Bumblefoot: Axl and I operate in different worlds

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By ( Louder ) published

GNR guitarist discusses difference between his solo records and Guns albums

Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal says he has grown during his time with the band but he admits life is very different for him and frontman Axl Rose.

Thal says it is impossible to compare the process of putting out his own solo record and the logistics behind Axl Rose releasing a new GNR album and he insists it’s not easy for the much maligned mainman.

Thal tells Legendary Rock Interviews: “I don’t even know how to begin to compare the two. For one thing, in my own situation, in Bumblefoot world, I have all the keys to the whole project. I know I have to write an album, record it and release it.

“In the GNR world, Axl holds the key, and when he decides to do something is when he decides to do it, and it’s definitely at a different pace than say when I do things.

“Axl and I are two different people with two different lives and two totally different sets of hurdles to jump over, which totally affects our ability to release what we create.

“It’s very hard to bust out anything when life becomes more complicated or you have more people trying to pull you in a million different directions or distract you. The bigger a band gets, the more that happens – so at Axl’s level, it’s definitely not easy and there’s a million fires to put out where at my level there is maybe 10 fires.”

Thal also discusses Axl giving each member of the band a share of the spotlight during live shows with each having the chance to perform a solo instrumentals.

He adds: “We’re a team, and we’re there for a reason, and I will be ballsy and say we fucking earned it. We’ve worked hard all our lives to get here, and it’s not like we won the lottery or something.

“It’s not like this is just something we stepped in. I’ve been busting my ass for 38 years musically, and after 30 years, I did my first show with Guns, but even before that, I was out there touring and making music for TV shows, putting out albums and teaching at universities and producing bands and had my own studio.

“God, I had a whole second house that I just gutted and turned into a studio just to work on music. Yes, I am grateful for all the experiences I’ve had with Guns N’ Roses – good and bad – because the bad ones are just the unplanned ones and you still learn and grow from them, so they still bring you something good inevitably.”

Meanwhile fellow Guns N’ Roses guitarist DJ Ashba claims the band are reportedly preparing to release a long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s Chinese Democracy – and hit the road for a mammoth world tour.