Jump to content

Todd Kerns Interview with Richard


Recommended Posts

"Bucket is very musical, but I think a lot of guys like that — phenomenal, prodigious talent — they're not necessarily… I think Bucket's music is great," Fortus said (see video below). "What he does on his own, he's out there, but he did understand how to make three guitars work, and that's a very difficult thing. And he would lay out and just stand there and be weird and Bucket-y, and then he would come in on the choruses, and it would be huge. He got that; he understood that. [He's] a phenomenal talent. But the thing is, socially, guys like Bucket spend so much time in their bedroom practicing that they don't really — it's just different for them socially.

"Being in a band, you've gotta relate to people," Fortus continued. "And I think Bucket struggled with that. I always got along with him, but I think he really had a tough time with that. Same with [another former GUNS guitarist] Ron Thal [Bumblefoot] — he had a difficult time sort of assimilating into that 'band world,' 'cause he hadn't done it before."

Richard, who joined GUNS in late 2001 or early 2002, went on to talk about how playing with a group of people requires an ability to understand and connect to others, thereby developing social skills.

"When you think about that time that you spent rehearsing with other people, playing on stage with other people, traveling in a van, sleeping on floors with people, that teaches you how to be married to four other people," he said. "It really is a skill that you learn; it's a skillset that you have to develop, or it doesn't work. You've gotta be a team player, but you've also gotta be driven and motivated."

https://blabbermouth.net/news/richard-fortus-says-buckethead-and-bumblefoot-had-a-difficult-time-assimilating-into-band-world-within-guns-n-roses/

Edited by Sosso
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Buckethead is his gimmick and was part of the mystique of the early Chinese era. You look at Undertaker from WWE, he never broke character for 30 years and whenever a camera was on him, he was always the Dead Man. It's much the same with Bucket, so of course he was going to do his thing in a live setting. Axl was much the same as Bucket in terms of keeping himself to himself, but must have irked Richard that he never went out his way to socialise with them all (expected if the rumours of bullying are to be believed). It's interesting to see Richard's views on that era these past few years, certainly an intriguing period and I still wonder what would have happened had Robin never left, or had we had multiple albums with Bucket and Robin, which would have been phenomenal. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair here, Bucket never really had a chance either in that live setting. He was around for essentially half a tour before the whole thing blew up. 

We’ve heard a lot of what he brought to the studio though, which seems like he was able to step in there, show some of his creative force and influence the sound of the band

Edited by guitarpatch
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Dean said:

Buckethead is his gimmick and was part of the mystique of the early Chinese era. You look at Undertaker from WWE, he never broke character for 30 years and whenever a camera was on him, he was always the Dead Man. It's much the same with Bucket, so of course he was going to do his thing in a live setting. Axl was much the same as Bucket in terms of keeping himself to himself, but must have irked Richard that he never went out his way to socialise with them all (expected if the rumours of bullying are to be believed). It's interesting to see Richard's views on that era these past few years, certainly an intriguing period and I still wonder what would have happened had Robin never left, or had we had multiple albums with Bucket and Robin, which would have been phenomenal. 

what bullying rumours?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, mattromero said:

what bullying rumours?

That Tommy Stinson and Del James relentlessly picked on Buckethead and did not like him. Also, Robin apparently was not keen on Buckethead being in the band (although they were apparently cordial enough to each other). Ultimately, Buckethead was not a good fit for a "big band" like Guns N' Roses. He likes to do things his own way and be in control of all elements (Brain has mentioned this a few times). If anything, I think it's lucky we got as much recorded output from him as we did. 

Ron said that he believes part of the reason he started off on the wrong foot with GN'R was because he inherited Buckethead's role in the band, and neither Richard, Robin, or Tommy wanted a third guitarist. 

I do agree with Richard though. Buckethead was able to lay back and let Robin and Richard do the heavy lifting, thus making Bucket's contributions even more pronounced. I loved Ron as a guitarist (and I actually love most of his contributions to Chinese Democracy), but he did have a tendency to "overplay" at certain times (i.e., doing a shred solo over a song like "14 Years"). 

Edited by themadcaplaughs
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, ShadowOfTheWave said:

Fortus is a talentless, bitter cunt. I love that Axl didn't give him a writing credit for the parts of Better he wrote.

I wonder why he didn’t get a credit....it’s not like they were shy about dishing out the credits to everyone else! I think ‘talentless’ is a bit harsh as he seems to be a highly thought of player....but it does seem his personality grates with folk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, StayofExecution2020 said:

Is Richard even an artist? All be does is go on tour and play songs he had nothing to do with

He wrote stuff when he was in Dead Daisies but otherwise no, I agree with your statement. And anyways the addition of Doug Aldrich really brought the Dead Daisies to another level. Would much rather see him play than Fortus.

 

A while back someone had shared a video of Fortus and Frank playing with love spit love or someone on TV around 1995. Look at them there and then ask yourself if Slash and Duff (and Matt) back then would've even considered those 2 in GnR (or snakepit or something).

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, MaskingApathy said:

He wrote stuff when he was in Dead Daisies but otherwise no, I agree with your statement. And anyways the addition of Doug Aldrich really brought the Dead Daisies to another level. Would much rather see him play than Fortus.

A while back someone had shared a video of Fortus and Frank playing with love spit love or someone on TV around 1995. Look at them there and then ask yourself if Slash and Duff (and Matt) back then would've even considered those 2 in GnR (or snakepit or something).

He has writing credits with Love Spit Love. Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdMXwneqGqs

Fortus had also co-written the album by Pale Divine, the band he was in in the 80s/early 90s that seems to have been very popular locally in St. Louis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpmYAKtrCic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxBbbGmEktM

They sound like many goth new wave bands of the time.

The bands Gilby was in before GnR, although different, were not too similar to GnR either:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqbw1D6WDW0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdQ7xxGj3E8

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

He has writing credits with Love Spit Love. Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdMXwneqGqs

Fortus had also co-written the album by Pale Divine, the band he was in in the 80s/early 90s that seems to have been very popular locally in St. Louis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpmYAKtrCic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxBbbGmEktM

They sound like many goth new wave bands of the time.

The bands Gilby was in before GnR, although different, were not too similar to GnR either:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqbw1D6WDW0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdQ7xxGj3E8

 

Gilby was still very rock n roll back then though, and well liked in the scene that GnR was part of, which led to him being asked to join when Izzy left.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Gackt said:

It's funny how this logic only applies to GNR, when Bucket's been involved in multiple bands (both live and studio), and Bumble's had great success with Sons of Apollo, and working with Asia.  :jerkoff:  

You basically confirmed his words because Bumble joined SoA and Asia after he left GN'R. What does that say about his band experiences before 2006? Also, you know Bucket better than anyone else here. I wouldn't compare "nerdy" bands like Primus to big bands like GN'R. 

Edited by Sosso
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Sosso said:

You basically confirmed his words because Bumble joined SoA and Asia after he left GN'R. What does that say about his band experiences before 2006? Also, you know Bucket better than anyone else here. I wouldn't compare "nerdy" bands like Primus to big bands like GN'R. 

He had a specific "band" originally when he started releasing solo albums, but later became a solo act with various other musicians till he reached performing with GNR; I don't follow his career or know him personally, but he seems like he hasn't had any troubles working with others besides his time in Guns.

With Bucket it's an entirely different beast; he already had international touring under his belt with Praxis pre-GNR, and had several great band tours as a solo artist with Dan Monti and Brain (or Pinchface), and performing with larger bands like C2B3 and Deli Creeps.  I don't think either Bucket nor Bumble have troubles assimilating into band environments, it's more on the people that might be unwilling to accept them in said band.  GNR's always been weirdly like a clique, but the combination of egos in the 2000's era (looking at Brain's natternet interview regarding Zutaut) might have been too much for some to handle.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Gackt said:

It's funny how this logic only applies to GNR, when Bucket's been involved in multiple bands (both live and studio), and Bumble's had great success with Sons of Apollo, and working with Asia.  :jerkoff:  It seems like he and Tommy will always take shots at Bumble when given the opportunity, I feel bad for the guy.  No doubt in my mind the bullying environment in GNR was real.

Being in GNR is a different animal. Even Izzy didn’t want to be in a major touring rock band and all thy goes with it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Gackt said:

He had a specific "band" originally when he started releasing solo albums, but later became a solo act with various other musicians till he reached performing with GNR; I don't follow his career or know him personally, but he seems like he hasn't had any troubles working with others besides his time in Guns.

With Bucket it's an entirely different beast; he already had international touring under his belt with Praxis pre-GNR, and had several great band tours as a solo artist with Dan Monti and Brain (or Pinchface), and performing with larger bands like C2B3 and Deli Creeps.  I don't think either Bucket nor Bumble have troubles assimilating into band environments, it's more on the people that might be unwilling to accept them in said band.  GNR's always been weirdly like a clique, but the combination of egos in the 2000's era (looking at Brain's natternet interview regarding Zutaut) might have been too much for some to handle.

Yeah I was thinking that. Deli Creeps absolutely rock. Wish they had done more.

For Fortus to say things like Bucket has never been in a band, slept on a floor, travelled in a van... he clearly has no idea what or who he is talking about.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...