WRIF Virtual Rock Room with Bumblefoot
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Thank you so much for watching Riff TV.
00:02Now, this interview is obviously with video,
00:04but I don't interview everybody on Zoom.
00:07That's why I put it on my Talkin' Rock with Meltdown podcast.
00:10We talk to rock artists from all over the genre.
00:13So check out Talkin' Rock with Meltdown wherever you get your podcasts.
00:16And now, to today's video interview.
00:20My friend, how are you?
00:22Good, how you doing?
00:23I'm doing great. Is that your famous double neck behind you?
00:27It is with right here, yeah.
00:30Oh, yeah.
00:31Yep.
00:33This is the one I record everything and do everything with.
00:37Yeah.
00:44Including that new Art of Anarchy song.
00:52Yeah, a lot of Art of Anarchy songs.
00:55We'll talk about that here in a second.
00:57But, yeah, I remember the first time I met you, I got a picture with you.
00:59I mean, I met you for mere moments, and you let me hold that guitar.
01:03Yeah.
01:07It's a nice guitar. It's a whole lot of guitar.
01:09Out of...
01:10Hey, first of all, thanks for your help with the interview I had with Simon Phillips.
01:16I appreciate that.
01:17He's great. Love the guy.
01:19Yeah.
01:20And so talk briefly about that little side project.
01:23Uh, that is, uh, Sons of Apollo, uh, bandmate, Derek Sherinian.
01:33He has, you know, lots of solo albums out, and he's done them with Simon on drums, the two of them together.
01:39And it was going to be the first time he was going to be playing his stuff live.
01:45So we got Rick Fiorabrachi on bass.
01:48It was incredible.
01:49Uh, I played guitar.
01:50And we went out, we did a show, we, uh, actually two shows in one night.
01:55And we recorded them, and put out a live album of it.
02:00And then right after that we went out to Armenia.
02:02And there's this wonderful festival out there, uh, called Starmus.
02:08Uh, it's about astrophysics and music.
02:11Star, astrophysics, musk, music.
02:14And, uh, played with Brian May and Serge from System.
02:19And, uh, just, uh, Sons of Apollo played, uh, the Derek solo project thing played, and did a whole lot of playing.
02:31So you got to play with Brian May, is that right?
02:34Yeah, yeah.
02:35He's such a wonderful guy, yeah.
02:38Have you ever met him before?
02:39Uh, I think we met years ago.
02:43And we've emailed over the course of, like, well over a dozen years, 15 years, something.
02:50And that was the first time actually, like, playing together.
02:54Uh, yeah, he's, he's just, he's wonderful.
02:58There's nothing not to love about that guy.
03:00Right, exactly.
03:02Uh, now, correct me if I'm wrong, he doesn't use a guitar pick, right?
03:04Does he use a coin or something?
03:06Is that right?
03:06Oh, that's what they say.
03:07I didn't check.
03:09Got to look, but, yeah.
03:12That would have been the first thing I would have looked for.
03:15I was like, hey, I was going to go get some candy.
03:17You got a quarter?
03:18I was like, yeah, I'm kind of using that, uh, can.
03:21Yeah.
03:21Great, man.
03:22Good for you.
03:22That's awesome.
03:23So, uh, the, uh, Art of Anarchy is, uh, is back.
03:27Uh, Sons of Apollo, Art of Anarchy.
03:29You got a lot of things happening.
03:30And, uh, first of all, tell us, uh, get, about getting the project back together.
03:35Yeah.
03:35It's crazy how it all happened again.
03:38It was on hiatus and then John, the guitar player, he came down with, he got sick.
03:47And it wasn't COVID, it was 2019, but it wasn't COVID.
03:51It was something else where he, he was just slowly dying.
03:55Like, every system of his body was slowly shutting down and doctors couldn't figure out what it was.
04:03And they just did, like, real strong therapy to, to get him back.
04:09A lot of blood stuff and a lot of hospital stuff.
04:12And as he was getting his energy back, uh, well, actually, before I even say that, while this was all happening, the only thing that would keep his mind off at all is he would just be kind of bedridden and watching movies.
04:30And he would watch the Joker movie over and over and over with his guitar in his hand, just watching the movie and almost playing along like he was playing a score to the movie and everything.
04:41And he ended up writing the parts that became the song, Vilified, watching that Joker movie over and over while he was slowly dying.
04:51And once he started getting better, uh, that started, that became the beginning of the next Art of Anarchy album.
05:02And he and his brother Vince, the drummer, they would come over every Friday, uh, in the second half of 2020 when he was getting his strength back and, and we were like the only other human beings we would see during the pandemic.
05:16And he would come over and we would just bang out a song and we ended up doing about two albums worth of music.
05:25And during that time, Jeff, uh, Soto from Sons of Apollo, he said to me more than once, he's like, you should have just gotten me to sing.
05:35You, everything would have been smooth and easy.
05:39You know, we get along great.
05:41We get lots of work done.
05:43Everything is fine.
05:43Uh, so I told him, I said, well, we're actually, there's, there's new music in the works.
05:52And he said, I would love to do it.
05:54So I hit up John and Vince.
05:56I was like, Jeff would like to it before I could finish the sentence.
05:59He said, yeah, they love, they've always been a big fan of Jeff and, and we all love him.
06:05So, so that was that.
06:08So he started writing to, to the music that, that was being made.
06:14And I would sit in front of the computer and just slowly work on the mixes and everything.
06:20And, and it came together.
06:22And when John Moyer, uh, couldn't continue with it.
06:26So we were thinking about who could play bass.
06:30And Jeff said, well, my guy, Tony Dickinson, he plays with me in TSO.
06:34He plays in the Soto band.
06:36He's fantastic.
06:38And I looked him up and saw these funny videos that he made on social media, where it was
06:44like, how to lose a gig in 30 seconds.
06:47And I could show the price that he's getting paid.
06:49And the more notes he would play to the song as it went on and on, you see the price just
06:53getting lower and lower.
06:55Yeah.
06:55It's the funniest thing.
06:56I was like, oh, this guy is, he's a really funny guy and just a killer player.
07:01So that was it.
07:04And then he laid all the bass to the album and, and we just moved forward.
07:08We spoke to, uh, our longtime friend, Dale, uh, Rage Resteghini, who has been our video
07:17guy since the beginning and just a good friend.
07:22And he and I started working together.
07:24Uh, I first met him, uh, in 2010, he was working with guns and that's where we met.
07:30And we stayed friends.
07:32And I was just at his birthday party a couple of weeks ago and, and wonderful guy.
07:38Yeah.
07:38So, uh, he recommended the label pavement.
07:43He knows them well.
07:44And they've done, I mean, great things with plush, fantastic band plush.
07:50Uh, so we talked to them and, and it was, that was it.
07:57Yeah.
07:57So we signed with pavement and, and just prepared for Friday to release this thing.
08:05And here we are.
08:06Yeah.
08:07Yeah.
08:07That's cool.
08:08So yeah, last Friday you're talking about, as we record this day, you talked about it,
08:11but the record doesn't drop until our next year in February.
08:13But I was going to say, uh, what's the old saying?
08:16Third time's a charm, right?
08:17As far as singers are concerned.
08:18Is that right?
08:20Oh, I would lay bets on that with Jeff.
08:23Yeah.
08:24Yeah.
08:24No doubt.
08:25I mean, we have years of working together.
08:28Uh, not just sons of Apollo, but I've played on the solo albums and we've done little acoustic
08:34shows together and all kinds of things.
08:36And, and it's, it's good.
08:38Yeah.
08:39So, uh, who did the, uh, artwork?
08:42Oh, I am so bad with names.
08:44What is his name?
08:45Oh, if you want to give me like 10 minutes to open up my laptop and check and everything
08:50and, and, uh.
08:51It's just killer.
08:52It's a killer album cover.
08:54It's really cool.
08:55Yeah.
08:55I believe it's the same guy that's been doing all the album art from the beginning.
08:59And it leads to so many possibilities of making our own comic books and our own characters
09:06and, and video games and whatever else.
09:10And we've talked about that too.
09:12And so we'll see if this thing does well and we have the resources to do all of that.
09:17We can expand on it and just make more experiences for lack of a better word, uh, for people that
09:26like the music to, to take it a step further.
09:30Yeah.
09:30Now, uh, as far as the first song is concerned, Vilified, I mean, uh, you were, you were just
09:34talking about how John was, uh, you know, laid up and he was watching the Joker.
09:39And of course you guys are playing in this video on, on what looks to be like that stairway,
09:44right?
09:44That staircase.
09:45Yes.
09:46It was.
09:47That's the thing.
09:48The song has such a personal meaning to John, the guitar player.
09:53I mean, you know, he was truly facing, you know, death.
09:58He was like, well, this is it.
09:59Yeah.
10:00And that changes a person.
10:02Uh, that's why we put out the song first.
10:05Is it, in my opinion, it's not the strongest song to come out and hit everybody with this
10:10other ones on the album that would be, but it's such a personal vital song, important
10:15song that started, uh, this band back up and what it came from, you know, from the dude
10:24almost dying and, and just everything that he was living during that time.
10:31Um, and that's why there's all this Joker theme stuff in there, you know, that's, you know,
10:36that's part of it all.
10:37And we did, we filmed on those, the Shakespeare street steps in the Bronx that the Joker scene
10:43was filmed on where he's doing the dance and everything.
10:45Yeah.
10:45Okay.
10:46So that's, that is actually the stairway then it is.
10:48Yeah.
10:49We filmed right on there.
10:50Yeah.
10:51Yeah.
10:51Perhaps maybe it looked like it or something, but that was some of the things I was thinking
10:54of when I was watching that video.
10:55So, and then of course you, um, you, you've got Cuba Gooding jr's in the video and I've
10:59had the pleasure to meet him before and he's such a good dude.
11:01And then Jeff Tate narrating, I mean, unbelievable.
11:05Yeah.
11:06A lot of, a lot of unusual stuff with this song.
11:10Yeah.
11:10And Jeff Tate, I mean, you know, he's got that mind crime voice of, of just, he's just,
11:14you hear it and yeah.
11:17So he was the perfect voice to be doing all of that.
11:22And it really just puts the icing on the cake.
11:24Yeah.
11:25Yeah.
11:25No question about it.
11:26I mean, I was listening to it and you know, look, I'm in the business of using my voice
11:30all the time and I'm thinking to myself, I can't compete with Jeff Tate.
11:35He's, he's got that unique voice.
11:38You hear it, you know, it's him and we're all big fans of his and yeah, I'm so glad that
11:43he did it.
11:44Yeah.
11:44How did you guys end up getting Jeff and Cuba Gooding jr on this video project?
11:49We asked.
11:51That's it.
11:52You just reach out and ask people.
11:53And if they're interested, they'll do it.
11:56Yeah.
11:57Nice.
11:57No, that's great.
11:58Cause yeah, the Cuba really, he did a great acting job and it tells like this whole story
12:03and everything in this one video.
12:04And like you said, the video producer, that's kind of what he does, isn't it?
12:09Yeah.
12:09And first thing he said to me when I, when I saw him, he was like, he's like, you know,
12:14anything for veterans, anything to support and awareness, anything, just anything that
12:21could help them have better lives in any way.
12:26So yeah.
12:27Well, this record drops out in February, February 16th of 2024.
12:32And you said vilified may not have been the, the, the most gung ho song to a start, but tell
12:36us about the rest of the record.
12:38Ah, well, musically, it reminds me more of the first album, which was pretty much John and
12:46Vince unedited and those two guys, they're really the, you know, they're, they're the,
12:52the foundation of the band.
12:54Ah, Vince, the drummer, John, the guitar player, they're twins.
12:58They're like one double brain and they have a lot of roots in like the big four metal and
13:06you could hear it in the riffs.
13:07A lot of the riffs you can hear, like it, it could be a mega death riff.
13:11It has a Metallica vibe or like things like that.
13:15They're very into that they're into, uh, yeah, they're, they're metal heads, old school
13:21metal heads.
13:21So you could hear that in the music and then you have Jeff's voice, me, what do I add?
13:28I don't know.
13:28Just a couple of wacky guitar moments.
13:31And, uh, and I wrote a few songs in there too.
13:36Well, some of the things here, a bridge of tomorrow, a blind man's victory, the good,
13:40the bad, and the insane.
13:41That sounds interesting.
13:42Uh, disarray echo your madness.
13:44Just some of the songs on this record.
13:47Yeah.
13:47Echo and rivals.
13:49Those are more, I would say radio friendly.
13:52Not that we try to, it's just, you listen back and you say, Oh, this one just seems to
13:57fit.
13:58It doesn't have 50 parts.
13:59It's not eight minutes long.
14:01And, uh, one cool thing is, uh, Alex Skaldick laid a guest solo as well in one of the songs,
14:09uh, in the song, blind man's victory.
14:11Yeah.
14:12And he just killed it.
14:14Yeah.
14:15So, uh, is there, is there, is there, is there, you just mentioned like some of maybe the
14:19big four kind of stuff.
14:20Is there softer moments in it?
14:21Ballad-y moments?
14:22What do you got?
14:23Oh yeah.
14:23Yeah.
14:24It's not all, you know, just chugging metal.
14:26Uh, yeah.
14:28Like this one, Bridge of Tomorrow is, is more of a lighter, I wouldn't call it a ballad,
14:35but lighter.
14:37Yeah.
14:37That's our, our sappy one for the album.
14:40Uh, you mentioned John started kind of this, this, this, this project here, this album actually
14:45started kind of clicking in 2019.
14:47How long has this record been finished?
14:50Well, we, from 2020 to 2021, two albums worth of music done.
14:57And Jeff pretty much wrote to all of those as well.
15:01So we do have a good two albums worth of stuff ready.
15:04Uh, when was it really finished?
15:08I guess you could say early this year.
15:12Okay.
15:13Well, we'll look forward to checking that out.
15:15Let There Be Anarchy.
15:16That comes out on February 16th of next year.
15:20What else you got going on in your life?
15:21Because it seems like you're always, you always got your hands in like all sorts of little
15:25projects.
15:27Well, I have a solo album that's been done for months.
15:30I just got to get the artwork done so I can move forward with it and doing lots of cool
15:36stuff with that.
15:36Making a little video game for the first single, uh, all kinds of stuff.
15:42So, so the instrumental guitar album that I'm working on, I haven't done an instrumental
15:48album since 1995 on Shrapnel Records.
15:52So, so yeah, so I got that, which I just need to get the artwork done and figured out and
16:01that, then I can move forward with that.
16:03Uh, I've been mixing, uh, this band that I, I've been producing their albums, co-producing
16:09because they're really the geniuses behind it all.
16:11This duo, this garage rock band called the Dodies.
16:14They sound like a mixture of, uh, Nirvana and Muse, Radiohead, like, like melodic 90s,
16:22uh, really good, good rock stuff.
16:27And it's just two guys in the band.
16:29The singer, guitar player is very Cobain-ish and the drummer, he plays the entire kit with
16:36just one arm while playing keys on a bass with his left hand and singing backing vocals.
16:41And they are so good.
16:43Uh, no auto-tuning, no tightening, none of that crap.
16:47Like, they just record an album where the two of them are looking at each other and playing
16:52together and the first or second take is it and they're just phenomenal and the stuff
16:58is so good.
16:59So, finishing up, uh, the mixes on their third album, which will be called Dreamism and definitely
17:07worth checking out.
17:08They're called the Dodies, D-O-D-I-E-S.
17:12And they got some pretty funny videos too.
17:14They have a lot of personality.
17:15Uh, just naturally.
17:17Yeah.
17:18This, like, awkward funniness about them.
17:21Uh, great band.
17:22Yeah.
17:23So, finishing up with them.
17:25And last two albums were recorded out in Ireland.
17:28I have this friend, uh, Owen Johnston that, that has this wonderful studio right in the
17:34north end of Ireland in this really just, like, serene, quiet spot.
17:40It's like, there's more sheep than people over there.
17:43And, and it's just, he put together this fantastic studio.
17:48So, it's just a great meeting place because they live in the Middle East, this band.
17:52So, we just meet there and spend a couple of weeks, uh, living at his big house slash studio.
18:00And recording and, uh, and just eating lots of Kerrygold butter, which I'm always championing.
18:11It's like, it's the best butter in the world.
18:13And, yeah.
18:14And that's it.
18:15Yeah.
18:15How important is it for you to, uh, record and produce in, in, uh, in atmospheres like
18:22that?
18:24You know, it's not the most important thing in the world, but it really does help.
18:29Because, you know, when you're recording an album, it's, it's an experience in your
18:35life.
18:36It's a big one that you're going to remember.
18:38And if it's just this sterile thing where you're just going to, you know, the typical
18:43studio and here's the gear and then you go to the hotel and then you go back to the studio.
18:49Yeah.
18:50But to be doing it in this beautiful place where it's just so opposite of where you live
18:59and you can have all these other experiences and experiences, whole other culture, you
19:04don't forget that.
19:05And it adds so much more to your life.
19:08And I told the band that when we started recording this, this is going to be more than just recording.
19:12This is going to be a life experience.
19:13Like the people you meet and the things, just the way you live here is going to be something
19:18so different that you'll never forget.
19:20You're always going to cherish it.
19:21And Owen definitely makes it that kind of positive, good, memorable, loving experience
19:29that you just can't wait to go back and do it again.
19:32Yeah.
19:33It's great out there.
19:35It's Wild Water Studios.
19:37It's in a place called Inch Island, which is an island in the middle of a lake in Ireland.
19:44And it's a wonderful spot.
19:46And I've been going there for a long time.
19:50I would go there and meet up with Owen.
19:52And I did music camps over there and gigs and charity gigs.
19:57In fact, we did one while we were recording.
19:59There's a group out there, Eye Care.
20:01And they have like a school for the younger kids.
20:07And they have one for adults with autism.
20:10So we did a concert to entertain them all and hang out with them all.
20:14And have them all join on a song and sing.
20:18And it's wonderful.
20:21Yeah.
20:21So you worked with Derek on this project.
20:24You got Jeff Scott Soto in a band.
20:25Where's the Sons of Apollo thing land right now?
20:27Is that kind of on hiatus or what's going on with that?
20:29Well, it's kind of like you cut a worm and it breaks off into other little pieces.
20:38Yeah.
20:39Yeah.
20:40All right.
20:41And you also said, you also mentioned, you know, when the pandemic hit, like you kind
20:47of just kind of didn't want to tour anymore.
20:49Is that still kind of like in your mind or have you changed your thoughts on that?
20:53I mean, I'm going to have to tour with bands that I've worked with.
21:01You know, I can't not do it and hold back the band.
21:04And I wouldn't want fans to think that I don't want to be there.
21:07But as far as the direction of my own life and what I want to do with it, I want to be
21:14producing more bands.
21:16I love teaching, but definitely a lot more producing and mixing and more of the creative
21:22stuff and less of the travel stuff.
21:25I've been an absentee husband for decades and it's unfair to my own life and the people
21:33in my life.
21:34So I'm trying to travel and tour as little as I can get away with and just live for me
21:45before I'm dead.
21:46So, yeah.
21:47Well, there's got to be a part of you and I'm just just fishing around here, but there's
21:52got to be a part of you that loves to to travel, experience new things like you're just talking
21:56about this place in Ireland.
21:57But plus, you get to go on stage and perform your craft in front of people.
22:02Yeah.
22:03Yeah.
22:04I mean, it's a whole lot of variables that all come together with it all.
22:10It's the traveling, experiencing a new place, a new culture, a new food, new this, new that,
22:14meeting new people, doing what you love to do.
22:19And then there's everything else.
22:21There's the stability and everything you have of being at home and waking up at the same time
22:30in the same bed and eating the food that's in your refrigerator and going to your gym at
22:40the same time and going to your studio and just, yeah, I've lacked that stability for a
22:47long time and missed a lot of things.
22:50Uh, so it's, you know, it's like this bittersweet kind of thing.
22:56It's like you have all this wonderful stuff, but you're also missing a lot of normalcy and
23:02the wonderful stuff that shouldn't be discounted.
23:05It's just as wonderful.
23:07And if anything more so, uh, yeah.
23:11Yeah.
23:11I was curious if you would have started to miss it over time, but I, I, uh, it seems like
23:15you're, you're kind of a set with where you're at.
23:17So are people like you're talking about producing and, and that kind of stuff, do people reach
23:21out to you like on a daily basis through socials or whatever, to, to, to talk to you
23:25about their projects?
23:27Yeah.
23:27Yeah.
23:28I hear from a lot of bands and a lot of people and, and, uh, there's one from the Northeast
23:37Connecticut, this young band, really talented, writing good songs.
23:41The singer is from Paris, a band, uh, called broken roads.
23:45And let me double check because I don't trust my own brain anymore.
23:49Since COVID it's like, I think I know something and I'm remembering it and all like the wrong
23:54pieces and everything.
23:55Uh, let me check.
23:57I, um, I just, it's right, but I just don't trust my own brain.
24:02Yeah.
24:03Broken road.
24:04Broken road.
24:05Uh, yeah.
24:06So I'm supposed to be recording them in a couple of months, uh, really good bass player,
24:12Shannon Wilk, uh, guitar player, Damiano Christian, uh, really, really good guitar player, songwriter.
24:19Uh, yeah, the whole band.
24:21And great.
24:22And I'm going to help them do what they're doing.
24:27And when I produce bands, I try not to, I try to be invisible.
24:33You know, I try to make it where all you hear is them at their best.
24:38And it's not like, Oh, I could tell Ron produced that because it has this crazy guitar riff.
24:41And it's like, no, no, it is like zero about me.
24:45It is all about figuring out their personality and just bringing it forward and, and bringing
24:52out the best of it and what makes them a special, unique band.
24:58And that's what I try to do.
25:00So I already started working with them on, on one of their songs, just talking about,
25:05you know, what could be done to make it its best.
25:11And, and so far so good.
25:14Yeah.
25:14Yeah.
25:14I'm just, just thinking outside the box or never haven't recorded anything before, but
25:18you're probably trying to be the producer that you want to produce with.
25:23Um, yes and no, because I don't want, I wouldn't want a producer.
25:30That would, uh, just say, Oh yeah, you just do your thing.
25:34And I'll, you know, I'll tell you if it's a bad take, like I would, at this point, at
25:39least, like I would want to work with someone more as a collaborator.
25:42That's going to bring ideas that I don't have, which is really what a band does.
25:49Like, that's why you're playing a band.
25:50Like if I'm just doing everything myself, it's going to be all my ideas and a hundred
25:53percent of my own expressing creative crap, uh, which is great for doing a solo album.
26:03You know, you get to do that, you know, in a band of five people should be 20% of each
26:08person in there, making it a hundred percent of what that band is.
26:12And if 20% isn't enough, you go and you do a solo album and you get to be a hundred percent.
26:18It's like, this is the exact sounds I want it to be and the levels and the playing and
26:22the this and the that and everything, the, everything you hear is 100% that person's spillage.
26:30Uh, so it's nice to have both.
26:34It is because on one, you get to fully be you in every single possible way.
26:41On the other hand, with a band, you get all of this stuff that's beyond what you are, that
26:48takes it to another level that you can never bring it to.
26:52So both are nice.
26:54One has something the other doesn't.
26:57All right.
26:57Final thing here for you, Bumble.
26:59What's with the, what's with the beard?
27:00It looks a lot shorter than the last time I saw it.
27:02Oh, we got it tied up into a bun.
27:04No, it's still, if I like take it down and it's, it's there.
27:09But what I do is I roll it up into like kind of this like little, like if you turn me upside
27:16down, I'll look like this bouffant sixties hairstyle thing.
27:20But no, no, it's just, I tie it up into a little ball and tuck it into itself.
27:27And yeah.
27:29Have you, have you worried there for a second?
27:30I thought, wait a second, what's going to hang on his guitar when he's playing?
27:33That's that you can't do that.
27:36Well, listen, dude, I really great to see you and talk to you again.
27:40It's been a long time.
27:40And the, the new record, like I said, I'll let there be anarchy drops on February 16th
27:45of 2024 from art of anarchy.
27:47And just as a, just as like a, a personal thing, maybe, you know, maybe for me, I hope
27:53that I get to see you out there on tour and somewhere in the country coming up here, possibly
27:58next year.
27:58I hope so.
28:00Yeah.
28:00It'd be good to see you.
28:01It's been a, it's been a minute.
28:03It's been a minute for sure.
28:05All right, Bumble, you'd be well.
28:06Good luck with everything.
28:06Okay.
28:07You too.
28:08Thank you so much.