By 1992, Tony Bruno thought he was finished. The New York–based guitarist had worked his way up through the tristate club scene, played jingle sessions, recorded with Danger Danger and cut two albums with the hard rock act Saraya.
But when PolyGram cut the latter band loose, Bruno felt rudderless. He tried to put another group together, but nothing seemed to gel. Finally, to pay the bills, he turned to bartending and considered chucking music altogether—until his friend and bartending partner, future MTV VJ Tabitha Soren, pushed him to perform with David Coverdale one fateful night.
Afterward, a tip from a friend led to a gig with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts that he says “totally changed my life,” “What happened was, Joan started doing a lot of TV shows. She wouldn’t be there for soundchecks, so while we were tuning up, invariably a stage director would come out and ask who was in charge. Eventually, I spoke up and said, ‘I can help you with whatever you need.’
“That was the start of a new chapter in my career: Anytime we did a TV show, I was the point person and musical director. I sort of developed a language for it as I went along.”
When I was coming up in bands, I liked to perform—not in a show-off way, but I gave off an energy that changed people.”
— Tony Bruno
Bruno’s on-the-job training prepared him for what came next: a 12-year stint as guitarist and musical director for Latin pop superstar Enrique Iglesias, followed by a five-year run guiding the band for rising pop/R&B star Rihanna.
“Up till then, I had no concept of what a musical director was,” Bruno admits. “It wasn’t anything I dreamed about: ‘I want to be a musical director.’ But I just naturally developed the skills for it early on. When I was coming up in bands, I liked to perform—not in a show-off way, but I gave off an energy that changed people.
“That’s what I did with Enrique, and that’s what I brought to Rihanna. It’s not about being a boss; it’s more like you’re trying to inspire everybody to be their best. That’s what I’ve always loved about playing music.”
When you started playing, did you consider being a session or for-hire guitarist, or were you looking to be a band guy?
I wanted to be in a band. I went to see Humble Pie at the Fillmore East when I was super young. I saw Peter Frampton in all his glory, and I thought, “I want to do that!” I didn’t think about sessions or getting hired to play. I would look at albums, and I didn’t have a concept that some of the guys who played on the records weren’t in the band. To me, being in bands was very normal. It’s what you did if you played guitar.
Was it easy to find bands to play with in the New York area?
Oh yeah. For a while, there were lots of opportunities for musicians. I got in a band called Swift Kick, and we played around and made money. Then the drinking age was raised to 21, and that killed the club market. The tristate area died. I had to figure out a plan B, and that was difficult. If you want to make the leap from club band to big-time original band, you have to find the right guys; you need a Bryan Adams, who can write songs and sing his ass off.
I went to see Humble Pie at the Fillmore East when I was super young. I saw Peter Frampton in all his glory, and I thought, ‘I want to do that!’”
— Tony Bruno
I was fortunate to find the folks in Saraya. They had a lot of the first record written, but I felt like Sandi [Saraya] really had something, and I wanted to write with her. We wrote the single, “Love Has Taken Its Toll.” What happened, though, was the band’s manager wanted 50 percent of my publishing, and I told him that wasn’t going to happen. That got me fired.
Is that when you joined Danger Danger?
Well, I didn’t really join. They were looking for somebody — Al Pitrelli had done their demos, but they didn’t really feel his style was right. I come from the Keith Scott–John McCurry school of playing — kind of a pop style. I did the record with them, and they talked about me being in the band, but I was still bruised from being fired from Saraya. So I didn’t give them an answer, and then I got a call from Jeff Glixman, who was producing Saraya, and he wanted me back.
I did the Danger Danger record and went back to Saraya, and Danger Danger got Andy Timmons. Saraya changed management and things started to get a little crazy. We did a second record, When the Blackbird Sings, that I really love, but when we didn’t have a big single off the album, we got dropped.
You went through a period where you weren’t working. How tough was that?
It was tough. I tended bar at a club called Nirvana in New York, and I got into drugs. I thought music was over for me. A lot of famous people came in to play, and it was hard watching them.
David Coverdale came in to play, and Tabitha Soren, who was my bartending partner, pushed me to get onstage with him. She told David, ‘Tony’s a good guitar player.’”
— Tony Bruno
One night David Coverdale came in to play, and Tabitha Soren, who was my bartending partner, pushed me to get onstage with him. She told David, “Tony’s a good guitar player,” so I went up and played, and it all came back to me. I was like, “This is what I’m supposed to do. I’m not gonna be a bartender doing cocaine.” That got me back into it.
Soon after, you got the gig with Joan Jett.
That happened through a friend of mine, Tommy Byrnes, who was in Joan’s band. He wanted me to fill in for a tour of Japan because his daughter was being born. It was a little crazy at first — Joan didn’t know I was showing up to play, but she ended up loving me, so she and her manager, Kenny Laguna, asked me to join. I didn’t want to take the job from Tommy, but he ended up getting his gig with Billy Joel, so it worked out for everybody.
Did Joan tell you what she liked about your playing?
That’s a good question. Not really. With Joan, it’s not so much about your playing. She wanted a gang, and she wanted me to be a Blackheart. She’s not interested in somebody being just a guitar player.
How did you then segue to working with Enrique Iglesias?
This is so wild. I left Joan and was working with Nena — you know, from “99 Luftballons.” I toured with her and produced one of her records. While I was working on the record, I got a call from Chuck Burgi, who now plays drums with Billy Joel, and he told me, “There’s this guy Enrique, and he’s auditioning guitar players. Are you interested?”
I was in Germany, so I had to figure that out, but I ended up going to the audition. This is so weird: I went to Unique Studios in New York to meet Enrique. He was doing vocals on a song, and he got right in my face and started singing to me in Spanish.
He got right in my face and started singing to me in Spanish. He looked at me and said, ‘Do you want to come on tour with me?’ I never even had a guitar in my hands.”
— Tony Bruno
It was totally uncomfortable at first, but when he was done I said, “That was really cool.” He looked at me and said, “Do you want to come on tour with me?” I never even had a guitar in my hands.
You got the gig without even playing for him?
That’s right. He never heard me play a note. Later on, after we became buddies, I asked him, “Why did you hire me? You never heard me play.” And he said, “You wouldn't have had the nerve to come to the audition if you weren't a good player. If you showed up and sucked, that would have been on you.” I thought that was a good answer.
On paper, you might have seemed an odd fit for Enrique Iglesias.
Sure, I get that. At first, I had to learn a lot of stuff on his records that wasn’t in my zone. He had these flamenco players, and with some of that shit, I was like, “What are they doing?” At that point in Enrique’s career, he was doing Latin pop and big ballad stuff. As I worked with him, I got to understand the culture a little bit, and I dug into what his lyrics meant. Live, I got to take his stuff to a rock level. If a song was a super-soft, sappy ballad on record, we made it sound like Whitesnake live.
You also became Enrique’s musical director. Did that come about the same way as it did when you were with Joan Jett?
The same way, basically. It was my first week in the band, and Enrique’s manager, Fernando, was watching me at soundcheck one day. He asked to see me in one of the dressing rooms, and I thought, “Shit, I’m gonna get fired.” Instead, he said, “You’re the new musical director.” I asked if a pay raise came with that, and he looked at me like, “What balls on this guy.” [laughs]
It was a great experience, though. I stayed with Enrique for 12 years. The biggest thing I learned during that time was how to try to stay in my lane while making sure that nobody fucked up. That can be a hard one.
Word must have gotten around about you, because next you worked with Rihanna as her musical director.
That was fantastic because I was working with her at the beginning of her career. What’s interesting is that I didn’t play guitar with her. She’s a big Linkin Park and Paramore fan, so I wanted to inject that kind of energy into her songs. I got a bunch of her older demos and played on them to give her an idea of what the songs could sound like live.
She got really excited, and that’s when I told her, “You’re not even 21. You don’t want an old fucker like me onstage. I’m gonna hire you a young-ass band.” I auditioned everybody in L.A. until I found a band that absolutely crushed it.
Eventually, you brought Nuno Bettencourt into the band.
Yeah, and at first he wasn’t into it—he thought it was too pop. But I sent him some demos with me playing on them, and he was like, “Are you kidding me? I’m in!” Nuno ended up being a great fit. He ripped on her stuff.
I consider myself fortunate that I was somewhat responsible for the meteoric rise of her and Enrique’s career. Rarely do you get that opportunity, and I got it twice.”
— Tony Bruno
As MD, did you give Nuno any kind of direction?
No. In fact, when I worked on new demos of the music, I was thinking about him. On Rihanna’s song “Don’t Stop the Music,” I put a whole passage of Get the Funk Out by Extreme in it. Nuno was like, “Rihanna’s going to go for that?” And I said, “Dude, she likes the same music as we do. She’s going to love it.” It worked out great.
You were with Rihanna for five years. Why did you leave?
She changed management in 2012, and they fired everyone on the team. That happens sometimes, but everyone was shocked that she went along with my being fired, present company included. But I consider myself fortunate that I was somewhat responsible for the meteoric rise of her and Enrique’s career. Rarely do you get that opportunity, and I got it twice.
What are you up to these days?
I’ve scored some films and TV shows. I had to develop my orchestral skills—learning what an orchestra does and then applying that to teaching myself about synths and programming. I also produce new artists. For a few years now, I’ve been developing a show called Rhapsody in Black. It’s a mashup of ’90s rock and classical. I’ve been meeting with investors and booking agents.
There’s a lot going on. I’m also working with Tommy Byrnes on a series based on the music and characters in Billy Joel’s songs. It’ll be out soon, but I can’t say which network yet. That’s what I really love—collaborating with people. It can get a little lonely sitting in a studio by yourself.
