now! we all know why things have got to this stage, GnR management have not really done their job... that's communicating months in advance to the band to confirm tours to avoid conflicts and basically do the managerial roles expected of a band manger(s). It's great that Axl has people that he cares about around him, but he needs to put a head manager with business know-how in charge, someone with a proven track record so he organise his career and not mess around the guys in his band. The only reason the other guys are not jumping ship right now is GnR are a steady(ish) well paying job and a writing credit on the next album(s) would be a big plus on their resume, and to earn the same money out of GnR would require two or three times the amount of travel, playing to less people and living in far less luxury in doing so... on top of that they'd see their families much less too.

[WhazUp]

What can the fans expect for 2015? Are there any major projects that you are working on for that year?

Well, if I stick to the deadlines, my new album will be released on February 24^th.

Good for Ron, he should be a part of an album that will actually be released next year so I think he is making the right choice.

I am 99 percent sure 2015 for GNR will just be the same ol' song and dance that has been going on since 2011