by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
It’s been a while since playing acoustic was in vogue. But even with the period of popularity of the MTV Unplugged series long gone, the Hard Rock brethren still seems to find the intimate settings and acoustic rearrangements quite charming. One of those is certainly the German band Bonfire, so perhaps it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that this year sees the release of their new “almost” unplugged album Roots via AFM Records.
But there’s more to this album than just reworking a handful of band’s classics on a whim. Forced to postpone their touring plans in support of their latest studio release Fistful Of Fire, Bonfire not only did keep themselves busy with recording material for Roots through the doom and gloom of 2020. Also, they involved their audience in every aspect of it through means of crowdfunding campaign – including writing and recording brand new songs based on individual stories sent in by fans. Hardrock Haven caught up with Bonfire’s bass player Ronnie Parkes to discuss the new release and the campaign behind it as well as whatever comes next…
Hardrock Haven: It’s February 2021 and just a year ago everything looked very different for everyone – including Bonfire. When I talked with Hans [Ziller, lead guitar] back then, there were still plans to tour in support of Fistful Of Fire. Looking back, what was 2020 like for you and the rest of the band?
Ronnie Parkes: 2020 was a very dark year (laughs). We put out Fistful Of Fire,released on April the 3rd, and had big plans for tour for all of 2020. And of course, everything got shut down, just like it did for everyone else. Maybe [for us it was] a little bit more difficult, because I live in the USA and the rest of the band lives in Germany, so it makes it a little more difficult for me to travel back and forth. That really stopped everything, like there was no chance of me going over to any concerts or anything. So as we sat around talking, instead of getting depressed we decided to do something. We’ve already had plans in our heads to eventually make an acoustic album because we did a bunch of acoustic shows and even tours and they were really all well-accepted and we enjoyed doing it – and that was our goal to go in and do some acoustic shows. So, we decided to make an acoustic album which we recorded during 2020. Now this album’s gonna be released on February the 26th.
Hardrock Haven: But before the idea for the Roots album started, have you considered doing a livestream in support of Fistful Of Fire, a method many bands utilized to make up for the lack of live gigs?
Ronnie Parkes: The problem was again that I live in the US and they live in Europe. If we all lived in Europe, it would be possible – but there’s a delay actually from the quality audio that you would need for a livestream. It takes too long and I think there’s like a 30-second delay from the United States to Europe for that quality audio. Of course, you can talk on the phone or through a Zoom call in real time like we’re talking now, but the audio quality there is not the quality that you’d want for a livestream. So that kind of made it impossible for us to actually do it together live.
Hardrock Haven: You’ve already mentioned the Roots album. And as the recording process for it took place last summer, am I right in guessing the process of making it was actually limited by some pandemic-related restrictions at the time, forcing you to utilize methods of recording separately or remotely?
Ronnie Parkes: Yeah. Normally – if there weren’t such restrictions – we would have all been to the studio together. But this time, with this particular album, we recorded everything separately. I recorded my parts here in the USA, and the drummer [André Hilgers] actually went to the studio to record the drums. So everybody kind of did it partially remotely, and people who were able to go into the studio, like Alexx [Stahl, vocals] and Hans, did their parts there. I believe also the drum tracks were done there. But as for the guitar and bass, you can do this remotely and just send them in. So, that’s what we did – we assembled together what we’d recorded separately.
Hardrock Haven: The process of recording remotely was obviously used way before the pandemic and there are mixed opinions about it – most artists utilize it but some prefer the traditional way of working on music. But do you think it really matters in terms of quality or the dynamics of the album whether or not it was recorded separately?
Ronnie Parkes: Not really. You know, whether I’m playing to the drummer sitting right next to me or the drummer in my headphones – I’m still playing the same way to him. The only difference is that you don’t have that camaraderie of everybody standing in the same room, so there’s a certain energy that I guess does exist there, if you do it that way. But I don’t really see much of a difference if I recorded my bass using my headphones. I would do the same thing anyway if we were in the same place. After all, normally people don’t sit there and actually record the whole album with everybody sitting in one circle and playing at the same time. Normally it’s not done that way. So it’s kind of almost… normal (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: Exactly. So, with the term “almost unplugged” used in reference to the Roots album, what does this “almost” mean in reality?
Ronnie Parkes: (laughs) We did it “almost” unplugged because as we started recording the acoustic, we got the original keyboard player Martin Ernst who played on Fireworks album [1987]. So he came in and he played the Hammond organ. That’s not really acoustic, so we didn’t want to – and couldn’t – say the album was fully acoustic (laughs), as now we have a keyboard on there. And Hans did use some electric guitar, but it was like very ‘clean’ guitar, more like an acoustic type of sound. So for these reasons we said it’s not totally acoustic… but “almost” totally acoustic (laughs). It’s like a laid-back album, more acoustic-sounding album.
Hardrock Haven: Right. Now, Roots includes as many as 24 tracks, making it a double album. Whose idea was it and whose choice was the tracklist itself?
Ronnie Parkes: (laughs) Yeah. We actually had an idea, but you know – when your band is signed to the record label, you have a contract, so you’re supposed to put out an album this year and maybe next year they’ll say, “Okay, we want a second album…” And you sign a contract for a number of albums – maybe it’s two, three or one. Could be anything. So we weren’t scheduled to put out a new album, but we really wanted to do it and we figured this was the time when everybody’s home and we can do this… And people still love music, even though they’re maybe stuck in their house where things aren’t going the right way… People still wanna enjoy music. So we said, “Let’s go for it,” but we had problems because the record label [AFM Records] didn’t really want us to do another album. So we decided we were gonna do it anyway. We reached out to our fans and told them what our concept was of making this album and we gave them the options of picking songs. Like, if you wanted, you could buy a song and we would make a song specifically for you – you would tell us a little story about yourself and we would make a song about you. So, there’s four songs like that. But basically, the whole album was covered cost-wise by the fans. They paid for the album and that’s why there are so many songs [on it], because people picked songs and then we had so many songs that it turned to a double album (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: Good for everyone, I guess (laughs). Among the tracks re-recorded for Roots, there are Bonfire classics such as “American Nights” or “You Make Me Feel”. Having been a part of the band since 2015, what’s your approach to their legacy?
Ronnie Parkes: You know, I’ve listened to and I’ve been a fan of Bonfire. I’ve listened to the music and I really appreciate all the musicianship and the talent that went into all the albums prior to me being in the band. So I definitely have a certain respect for it and when I approach a song that was already recorded by Bonfire, I give it the same respect and I try to make it my own because I’m now a member of the band. So I try to make the song a little bit my own, but I don’t wanna change it too much because it’s already been recorded and people expect the certain things. So, I can’t really change what was there, you know (laughs), ‘cause then it would sound different. And I try to always pay that respect to what it is and where it came from, and the talent that was used to make it.
Hardrock Haven: It must’ve been a challenge to actually balance these things, paying that respect to the original version but still re-arranging it…
Ronnie Parkes: Yeah, that’s the thing! And the other part about it is that Hans was the original writer on the songs in the beginning, so now it’s still Hans’ songs. He’s just re-recording them. And you know, we put our input in, but in the end he says, “Oh no, that’s too much and that’s too little and that’s not enough… Let’s do this here and something different there…” So, Hans, as the original writer of these songs, is just kind of re-working them his own way that he sees it should be. So it’s basically the same thing – it’s the person who wrote the song and is just now doing another version (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely! And in general, do you as a musician enjoy playing acoustic shows and the whole unplugged aesthetics?
Ronnie Parkes: Yeah! Actually, maybe it’s because I’m getting a little bit older, I don’t know (laughs). But I think it’s more that I just appreciate all kinds of music – like Jazz music or Classical music… So to play acoustic stuff it’s a lot of fun for me, because I get to experiment a little bit more, the sounds are a lot cleaner, so we can play off each other a little bit more… The settings for the acoustic shows are usually a little more intimate and they are really a lot of fun. We really enjoy doing those and I personally enjoy it a lot. And as I said, that was the part of the plan – I mean, we wanted to do these tours and now we have an album that we can support that [way], so now we do a regular tour and an acoustic tour at the same time. Hopefully, in 2021 we could be doing regular shows and acoustic shows and maybe two tours at the same time indeed… hopefully it works out good.
Hardrock Haven: Fingers crossed! As you’ve mentioned, there’s something really special about the handful of new songs on Roots, these songs being actually inspired by the fans’ stories…
Ronnie Parkes: You know, we wanted to give something special to the fans that were helping to support the album and [the process of] making it, so as I’ve said, we offered that we would make songs for the fans. They wrote us e-mails telling us a little bit about themselves and then I started to work on the lyrics for their songs. And Hans put together a couple of pieces of music that kind of already existed and added them altogether so it’s a new song, and we put a new melody and basically made new songs out of these. So it’s kind of cool, because it’s more personal for the fans and they get to understand how songs are put together and how it all works out. When they write about someone or something, it’s closer to home, so they can understand it all a little bit better.
Hardrock Haven: And what kind of experience was it for you as a songwriter to actually write lyrics not from your personal viewpoint, but based on someone’s story?
Ronnie Parkes: It was kind of the same. Actually, a couple of times I had questions as I started writing the songs and I just tried to put myself in their position from what they had told me. I tried to look at it as if I was living that life… And a few times, I had to write them back and ask them a couple more questions, so that I could fill in the holes – because it wasn’t actually me, it was someone else. So I did it a couple of times, but overall it was a cool experience. A bit tough, maybe, because it was a little bit rushed… Sometimes we have a lot more time [for it] – we have the music first and kind of decide what song is gonna be like, where this was like, “Okay, this is the music that we’re gonna use for this song and this is the music we’re gonna use for that song…” So I was a little bit limited as to what we can actually do with the song. Under the circumstances, it was unfortunately the way that we had to do it. But I think it worked out okay.
Hardrock Haven: Definitely. We’ve talked about livestreams, and actually there is one planned – a streaming release show – planned for Roots and now postponed until August…
Ronnie Parkes: Yeah, it got changed basically because of the coronavirus restrictions again. It became too difficult for me to travel from the USA to get to Germany – ‘cause when you do that, you actually have to prove the reason that you’re there. It’s because they consider the United States a high-risk area, I think, because of so many cases. So it became difficult for me to just fly over there. I need to have a specific reason – that the event I was going for was so crucial that the company would close if I didn’t do it… and that it could not be postponed or rescheduled. And we couldn’t actually do that, because it was just a livestream concert (laughs) So, unfortunately we had to change it to August the 12th, and all the people that bought the special tickets – because we sold special tickets just for this, and I think it was only ten of them – will see us doing a special concert just for them on August the 12th.
Hardrock Haven: And in general, what do you think about livestreams that as you’ve said didn’t work for Bonfire due to technical reasons, but overall, they became “the next best thing” in absence of live gigs?
Ronnie Parkes: Yeah. You know, I would hate to see that it becomes the norm. But for the time being, when people can’t get out, at least they can still maybe hear something new or see somebody they wanted to see. But, I don’t know… to me, livestreams aren’t really the same as being at a concert. It’s totally not the same. So, I would prefer that everything goes back to normal (laughs). But for the time being, this is cool that I can see my favorite band playing a livestream.
Hardrock Haven: Hard not to agree with you. You’ve already mentioned fans’ financial involvement in making the Roots album and the VIP tickets for the livestream event – and we’ve also discussed the songs being written based on their stories as a part of the deal. What else did you offer to the fans as a part of a StartNext campaign going and what’s its current status?
Ronnie Parkes: I think it’s just ended. The campaign started because of the big problem that was in Germany – that people who were in bands and self-employed had a lot of financial problems. Especially our band… we’ve had problems because the guys didn’t really get any help from the government. Although they were promised to, by the time they got to it, the money from the government was used and gone already… or there was some kind of caveat made that they really couldn’t get any money. So the idea of this StartNext campaign was to help everybody in the band get a little bit of money and also, to put out this acoustic album. We sold everything that we could possibly get our hands on and that we had – like special t-shirts and masks with the Bonfire logo on it that Hans made… Hans sold some guitars and paintings he made… We also gave lessons and enabled people to buy songs on the Roots album. I forgot how much money it was, maybe fifty euros, but for that you could pick a song that will be on the record – that’s why we have the double record (laughs). So we did all these creative type of ideas to try to just raise as much money [as possible] and survive through this time, which is really difficult for many, many people, many bands, many venues… And hopefully everything comes back to the way it was. I hope so…
Hardrock Haven: So with that experience in mind, what do you think about crowdfunding in general? Is it a useful tool within the ever-changing music industry?
Ronnie Parkes: Yeah, absolutely… You know, my view on crowdfunding was… well, I never really liked it. I never really saw the good in asking for money that you don’t have for all the stuff. I’d rather earn it and get it myself. But it actually worked and really helped – so I think sometimes, if you really, really need it and it’s really detrimental, then yes, it’s a good thing. But should you use it regularly for just anything…? I don’t think so.
Hardrock Haven: So especially as not that much of a fan of crowdfunding idea in general, what do you think are some disadvantages of crowdfunding that these who consider it should be aware of?
Ronnie Parkes: Well, I don’t think there’s necessarily anything that they should be aware of… But you know, if you ask people for money just for something silly, like “Hey, I want a new car…”, to me that’s like begging. I don’t like to do that, so that’s really my opinion on it. If it’s really necessary and it can really help you and you really need that help, then yeah – you should ask.
Hardrock Haven: And do you think we’ll see the day when a large part of the music industry, new releases and so on will be in fact funded directly by their audience?
Ronnie Parkes: I don’t think so… I mean, that could happen – it depends. If record labels aren’t there anymore to support the bands in making the recordings and all the stuff… Because to make a really high quality recording costs a lot of money, and not everybody has this type of equipment in their house or the access to it, so many people still have to go to the studio. And then of course you’re talking about people who are masters at mixing and sound engineering and all these things, so you have to pay for that kind of stuff. To get a really super high quality recording, you have to pay for it. So, if there’s no way and there’s no record labels in the future to really pay for that, then crowdfunding might be the only way actually.
Hardrock Haven: Right. So, we talked Roots and the August streaming live show. Once everything is hopefully back to normal, what’s next for Bonfire?
Ronnie Parkes: The plan is as soon as things are open, we wanna tour. We still haven’t toured for the Fistful Of Fire album, so we have the plan to do that. And having an acoustic album, as I’ve said, we also wanna tour with that. So hopefully our plan is that we can be doing two tours at the same time – an electric and an acoustic tour – and this may work out. Like, say, we go to the UK for example. Instead of just playing our two nights of electric shows, maybe we can do four nights with two additional acoustic shows. Or a week, or a month, or… whatever. Doesn’t really matter in terms of the length of time, but it seems like we would be able to double our playing out live. So that’s our plan – we wanna play double next time (laughs). When it’s open, we don’t wanna play just once, we wanna play twice.
Hardrock Haven: Twice is always better than once!
Ronnie Parkes: Yeah, it’s kind of like playing cards in the casino, when you lose… and they have something called double down, which is basically you bet ten dollars and if you lose, the next time you bet twenty dollars. That’s kind of what we’re doing. (laughs)
Hardrock Haven: Any last words?
Ronnie Parkes: Just a reminder – the album Roots we talked about will be released on AFM Records on February the 26th…
Photo credits: Kai Swillus
Visit Bonfire online:
