by Chris Willow
– Columnist —
Lords of Black vocalist Ronnie Romero finds himself fronting the incarnation of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Following up Rainbow’s recent live performances Romero took time to answer a few questions about his music career from Rainbow to Lords of Black.
Ronnie: Of course I feel very happy, it was a great experience, playing with Ritchie and all the band on the same stage, enjoying all those Rainbow and DP songs was truly amazing!
Chris: You have sung “Stormbringer” – a David Coverdale song, “Sixteen Century Greensleeves” and some more from the Dio era. How do you feel about Ian Gillan Songs? Were Ian Gillan songs harder to sing than Dio ones?
Ronnie: Well, I don’t think that the Gillan songs are hard to sing … they are different, using other techniques and feeling, but at the same level of interpretation as the Dio ones, or Coverdale, even Turner songs.
Chris: How do you find Bob Nouveau having as your backing singer? Are you happy with harmony when singing together?
Ronnie: Of course, Bob is an amazing musician, with a great sense of harmonies, and he can sing very very well, so, he makes me feel really comfortable with his harmonies.
Chris: Who is your favorite rock composer and why?
Ronnie: A hard question … it depends. Obviously, Ritchie, for me is the best, but I really like other bands with other styles, like Toto, Kansas, Journey, Steve Ray Vaughan … I don’t know, I’m a big Rock and Roll fan, all Rock and Roll music styles!
Chris: How big audience you were performed in front of before Rainbow concerts?
Ronnie: I’ve been lucky about that because, before Rainbow, I was working for the most important Rock and Roll radio in Spain, and they have a lot of shows around the country with big production, so sometimes we have been playing for 5, 7, 15, or even 30 thousand people per show.
Chris: Did you have had any professional training in singing? Did you take any singing lessons? If so so who was teaching you?
Ronnie: Never, all that I know and my way and style of singing I learned all my own, listening to music, imitating singers, the best ones of course (laughs). I never want to have lessons, I prefer to sing naturally.
Chris: You have a unique vocal sound. You can sing high and I have heard it already. But how does it feel for you to sing low? I mean, like the way like Ian Gillan sings in “Place in Line” for example.
Ronnie: I prefer the mediums and high tones, but It’s ok for me, I love to sing that way, low notes like Gillan, it’s more like the classics.
Chris: When you want to reach some big dynamics do you sing more from your stomach or just scream like most of Heavy Metal vocalists do?
Ronnie: It’s like a mix, with the way the head resonates but also with the chest does too, this kind of technique is called “mixing voice,” so you can make this high notes but giving “body”, and not just a tiny sound.
Chris: How do you get along with Ritchie’s guitar? Does it require some special phrasing from you? Is it easy for you to sing with him? What intonation do you sing the best in?
Ronnie: Really good, Ritchie is an amazing musician of course, but he always make you feel comfortable, he really understand this relationship “singer-guitar player,” and I think that’s the reason why he made a good partnership with all the singers what they have worked with him.
Chris: How do you feel about composing with Ritchie? Did you talk to him to write some material in the future?
Ronnie: No, we don’t have any conversation about that, just rehearsing for the shows … we’ll see what happens in the future.
Chris: What do you do when Ritchie decides to reactivate Rainbow for good? I mean do you leave Lords Of Black or will be singing in both bands?
Ronnie: Of course I can make both … Ritchie knows that I’m in a band when they call to me for this gigs, so they understand my situation. Everything is fine, is just a matter to be organized.
Chris: Do you listen to classical music ? And who is your favorite classical composer and why?
Ronnie: No too much, but obviously I know and listen to the most classics, like Beethoven or Bach.
Chris: When and where were you born Ronnie,? At what age was your first approach to singing and what was it ? Was anyone from your family a musician?
Ronnie: I was born in Chile 34 years ago, in a family of musicians, so I have always been connected with music and too many different instruments. My grandfather plays the saxophone, my father was a singer, my brother play drums … and I started to sing when I was 7 years old …
Chris: How do you feel about Birmingham inside venue concert ? Was there any difference to singing there versus the open air in Germany?Any new experiences after Birmingham concerts?
Ronnie: Obviously the sound is different, but I feel very well in both kind of venues.
Chris: There was a big crowd in Germany and UK. What would you like to say to all of them, to the Rainbow and Deep Purple fans and your personal fans just after the Lorelay, Bietigheim-Bissingen and Birmingham performances ?
Ronnie: Well, I just want to say that I feel very, very grateful for all the support and love, before and after the shows, Rainbow fans in the UK and around the world, they are really nice people with me, so I just can say a big thank you!! And I really hope to see all of you soon again!
Visit Rainbow online: https://www.facebook.com/ritchieblackmore/
What a great guy, very very good.