Guns N' Roses'ın gitaristi Bumblefoot ile teknoloji üzerine röportaj

Teknoloji, hayatımızın olmazsa olmazı. Hepimizin ihtiyacı var, dünyaca ünlü rock yıldızlarının bile.

Mahmut Saral

Teknokulis röportaj koltuğunda Guns N' Roses'ın lead gitaristi Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal'ı konuk ediyoruz. Uzun süren dünya turnesinin ardından yeni projelere yönelen grup, yakın zamanda yeni güzelliklerle karşımızda olacak. Biz de bu kısa aradan fırsat bilerek Bumblefoot'un kapısını çaldık ve teknolojiyle alakalı meraklarını, hoşuna giden-gitmeyen unsurları soralım dedik. Görünüşe göre çok eğlenceli biri olmasının yanı sıra, akıllı bir teknoloji düşkünü de. İyi okumalar!

Katkılarından ötürü sevgili Çiğdem Yıldız'a teşekkürler.

Mahmut Saral (MS): Teknolojiyle ne kadar ilgileniyorsun?

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (RBT): Teknoloji, hayatımın kapsıyor. iPhone ve Blackberry her zaman yanımdadır. Stüdyom, bilgisayar temelli. Dünyayla bağlantım da Internet temelli doğal olarak. Teknolojinin kölesiyim :)

MS: Şu an hangi telefonları kullanıyorsun ve neden?

RBT: Voxer. İyi bir gerçek zamanlı sesli mesaj uygulaması. Telefonu düzenlyecek yeteri kadar boş zaman olmadığı için Photo Toaster da harika bir editör.XE.com, seyahat ederken para birimi değişimini kontrol etmede fayfalı. The World Clock, kontakt halinde olduğun şehirlerin saatlerini öğrenmede yardımcı. The Map, Bükreş'te kaybolmamamı sağladı mesela :)

MS: Genel olarak Internet'te ne yaparsın?

RBT: Günlük şeyler için Twitter'dayım. Facebook ve Google Plus'a ise, duyuru ve haberler için başvuruyorum.

Kötü yanıysa, vasat bir performansı stüdyo üzerinden çalışarak iyi bir hale getirebilirsin. Canlı performansları gösterdiği için Youtube'u seviyorum. Fakat tabii ki bu, o ortamdaki enerjiyi size geçiriyor. Koca bir dağa, küçücük bir fotoğraftan bakmak gibi. İzlerken daha canlı olmasını umuyorlar ve yargılayıcı olabiliyorlar.

MS: Konserler nasıl gidiyor? Appetite for Democracy konser fikrinden söz eder misin?

RBT: Eğer Axl isterse olur.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

How much you care with technology? And technological equipments?

Technology governs my life, haha. At all times I have a Blackberry and an iPhone by my side. My studio is computer-based. My connection to the world is internet-based. I'm a slave to technology, lol.

Which phone you use at the moment and why? And band members? 

I use a Blackberry Storm2 (HATE it!) for email, and an iPhone 4S (LOVE it!) for everything else. The Blackberry has a better global plan for traveling. The iPhone has a better camera & video than any camera/videocamera I've owned, and the apps are extremely useful.

What can you say for Facebook, Twitter, Internet? I guess you're using the most in band?

I prefer Twitter over Facebook, especially when checking from my phone(s)....

What is BumbleMovieNight? :) Can you talk about?

Haha, this started when Tommy [Stinson – GNR bassist] and I were talking about old obscure '70s movies we remembered seeing as kids. I told him I'd find some of these movies and bring them on the road for us, and began collecting movies. While I was home gathering the movies, Jen [Mrs. Bumblefoot] and I would watch them at night and it turned into “Bumble Movie Night”. I started tweeting about the movies we were watching, followers would make requests, sometimes I'd do a Twitter poll and followers would vote and choose the movies we'd watch. Became a fun interactive way of watching movies...

What's your favorite phone applications? And Why?

Voxer is a great real-time voice messaging app, my favorite as I never have a free time to pick up the phone. PhotoToaster is a great editor. The XE.com app – helps a lot when traveling to have a way to quickly know the currency conversion. The world clock – also helps when traveling to quickly know what time it is in specific cities where your contacts are. The map – keeps me from getting lost in Bucharest at 4am, haha.

Do you have a phone feature, you do not like?

YES. They can figure how to make a phone into everything you could want or need, but they can't make a battery that will last through the day – wanna REALLY improve a phone? Make a longer-lasting battery.

Do you know the properties of computer :D Bumblefoot, what are you using? :)

My main laptop has an Intel Core i5 CPU @ 2.53GHz w/ 6Gb RAM, Windows7 64-bit.

iPhone 5 is finally released and has a record (Five million in a week). What do you think about people's technology craze? Are you too going to buy?

I have a 4S, no complaints, will hold off on getting the iPhone5 unless absolutely necessary. I'm expecting 'forced obsolescence' where I'll *have* to get an updated phone in 2 years because nothing will work anymore on the one I own now.

Guns N' Roses and as well you have a lot of fan pages. What's going on the Internet generally?

What do I post? On Twitter, the posts are more casual and more frequent. On Facebook and Google+ it's usually more announcements and news.

How technology is affecting the music? For example, playback singer who has a lot of. What do you think is good and bad aspects?

Technology has always affected music, it helps create musical styles – hotter amps that led to heavier rock, synths and drum machines that led to new wave and electronic. The bad part is that it's so easy to correct a poor performance in the studio, that you have more artists that can't perform their songs well. I think YouTube has had a huge impact on everything – we get to see more clips of live performances, I love YouTube. But it doesn't capture the energy and the whole experience of being there. And this is an injustice – it's like trying to judge what it's like to hike up a mountain by looking at a small photo of it. People expect the same exhilaration and are often judgmental when it's not there.

Necessarily your have been funny technological moments in band. Can you tell one of?

I think the funniest stuff happens during a Livestream, hanging out in the studio, or at rehearsal. It's all very spontaneous...

How's it going concerts? Appetite for Democracy! How was this idea? 

The concerts have been great this past year... 3-hour shows, adding some songs we hadn't played in other tours. The residency will be interesting, something we haven't dome before. I'm expecting the whole experience to be a more personal one for fans.

Will be released a concert dvd?

If Axl & management want to make it happen.