GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

jamester

10-2010
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe … nt=Twitter
GUNS N' ROSES Guitarist D.J. ASHBA To Perform National Anthem At KANSAS CITY CHIEFS Game - Nov. 15, 2010
GUNS N' ROSES guitarist D.J. Ashba will perform the national anthem during the Arizona Cardinals at Kansas City Chiefs NFL football game on Sunday, November 21 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

Although it took more than a decade — 13 years, to be exact — for GUNS N' ROSES to release its "Chinese Democracy" album in 2008, the follow-up to that effort may come sooner than anyone thinks. Ashba said in an interview at this month's launch party for the "Call Of Duty: Black Ops" video game that the band is "talking about that right now. We've been throwing around a bunch of ideas and it should be good, man. We've got a lot of good stuff on the plate coming out. It won't take as long, I promise." Ashba added, "I'm excited to get this next one rolling . . . Axl [Rose, lead singer] has a lot of good shit up his sleeve, so I'm really excited about it."

In addition to Ashba and sole original member Rose, the current lineup of GUNS N' ROSES includes guitarists Ron Thal and Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.

Ashba joined GUNS N' ROSES in March 2009 following the departure of Robin Finck. Rose stated about D.J.'s addition to the group at the time, "D.J.'s a gifted, energetic guitarist that GUNS N' ROSES is proud to have on board!! We're very excited to have the opportunity to work together. GUNS' radar has silently been aware of D.J.'s presence for quite some time. He brings a fresh approach to our particular brand of mayhem expanding the tapestry of GUNS N' ROSES live. Once D.J.'s name was in the hat, the hat disappeared!!"

http://www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?id=8948

jamester062001 wrote:

Dj ASHBA™ Heading to Kansas city to play the national anthem for the Kansas City Chiefs vs Cardinals NFL game tomorrow at arrowhead stadium for 80,000!! Wish me luck!! Ha!
Yesterday at 10:20am ·
EDIT: 11-2010
DjASHBA

Warming up up for my soundcheck. http://yfrog.com/jo5yioj Gonna try to stream live http://justin.tv/ashbacam in a few. 2 minutes ago via Twitterrific
http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak … 7223_n.jpg
ashbacam Broadcasting from my iPhone 4!
Videos
http://www.justin.tv/ashbacam
1. http://www.justin.tv/ashbacam/b/274304992
2. http://www.justin.tv/ashbacam/b/274305751
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw9bnZ87j8A
3. http://www.justin.tv/ashbacam/b/274308151
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrdUZ-oiIdo
4. http://www.justin.tv/ashbacam/b/274308315
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmwaUaz90hA
5. http://www.justin.tv/ashbacam/b/274308321
6. http://www.justin.tv/ashbacam/b/274308460
http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg708/scaled … &ysize=640
tommy_stinson

couldn't find anyplace to watch dj play the national anthem for the k.c. cheifs game today. anyone catch it? how did he do? about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck
DjASHBA

Figured we try this streaming live stuff. This clip is from our sound check this am. Thanks for checking out AshbaCam http://j-tv.me/dht67A about 1 hour ago via web
DjASHBA

I uploaded a YouTube video -- Dj ASHBA Performing the National Anthem http://youtu.be/LL3LgP6hCZ4?a less than 10 seconds ago via Google
(Proshot kinda )

jamester

10-2010
http://www.bumblefoot.com/press/2010101 … ece%29.htm
Who's today's best guitarist?
OCT 10, 2010[

I am thinking many different things these days, mainly meaningless ones. We all see and hear the corporate media propaganda about everything, include music of course. Let's take who is the best guitarist today. I like many ones: Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), Joe Bonamassa, John Frusciante, Derek Trucks, Jackie Greene and others. All of them are top in what they play, but some lack of technique, some others lack of music range (as Bonamassa). There is one in my mind who doesn't lack in anything. Composition, mind, innovation, technique, range, everything. That's Bumblefoot, the current Guns N' Roses guitarist. Ok, I have written quite many things about him, but he hasn't received yet the recognition he deserves. Just hear his "Abnormal" album. Maybe the album of the decade. Then consider the budget of this album. That makes even greater his achievement.

From what I know, Bumblefoot is a great person too. He doesn't live in villas with swimming pools, he doesn't forget that his occupation is about music and not life style. He's always down-to-earth and close to the fans. Even tired after a live, he'll play acoustic guitar for the fans in the hotel lobby, they'll take photos with him, even he'll take some of them for dinner. The most gentleman since Rory Gallagher. Also, he handles the music he creates on his own, without P.R consultants and managers. I'm waiting his next solo album. I'm sure that it could be even better than "Abnormal". The future lies ahead for Ron Thal.

jamester

10-2010
10-14-2010 London The O2 Arena GnR with Duff for first time Since 1993.They played the night before also. 2 shows sold out @ 20,000

Setlist from NewGnR.com

Sebastian Bach 'Youth Gone Wild
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjKy15l6 … _embedded#!

Setlist:

ENCORE
25-Bumblefoot Guitar Solo
26-Don't Cry (W/Axl & Crowd, Dj, Tommy,and Frank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRA_OCJrNX4
27-Madagascar(band Slow jam)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIjMbqAbpbk
28-Patience [With Duff McKagan on tambourine]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTb-2QKILtg
29-Whole Lotta Rosie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4Z0SGQ5_r0
30-Jam [Waiting on a Friend]
31-Paradise City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHivlQAOKQc

Duff Events:

-Duff McKagan played with Guns N' Roses after 17 years. He joined the band for the songs: You Could Be Mine (Bass)
, Nice Boys (Guitar) Knockin' On Heaven's Door (Guitar)
and Patience (Tambourine)

-Duff and Bumblefoot swapped instruments during Patience.

They played eight songs from Chinese Democracy, seven from Appetite For Destruction, three from Use Your Illusion I, two from Use Your Illusion II, two from Lies and one cover.

Axlin16

I had no clue this guy have THAT many interviews.

jamester

Axlin08 wrote:

I had no clue this guy have THAT many interviews.

Nor did I ! I could post him like 10:1 with all other GnR members combined.

I try to keep balance But Bumble is such a nice guy with his time. He really seems to enjoy talking to interviewers and fans alike. A true humble entertainer imo and a blessing to GnR.

I often wonder if Bumbles approach to interviews and speaking to fan forums inspired Axl's forum chats. He says "bumble has alot more experience at this than I do"

BTW he is a moderator @ his own bumblefoot forums. The posts are slow over there but it has a comfy family type vibe.
Bumble interviews 1989-present @ http://www.bumblefoot.com/press.php

jamester

10-2010
GnR with Duff @ 02 London reviews, thoughts and illusions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/oc … ses-review
Guns N' Roses - review The O2, London

Axl Rose Strangulated yowls ... Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose. Photograph: Mark Allan/AP

Guns N' Roses's last venture to this part of the world was not an unmitigated success. Headlining Reading festival six weeks ago, they took to the stage an hour late and suffered the ignominy of having the power cut off as they careered through the festival's curfew. Failing to learn from this error, they were equally tardy in Dublin a week later, where Axl Rose was bottled by a hacked-off crowd.

Such is the degree of concern at Rose's timekeeping that tube staff warn the punters arriving at this show that they are likely to find tumbleweed blowing through the station if they stay until the evening's bitter end. The upshot is that the audience feels perversely grateful when the house lights go down a mere 45 minutes after Guns N' Roses were billed to appear.

The band are still promoting Chinese Democracy, the notorious 2008 album that took 17 years to complete and saw every single member except Rose quit the group. It's a half-decent heavy rock album buried under layers of production and gratuitous faffing, which is an entirely apposite description of this show. Guns have stellar moments, but they don't half go on. My Lord, do they go on.

In their planet-bestriding 80s heyday, the band wrote raw, thrilling, venal rock songs about sex and violence, powered by mercurial, quicksilver riffs from guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin. That pair are now long gone, their places taken by a tag-team of three guitarists whose fiddly fills and frills suffocate the life even out of such undeniable pop-metal classics as Welcome to the Jungle and the hard-edged Mr Brownstone.

Wrapped in a bandana and sporting a mildly camp trucker moustache, Rose now resembles a bizarre hybrid of Mickey Rourke, Mick Hucknall and Fu Manchu rather than the baby-faced rock god of yore – but he remains a magnetic frontman. His strangulated yowl has withstood the ravages of the years, and sounds powerful on the Nine Inch Nails-influenced electro-metal of Shackler's Revenge and 80s anthem Sweet Child O' Mine. Yet even Rose notably absents himself from the stage as his sidemen widdle their way through their countless between-song solos.

Put simply, there's way too much filler, not enough thriller – and midnight has long passed by the time Axl Rose, two-and-a-half hours into a seemingly interminable set, caterwauls his way through the closing song, Paradise City. Guns N' Roses, the band who don't know when to start their shows, also have no idea when to end them.

Comments in chronological order (Total 50 comments)
killkurtskids

14 October 2010 11:33PM

i thought they were fucking amazing. Nothing pretentious, just good rock music played better than I've heard them play it in 20 years. How you can arse lick Iggy Pop and AC/DC for their increasingly dull yet bulletproof performances and then piss on this is incredible.

Yes it was a long show, since 1989 they've been famous for their excess and it's part of what made them so loveable next to the sweaty too-school-for-school grunge bands. Is 50 year Axl rose going to play a 22 song set without giving the guitarists a solo spot to catch his breath? Jesus, you're reviewing a rock dinosaur, not the fucking shite Libertines! Yes it's long, it's the band who gave you that fucking November Rain video! Do you know who Guns N' Roses were? Slash was often given 15 minute solo spots, hell, back in the day there was a 10 minute drum solo!

It's not Guns N' Roses as we knew it, but it's easily the most fun you'll have seeing a band play an arena this year.

justanothersunday

15 October 2010 12:19AM

My God! 2 stars?!! Where you actually there? They were amazing!! What the hell is the press' problem with writing fairly about Axl Rose and GnR in this country? These guys are a proper rock n' roll band and there's nothing like them anywhere in the world. Brilliant!!

bigyax

15 October 2010 12:48AM

Oh come on! They were amazing. The whole band worked there asses off and put on an incredible show. Three hours (nearly) of incredible music, sung by one of the greatest front men of one of the greatest bands of all time. My only regret is that I didn't get to go to tonight's show. Me and my brother had a three and a half hour drive back, but it passed so quickly because we were both just buzzing. It really was brilliant. And if you don't like lots of guitar solos what were you doing reviewing this gig?

My rating - a big fat 10/10 (and yeah, I'm biased, but i'm a FAN, so there

Obgeektor

15 October 2010 1:06AM

killkurtskids

14 October 2010 11:33PM

Do you know who Guns N' Roses were?

"WERE" being the operative word!

Why the FUCK respect a band for what they WERE, when it just makes it ever the more painful that what they ARE is so irrelevant? It's not even the same members growing old pathetically, like another few bands we could mention. It's worse! One member of the band, just one.

I was a massive fan of GnR back in the early 90s, since I was old enough to hear the first album, in fact. I never saw them live, and I couldn't give a toss to see this incarnation, as if it could be some sort of surrogate. Even though I listen to the likes of 'Rocket Queen' and 'Coma' weekly. Genius rock songs.

This is a waste of time and a waste of a good name, and I gave it a chance, too, just in case it was worth it. It was no surprise to find that it wasn't.

Saying you saw G n R here, is even worse than, for example, saying you saw 'Led Zeppelin' just because the remaining 3/4 of the group decided to call it that name when they played in 2007 (also at the O2).
No. You. Didn't.
It gets close to a collective act of self-delusion. Very sad.

So, you didn't actually see Guns N Roses, you saw a band named Guns N Roses. The tribute bands going around are probably more worthy, and the hired members in Axl's band are hopefully getting paid well, and that's all it's about. Good music dies a death at such sterile, money-centric occasions.

Most people I see verbally-fellating GnR these days are not the kind of rock fans to go down their local gig venue and see a real band play their own songs in a humble and passionate way, raw music, rather than these over-paid primadonnas putting on an overblown show. Such fans seem more like actual unhinged fanatics, ready to follow a band to a fault - and to lap-up any crap sold to them.
They seem to prefer an attempt at living in the past, rather than savouring the memories - if they even have them.
If you weren't there 1986-1995, you weren't there. I respect the music so much that I also respect the original composers, and the current setup is so removed from that, along with Axl's arrogance of starting late, that it offends that respect for the music. I can't get the past glories back, and I'd rather not pretend to try. Why do you?

If you want a big show by a good rock (metal) band, who actually re-attracted previous members as well as retaining their classic line-up, then go and see Iron Maiden.

Sure, they haven't progressed much if at all, but by God, they didn't need to at their level! They play properly, with an appropriate amount of pride for their stature, and the music is still reasonable (well past their heyday, but not as worthless as GnR's last 18 years).

I still prefer small, down-to-earth, all-about-the-music gigs, but the only pain one should feel at a large gig is in ones bladder for holding it too long, or ones ears for not using protection. It should definitely not be for the lost integrity of the band and their frontman.

Obgeektor

15 October 2010 1:12AM

Also sorry, killkurtskids I mis-interpreted your reference to the length of G n R songs/ solos as irrelevant to the argument but realise it was directed at the reviewer for their ignorance of G n R's general style, post 1991.
I still think that "not Guns N Roses as we knew it" is far too vast an understatement, though.

justanothersunday

15 October 2010 8:51AM

Obgeektor, I did see the 'old' GnR live in the early 1990s and by that time two of the original 5 members had already gone...so??? They were excellent then but were even better on Wednesday. Your comments around this not being GnR etc etc are now well worn, tired and boring. Just live with the fact that there is a band called Guns N' Roses today, whether you like it or not, and they played the O2 on Wednesday. Your comments are irrelevant to this article, which was supposed to represent a fair review of that band's live musical performance. As usual, all the other bullshit is continually allowed to get in the way.

By the way, in terms of the "small, down-to-earth, all-about-the-music" bands you tell us you love...do you realise how many times member changes occur in such bands month in month out and, guess what, they don't run around changing the name of the band every time a drummer or singer decides they've had enough of endless gigging for meagre reward. It happens at all levels of music. If that annoys you, you're right, don't go to their gigs. But for God's sake leave those of us who still just want to witness a top-class group of musicians absolutely rip it up (whatever size the gig) alone please!

littlebounce

15 October 2010 9:56AM

I saw Guns n' Roses in Paris in 1992, which was fantastic... and saw Axl and his support band last month here in Geneva.

Yeah. Well. I wouldn't have missed it for worlds, it was great fun, I got to sing along (to the old stuff, Chinese Democracy, lord, what a load of...), but... Hey, it wasn't what it was back then.

Was I disappointed? No. I had a lovely time. Nostalgia ensured that I got to ignore Axl not being able to hit the notes right, I thought his support guitarists were pretty damn good, they did all the favourites... and only the fact that the car park was going to close for the night (hey, Switzerland...) meant that we had to leave before the end and miss Paradise City was a bit of a spoiler.

Much better than the Kiss concert my husband dragged me to a few months earlier, but not as fun as the Rammstein concert a few months before that! Rock on, Axl.
____________________________________________________________
http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/10/15/so … s-reunion/
Reunion Mania
SO DOES THIS MEAN WE’RE GETTING A GUNS N’ ROSES REUNION?
Friday, October 15th, 2010 at 10:00am by Axl Rosenberg
So Duff McKagan joined Axl Rose and his new Guns N’ Roses on-stage at the 02 Arena in London last night, playing bass for “You Could Be Mine” (video above) and rhythm guitars for “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and “Nice Boys.” (You can also see photos here.) Inevitably, this is going to make people ask the question: “Is the original line-up (or something closely resembling the original line-up) of Guns N’ Roses getting back together?” As MetalSucks’ resident GN’R geek, I hereby take it upon myself to provide reckless analysis regarding this blessed event. After the jump, get both sides of the argument, as provided by my drug-addled fanboy brain.

THIS DON’T MEAN SHIT

Well, for one thing, effort was made to spare Tommy Stinson’s feelings. Seriously, why the hell else would you stick a guitar in Duff’s hands if not to reassure Stinson that his job is safe? (And don’t point out that McKagan has played guitar with other bands. He’s famous for being a bass player and he wasn’t the fucking guitar player in Guns N’ Roses, so having him play guitar in that band makes no fucking sense. It would be like if Metallica invited Dave Mustaine to jam on some old Metallica tunes, but only if he played the drums. That’s not what the fans wanna see, fuckos.)

More relevant, though, is that what GN’R have going against them that most potential reunions do not is Axl Rose. Whatever else you wanna say about the guy — and you can say a lot — it’s hard to argue that he’s not legitimately fucking crazy. Either that, or he’s spent the last 23 years pulling off a performance that would make Andy Kaufman jealous. But assuming he’s as nuts as he seems, it’s hard to not take him seriously when he says that either he or Slash “will die before a reunion” occurs, as he told Billboard last year.

And more relevant still is this: Duff actually isn’t the first member of GN’R's classic line-up to perform with the Nu-Gunners. In 2006, Izzy Stradlin guested at not one but two shows with Axl and company, one in New York and one at Download in England. Obviously, that lead to nothing.
_____________________________________________________________
http://www.hennemusic.com/2010/10/guns- … usses.html
Friday, October 22, 2010
Guns N' Roses: Duff McKagan discusses London experience

To say that Duff McKagan joining Guns N’ Roses onstage at London’s 02 Arena last week was HUGE would be an understatement; the event cause a flurry of activity across the globe as GNR fans waited for news, updates and video of the show.

The funny thing is, the whole thing happened quite by accident.

"Things happen, in life, pretty crazy at times you least expect things to happen,” Duff told KISW Seattle’s “The BJ Shea Morning Experience” yesterday. "I got to London last Thursday (October 14). I was there on separate business — a separate business even from music. I checked into the hotel in London I stay at all the time. And the hotel manager came, 'Hey, Duff, we'll show you up to your room.' He goes, 'So you're playing tonight?' And I said, 'No, no, I'm here on just business this time — I'm not playing this time around.' And he looks at me strangely. 'What? You're not playing tonight?'”

“I had no idea Axl and Guns N’ Roses were in London — I had no idea,” Mckagan continued. “So, we're going up the elevator and he said, 'You know, Axl is in the room next to us.' And I had to go straight into meetings. All the meetings were... I was staying in sort of a conference room and bedroom — it was a conference room on one side of the wall and the bedroom on the other. And I went straight into these meetings and these were with sort of Wall Street people. So it was very serious meetings I was into, something I had worked on for a year.”

Here’s where things start to pick up. “So, I'm in these meetings and my phone starts ringing later on in the day in my hotel room; it was kind of managers and tour managers,” said Duff. “The word (was) out I (was) in the hotel. And it came down to the simple fact... Axl and I just sort of met up, we saw each other and we hugged. I went down to the gig with him.”

"The show is going on and I'm watching it,” Duff said. “And somebody comes over with a bass... 'Now, I haven't played 'You Could Be Mine' since 1993. A lot of the other songs, like 'Paradise City' and 'Mr. Brownstone' and 'It's So Easy', I've played with Velvet Revolver or Loaded, but 'You Could Be Mine', I was, like, 'Oh, God. OK, I can play it. I think I remember it.' There's a bridge there. I'd forgotten the second part of the bridge, and I had to look at (guitarist) Bumblefoot, his guitar neck, to see where the next guitar chord was. But, yeah, it was fun. I had a great time."

"It was a little but heavy. When people saw it... It wasn't heavy for me so much. I was kind of more concerned about the band that he's put together — great, great players, great guys. I've gotten to know Bumblefoot and Tommy (Stinson, bass) and Frank (Ferrer), the drummer. And, of course, there's Dizzy (Reed, keyboards). It's a great band and I didn't wanna do anything to lessen what they were doing."

Duff was fully aware that things around him changed following the gig. “After that show in London, I could have gotten a free dinner and free car service everywhere I went every night I was in London after that. And I had to kind of hide. I went and saw Ronnie Wood play Tuesday night, and I had to kind of watch out for the sharks running about, even at that gig — it was kind of a private gig, and there were the manager types and the agent types. All of a sudden I was a little more handsome than I'd been before I came to London because everybody was complimenting me. 'Hey, Duff, you look great.'"

Duff says he and Axl met up the following day. “We had a nice dinner the day after the show, and that was it."

While fans wonder whether there’s more “mini-reunions” to come, or THE full reunion of the classic GNR lineup, Duff won’t even begin to speculate. "I have nothing to say about it. It's not... I don't know. It's not anything that I worked or planned for. I work and plan for my kids next year in school, or my business, or indeed Loaded. But that kind of thing, it's not something I sit there and go, 'OK, one day this is gonna happen.' Last thing happened, and it was very serendipitous, and the blood was in the water, no doubt.”
__________________________________________________________
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2 … ements.php
Duff McKagan
Replacements
By Duff McKagan, Mon., Oct. 25 2010 @ 10:06AM

Duff McKagan's column runs every Thursday on Reverb. He writes about what music is circulating through his space every Monday.
About a week and a half ago, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Tommy Stinson. For those of you who don't know, he is the guy who replaced me in Guns N' Roses. But also for those of you who don't know, Tommy is known to a lot of us music fans for his work in his first band, The Replacements.

Our meeting last week was by no means the first time we have hung out. No, back in 1983, my band 10 Minute Warning opened for The Replacements right here in Seattle, at the long-defunct punk club Metropolis.

Tommy is a great fucking guy, and I always come away glad when our paths have crossed over the years.

So here is a nod to you my friend. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, The Replacements:

"Kick Your Door Down" (Sorry Ma! Forgot To Take Out The Trash, 1980): This is the year that American punk rock really started to come into its own. This was also the year that The Replacements put Minneapolis on the map as far as the young rock mind went.

"Left Of The Dial" (Tim, 1985): "Left Of the Dial" is an old term used to inform listeners where college radio was located on the FM number dial read-out. The 'alternative' to everything else was located down there. The Replacements were of course, an alternative to everything else before that term was used simply as a hip marketing term.

"I'll Be You" (Don't Tell A Soul, 1989): This decade was remembered for Prince, Madonna, U2, and Duran Duran. What many of us knew then though was that The Replacements were just plain heroes to the rest of us.
__________________________________________________________
http://www.gnrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?id=8850&p=1

-D- wrote:

SLASH Talks About DUFF MCKAGAN's Jam With GUNS N' ROSES, Possibility Of Classic Lineup Reunion - Oct. 30, 2010
Legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES) was the featured guest on last night's (Friday, October 29) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow below (transcribed and edited for clarity by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):
On AEROSMITH's Steven Tyler signing on as a judge on "American Idol"
Slash: "It's really sort of disappointing to me that he's gone and done that, for whatever reason — a lot of it having to do with [that fact that] I just know the guy and the other guys in the band are bummed out and they've had a really rocky road for awhile. And then just because 'American Idol' is what it is, so it's hard for me to put the thing together."
On Duff McKagan joining GUNS N' ROSES on stage on October 21 at London, England's O2 arena:
Slash: "It was cool. I got an e-mail from Duff going, 'I'm checked into a hotel and Axl [Rose, GUNS N' ROSES singer] is in the room next to me.' And that's how it all started. And he just sort of kept me posted through the day and at one point he said he was going down to the venue with Axl. And I was, like, 'Wow!' 'Cause a lot of years have gone by. And so then the next one was that he was gonna be going on stage or something. And so he went and they did, like, I think it was five or six songs. So it was cool. And then the next day he told me it was great, everything was very cool, they went out and had dinner, and so they had that sort of, whatever, rekindling kind of thing. All things considered, the only thing I said about it was that... 'cause I know that they still ended up going on an hour late. And I was, like, 'Oooh.' That's the only part that would have left a bad taste in my mouth, supporting that."
On why he (Slash) seems to be the only member of the classic GUNS N' ROSES lineup that Axl is not "cool" with:
Slash: "I think there's some deep-seeded stuff there. And it really can only come down to what was going on at the time when I finally said, 'I've gotta go.' And I think there was a certain sense of abandonment there. So it probably stems from that. And then even though I try to keep a politically correct tongue in this situation, I have at times really spoken my mind about the situation, especially when VELVET REVOLVER's first record came out, I was inundated with all this press and that was all that they wanted to ask about, and my first gut reaction was venting. So there was a lot of negativity that was sort of expressed then and has since been perpetuated by the media on a regular basis. So there's a certain kind of tension that just hangs in there."
On whether he would ever consider taking part in a reunion of the classic GUNS N' ROSES lineup:
Slash: "It's been a long time. So, all things considered, if he [Axl] really decided he wanted to do it and the other guys all wanted to do it... I mean, I know everybody's around, but there has been no conversation, like, 'Let's get the band back together.' If everybody wanted to do it and it was very clear amongst us, which means we would have to clean up some personal stuff, which we haven't even begun that. So then the biggest and most important part of it was... 'cause it seems like it would be a lot of fun to do, just go back out there, and it seems like a relatively simple idea and there's a ton of fans out there that would love to see it. It'd be cool. But we'd have to do things way differently than we did in '91, '92, '93 and whatever... And I don't think that's changeable. That whole production would have to tighten up and be like a real working band, and I don't think that's salvageable."
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe … mID=148573

jamester

10-2010
GUNS N’ ROSES: Bumblefoot Says Shut Up and Eat Your Vegetables
Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The French website metalchroniques.fr
http://metalchroniques.fr/guppy/article … fr&pg=4792
just published an interview with Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal conducted as GUNS N’ ROSES were playing in France for the first time in four years. The interview includes questions about Bumblefoot‘’s point of view on the “Axl’s cover band” issue and about their secret gig in Paris as well as a live report of the band’s Amnéville concert.

An excerpt concerning the ‘cover band’ piece reads:

Those opinions matter to me about as much as a vegetarian’s opinion matters to the owner of a steakhouse. With the new music, I *do* cover the guitar parts I wrote and recorded, in songs written and recorded by the people in the band I’m playing in. So yeah, there ya go. A lot of the issues are about the name – there are those who take offense to keeping the name with all the line-up changes, I get it. That’s why I call this band “GNR”. I acknowledge the changes, and also think the current band deserves to be recognized as its own band and not be in the shadow of the past. But really, aren’t there bigger things in life to worry about? This kind of stuff is so trivial. Go to a show, and have fun. Or cry into a pillow and try and build a time machine. Your choice how ya wanna spend your day. This band, any band, exists for those that like it – if you don’t like it that’s totally ok, it’s simply not for you, the world is full of music, listen to something else. But complaining about it is pointless.
If you don’t like meat, shut up and eat your vegetables.

mickronson

Ron caught backstage

LOL

jamester

mickronson wrote:

Ron caught backstage
http://media.peopleofwalmart.com/wp-con … 0/2051.jpg
LOL

Thats awesome! rushing back to the stage after a "blow out"

jamester

10-2010
(A stand out interview IMO!)
Ron speaks on guitars, touring, Axl, pre and post show events, late starts and fun all in a positive way It is also open with depth to the questions and answers) Karma for Ron and Cool mag!
http://www.bumblefoot.com/press/2010100 … ria%29.htm
Bumblefoot Interview/GNR review
Martina Hackstock/Franz Hackstock
COOL magazine (Austria)
OCT 2010
20101001_-_Cool_magazine_(Austria)_n19_-_p6_p7.jpg
After a far too long time Guns n´ Roses has finally been on September 18th in Austria again as part of their Chinese Democracy World Tour. The sold out show in Vienna´s municipal hall has offered everything one expects from a rock concert: good, solid and energetic rock music and due to ballads like “This I love” and “November Rain” occasionally also very emotional songs, but in any case music that has been created and performed in an artistically challenging way.

In the early 1990ies singer Axl Rose had changed Rock Music. Today he is still irreplaceable and unmistakable. His voice is still one of the most distinctive voices of the Hard Rock genre and his pitch range is still pretty imposing.

The other band members have proved that they all are real masters on their instruments. Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, GNR-guitarist since 2006, has played his guitar in his usual very virtuos way. The versatile musician with his memorable and authentic style has verified once again that he really deserves his excellent reputation.

Before the show started Ron has taken a lot of time for doing an interview with “COOL” and he has been incredibly patient in answering all the following questions:

Martina: At the present you are busy with the GNR-Chinese Democracy Tour. You have done a lot of performances all over the world and right now you are doing the European leg of the Tour. Have there been any shows, which have enjoyed you in a very special way? And if so why?

Ron: Well, there’s always something about them. Usually it’s when the audience surprises me. For example I remember when we first started playing in Brazil suddenly in the middle of the show – how they had it in I have no idea -somehow they all revealed this giant flag bigger than this room all over their heads, a real huge flag with a nice message on it for us and about a hundred of people were holding it and I found out that about 70 people had made it in about two month. I stopped playing and said to Axl “Do you see this?” It is things like that that you do remember.

Martina: Tonight GNR are doing their Austrian gig. Have you ever been in Austria before?

Ron: Yes, we did a festival in Austria about 4 years ago in June of 2006 – it was Nova Rock. We were supposed to play, but it got cancelled or something happened like that I guess. But it wasn´t planned playing there a whole own show like here in Vienna. And playing a festival with a lot of bands is always a different thing than playing for people who are specifically there just for one band, just for Guns n Roses.

Martina: What are you usually doing before a show, if you don´t give interviews?

Ron: I go to catering ´cause usually I haven’t eaten all day and I just eat about 5 plates of food and than I stay there holding my stomach (laughing). And then I take out my guitar and play around till we get on stage.

Martina: What are the other band members usually doing before a show?

Ron: A lot of the same. You know backstage before a show is our home away from home, the place were we live before that moment that we can get on stage. I know there are a lot of people, who assume there are crazy parties going on and all that stuff but before a show that doesn’t happen; we are here to prepare and to get ready for the show.

Martina: By touring you travel many countries. Do you take time for seeing something of the countries like doing sightseeing, enjoying the landscapes and so on or is it just going from hotel to hotel and from venue to venue?

Ron: Most of the time you just see hotels and venues and airports and busses. Most time I don’t really see something else. I have been to Paris for about 15 times by touring and a few days ago it was the first time that we actually had got the chance to go and see the Eiffel tower. So most of the time I just see the sights out of the window and I quickly take a picture as it passes.

There is not really time for sight seeing, because with the travel schedule you often definitely need a rest before you go to the next show, because we are doing a 2 1/2 hour show, I have a 30 pound double neck guitar running round with and I can’t afford to be tired.

Martina: During a tour you have to spend a lot of time very close to the other band members. Does that only mean fun to you or does it also cause troubles sometimes?

Ron: Really no troubles, we have never had fights, we get along well, surprisingly well considering what a roller coaster this is all the time. You know when you are so bunched together there is no time to put your energy in a little paddy stuff. We all hang out, it´s really good. Last few days I was hanging out with Chris Pitman and his girl and then the next night I was out with DJ Ashba and Richard Fortus and his wife and we went to a nice restaurant. Yes it´s strangely good, unusually good. I guess we should go for a fight, we will start one tonight (laughing).

Martina: You have already mentioned that you are using a double neck guitar at your GNR gigs. It has one fret board and one fretless board. What’s special about playing with a fretless board?

Ron: A lot of stuff, for one thing you have to have the intonation like a cello, you need to be very precise, there are certain sounds that you can only really get from a fretless where you can drag notes and slide them like chords and you can get very dissonant sounds if you want. There´s a lot of things like that. But of course it´s more difficult to play than a fret board guitar.

Martina: Watching some videos of the tour I saw you wearing a thimble on your right hand. What is the reason for using it?

Ron: Oh, let me show you, I just take my guitar out. All right….So here is the thimble now, the guitar, the string, the fret und you are pressing the string down so that it´s touching the metal fret and that´s how we get a sound. But now just because we run out of the fret board the notes keep on going. So I use the thimble almost for replacing the fret and instead of touching the string to the fret I am touching the metal to the string. Doing this way I can get additional notes after the fret board has gone. So you can get all the higher notes out of playing with the thimble.

Martina: Besides your music you are known for modifying your guitars by yourself.

Ron: Nice word, it´s more destroying.

Martina: Is it so bad what you are doing with the guitars?

Ron: Yes, it´s pretty terrible, it´s really bad (laughing).

Martina: So why are you doing it? Are you still doing it?

Ron: No, I´m out of the business of destroying guitars. But as a kid I have always modified my guitars in strange ways, a lot of experimenting.

Martina: Was it just show or does it sound in another way after the modifying, for example after drilling holes in the guitar as you did?

Ron: Yes, a lot of that changes the sound, not always for the better. But it makes the guitar unique, you definitely can get a special sound out of it. But once I hooked up with that French company Vigier and they are doing much better and I left it to the pros. They did the foot guitar with the wings that came out. They do the fretless guitars. So they do it so much better and I just leave it to them and that is simplifying my life. They are making the guitars and I play them. It´s much better that way.

Martina: What are you guys usually doing after a show?

Ron: Well, it depends. Sometimes we jump right into the bus and start travelling to the next city. If we are staying in the city for a while there might be an afterparty. Or we go to a club, bar or we go back to the hotel room and just hang out till noon next day.

Martina: GNR does so many great shows, I read a lot of fan reports, which described the atmospheres like bursting with energy or really thrilling or breathtaking. But it happens that fans are upset because GNR doesn´t start the performance at the scheduled time, but much later. What are the reasons?

Ron: Sometimes there are technical reasons, sometimes there´s a problem with traveling in and that throws everything of.

Martina: Let´s talk about Axl´s relation to the press. Axl is known for being very reluctant towards the press and the press seems to blame Axl wherever they can.

Ron: Absolutely, he is a very easy target to blame by the press for anything because he is not giving interviews, he is not there. So if you are not going to speak for yourself and do not defend yourself, people would just run with anything. You know people have so many things to say about him although they didn’t actually meet him. But you will notice that anybody who had actually met him will say the same thing: he was great, he was very social, he was very hospitable, he was making you feel very comfortable, he is very generous, he was a lot of fun, he was full of stories, he did a lot of laughing, he always stops to sign anything and for taking pictures with anyone. So there are the people, that don’t know him and make up a lot of stories and there are the people that do know him and they all have nice things to say.

Martina: I absolutely think you are right, but according to the media Axl is supposed to be a very difficult person – difficult to handle, short tempered, being in a bad mood often.

Ron: Well it depends, I mean we all can have a short temper. The thing is that Axl is not allowed to be human, because everybody has him under a microscope and everybody is waiting for something that they can jump on, they entertain themselves in his name. So if he doesn’t smile on a photo people start making up stories “Oh he must be angry about this and about that”. But that happens. That happens to anybody that has a celebrity myth about them. People will just invent things to entertain themselves. And most of the time Axl doesn’t bother with it I guess. He just wants to have a good time.

Martina: There have been some GNR-shows that caused a lot of rumours like Reading, Leeds, Dublin.

Ron: We have done a phenomenal show in Belfast and no one mentions that, it was fantastic. We had an incredible show in Rome and no one mentions that, we had incredible shows in France and nobody mentions that. We did a great acoustic show in Paris and no one mentions that. All that is mentioned is that people were throwing things at the band.

Martina: In particular it was Reading that was surrounded by most rumours. Could you tell us what has really happened there?

Ron: It was not as troublesome as it sounds like when you read about it. We were -like we always do -later then the scheduled time, but that happens and if you are going to book GNR you need to know that the curfew is going out the window.

Martina: It was reported by the press that the organizer has pulled out the plug, so that GNR was not able to finish the show anymore.

Ron: Yes, but there were only a few songs left. We would have done another two, three songs. And we have already played for about two hours or something like that. We tried to do the last songs in an acoustic way, Axl grabbed the bullhorn, I grabbed the acoustic guitar but of course that was impossible, a hundred thousand people will not going to hear. And I tried to bring people on to the stage but the local security wouldn’t help me. I wanted to bring 10 people from the front of the audience on to the stage for giving them an acoustic show right there just for them.

Martina: It was also reported that Axl was so upset about the organizer and the whole situation in general that he has fired the whole technical crew. Is that right? Have you heard that rumour?

Ron: I´ve heard it, but it´s not true. But I hear all kinds of rumours. I heard that in Dublin we walked off and then most of the audience left and we didn’t finish the show. But we went back on ahead like 25, 30 Minutes later almost after we had sorted a few things out and we did the entire show to the very end.

And the place was not empty like some press reports wanted it to be. I mean the thing is you can read what the press says, but You Tube doesn´t lie. You go and watch the videos. You know, Reading was the same. The press said that the audience was booing us, but videos show that people were singing along and were having a great time. So people have to decide what they are going to believe, their own eyes or what some disgruntled and angry British press guy is writing. The press often is untrue and brutal and that´s disappointing. They want to entertain their readers even if it´s negative. They do not exact stories, they want to make things more interesting and concerning Reading, Leeds and Dublin they were really exaggerating some things at least from my perspective. I mean my perspective might be different from a person in the audience in the front row and it might be much more different from a person in the audience a thousand feet back. But from my perspective it all wasn’t that mad. But also I might be a little bit desensitized to the craziness. But the only thing that I don´t like is when the audience is suffering. If we are late give them water, give them something on the screen, give them some entertaining while they wait, don´t leave them like they were sitting in the traffic for two hours. Give them something, don´t just leave them there and let them getting angry. The thing is, we entertain because we want to make people happy, we need to please people so that a hundred thousand people smile and cheer. That’s why I´m here, that´s why I do this. I like to entertain people and to make sure that they are having a good time. When the next day someone of the audience is sending a face book message saying this was the greatest night he had, that is such a great thing. But when the audience is suffering that destroys me, that kills me and that I have a really hard time with. And it doesn´t matter why it is happening, it shouldn´t happen and I am sensitive to it. But this is GNR and it will not change, we are always late and people need to know that, they need to bring snacks, they need to go to the bathroom first, they need to plan how they get home. That’s reality and I just don´t want people to be hurt by, that´s all.

Martina: You joined GNR in 2006. How did it happen that you signed up with them?

Ron: It started two years before in 2004 and Joe Satriani has sent me an e-mail and he said “I just recommended you to Axl. So if you get an e-mail or anything from him, you know that it’s not like someone who is just being funny.” So like a few hours later one of the guys in the band has sent me a funny e-mail, and then I had heard from the guy who was producing Chinese Democracy, about their recording schedule and something else and so we got in contact and I was just getting everything going and we were talking for about two month. And then rumours got out, that I was playing with GNR and that I was in the band.

I wanted to stop the rumours by posting something on the internet, just saying “We stopped, nothing is going on.” And you know it was getting in the way of the natural process of things and so when I tried to stop the rumours by saying that it just added fuel to the fire and it got worse and I have got a fight with the management and we were fighting for a couple of month. It was a really nasty fight and we didn’t talk for a year and a half. And then suddenly they just got back in touch and said “He, we are ready if you want, so let’s check it out.” And we started jamming, we rehearsed a couple of songs in New York and after two weeks we just went out and hit the road and did the European Tour.

Martina: You joined GNR in a late phase of the genesis of the Chinese democracy album. Was most work already done or did you get a chance to bring in your personal ideas and creative aspects?

Ron: It was difficult because everything was so full already. I mean you can’t pack another thing into those songs, they would have just exploded. A lot of the developing process was already done, about 80% of the album was finished. I brought in my guitars, brought in my fretless and we have been in studio just between the legs of our touring between 2006 and 2007. I have been in different studios in L.A. and in New York and we added tracks and a hundred things to every song, rhythms, leads, melodic stuff, a lot of stuff, crazy stuff, just strange stuff and then later we just zipped through it all, saw what worked best when there came time to mix and decided “Let´s use this, let´s not use that” and we did that for about 40 songs.

Martina: It must have been a hard working process.

Ron: It was tricky because a lot of songs I have never even heard before. They didn´t want me to hear anything, they didn´t want me to have a copy of anything, they were so worried about leaks. So often I had to go in hearing it for the first time and come over something to a song that was already very full. So it was a challenge.

Martina: Which songs of Chinese Democracy do you like most and why?

Ron: I like “Shackler´s Revenge”, I like “Scraped”, they have a high energy, I like those a lot. But I also like “Catcher in the Rye”, very melodic. We just played that one at the acoustic show in Paris, and you really heard the melodies in the song.

Martina: GNR became one of the worldwide most famous Rock bands in the early 1990´s. What was your attitude towards GNR at that time?

Ron: I liked them. I mean I didn´t have the cross tattoo with the five skulls on it (laughing), not that, but I had cover bands in the late 80ies and we were doing “Mr. Brownstone” and “Welcome to the Jungle” and some other songs. So I really liked that stuff, everybody liked that stuff, it was a cool band, they did cool shows, it was great stuff. You know it changed Rock Music.

Martina: You are not only one of the GNR lead guitar players, but you are a very versatile artist and you did a lot of different music work. Recently you have re-released “The Adventures of Bumblefoot”. How would you describe what can be heard on it to a person who has not listened to it yet?

Ron: It was my very first album 15 years ago. It is a bit like Frank Zappa-Music, experimental, cartoonish, light hearted but technical and intellectual but doesn’t take itself seriously. But there are a lot of samples on www.bumblefoot.com. So best would be to check it out there. It’s weird stuff, real weird stuff.

Martina: Why did you re-release it?

Ron: Actually I always wanted to but the label had the rights, they own the 100% of the rights. So I couldn’t do anything with it. So after I left the label they stopped manufacturing and the album was sold out completely, there was no way to get it. But last year the label asked me if I would love to re-release it and I said “Yeeeeaaahh”. And we worked together and it was a real good situation and we were adding some bonus tracks. The bonus tracks were from video games sound tracks that I did about 14 years ago.

Martina: What’s special about getting the album on your website?

Ron: All albums which are available there are autographed and I donate 5 dollars to medical research.

Martina: In addition to “The Adventures of Bumblefoot” you have released a transcription book. Can you tell us something about working on the transcription book?

Ron: Definitely it was harder to make the book than to make the album. I was listening to every single guitar track, base track, everything for each song. I was listening, learning exactly how I did again and than I was writing down what fingers I used, how I picked the musical notation on the tab. And I did that for every single noise on that album and it was six month of just writing it down. And it was recently that I had ended the type setting and that I had put it into a book form. That has needed another six month. So it was a huge, a hard work.

Martina: Who can use the tab book? Is it only for professional guitar players or is it easy to follow?

Ron: It is easy to read, I mean it´s as easy as any piece of music is to read. At any case the transcription book is very detailed. So if you are not exactly sure how to play the music, the detailed instructions will help you to get through. The fingers are there, the picking; I have tried to make it as easy as possible for someone who wants to learn. But the music itself sometimes is a little hard to play.

Martina: The title “The Adventures of Bumblefoot” includes your nickname/stagename “Bumblefoot”. Where does it originate from?

Ron: It started with my wife. She’s a veterinarian, she was studying and I was holding the book open for her while she was learning everything and one of the diseases was called “Bumblefoot” or named with the technical term “ulcerative pododermatitis”. It was such a weird and strange word and one of the treatments for it was to rub haemorrhoids creme on the animal’s hurt foot and that also sounded so strange to me that I wrote a song called “Bumblefoot”. When I got a record deal I was making an album, where I put that song on and every song was named after another animal disease.

Later when I left the record label and started my own business of making my own albums I put my band back together and I called my band “Bumblefoot”. We did a sort of music like Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Faith no more,… and the thing was that I was doing everything in the band, I was writing, I was singing, I was doing art work, I was doing promotion and so on. So it was more a solo effort in people´s eyes. What happened was that people associated “Bumblefoot” more and more only with my person and after a while it had became something like a nickname. And most of my albums have been released under this name.

Martina: Your music is very versatile, you have developed an energetic and authentic style of music, influenced by different kinds of music.

Ron: I like it when the song doesn´t go where you would expect it to but it still works. I just try to make it in a way that the music jumps to somewhat that is not expected by the listeners but they are entertained by it. I like making music that causes sometimes smiles on people´s faces.

Martina: There are a lot of influences of hip hop and in particularly of punk in your music.

Ron: Yes, I have listened to a lot of Sex Pistols and Ramones and Clash and a lot of other punk bands. Concerning hip hop I have recorded a lot of hip hop artists in my studio 10 years or a dozen years ago. Listening to that music and working with that people has surely influenced me.

Martina: Could it be said that you are open to every kind of music?

Ron: Sure, we are the sum of our experiences. So I do and try a lot.

Martina: Could it be said that being open for everything does not only concern your music work but also your life in general?

Ron: I think so, I believe being open for everything keeps life interesting. Concerning music work itself I am playing in GNR and besides that there are a lot of things I can´t do because I´m on the road but when I am off the road I was teaching people on a college, I was teaching people how to make albums and different tricks, I have a studio where I made music for TV-shows, I bring in bands and produce them or collaborate with somebody.

Martina: You did a lot of teaching. Did you like it? What kind of students did you have? What ages were they? I suppose, at the present you don´t have time for teaching. Would you like to do it again, if time permits?

Ron: I loved teaching and I miss it a lot. The students were at very different ages, from 6 years old to 60. But most are teenagers and people around 20 and 30. And I would really love to teach again.

Martina: What do you like more – being in the studio or onstage?

Ron: Stage is nice but the studio for me is the most creative place where anything is possible.

Martina: There are a lot of interesting musicians you have worked with. Is there anybody you would like to work with and haven´t yet?

Ron: No, there is nobody in particular. A lot of time it just happens without it is being planned and you just get along. I´m pretty open to it

Martina: The GNR-Tour will end in October I think. What are your next plans for the future? Will you spend more time on solo projects again?

Ron: In December GNR will do some shows in Australia, we will be there for about two weeks. Afterwards the work within GNR will still have priority because there are so many more people that it affects, especially the big audience. So if I defer something of my own projects, it doesn´t affect as many people.

Martina: Concerning your working process – which part of the day do you consider your most creative phase?

Ron: Well, I think late at night. I would say between 2 am and 4 am till 6 am. Martina: By creating a song -what is usually first: lyrics or notes Ron: Most of the time it’s the music that is first. But it’s not always that way, it can be different, it’s never exactly the

same. Sometimes there’s just a feeling and it need to get out and you find the words for it first. Another time you find the words and the sound for the feeling nearly at the same time.

Martina: Considering your career: What was the key for getting as far as you are today?

Ron: The first thing is: don´t be late. I am always on time, I try a least. The second thing is: do a lot of different things, be versatile. Third thing: be reliable towards the people you work with.

Martina: What was the most important moment in your career?

Ron: I think it was playing at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The story behind is that when I was a little kid about 5 years old all the other kids came “We just got the Kiss-album. Kiss Alive” and I was a real fan of kiss and that was the album that excited me most and that made me want to get on stage and play. And the first concert I went to was Kiss at Madison Square Garden. And some time I thought, it would be amazing to do that one day. And years later 2006 we did it. And it was amazing what was going on, the pyro, the lights. And to be there was like a childhood dream that had become true.

Martina: Have you been nervous?

Ron: No. The only thing I was nervous about was that it could not happen. So I thought “Don´t let anything fuck this up.” But there were no problems.

Martina: When you think of getting ahead in your career – is there anything special you would still like to do?

Ron: There is a lot, but what I would really love to do is doing voiceovers for cartoons.

Martina: A lot of people do admire you. Which advices would you give to young musicians for their careers?

Ron: Don’t be late! Be early! And be prepared. If you are going into a studio to play a song, know the song, know other people’s parts. Be very prepared for whatever you are going to do. People have to realise that there is a lot more to do than just getting on stage and playing. You need to live music night and day, you go to bed with it, you wake up with it, you dream about it and you need to work hard on it like just always doing something. And you need to be able to do all: You have to be not only a musician, you also have to be your own song writer, your own engineer, your own manager, your own booking agent and so on. And by doing that also you discover so many things about music and you might find passion in some area that you didn’t know you had.

Then there is another very, very important aspect: be honour, be humble, be gracious and realise that we are all just guests in this world and anyone can take us out at any time. Be good to people.

Martina: At the time you signed up with GNR you have already been a successful musician. What has changed in your life since joining GNR?

Ron: Some things have changed. The people that interact with me have changed. My life hasn’t changed. I’m still living in the same house I did before, I still have the same car, I still gonna take out the trash. But for example if I say something or if I respond to an email, someone might post it as if I was making some press statement. So by being more known you loose some freedoms.

Martina: Can you still go out without being guarded in the States?

Ron: Oh yes, I mean once in a while someone comes up to me and recognizes me and wants to chat, but it’s always nice. If I am at a place where we play music or in a bar or in a club it’s a little different, then more people come up to me. But in general it’s a normal life, pretty normal.

Martina: Considering information about you on your website and some of your previous interviews it seems you are a quite genuine person and still rooted to the soil. How did you manage to maintain that besides all show business and Rock star Life? What keeps you down to earth?

Ron: You have to remember that show business is not what makes us who we are; it’s not all that you are. You have to remember that anything what you do is just a piece of your person. The person that you see onstage is not the only side of that person. I mean I love music, I am a musician, but you have to remember that besides being a musician you are a human above all.

Martina: Let’s go back in former times. At what age did you start playing music? Did you get professional music education or did you learn playing music by yourself?

Ron: I was 6 years old when I started playing music and at first I just started by myself. And after maybe a year or something like that I took lessons for about 8 years and I studied very academically. I had teachers who told me what I needed to know and I got into jazz, classical music, everything. Then I started getting more to recording and then producing and working with people and playing in cover bands.

Martina: As you already told me Kiss was your shining example when you were a kid. Are there still musicians, who inspire you?

Ron: I love the band Muse. They are one of my favourite bands. I still love Queen, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Who, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, all the 60ies Motown stuff, Smokey Robinson and the British metal rock in general.

Martina: Have you always been sure of wanting to be a musician or were there also times, where you wanted to do another business?

Ron: I have done a lot of other things because of the economical situation. You know, the music is your baby and you have to raise your baby. And you do whatever there is to do for that. You work as many jobs as you have to, so that you can found your life and found the crown of what you are trying to accomplish. So absolutely I proudly say, I have had many shitty jobs.

Martina: When did you reach the moment when you were able to finance your life by playing music only?

Ron: It was my early 20ies. It’s hard to believe, because a lot of people won’t make. But I started working young, I started working when I was about 12. I was painting Iron Maiden albums on the backs of people’s jackets. So I saved up money to buy guitars and I was working maybe a dozen years just doing whatever I needed to do.

That time I started teaching and recording bands also. And when I was about 24 I was able to finance life only by doing musical work.

Martina: Have you never had doubts?

Ron: I have had doubts about if I would be able to survive, if I would be able to succeed. Everybody has doubts like that sometimes I guess.

Martina: Besides your early passion for music, would you tell us a bit more about your growing up: where did you grow up, do you have sisters/brothers, when did you leave home, did you like school….?

Ron: I grew up in New York, I have wonderful parents. They are still alive and well and together. And I have a brother.

didn’t like school. But I loved learning and for example I liked spending my time by learning basic language for my Commodore 64, so that I could do all that programme and make my own video games. And I loved History. But when you have put me in the classroom I didn’t feel well, I didn’t like the cliquish atmosphere and all that stuff. So actually I quit school when I was a teenager and I just did the music. And anytime that someone says “There is one way to something” I say “No, there is another way, too, and I will show you.” And there is a very defined thing in me to prove that things don’t always need to be as other people do expect. So I went from a high school drop out to being a college professor for music.

Concerning leaving home I tried to leave a few times but it didn’t work, they always caught me and brought me back (laughing). It was in the early 20ies that I really left home but came back after some time for a little bit and by the time I was in my mid20ies I was out finally.

Martina: Would you tell us some facts of your private life today?

Ron: I am married, my wife is a veterinarian, and we live in New Jersey, right across from New York City. We have a nice little townhouse. We have a swimming pool that we never use. We have a tennis court that we never use. We are too busy. And I have another little house, a hundred year old house that I use just for making music. And we have three cats and they are all really crazy.

Martina: I´ll give you some words now. Please just describe for every word a situation that you think of. ambitious, lazy, honest, thankful;

Ron: ambitious: I think of 10 years of trying to make it with a band and it seems like everything is against you. And it almost seems like you are trying to climb up this endless hill and you just keep sliding down. And you try it years and years and years. So it´s like a never ending climb and an impossible task but you just keep on going and going and going. That is what ambitious means to me.

lazy: It´s a word that is no longer in my dictionary, there´s no time for it, so by hearing lazy I think of the past.

honest: Honest makes me think of what I have realised about Guns n´ Roses as such a high profiled band that people don´t care about the truth. They care about entertainment. And you can tell them the truth but if a lie is more entertaining they would rather go with the lie. So honesty has become not as relevant as entertainment, what is surely disappointing.

thankful: I´m thankful every morning I wake up.

sad: When I have to tour without my wife.

Martina: You are known for taking great care of your fans. Can you tell us a bit about your attitudes towards the fans?

Ron: They are brain eating zombies, they are monsters – Noooo, joke, joke, joke…..(laughing)!! You can´t have one without the other. We would be playing in an empty arena without them and without us they would be cheering before an empty stage. So it’s a sort of symbiotic relationship where one needs the other. It´s not always an easy relationship because you are dealing with a lot of different personalities, the fans´ individuality and the band’s individuality, each person is different. So you are not always having a perfect relationship between them two, but it is a bit like a marriage. The band and the fans belong together and I appreciate that.

Martina: Some other well known musicians are exactly the opposite of you. What do you think are their reasons for being more reserved towards the fans?

Ron: I think they probably had bad experiences. So what happens is that you are open, you are accessible and then one crazy person tries to get violent to one of your family, tries to break into your house or something like that. Then you realise that you need to have a safe distance to protect people around you and yourself. So maybe something had happened that crossed the line and had made them change. And the fans need to respect that and should not be angry at someone for not being accessible. Fans have to realise that these people are human and they need to live in a way that works for them.

Martina: Is there anything in your life that you do regret?

Ron: Hm ……(thinking)……hm, that’s a tough question because I take a lot of responsibility and accountability for anything I do. I try to make decisions that I won’t regret and if I do make a mistake I accept it and I learn form it and I try to do right and fix it. Hm… (thinking)….I try to think of something I do regret…. Ok, during this tour I really wanted to exercise every morning and I have done maybe once and I feel it and I regret it. I regret that I can´t go on stage and take my shirt off (laughing) because everybody would react like “Ahhh, put it on again!!!”

Martina: What was the greatest challenge of your life?

Ron: Arm wrestling with Richard Fortus, he has very strong arms (laughing). Well, I am thinking about a serious answer …. …….I think it´s just finding time. Finding time for doing

everything that you need to do and you wanna do because it´s just a constant race against the clock.

Martina: So thanks for spending time by doing the interview. It was a great pleasure.

Ron: Thank you for coming and chatting.

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

Re: GnR Band Member Interviews from 2009-10 Tour

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