Side Stage Magazine: Congratulation on your debut album, The Madness which came out officially March 24, 2017. Also, another exciting event happened for the band with the signing of the co-publishing deal with BMG Music Publishing. It seems like Art of Anarchy is off to a great start. What does the release of the album and the BMG signing mean to the band?
Bumblefoot: Thank you so much! We’re so happy to finally get to share this music we’ve been putting together for the last year-and-a-half, and to get out and play the songs live. We’re off to a good start, we’re on our first tour, and signed a publishing deal with BMG. They’re a great company, a real powerhouse.
You are embarking on your first headlining tour starting April 3, 2017 in Amityville, NY and ending April 29 in Henderson, NV what can fans expect from your live show?
We’re playing every song on the new album, and more. No backing tracks, it’s a raw in-your-face organic rock show.
“The Madness” and “Echo of a Scream” seem to be two songs that have gotten the band a lot of positive attention and put the band on the map. How do you feel about gaining such a big fan base even prior to the debut of the album?
It feels great, you make songs to share a sense of being with people, and when the connection happens, it’s wonderful. In the first shows of the tour, seeing people in the audience singing every word, it’s a great feeling.
The Madness is an album where each song has its own powerful meaning, musical style and sound. What was the recording and writing process like for the album?
We started writing at the end of September 2015, the five of us in a room in New York for a week-and-a-half, writing together from scratch, jamming, demo’ing ideas, making songs. We wrote half the album during that time. After that we’d get together between our touring schedules for more writing and recording, video shoots…
Lyrically the songs on the album are very personal. Where did you pull the inspiration from? What is your favorite song on the album and what does it mean to you?
Scott writes from his heart, his experiences, what he’s lived, and tells it in a relatable way. I’m so close to the songs, being inside the writing, playing, recording, producing the album and being part of every step, there’s something meaningful to me in every song. “Won’t Let You Down” is one that brings up a lot of memories of writing the song, it was the turning point where we were sure about what we were doing. I remember days and nights in the studio, as lyrics were coming together, digging deep to find the exact words to say what he felt. Watching each song grow into what they are, as the songs develop their personalities, it’s something I re-live every time I hear each song.
Can you tell us a little about why the album got its title, The Madness?
Scott had gone through a very difficult time in his life. He successfully made it through and became even stronger in the end. It’s very inspiring, we wanted to dedicate the album to this, making it to ‘the other side’.
You are currently in the works on a music video can you tell us a little about the concept around what it will be about? If you can share, what song will it be for?
It’s for the song “Echo Of A Scream”, it’s a performance video, directed by Dale “Rage” Resteghini. We’ve worked with him on two videos before, he’s fantastic, very creative.
Many may call your band a Supergroup due to various members from current and past well-known bands. What is your opinion on that title and do you believe you are a part of the Supergroup bands?
I see us as musicians just doing what we do – writing songs together, recording and performing, and wanting to give people a lift to their spirits. I’ve been doing it since I was six years old, I love it now more than ever.
The Madness album on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/album/the-madness/id1204952250
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For Tickets go here: www.artofanarchyband.com/tour-dates
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