Hi Exploders! To welcome the new year we suggest you a precious interview with Mr. Bruno Ravel, bassist of Danger Danger. We spent a nice time together talking about past, present and future of an artist who has been in lots of bands and has cooperated in lots of artists projects, and who is undoubtely one of the best bass players still around. Enjoy finding out in the following lines how many bands and artists he has played with (White Lion, Talas,Westworld...) and check out if he reveals us some scoop! The simpathy and the experience of Bruno Ravel are here for you. Happy 2005 to everybody!

Welcome Bruno Ravel, we're pleased and honoured to have you here on The Rock Explosion! Let's start from your early experiences: I know you played in a Jack Starr project called "Jack Starr's Burning Starr" in the album "Rock The American Way". So, what kind of cooperation did you give to the recordings? What do you think about the long dispute between David DeFais and Jack Starr concerning the copyright of their early works?
I played the entire album. Greg D'angelo recommended me to Jack because he needed a bassist, and I thought it'd be fun to play on an album. I think I couldn't have been more than 19 when I did that. It was one of my first paying gigs. As far as it concerns the dispute between Jack Starr and Virgin Steele I wasn't aware of it.

Tell us something about your adventures with White Lion, Talas, and Michael Bolton. Above all describe us Mike Tramp as artist an as man. I'm particularly interested in the anecdote which links you to the split with Talas: is true that Billy Sheehan (who you were replacing in Talas) has been offended by a t-shirt reporting "Billy who?" and has invited the band to leave you behind?
My experience with White Lion was a definite eye opener. Mike Tramp as a man? Ok... well, Mike was and still is (at least to me) a really good guy. He's very focused (sometimes too much) and is a hard worker. I think he's a decent writer too. I never had any problems with White Lion other than that they wouldn't allow me to contribute to the song writing process, so I knew six months into my stay, that if I wanted to grow as an artist, I'd have to do it in another band, so I quit. The T-shirt thing went kind of this: I was playing a show with Talas, and after the show, in the dressing room, a fan gave me the now infamous "Billy Who?" shirt. I was all sweaty and had no other shirt to wear, so I put it on, but the only people who saw it were the ones in the dressing room. It was cold that night and when I came out of the dressing room, I put my coat on over it. Somehow, it got back to Billy, but he was told that I wore it on stage, during the show and got all pissed. Instead of asking me what the deal was like a stand up guy, he wimped out and decided not to let the band use the Talas name which he owned, and because of that, Talas lost it's record deal. Fuckin' stupid huh? As for Michael Bolton, it was a dream gig for me. I was 21, and I was a huge Bolton fan and got to tour with him for six months. He turned out to be a prick in the end, but it sure was fun playing those songs. The band was great too. Tony Bruno, Al Pitrelli, Chuck Bonafante, great players!

You played with one of my favorite artist, I'm referring to Mark Reale of Riot's fame. Tell me how, when and where Westworld was formed? Which is your favourite Westworl's album?
It's funny you mention Mark as I am currently working on the new Riot Cd as we speak! It'll be out sometime next year. Westworld was formed because of a mutual friend, Paul Orofino. Originally, he put the band together with a different rhythm section (Danny Miranda and Bobby Rondinelli,) but they backed out due to scheduling and Paul called me and asked me if I'd be interested. At first, I decided to do it strictly for the money, but after jamming with Tony, John & Mark, I thought it'd be a cool thing for me. My favorite Westworld CD is the debut CD.

So, what made you start wanting to play bass and who were your main inspiration sources as an artists?
My father and mother are both professional classical musicians so music was in my world since I was born. My dad is the associate concertmaster of the New York Philarmonic orchestra and my mom owns and runs one of the most prestigious music schools for young adults in New York. When I was young, I started playing the cello because it intrigued me. It was big and badd! Later on, when I was bitten by the rock and roll bug, I thought it'd be easier to play bass because it had 4 strings and the cello had 4. I was also way into Cheap Trick and loved Tom Petersson and wanted to be him! My other bass heroes at the time were John Paul Jones, Tom Hamilton & Geddy Lee! My other great inspiraton bands are Kiss, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Starz, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Van Halen, Angel, The Babys, The Beatles etc...

You and Steve West had formed Danger Danger in 1987. Can you give me a little more history about them. How, when and where did you met the other guys?
It's a well documented story. Steve and I met at a Cheap Trick concert and immediately hit it off. We started jamming regularly and when Talas broke up, I called him to replace Jimmy DeGrasso. He said he'd join, but we had to start in a whole new direction and I agreed. The rest is history. We met Kasey through a mutual friend and he had a place to rehearse and was a great keyboard player and looked cool, so he was in . When I was in White Lion, I met Ted while he was playing drums for Prophet. I actually approached him at a Heart concert in New York City. Andy and I met through a mutual friend after we flew him in to audition for the band. A class act all the way...

You wrote the main part of Danger Danger songs together with Steve West. So I wanna ask you about your general way to compose and arrange. Describe us the song-writing process that you used the most, if there is one.
There really isn't one. It's different with every song. I, generally speaking, write mostly music and melodies with some lyrics and Steve generally is a lyricist, but there have been many instances where the roles were reversed. There really is no set way.

So, if you asked me about my favourite Danger Danger album I would answer: "Danger Danger", "Screw It" and the most recent "The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves". Now I would like to ask you which are your favourite memories linked to the period of your first albums including Europe and Japan tours with a lot of famous acts. Besides what can you tell me about "The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves" period and about these following songs: "Six Million Dollar Man", "Grind", "Dead , Drunk And Wasted" and "Cherry Cherry" (in which you take up lead vocals)?
God, there are so many. I'd have to say that those years ('88-'91) were probably the best years of my life to date. There are so many memories, I wouldn't know where to start. Touring with all the great acts that we did, being on the radio, being a bona-fide Rock Star! The "Gildersleeves" period was/is pretty much the way it is now, only I was four years younger! That album was very challenging to record and mix and I'm happy with the way it came out. "Dead, Drunk And Wasted" is my favorite on that cd. "Six Million" was a song that Paul had demo'd for another project that I felt could use a facelift, so he agreed and we cut it. "Grind" was kinda a "throwaway" tune that we revamped and made heavier and came out great. "Cherry Cherry" was a lot of fun. The singing was a pain, because I like to do vocals quick, and I had to spend some time on that one. I'm very impatient! (Laughs).

Why did you decide to form your own label Low Dice Records, and above all why did you decide to release so a controversial sounding album as "Dawn"?
You're killing me with these questions! We recorded "Dawn" with the thinking that we were not Danger Danger and shopped it under a different name. We actually had label interest until it was discovered that we were formally members of Danger Danger, then the labels ran like sheep. We had what I still think to this day is a great album, and no one would touch it, so we said "Fuck it," we'll release it ourselves and mistakenly called a Danger Danger album. LowDice is the company Steve and I formed to release that cd.

Can you tell us something more about the release of "Cockroach". Why it has been recorded in '93 with Ted Poley as vocalist but it appears just in 2002 in double CD version, one including Ted and one including Paul Laine?
Cockroach was recorded in '93 as Danger Danger 's third cd. Ted was fired in the fall of '93, Sony told us to get another singer, Paul re-recorded the vocals in winter '93, Sony shelved the record in '94 and we weren't able to get the rights to it until 2002. When we did, we decided to release it as a double CD so everyone could hear both versions.

In my opinion Ted Poley in your first two albums was a great lead vocalist, but once left the band it seemed to me he changed a lot his mood in singing and I couldn't appreciate too much his new vocal register in Melodica and Bone Machine but I would never expect to see him again in Danger Danger. I'm glad he's back, but how come did you decide to include him in the band again?
Sadly, due to the nature of the music business and the times, Paul was never really given a fair shake with us. He joined the band at a time when this kind of music was well on it's way out of the mainstream, so the band never had the exposure that was available when Ted was in the band. Although our fans loved Paul and supported him, they kept asking when Ted was coming back. They wanted nostalgia. After years of prodding, we patched things up with Ted and here we are.

I know you played in Sweden Rock Festival 2004 in Solvesborg. Tell us about this experience:
One of the best shows ever. We had so much fun and the crowd kicked ass. It was like we had turned the clock back to '89! Lots of fun!

But you played also a show in the U.S.A. with Lynch in October 2004. Tell me how it went and also how was the relationship between all the guys and Lynch:
George was very cool to us as usual. He had a pickup band that he played with, but his sound and performance was killer! Our show was a blast. It was like a homecoming for us, being from New York. A great time!

Can you reveal us some anticipations about the Danger Danger next future? Are you planning a new album or something else?
We'd like to more touring for right now. The market is kinda weak, and there's a lot of promoters that want us to play for peanuts, but we simply can't afford it. We play when the situation is right. As for a new album? I don't know. There are a lot of variables that have to be right for something like that to happen, but I never say never.

I think that your sound has influenced a huge part of todays rock bands all over the worl, above all after the great earthquake caused by the grunge movement. For example, believe it or not, here in Italy there's a good band called Borgogna whose main ispiration are your early releases. How do you feel in having signed so deeply a part of rock music?
I feel humbled and honored. We always wanted to be a band for the ages and although in the big picture, I guess we kinda fell short, there are a lot of musicians that come up to me and tell me otherwise, so I'll just let them speak for us. I'd love to hear Borgogna's cd by the way!

Which kind of bass and gears do you like to use the most? Do you have any preferences depending on recording acts or live acts?
I have a ton of basses and amps that I've collected over the years. Live, my preference is a 5 string Spector, or a 5 string custom ESP bass with Spector/Sadowsky preamps, through an old Ampeg SVT, however the way we tour these days, I play through whatever amp is provided. I just bring one bass! I went from 4-6 basses and a wall of Ampegs to one bass and any old amp! Talk about humbling! In the studio, I record 3 tracks. One through an Ampeg b15, or SVT, one through a Marshall Gtr amp (any recent model will do,) and one through a Demeter direct box. The bass depends on the material, but most of the time, it's a Spector, Esp, or Fender Precision or Jazz bass.

What do you think of the current state of rock music, what about all the D tuning going on?
Hey, it is what it is ...The music business as we once knew it's over. The world is all about the here and now. I call it fast food music. We want our food fast, and our music fast too. In with the new, out with the slightly new. There's no development for artists anymore. A band is lucky if they get to their second single, let along a second album. It's real sad. I wouldn't want to be a young up and coming rock musician in these times. It's way too trendy for me. We have no one to blame except radio & MTV. They ruined it for everyone. But, having said that, there are some great bands out there that kick ass and are heavy, melodic, relevant! There are also a lot of old school bands (Jet, Darkness, VR) that are great as well.

And what do you think about using the web to promote bands and to share mp3's? Are you pro or against peer-to-peer, for example the old Napster's version and similar?
On sharing, I'm against it, but there's no stopping it. It's theft, plain and simple. Kids are sharing as opposed to buying. It's fucking up every musician out there, whether they admit it or not. Musicians need to make a living too, you know. We can't live on chicks and booze ...or can we? (laughs). The internet is a great tool for bands to promote themselves on a small scale.

Do you have some regrets related to some decisions that you have taken during your rock career? Viceversa, do you have some dreams still to realize?
Some regrets ... If I had to do it all over again, Danger Danger would have been heavier. More guitar driven. I would have targeted more of a male audience as opposed to female. Females are fickle, males are loyal to the core. Having said that, I would have released "Bang Bang" first instead of "Naughty Naughty". I would have released "One Step From Paradise" second. I would have not written "Horny S.O.B." it's crap, and I would have not had a monkey on the cover of "Screw It." Other than that? It was all good. I do have also dreams to be realized, but they're far fetched. I'd love to work with Mutt Lange. I'd love to make an album that was flawless. I'd like to reach a level with Danger Danger so we can tour every year for a few months and make a few extra dollars. Other than that? All my dreams have come true.

Mr.Ravel, since it seems you have so much on your plate right now, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Hopefully still rockin' in some capacity. I'll probably have a kid or two. Hopefully I'll be healthy.

Your top ten albums of ever, your favourite pornstars and your favourite drinks:
Fun stuff! My fav albums in no specific order are: Adam Schmitt's "Illiterature", The Producers' "You Make The Heat", Kiss' "Alive", Aerosmith's "Get Your Wings", Led Zeppelin's "Physical Graffiti", Cheap Trick's "In Color And In Black And White", Bryan Adams' "Waking Up The Neighbors", Def Leppard's "Hysteria", Starz with "Starz", Rick Springfield with "Living In Oz", Shania Twain with "Come On Over" and U2 with their "Best Of". The Pornstars I prefer are Jenna Jamson, Raquel Darrian (Old school!), Janine Lindemulder, Bo Saint, Chrissy Moran, Penny Flame, Chloe Jones, Nikki Dial and many others. as far as it concerns drinks I love Patron tequila, Long Island Ice Tea and Flaming Dr Pepper!

Ok, the interview is over. This is the last question: do you like Italian football? Are you a fan of some Italian soccer club?
Do I like Italian Football? Sure! But here in America it's not that widespread. I much prefer American football and basketball. It's my life's blood!

Mr.Ravel, thanks a lot for your answers, you have free space to greet Italian and European Danger Danger's fans.
I hope I didn't bore you guys too much,! I'm looking forward to coming to Italy this year to rock, eat and drink! All the best in 2005!

Intervista realizzata da Bruno Rossi, con la partecipazione di Margherita Realmonte, Duff and Aly M.
Tradotta da Margherita Realmonte