BUMBLEFOOT: As More Time Goes On, People Are Gonna Start Appreciating 'Chinese Democracy' More

Denmark's Gaffa web site recently conducted an interview with GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Gaffa: You became a member of [GUNS N' ROSES] a few years before the release of "Chinese Democracy", but you ended up playing on all the songs. To what extent did you add new parts to them, and to what extent were you redoing existing parts?

Thal: I didn't redo anybody's parts. I only added my own things. And then in the studio they would make the decisions — let's keep this in, let's leave this out, let's make this louder, let's make this lower — but everything I played was my own stuff, whether it was rhythm chords or a solo.

Gaffa: Did you or anyone make a special effort to make sure you were on all the tracks?

Thal: We just did a whole lot of time in the studio, and I kept playing and playing and playing — until we ran out of songs! I played on the stuff that wasn't released, too. I mean, there's a whole big chunk of music from that era, and I played on pretty much everything. Then they decided what to put out, and I'm sure something at some point will happen to the other existing songs. But I'm hoping we could write some music now, with the current lineup, and do something completely fresh.

Gaffa: You're pushing your five year anniversary as a member of the band. How is it different to be a member of GUNS N' ROSES today than it was when you first joined?

Thal: Well, I'm not the new guy anymore! In the beginning, they didn't know what the hell to make of me, but now I think they get it. The good and the bad. And the ugly. And the very ugly! When I first joined, I'm sure they thought, "Who's this dude that the stork just left on our doorstep?" Tommy [Stinson, bass], who was always a punk guy, knows I grew up with a lot of that stuff, and we connect on that level. Me and Richard [Fortus, guitar]will be jamming and talking about old YES music. And actually, the first song that me and Richard both learned to play was "Rock N' Roll Hoochie Koo"! We all e-mail, call and text when we're on different sides of the continent, and when we're on the same side, we hang and jam. Frank [Ferrer] brought his drums to my house last week and we just jammed for a few hours, and the week before that we went over to Sebastian Bach's house and jammed.

Gaffa: What's your take on the reception of "Chinese Democracy"?

Thal: It's like any album — some people are gonna love it, some are gonna hate it, and some are not gonna care either way. Production-wise, you can look at it two ways. Either it's "The White Album", or it's "Pet Sounds" – a big, personal statement. There was so much production, and it was such a fine, fragile balance of getting everything just right. To me, it's more like an orchestration. It wasn't the typical raw rock recording, and I think it took people a minute to understand that, 'cause I think a lot of them were expecting "Appetite II". With the "Use Your Illusion" albums, things were already heading in this direction, and if you take all these years of growth and suddenly you come out of the cocoon with this thing, it's definitely a shock to people.

Gaffa: Chris Cornell has talked about how he thinks albums should be reviewed ten years after their release, 'cause that's when they will be seen in the proper context. Do you think he has a point?

Thal: Oh, totally. When "Chinese Democracy" was released, it still had all the baggage attached to it. "It took this long to make, and rumors say it was this expensive! And it doesn't have the original band members on it!" And it biases people's opinion of what they're listening to, when they have all that stuff on their mind. But if you give it time and look back on it, all those things are no longer relevant, and you're just looking at it for what it is — an album, a collection of music — and you'd get to review it with a fresh take. So I think as more time goes on, people are gonna start appreciating that album more.