Blown Away. An interview with Jacob Bunton from Adler.

Steven Adler was a part of one of, if not the biggest album in the last 30 years. He was the drummer on the debut album from Guns ‘N’ Roses. He was the driving force behind Appetite For Destruction. Much has been made about his life since. He’s had his battles with drug abuse and he’s the one that lives with those scars every day. There’s one thing that Steven Adler and I have in common though…music is our therapy. After picking up the pieces in his life, Steven formed a new band with Lonny Paul on guitars, Johnny Martin on bass and Jacob Bunton taking on the vocal duties. Adler was born. We enjoy their debut album here at Unsung Melody. It’s titled Back From the Dead and you can read Sommer Sharon’s review of it here.

You can listen to the entire Jacob Bunton interview below:
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Today, I’m welcoming Jacob Bunton to the Unsung Melody family. Jacob is the vocalist for the band Adler. First off, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us today.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.

Back From the Dead is the debut album from Adler. The record has been out a few months now and from what I’ve seen, it has garnered some really good press. Our writer Sommer Sharon gave it an 8 out of 10 here on our site. I’m always curious how musicians feel during the process of creating. Did you guys feel you had something special when you were writing it?

Yes, we really did. With Steven, it was really important to him because it’s the first full-length record he’s done since Appetite For Destruction. It was really important for him. When me and Lonny (Paul) were creating these songs, we went into this a lot different than most bands go into writing a record. A lot of times, you write for radio or you write for what you think people’s expectations are. With this album, we had such a good time writing because we put all of that aside. We weren’t writing for radio. We didn’t care if we had a radio single or not. We didn’t write based on what we felt people would want to hear Steven do and Steven encouraged that. So we had a great time writing and recording. By the time we started the recording with Jeff Pilson and the songs started coming together, we thought we had something really cool and really special. We couldn’t be more happy or more proud than the way it turned out.

There are few drummers that have a truly distinctive sound, but for me, as soon as I heard The One That You Hated, I knew that was Stephen Adler on the drums. Did you ever step back and have an “oh shit” moment in the studio?

That whole experience was nothing but “oh shit” moments, (Laughter) because like you said, Steven definitely has his own style. His own swagger. He definitely has his own sound. So, no matter what song we play, it sounds like the drummer from Appetite For Destruction. It’s incredible. That was an “oh shit” moment, just playing with Steven in the first place, being a kid from Birmingham, Alabama that had Guns & Roses posters on my wall. One of the biggest “oh shit” moments was when Slash came to the studio and we were all there. It hit me that Slash was on this record, Steven was on this record. Yeah, that was definitely an “oh shit” moment. (Laughter) Life has been full of those lately. We just got back from Japan. Duff (McKagan) got up on stage with us and played a couple G’n’R songs. That was pretty cool.

Sounds like you’re living the dream. I like it.

I really am. I feel like Marky Mark in that movie Rock Star. (Laughter)

You mentioned that Slash is on the album. I’ve got to admit, it’s pretty damn cool to hear those two playing together again. How did that whole situation come together?

Those guys have been best friends since, I guess middle school. Steven sent over some songs. Slash heard it and realized that Steven was taking it serious. Basically, Steven really wanted Slash to play on it. Steven had played on Slash’s last record, so he wanted to return the favor. He really liked the tunes. So he did it. When those two are in a room together, you feel that love. I don’t even know how to explain it. You’d just have to be in the room between the two. They have that love and a mutual respect for one another. To someone like me or you, we’re like, “Oh shit. That’s Steven Adler and Slash.” To those guys though, they’re just two best friends that grew up together and have a ton of history. There’s a lot of love between the two guys.

Now there is a lyric video for Good to Be Bad, which features John 5. Is that possibly an upcoming single?

We consciously decided not to release any “singles” for the record. Our label just kind of sent them to different radio stations and media outlets, like yourself. Then people started playing whatever they wanted to play. Then the reviews came in and everything else. With this first record, we kind of wanted to just put the record out there and raise awareness about the band. Really just a grassroots kind of thing. It was a lot like what bands used to do in the 70’s. Bands like Boston and Fleetwood Mac. They would just send the entire record to the radio station and not necessarily say what the single was and then let radio gravitate to different songs. We did the same thing with this record.

The album was released through New Ocean Media. How did that whole situation come about?

They heard the record. Loved it. We had lot of offers from a lot of different people. They saw the vision and got what we were doing. They didn’t want to change anything and it was just the best fit for us.

My favorite riff and song on the album is Blown Away. Give me a little insight into that song.

Blown Away. Well, I guess I was just having a very angry day. (Laughter) It’s kind of like when you see someone in your life that, you love them, you hate them, sometimes you just want to blow them away. (Laughter) So you don’t have to even deal with them anymore. It’s about someone who constantly brings you down. Just nitpicks you apart. Telling you that you can’t do stuff. Just constant negative energy. That’s what the song is about. The record is very therapeutic on a lot of different levels.

I see a ton of tour dates for the summer and even into the fall. Tell us a bit about the upcoming plans.

We’re doing a summer tour, where we hit all over the US. Then in August, I think we go to Europe. Then in September, we go to South America. I’m not sure. It’s definitely going to be a busy year.

And you just came back from Japan.

Yeah, we just got back from Japan. It was amazing. It was the first time that anyone other than Steven had been to Japan. It was great. There’s no better way to go experience Japan for the first time than going over there with Duff and Steven. So, it was cool. I keep using the word amazing, but it’s kind of like how everything is. (Laughter) It’s just amazing.

You are a busy guy, because I saw quite a few Lynam dates leading up to the Adler tour as well.

We’re doing Rocklahoma. We’re doing Iowa Rockfest. We’re doing several dates. Those are on the Lynam site, which is LynamMusic.com Lynam is a band that I have been with for several years as well. We’re still going strong. We’re still working on tour dates and we’re working on an EP that will probably come out in the next couple of months.

I always end on a random question, so I must keep the tradition going. You’re given the option to add one more musician to Adler. Living or dead. Who would it be and why?

As far as musicians go, I guess we would add another guitar player and it would be Randy Rhoads, for obvious reasons. There’s no telling what that guy would be doing today if he was still alive. The stuff he did back in the early 80’s before he died was amazing. The stuff that he had already come up with was just incredible.

Jacob, I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me today. The site and myself wish you and the band, both bands, absolutely nothing but the best. Hopefully we can get caught up at a show here pretty soon.

Preview or purchase Back From the Dead on iTunes:

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Watch the official video for The One That You Hated: