Interview with Eric Hartmann in 2019
Eric: Hey Bruce, well let’s get started. Did you take any formal lessons?
Bruce Well, a bit when I was a teen. I took about 3 guitar lessons and stopped, then mom taught me a bit of piano for 1 year or so, and then I started playing drums and took a LOT of lessons playing drums. I even wrote the cadence for my Jr. High school and won the talent show with a drum solo. Just me, 2 street signs and my ludwig zildgen drum kit. That was COOL and it made me very popular in school.
Eric: So how did you learn to play so well?
Bruce: Well, mostly listening to a LOT of records and I did buy some chord books so I was quickly able to relate guitar chords with piano fingers, that was how I figured out guitar chords for years. Also, there’s nothing like being in bands to help give you motivation to get better. One of my girlfriends would sleep and when I couldn’t sleep, I’d go into our tiny apartment bathroom and practice my guitar licks LOL – I even played with a Elvis Presley and James Brown impersonator band.
Eric: Did your parent play music?
Bruce: Mom did, all her life she was a gifted concert pianoist, giving performances and solos, that was tough as the consumers moved away from classical music. My Dad only listened to music, but actually preferred football!
Eric: Have you ever had any writing partners, or dual music relationships?
Bruce: Not really, except when I was in my teens there was a guy name Tom Hilling and we were a “team” for a while then his mom moved and that ended that. I really envisioned a Lennon/McCartney relationship but that never happened, it ended up just me writing.
Eric: So you grew up in Florida, did you ever travel to any of the big music hot spots like LA to get connections?
Bruce: Oh, I missed out on all that unfortunately, my youth was spent in Florida, playing gigs in bars around the state mostly. In my later years I toured in different states and did more stuff. I never new that going to the “big” city would likely be a smart musical move to make a big success in the rock business, so I was a road musician and closet songwriter.
Eric: Where you ever on any albums back then?
Bruce: I played in some studios like Caribou and worked on my songs but my breaks never quite materialized. I was just a working musician with a beat up old 65 Dodge Van, I kid you not, the exhaust leaked right into the cab because the mounted the engine inside the van!!
Eric: I have to ask, did you get involved with drugs?
Bruce: Or course you did, Actually, much less than what was going on around me for sure, mostly we would drink shots at the bar and I did get a bit hammered from time to time, a right of passage I guess. I mostly avoided the bulk of the “harder” drugs and pot didn’t really do much for me. I’ve seen some pretty nasty stuff however and what it did to people, that, and having a spiked drink experience keep me mostly out of that area.
Eric: Changing the subject, you seem like quite the word smith, tell me about that.
Bruce: (laughing) That is my thing isn’t it? I’ve been writing lyrics prolifically since I was 14. I still have books of them, never published. I even started, but haven’t finished a Science Fiction Fantasy book, I’ll tell you about that sometime. But I could have been a marketing slogan guy because I’m full of that stuff
Eric: Speaking of lyrics, I notice you have a lot of “philosophical” lyrics at times.
Bruce: Definately! I’ll never forget my first big concert at the Metro, I walked out onto this stage with thousands of people in the audience and my first thought was “Why are they clapping, they don’t even know me!” LOL – But I was immediately hooked, it’s so fun!
Eric: Tell me a bit about your instruments, did you always play Strats?
Bruce: Like most working musicians I switched around a bit but finally settled on Strats, I love everything about them. I’ve had many other guitars, even one Les Paul that was stolen by some druggie, that really hurt. I’ve owned many others. My first guitar was a White Epiphone 2 pickup guitar but I bought my first Strat for $357 dollars brand new, with money I earned working. My first amp was a rolled and pleated Kustom 150, the entire band played through it at one time – I still drool when I see those, the band we were in competition with had bigger amps, the 250 Kustoms, Lucky guys.
Eric: So the rumor is that you are an electric engineer, tell us about that..
Bruce: You bet. I quit music for a while, needed a sanity break. I sold my guitar and dove into 7 years of formal education, it was amazing. When I came out of that with a full time job, I decided that it was “OK” to start doing some music again. That led me on a journey to create my own albums and produce them myself.
Eric: You use that knowledge in your pickguard designs don’t you.
Bruce: Definately, it’s a lot of fun, and players love them.
Eric: What’s your plans for the future?
Bruce: Big question, but the answer is simple, Create and release music for as long as I can do it.
Eric: Thanks for you time Bruce
Bruce: My pleasure dude