In a new interview with Brazilian podcast Ibagenscast, former Guns N’ Roses and current Art of Anarchy guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal has spoken about the progress of his first solo instrumental album in nearly three decades.
Thal says: “I started working on an instrumental album, because every time I write a song and want to make it instrumental, I come up with a nice melody and then I’m, like, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta sing that.’ And then it ends up being a vocal song. And then there’s really not a lot of melody in the guitar part… so this time it’s, like, I just put a big piece of tape over my mouth as I was writing and coming up with ideas. And that’s it.
I did put out two songs — I put out two instrumental songs in 2019 and 2020… So now we’ve got this new album, which has been done for months, but I’m just so busy with the other bands and things and taking care of them that it has slowed down the main business part of what I’m doing. Musically, the album is done, and now it’s just about finishing the artwork and making the animated music videos.
I have a guy that’s making a video game for the first single that you can play, like a simple little video game where the song is playing and you’re playing this video game along with it. So I’m trying to do things that’ll make the album fun for people and not just listening, but actually participating in some way, more of an experience for them. So I’m doing all of that. And it’s holding up releasing the album.
I wanted this album out two years ago. And the last time I did an entirely instrumental album was my first one on Shrapnel Records in 1995. So it’s gonna be almost 30 fucking years by the time this thing gets out. And I’m not getting any younger. I’m worried that I’m gonna die before this thing comes out, and it’ll never come out. So that will be coming out.”
Thal has not yet announced a release date for his new album, but it is clear that he is excited to share it with the world. Fans of instrumental music and Bumblefoot‘s guitar playing will be eagerly awaiting its release.
