Artist:  Eric Ragno 

Date:  1 April 2009 

Earlier in the New Year we caught up with keyboard maestro Eric Ragno for a quick run down of what he'd been up to in 2008 and what we had to look forward to coming this year from him.  On hearing about all the exciting projects he was involved in we decided to twist Eric's arm into chatting with us some more so we could probe deeper into what this man had planned for the coming year.  Here's what he had to tell us ...

MM - Firstly can I say what a pleasure for all of us here at The Mayfair Mall Zine to have this opportunity to interview a true keyboard legend. 
Eric - Thanks so much!  Legend!  I only wish man.  But I’m glad people enjoy what I do.  : )

MM - Well let’s get down to it, its finally out the China Blue album ‘Twilight Of Destiny’, how does it feel to have this album released after so many years in the closet?
Eric - I’ve always wanted to make this album, and to see it finished is a pretty amazing experience!  I am so proud, and I’m excited that the fans seem to really like it!  I’ve done so much work for other artists over the years, and it’s amazing to finally put out something that has so much of “me” in it.  It feels really good, and I owe a special thanks to all the guys who helped me make this happen.  

MM - The album boasts a number of high profile guests, has this in itself made this album something rather special to yourself?
Eric - I never intended to make this an all-star album.  I live in Los Angeles and I work with some well-known friends, so when it came time to choose a guitarist, bassist, etc. I chose the best guys I know!  And they are well-known in AOR circles.  I am thrilled to have their talents here, and the critics feel that this is some of the best work these guys have done in years.  But bringing in high profile guests also gives the impression that this was some pre-conceived project, which it was not . These are my friends, and we’re doing an album together.  That’s what being in a band is all about. 

MM - And how did you get the guys like Tony Mills, Josh Ramos and Doug Odell involved in the whole process?
Eric - The word was out that we were looking for a singer and Tony (like myself) always enjoys working with new people, so he contacted us.  His voice adds a real magic to these songs and his harmonies are heavenly!  I had met Josh while writing the Ramos/Hugo record with him and Hardline bassist Jamie Browne.  We have a real chemistry together and I hope we write more in the future.  He plays the kind of melodic guitar that I heard in my head when I wrote these songs – so of course I wanted to work with him again.  And Doug I had performed together at the Melodic Rock Fest in Indiana, we partied together in England at Firefest and performed with Ted Poley in Pennsylvania.  He is a powerful bass player with a warm heart, and was as natural choice for this record. 

MM - When you were going through the material for the album, were there any tracks that didn’t make this album but could be used for say a second China Blue album?
Eric - I have a lot of material set aside, as well as some new things I’ve been working on.  For this album I picked some old songs that I had written in the 80’s for my original incarnation of China Blue, and I wrote some new ones to round them out.  Once I knew what the line-up would be, I started writing songs that would showcase Tony’s voice, Doug’s bass, Ronny’s guitar, Josh’s leads…I wanted each guy to stand out so for example I wrote Crimes with Pete Newdeck in mind because there are lots of great drum fills and double-kick action, and he excels at that.  So there is a combination of old and new in there, and I am constantly writing songs for other artists as well.  We’re going to talk about a follow-up record once the summer is out.

MM - Has reliving the past been a labour of love for you as an artist?
Eric - That is a really great question.  The past makes us who we are today – all the good, the bad, etc.  The older material on this album was written with my good friend Tom Gasbarro during some very emotional times in our lives.  Re-recording these songs allowed me to relive some of those experiences, and writing the new material allowed me to reflect on who I am today and how it all turned out.  There is a line that appears a few times on the album (and the bonus tracks) – “so this is where we are”.  That is so heavy and personal to me.  So when people listen to this record or review it, often they focus on the amazing vocals, the great guitar leads, etc.   But for me, the record is about what I’ve been through and where I am at today.  Thank god I had all this amazing talent to help tell the story!

MM - From the initial meeting with Michael Riesenbeck, how long did the album take to complete?
Eric - That’s another good question, and I’m not entirely sure.  I could say five years, maybe six – but it wasn’t non-stop work at all.  When Michael & I first started talking about doing this record, we both had very demanding day jobs.  Since that time I lost my job and went on to pursue music full time, while Michael’s job changed and he had a baby.  He originally hoped to produce the record, but once Tony joined the band and the album started getting serious attention, it was clear that we would have to raise the bar a little and have someone experienced like JK Northrup come in and do the amazing job that he did!  Also, the guys on this album all have busy schedules.  We had to stop production a few times once Tony joined TNT, and when Zane started Solna.  The original bass player went on tour and never came back to finish the record.  Every time we were put on hold, I went off to work on records with Ted Poley, American Angel, Michael Bormann, David Readman & others.  Once thing calmed down a bit we were able to focus on finishing the album.  My friend Fabrizio Grossi was a big help in showing me what we needed to do to finish the album.  After that it was all done in six months. 

MM - Was there any time-pressure throughout the production, regarding any deadlines etc.? Or did you have all the time you needed to fully work everything out?
Eric - We originally started this as a side project or a hobby, with no label in mind and no deadlines.  Once we signed with Frontiers, everybody made the time to make sure the album was submitted on schedule.  At the end I was leaving for a European tour with Graham Bonnet, so I downloaded the final mixes from JK from my phone in Germany.  JK does such amazing work, he really didn’t need much input from me at all.

MM - This album has surely sprung you into the depths of promotional work, how are you coping when the spotlight is on you for your work?
Eric - Oh man!  I’ve never done this much promotion before!  I really want people to know about this album, and to understand that it’s not some anonymous project but a real band of players!  Meanwhile I have been getting a lot of opportunities to play on albums and write songs for other artists, which is always great.  But first I need to promote this album, and that often takes time away from making music.  I am very excited about this record and I hope that people will check out the sound clips and give it a chance!

MM - What has been the initial feedback from the media and fans around the new album?
Eric - I have been lucky – I appeared on 7 other albums in 2008, including two high profile releases for Frontiers that I wrote heavily on - From the Inside with Danny Vaughn, and the Ramos/Hugo.  So the fans seem to embrace this album because they are familiar with what I do, they love Tony’s voice and Josh’s guitar and we’ve wrapped it all together in one nice package!  Some of the metal magazines had wanted the disc to be more metal, but to be fair this record has more in common with Journey than with Metallica!  While it does have power,  it’s also has keyboards and harmonies and all of the classic elements you would find on an AOR record.  I’m not offended – I work on a lot of metal albums and I have some new ones coming soon!  But that was the only real criticism.

MM - So are you still working on other material whist the promo train for ‘Twilight Of Destiny’ is still rolling?
Eric - I’ve been writing songs for David Readman’s next album, and some songs for Zane Petersen’s next project.  I’ve also been recording tracks for the new album from Savage Paradise, which features Mario Parga, Graham Bonnet (Rainbow), Tim Luce (Alcatrazz) and Kevin Valentine, who played drums on some big rock records including some work with Kiss.  I also completed tracks for the new Pushking album, a compilation disc that also features Paul Stanley, Alice Cooper, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top and a host of others.  It’s a pretty exciting time!

MM - Is there any one song on ‘Twilight Of Destiny’ that you feel particularly connected to?
Eric - I love them all, I really do.  For a rock vibe, I love So Wrong.  It’s a powerful song and it moves quickly – Tony sings “pick it up, keep it up”, and you know he means it!  On a personal level, songs like Passions really move me.  Again that lyric – “this is where we are”.   There is a beautiful remix of this track that is a bonus for the U.S. release; it really showcases Josh and what he can do.  This album goes right across the spectrum, all the highs and lows and action and serenity.  I hope people feel it.

MM - Moving on now to some of the other projects you’ve been involved with recently, would you like to tell us more about the From The Inside and  Ramos/Hugo projects that you’ve been involved with, both of which were recently released on the Frontiers Record label. 
Eric - I met Josh through a mutual friend, and at the time Josh was looking for someone to write with for his new album.  As you know, anything Josh does is immediately compared to Journey, so we wanted to write an AOR record without playing too much off of that.  Of course once Hugo came on board, there was no way to avoid any Journey comparisons!  But working with him was a great experience; we became soul brothers on that one.  We drove to Northern California to write, and Josh shared some amazing stories about Bill Graham and Carlos Santana and what the Journey rehearsals were like during the band’s Raise on Radio era.   

MM - Rumour has it that Angelmilk Records will also be re-releasing the Vox Tempus album ‘In The Eye Of Time’ you were involved with. 
Eric - The label has had some difficulty, but I’m hoping they are finally back on track.  Vox Tempus is a prog band I worked with after I left Takara in the 90’s, in the same vein as Dream Theatre.  We did one album that had a limited released in the U.S.  Andy Bramhall was a fan of the disc, and approached us about having his label Angelmilk give this album another shot.  We’re really excited to see how it goes.  

MM - You’ve worked with some of the biggest names in the Melodic/Hard Rock genre, is there anyone who you admire and would like to work with but haven’t had the opportunity to do so yet?
Eric - I could make a list as long as my arm, but you never know who will come calling.  I thought it would be great to work with Steve Vai, and now we’re doing a track together for the Pushking album.  I love Eric Martin, we’ve done some live stuff together and it would be great to do studio album together one day.  

MM - If you could go back in time to when you were first starting out and could give yourself just one piece of advice, what would you tell yourself?
Eric - I wish I had believed in myself more growing up.  I always felt a bit awkward and unsure of my abilities.  I had to come to Los Angeles and see for myself that I could do this.  I often wish I could go back and make that happen.

MM - With 2009 just underway what can we expect for Eric Ragno this year, any surprises?
Eric - Well the Pushking album is the big thing right now, I can’t wait to hear the final product!  The follow-up to the Los Angeles project with Michele Luppi is coming this year, and a few other surprises.  I’m also starting work on some things for American Angel, who celebrate their 20^th anniversary next year.  And the Savage Paradise album continues so.  So I’m pretty excited.  

MM - Which magical musical moment motivated you to start playing keyboards instead of say the guitar?
Eric - I started out on drums, I played some big venues while I was in high school and was pretty good at it.  My mom was a keyboard player in a rock band, she had synths and pianos around the house, so I always dabbled with it.  But as you say there were some magical moments I saw that turned me around…Journey on their Frontiers tour, Eddie Van Halen’s cool keyboard work on 5150, stuff like that.   I saw that keyboards could play a role in a hard rock context, and I wanted to do that.

MM - With you work on so many Melodic/Hard Rock albums over the years can you see the whole scene capturing those glory days of old?
Eric - I hope so.  I’m certainly doing my part!  It’s hard to say, I mean you can’t hear this music on radio anymore but you can find it on TV, in video games and movies, so you never know.  In the meantime I’m writing more and trying to make these releases as good as they can be.   

MM - What advice would you give to any bands out there struggling to get their sound out to bigger audiences when the media seem so fixed on ready made TV bands and groups? 
Eric - Think out of the box.  Get your music out to as many people as you can, make sure people know about you.  And work at your craft!  If you put out a crap album or if you can’t play live, you won’t be around for long.

MM - Finally is there anything we’ve forgotten to ask you about that you’d like to mention here and do you have any closing messages for our readers? 
Eric - Keep checking out new music!  And be sure to check out the new album at www.chinabluemusic.com.  And you can always check out my latest updates on my site at www.keyboardplayer.net.  Thanks and rock on!  Eric

MM - We'd like to wish Eric every success with his forthcoming projects and releases and hope to catch up with him again some day when he hit these shores.   Check out the reviews of some of the projects he's worked on so far ... or better still check them out for yourself!

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