Interview with Ronnie Parkes

Bonfire

Quality Hotel Ekoxen Linköping

Welcome to Sweden and Linköping.

Thank you, it´s nice to be here.

Bonfire is on a 30th anniversary tour. Did you thought when you started the band, that you would go on a 30th anniversary tour?

I don´t think that anyone think it will last that long. Cause you never know what´s gonna happen. I think that we are just happy that it lasted this long, and we are still here doing it.

At first the band had a different name, Cacumen. Then at -85 you changed the name to Bonfire. Why?

I wasn´t in the band Cacumen, and I wasn´t in Bonfire when it changed. But I do know the reason why they changed. It was a suggestion from the record label to change the name. So they got signed and the record label thought the name was to difficult to remember, they wanted something catchier so they suggested to change the name and they choosed Bonfire.

On the record Glorius, you have a song by the Beatles, With a Little Help from My Friends. Who´s idea was it and is there a story or a reason that you brought on the record?

Actually that song started as an idea with another band we had, Easy Living. When we did the Glorius record, the line up that we had was pretty much going to be almost as the Easy Living band. We used to play that song, and we said that we are gonna record it.So we started the process of recording it, and it was the same line up for Bonfire for that record, so we started recording it, we wanted to change it, we didn´t wanna do it exactly like The Beatles or like Joe Cocker did it. So we did a little bit different version. That´s how it ended up on the record.

What do the fans say when you play that song live on concerts?

We actually don´t play that song anymore. We would play that song from the record, actually when we finish the set, like after we are done playing. We would play that song on the PA system when we finished. It was a good message, it was a good song, everybody was our friends, we want everones help, we wanna rock together.We thought it was cool you know.

I imagine you have many great memories from the concerts. Can you pick one concert?

We just played a great festival in France, we did an interview with a puppet, so that was kind of memorable. That was pretty reason, just a couple months ago.

That must have been a funny thing?

Yeah, it was fun and a really great show, it was the first time ever this line up played in France. It was a cool experience.

Are there any venue, that you haven´t been at, that you would love to play in?

With this line up we would really love to play at Wacken. Bonfire have played Wacken before. We actually have an album recorded live from Wacken. We would like to do it with this line up we have now. We want to go back there again, it would be really great.

It´s my dreamfestival.

We would like to play at Sweden Rock Festival.That would be great. Put in a ood word for us.

You have played at Skogsröjet. What do you think about your swedish fans?

So far it have been really great, everybody have been really nice. People really enjoying the music. Tonight actually it should be a pretty good turnout, from what we have been told. So we kind of looking forward to it. For me personally, it was my first time in Sweden, and I really like it, I like it a lot, it´s very nice. I thought it would be more snow, but there wasn´t much snow.

It will come, we have snow from December to March. 

It was kind of cool also to see the sun this morning. The sun came up and by the time we got here, the sun was set already. I´m not used to that, I live in the New York City area.

Oh yes, that´s right, you are from America.

I´m the one american member, so I don´t see that. So for me it was kind of cool.

What do you think of Palatset and the crew there?

It´s a really great venue, everything was really smooth. We got there, everybody helped out, evrybody was really nice. the soundguy was really good.They gave us a nice meal, and we are on a nice hotel. It´s great, a really nice stage. 

From where do you get inspiration when you write music and lyrics?

Actually, the inspiration comes from normal life, things that happen or sometimes you just get an idea. You got some inspiration, maybe you see a movie or you hear something, someone says something, two words might just click, wow, that would make a great song, something you don´t hear every day. That usually starts the inspiration, and then you just build on it.

What venues do you prefer to play at, smaller like the one tonight, or bigger like Wacken?

Of course, the more people the bettter. To play small venues are actually a cool thing. It does give you a very intimate personal relationship with the fans. People are really up front in a small place.Actually sometimes the sound is really great, and of course we have this gigantic backdrop for festivals. I don´t even know how big it is. It´s bigger then a lot of the clubs, sometimes we can´t even use it, beacause it´s so big. We have it up tonight, it takes up the whole. It´s not spread out. It´s working great. 

The rest of the band is from Ingolstadt, in Germany if I´m correct?

Originally yeah, I actually have a visa for Germany, and I also stay in Ingolstadt. Hans the originally member he is also from Ingolstadt.

I just wondering how the metalscene is in Ingolstadt?

Now or then?

Now.

There isn´t a huge metalscene there, but there is a metalscene and it´s alive. It´s a really good area, it got a lot of history, it´s pretyy awesome. So go and visit Ingolstadt, go visit.

I use to pass it, on my way to Italy every year, on autobahn.

It´s between Munich and Nurnberg. It´s a cool location. 

Someday I might visit Inolstadt.

The city itself, the citys center¨´s is very old, it´s from 1600. So there are some really cool stuff there.

What will happen after the tour is done?

Right now we are recording a new album called Bite the Bullet. It´s also gonna be on UDR Records. It´s scheduled for March 24th, 2017. That will be the realesedate. It´s almost fully recorded, it´s almost totally finished. We are looking forward to it. It will be a great album.

I´m looking forward to it too.

Actually it will be heavier then the other stuff. We still maintain the Bonfire sound and everything, we give it a bit heavier edge. 

Sounds exiting. How many hours do you have when you work in the studio?

It goes pretty fast, studios are expensive, so you realy have to plan it out. Thanfully technique has advanced a lot, we can do basic stuff in our own studio and then go to a bigger place, find two things, rerecord some stuff like that. 

Descrive the band, using only three words?

Pure Rockin´ Roll.