Ron Thal, who will perform in Bangkok tomorrow night at Whiteline on Silom, knew he wanted to be a rock musician after the first time he heard Kiss' Alive! album. A year later he had a band with his older brother and was writing and recording songs, playing shows and designing band merch.
Ron Thal.
Thal left high school early to take the dream further, gaining notoriety after Guitar Player Magazine proclaimed his talent in its Spotlight New Talent column in August 1989. Two years later his work appeared on Shrapnel Records' compilation Ominous Guitarists From The Unknown, for which he recorded a guitar version of Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu.
His first full-length album, The Adventures Of Bumblefoot, was released by Shrapnel Records in 1995. The self-produced collection of quirky, Zappa-esque instrumentals received critical acclaim and charted high in reader polls.
Thal came up with the album name after his girlfriend, who was studying veterinary medicine at the time, told him about a ulcerative foot disease common to turkeys called "bumblefoot". Riding the theme further, he named every song on the CD for a different animal disease, but the album title eventually stuck to Thal himself.
Guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani recommended Bumblefoot to Guns N' Roses after lead guitarist Slash left the band. Thal became an official member of the band in 2006, played guitar throughout their next album, Chinese Democracy, and toured with them until 2014. In Chiang Mai last Friday for a concert at Papa Rock, the 46-year-old bearded guitar legend seemed relaxed and alert.
He talked about his 2015 album Little Brother Is Watching, a collection of epic rock tunes with strong melodies, anthemic choruses and incisive lyrics about life in the digital age. As with all of Bumblefoot's solo work, he composed, produced, recorded, mixed and mastered the album himself, this time in his own studio in New Jersey.
Thal enthusiastically recalls the production of an ambitious music video for the song Don't Know Who To Pray To Anymore. Clocking in at over seven minutes, the video was filmed at 12 locations in three countries, including among some ancient Roman ruins by the Jordanian border, Croatia's Fortress of Klis and Diocletian's Palace, and features over 50 actors.
Appearing prominently in nearly every scene of the video is Thal's signature guitar, an imposing instrument with two necks, one fretted and one fretless, created by French luthier Vigier Guitars to the guitarist's specifications. Among its many unique features, the upper body sports a small round cavity for storing a sewing thimble, which the guitarist wedges onto the tip of his right pinky in order to sound notes on the high E string not otherwise attainable over the fretboard.
"I need my two necks! If I weren't playing a Vigier, I'd probably be building my own guitars," he says.
Without referencing Guns N' Roses specifically, we wonder if Thal would join someone else's band again.
"I became a musician in order to create new music, and that's what I've done for most of my career. So no, I don't want to spend time playing other people's songs at this point.
"On the other hand, I definitely like playing in a band. It was always bands, not solo artists, that inspired me.
"It's nice to do what a real band does. Someone comes up with a riff and someone else thinks you should do this and someone else thinks you should do that and then you're throwing ideas down and eventually you come up with something that's greater than the sum of the parts."
Thal's latest band project is Art of Anarchy, whose eponymous 2015 album features twin brothers Jon and Vince Votta on guitar and drums, bassist John Moyer from the band Disturbed and the late vocalist Scott Weiland.
"We have a new singer taking Scott's place, but I can't tell you who it is until the official announcement early next month. I'm producing, but it's definitely a collaborative effort. We've been writing since September and when I get home at the end of the month we're going to spend five straight weeks in the studio finishing our second album."
This is Bumblefoot's second visit to Thailand. After the Chiang Mai show last Friday, Thal will play Bangkok and Pattaya. Other than drummer Simon Wyett, who is travelling with him, the musicians who are joining him at each stop have been recruited locally.
Addressing the potential challenge of performing with people you haven't played with before, Thal says music pre-defines a personal relationship.
"If two players have known the same song for 10 years, it's almost as though they've known each other for 10 years. And I like the spontaneity. When you don't know what's going to happen, that's when the best stuff occurs."
Thal also says collaborating with local musicians is a way to give back to the community wherever he goes.
"To me there's something about how music was given to you and how it inspires you, that makes you want to reciprocate. You want to share that knowledge so that other people can make music too."
Bumblefoot will perform at Whiteline, Silom 8, tel 087 061 1117, tomorrow night starting at 8pm. Opening bands include Degaruda and The Ginkz. Tickets on sale at the door.
