Legendary Rock Interviews' John Parks recently caught up with Guns N’ Roses guitarist, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, who talks about his part in this past summer’s tour with Yngwie Malmsteen, the new record he’s planning, GN'R and more, in a new interview. An excerpt follows:

Q: I was telling you via email about how blown away I was by the Guns N' Roses Appetite For Democracy DVD from the Vegas shows and particularly you and Tommy Stinson’s spots...

A: "Yeah, I remember you saying you liked it, “Objectify” is on there right?

Q: Yeah, and it’s awesome but then so is Axl to tell the truth. I saw GN'R back in the day and I am amazed also at how much of those signature “Axl” elements of his delivery and performance are still 100% intact.

A: "He has as much heart and passion as he ever did."

Q: Yeah, as much of that heart, bravado and intensity as he ever has had. It’s kind of staggering when you consider how difficult it is to stay engaged as a performer. It’s almost akin to some of the guys Axl probably loves like McCartney, Billy Joel or Elton John. Have you gained some perspective as far as how radically different it is for a band like GN'R to put out an album as opposed to an artist like yourself putting out a Bumblefoot album?

A: "Yes and it’s two totally, totally different scenarios, absolutely. 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 GN'R world, Axl holds the key and (laughs) 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 ten fires or even two fires (laughs). When there’s not as many things or people distracting you or keeping you from getting in the zone it really frees you up to do the simple stuff and things don’t need to be so complicated. But, I’ve realized that all those complications that are hurled at you, all of those distractions, they’re all external and they don’t need to penetrate your skin and get into who you are or stop you from doing what you do or change the relationship that you have with music or creating it or releasing it or sharing it or performing it or anything. I’ve realized that can be untouchable and nobody can change that, people will try and people will continue to try relentlessly but they can’t unless you give them the power. Once you realize that as an artist, you realize that you can do anything you wanna do musically and there’s really nothing at all that’s truly stopping you after all."

Read the complete interview at this location.

Guns N' Roses released Appetite For Democracy 3D - Live From The Hard Rock Casino Las Vegas on July 1st via Universal Music Enterprises. A video for "Chinese Democracy" from the show can be seen below.

The show was filmed on November 21st, 2012 during the Appetite For Democracy tour in celebration of twenty-five years of Appetite For Destruction and four years of Chinese Democracy. Appetite For Democracy 3D: Live at the Hard Rock Casino - Las Vegas will be available in North America on Blu-ray, featuring the complete concert film in both 3D and 2D plus an interactive 3D photo gallery, and standard DVD featuring the 2D version of the film. Both releases are mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound and feature bonus interviews with the band. The GN'R Appetite For Democracy Official App (IOS/Android) brings the concert experience to a new level by connecting GNR directly with their fans, allowing fans to connect with each other via social media, buy exclusive merchandise, check tour/cinema dates for the movie, preview digital tracks of the film; and purchase or stream via VOD the digital long form concert. Produced by Rock Fuel Media's Barry Summers, Appetite For Democracy 3D is the first official Guns N' Roses live concert film since 1992's Use Your Illusion concert video.

 

 

Guns N' Roses lineup:

W. Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano

Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano

Chris Pitman – keyboards, backing vocals, tambourine

Tommy Stinson – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on 'Motivation'

Richard Fortus – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, acoustic guitar

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal – lead guitar, lead vocals on 'Objectify'

Frank Ferrer – drums, tambourine

DJ Ashba – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals