Romanian rock vocalist Ronnie Romerodiscusses songs from the debut RockshotsRecords album by A Circus, followed by the new Frontiers Music album by Sunstorm, called Restless Fight. Prior to this, we discuss a few songs from Rainbow, as Romero became the lead vocalist for Ritchie Blackmore’s band in 2015. We also reference Blackmore’s ‘70s Deep Purple music with their 2nd and 3rd lineups, commonly known as Mark II, with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, and Mark III, with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes, joining the founding nucleus of Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice.

GOLDMINE: Welcome to Goldmine. Before we talk about A Circus and Sunstorm, let’s discuss Rainbow. My favorite Rainbow song is the lengthy masterpiece “Stargazer” from the second album, Rainbow Rising, which also includes the single “Starstruck” and its flip side “Run with the Wolf.”

RONNIE ROMERO: When I started to listen to Rainbow, around thirty years ago, it was through my father, may he rest in peace. The first album I heard with Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar was Deep Purple’s Made in Japan double-live album with the Mark II lineup. Then I moved onto Deep Purple Mark III, and finally discovered the debut album Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Next, I got Rainbow Rising, and I remember “Starstruck” being labeled as the single. I like that song, and I performed it a couple of times with a Rainbow cover band that I had in Spain. It works well for live performances. I like the groove of “Run with the Wolf” and the way Ronnie James Dio sang it. But for me, like you, “Stargazer” is my favorite, when I have sung the song live with Rainbow. Now it is in the setlist for my solo band, and the people appreciate us performing it every time we can.
GM: The song on the new A Circus album that is most Rainbow-like is aptly titled “Rainbow Tears,” with synthesizer from Gian Marco Verdone.

RR: When Luca Federici asked me to do this A Circus collaboration, at first there were just four or five songs. When I listened to them, I heard this Rainbow-like sound which was very interesting to me, because there are not that many bands who do that music style nowadays versus heavy metal or European disco metal with simple patterns. I found it very interesting, especially “Rainbow Tears,” “Judas,” and a very special song for me called “Two Ghosts,” sounding very much like Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, and that made me want to be part of this collaboration.

GM: With “Two Ghosts,” Luca’s acoustic guitar reminds me of Ritchie. You mentioned Deep Purple’s Mark III era, well I am reminded of “Soldier of Fortune,” the finale from their Stormbringer album, which my daughter Brianna and I saw Ritchie perform with his wife Candace at a Blackmore’s Night concert in Orlando.

RR: I sent the song to Candace and Ritchie for them to hear and they replied that the song is great, and that they liked it.

GM: You also mentioned “Judas,” which you deliver emotionally.

RR: It was a challenge, which is exactly what I like when I do collaborations, something outside of my comfort zone. I am known as a heavy metal rock singer where I am screaming most of the time, but when you have songs like these with different dynamics and can play in different ways with the vocal performance, I like it.

GM: You mentioned Deep Purple’s Made in Japan. “Burn the Witch” is very Deep Purple-like.

RR: Yes, it is a very Deep Purple sounding song, especially from their Mark II era.

GM: My favorite song is the long masterpiece “The Sleeper” with Gian’s wonderful piano playing, along with your engaging vocal delivery. It is so well done that it made my Top 25 songs of 2024.

RR: Thank you. I tried to put different elements in my voice that people don’t usually hear on my records, especially inspired by the Ronnie James Dio style of singing before he was in Rainbow, when he was in the band Elf, on those magnificent ‘70s albums that I love. His voice was clear and melodic, so I based my vocal style for this A Circus album on that period. Friends of mine, who have listened to the album, said that they liked that I was not screaming.
I tried to put different elements in my voice that people don’t usually hear on my records, especially inspired by the Ronnie James Dio style of singing before he was in Rainbow, when he was in the band Elf, on those magnificent ‘70s albums that I love. His voice was clear and melodic, so I based my vocal style for this A Circus album on that period.” – Ronnie Romero

GM: “Shadowy Man” has quite a tempo change, anchored by Shane Gaalaas’ drums and Alfredo Federici’s bass. Luca’s guitar playing is fiery.

RR: Luca’s musicianship is great and the songwriting for the album is just wonderful, something you want to listen to from the beginning to the end because you don’t know what is going to happen next. Sadly, this hardly happens anymore. When I was a kid, I would save up my money, then go to the record store to buy an album, and I didn’t know every song that was inside the sealed package. I couldn’t wait to get back home and put the album on the turntable and go on the journey to discover the music. Nowadays, by the time you release an album, everybody knows three to four songs already, which eliminates the magic. This album reminds me of when I was a teenager buying music, listening from beginning to end, taking me to different landscapes.

GM: In addition to the new songs, the ending is a big surprise, the Charlie Chaplin song “Swing Little Girl” from the late ‘60s reissue of the 1928 silent film The Circus, which Chaplin sang during the opening credits. Luca told me, “A few years ago, I hadn’t played guitar for a while, and I wanted to write and create an album and record it with my dad on bass, so I did that with eight of the nine songs. For the finale, I chose a non-original song. I am really into Charlie Chaplin’s filmography. I think the moment I heard the opening theme from the film The Circus, which is “Swing Little Girl,” that’s when it hit me. The combination of music and lyrics in the song became a big inspiration to me, and I started the whole writing process. At that point, the concept for the A Circus band was born.”

RR: I really enjoyed going to the studio every day in Bucharest, Romania and making this album. It was a joy. I live an hour outside of the city, so I would go during the week to make the album. In this case, the other guys were outside of Romania, versus when I record with my band, where everyone is in the studio at the same time. Luca lives in Italy, so on some of the songs, we were talking via Facetime while doing the recording.

GM: Let’s move on to the band Sunstorm. In the early ‘80s, Ronnie James Dio joined Black Sabbath when Ozzy Osbourne went solo. Later in the decade, Ozzy’s song “Shot in the Dark” reached No. 68. You don’t hear it on classic rock radio like you do with “Crazy Train,” so thank you for your new, great version of this overlooked classic.

RR: I tried to do something different. I made an album of covers a few years ago. When I make a cover, I try to choose something people don’t expect me to sing and something that isn’t played too much by other bands. “Shot in the Dark” is melodic and unique and I think it turned out well.

GM: “Running to You” has a very radio friendly sound, capturing the ‘80s album-oriented rock (AOR) era.

RR: When I joined the band a few years ago, they tried to fit Sunstorm’s music into my way of singing, making it more aggressive, but I thought now it would be great to get back to the AOR vibe that they had before I joined the group.