Rock Hard magazine (France)
Interview by Cyril Demaged - FEB 2002

Your band seems to have changed quite a bit since "Uncool"...

Yes, it looks that way...  it's the same story over and over - I would devote fully to the band, and when the band's success began to interfere with other members' day-jobs, they had to decide to become full-time musicians, or quit.  And in a band, we're a team - if one quits, it fucks all of us.  After 3 years of being screwed by quitters, I'm forced to be a solo artist, otherwise I'll never move forward.  And there's too much music to make - I can't spend my time auditioning new band members - I need to be making music.

"9.11" sounds more like a Ron Thal solo album than a Bumblefoot album...

Yes, it is.  Truthfully, every Bumblefoot album was a solo album.  Not by my choice.  I was raised on bands - Maiden, Priest, Kiss, Rush, Yes, Tull, Beatles, Stones, and that's where my heart always was.  I gave everything I could for the band, but I was almost always the only one who cared that much about it.  It's a common story, and many people deal with this situation.  Olivia (the drummer that joined Bumblefoot after Uncool was released in France) was the first full-time musician I played with in a band.  We remain very good friends, and work well together.  Bumblefoot was her first band experience, and she was also very surprised and disappointed by the lack of respect other members gave the band.  In May 2001, a month after touring France, Olivia and I began working together on her own music, and on the 9.11 CD.

Can you speak about the making of "9.11" ?

Everything goes back to the whole band situation.  I started recording the CD in 1998 after Hands, as an instrumental CD, and it took 3 years to finish the CD because I was always spending time trying to please the band, instead of making music.  The only time I got to work on the CD was when a bandmember would quit - so the music spans a 3 year period, of similar experiences described in the lyrics.  Making that CD changed me.  Actually, I changed while making the CD.  I stopped giving other people the power to stop me from making music, and since the release of the CD I've accomplished more than ever before.  The CD brought me back to who I am, and returned energy to my spirit that was being wasted on negative things.

You seem to use your fretless guitar a lot on this album. Does this guitar changed your way of thinking about track (licks ?) composition or do you see it as an usefool tool to produce all kind of effects (whammy, glissando, etc) ?

I love the fretless - it allows you to create a different sound to your music that a fretted instrument can't.  It's liberating, not being bound by frets...

You used to put less and less instrumentals on your LPs, but on "9.11", it's the contrary...

Yes, it was time to release some instrumentals.  Most of the instrumentals I do are for compilation CDs, tribute CDs, and fundraising CDs.  It was time...

Some "9.11" tracks are really dark (musically speaking), a few other are really fun. As a result, this album is really "contrasted", with a lot of mixed emotions (even more than before).

I guess my schizophrenia is getting worse...

R2 can be found on "9.11" and "Uncool" (French version). Why ?

The Uncool you know in France is a special version.  Only France has this version, with extra songs on it.  The non-France version of Uncool doesn't have the song "R2" on it...   The 9.11 CD is a US import, not a release from a French label, and the R2 song overlapped...

All the benefits generated by "9.11" will be given to the Red Cross. That's a really noble gesture, but can you really afford that (please, don't be offended by this question, I ask it cause I prefer to know that my favorite guitar player can eat and live normally, are sushi normal food anyway) ?

I can survive.  There are many people who can't, and didn't.  Sometimes music is just for listening, but in special situations it's important to use music as a tool to improve life.

Can you speak of your work as a session guitarist (How does it happened ? How was it like ?)...

Usually people just ask me, and if there are enough hours in a day, I do it.  Whether it's a cover gig, laying tracks for someone's CD, it's all fun.  I don't make alot of money doing it - I just like to play.

Can you speak about the future of Bumblefoot (and the future of Ron) ? Will you come in France in the near future ?

Bumblefoot will continue to release CDs, and I will keep trying to do the unexpected.  Starting with 9.11, I'm not waiting for other people to become interested in making the music.  Life is too short to spend waiting, instead of doing.  So there will be alot more music, and hopefully more touring.  From now on, tours will have different musicians involved - this will keep the shows fresh, and it will be interesting to see how different musicians interpret the music.  Hope to see you in France soon!

bfOOt