Ritchie Blackmore Finally, He Speaks! After 10 years of Deep Purple, a new decade of Rainbow begins? This is not a revival, but a new group. I wanted to let people know that it's not a Rainbow by calling it a Rainbow Moon, mainly because I have a strange interest in this celestial body. Besides, Moon was the name of my grandmother, for whom I have deep respect. I finally changed my mind when I noticed that a whole bunch of bands called themselves "So-and-so Moon" or "That Moon". I like the name "Rainbow". At least listeners will know what they're dealing with. Listening to the album, one gets the impression that nothing has changed since "Bent Out Of Shape". The atmosphere, melody, arrangements and thoughtfulness are all done the same as before. Right. Now I'm primarily interested in melody. I work on melodies a lot more than preparing guitar parts. It can take me two or three weeks to write a piece, but I rarely concentrate on writing a solo for more than half an hour! Some guitarists may find this strange, but I focus more on working on rhythm and melody. Most guitarists think too much about how they can present their playing in the best possible light. I've been playing guitar for 39 years and it's a thing of the past for me. The guitar is not the main thing. For me, it’s more important that the song turns out good and that people like it. Many people consider you a guitarist with a terrible reputation, that you are a lone wolf who does not care about the interests of the group. Why don't you want to get rid of all these labels and start releasing music under your own name? I don’t want to put all the responsibility for the project on my shoulders. I need the atmosphere that is born in the heart of the group, inspiration from the enthusiasm of young musicians. Young people inspire me much more. I'm a bit like a vampire; I constantly need fresh blood. This always causes serious problems, but when I play with the same people for a long time, I quickly get bored. Although my music remains the same, I feel much fresher among new musicians. Moreover, I am pleased to see how those who used to help me are now standing firmly on their own feet, for example Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale and others. Rainbow is considered one of the most sophisticated bands, even more so than Deep Purple. It sounds like you like this kind of sophisticated heavy metal much more than the music of Deep Purple, considering that your favorite album "Slaves And Masters" actually sounds exactly like the Rainbow album. This album is much more melodic than the rest of Deep Purple's records, and many people have told me that they not only think it is a great album, but that they prefer it to the rest of the band's work. I don't like the latest Deep Purple album at all! I think this is the worst record I've ever made. Rainbow is sophisticated rock, in which melodicism is in the foreground. I don't like playing music without structure. It is not interesting to me. I've already done this. It seems to me that for 30 years in a row I played songs that had nothing but noise. "Speed ??King" was a good song for its time, that's true, but I don't get any pleasure from listening to it now, much less playing it. It's just a small riff played at high speed. I don't listen to that kind of rock anymore. I am most attracted to melodies from classical, folk and blues. An album becomes successful when you leave the studio feeling satisfied with what you recorded. This rarely happens to me, but this album was the closest to it. But how do you manage to find musicians who are so crazy that they are ready to play with you? I don’t care about my reputation, such rumors come from those who had to leave the group, I have never had problems finding good accompanist musicians. I often change musicians because I'm not very happy with them musically. Very rarely, dismissals are related to personal problems; mostly the reasons for their departure are related to music. If I remove someone from me, it is not because I don’t like him, but because with this person I cannot play what I want to hear. How do these "divorces" happen? Do you write them a notice, send them your lawyer, or is everything resolved amicably? No, basically the manager sends them a notice. Let's take Ronnie James Dio for example, I don't deny that he sings wonderfully, the problem is that he always sings the same way. And he also married this strange woman who seems to have a strong influence on him... What about the new guy, Dougie White? Hmm, he's already fired (laughs)! No, just kidding! He is Scottish, and this affects his character. He's a lot of fun to be around. We often go to bars to play. I take my acoustic guitar with me; he has an incredible repertoire of lively English and Scottish folk songs. He always inspires me. You give him two or three notes, an idea for a melody, and he immediately comes up with a whole song. It's rare that singers make me so happy. Did you have any concerns that you would have to prove yourself again after ten years of working with Deep Purple? I'm always afraid of something. It's probably possible to find a more negative and nervous person than me, but it won't be easy. But on the other hand, I don't care. At the moment the band is doing well and I don't think about anything else. We have a good friendly relationship and I believe that everything will go well, at least for the next two to three months (laughs) before I feel problems with the environment. When you left Purple, everyone thought: "He can contact Dio, Bonnet, Turner is also sitting around," they expected you to work with one of them. In the end, you chose an unknown guy who had just left school. This is a risk. But I don't want to make the mistake of playing with the same musicians again. It all got a little boring. I've done this before with Deep Purple, and I wasn't particularly happy with the music. I respect them as musicians, with the exception of this so-called singer; but it is also important to note that with them I could not express myself 100%. First of all, I left because of the already mentioned "singer". I like vocalists who can sing, probably these are the kind of singers a band needs. I don't want to work with vocalists who can't sing. Dougie White's voice is reminiscent of Joe Lynn Turner's. Just don’t tell him about it yourself. Dougie doesn't like Joe very much. He adores Dio, but he doesn't like Joe. I don’t care, I’m even pleased that someone finds similarities with the Rainbow of Joe Lynn Turner’s period. The new album shows that modern music has not influenced you in any way. In fact, I don't hear much music that I like these days, with the exception of the band King's X. This is one of the best bands I've heard in many years. I'm afraid they're too good to succeed. The masses in general prefer to listen to the same type of stupid songs; I'm sick of this dependence of music on popularity and fashion. I hate fashion. I don’t like modern business because if a group works in an unpopular style, then it is doomed to failure, even if it believes in what it is doing. The record company will cut off her air. Everyone has to follow the trend: "Let's play like Pearl Jam!" And suddenly a bunch of identical groups appear on the horizon. Radio and record stores only promote their select bands. As a result, people don't ask any more questions and buy what they were told to buy. This is some kind of communism, society buys what fits the party line. What can you answer to journalists who do not miss the chance to say: "Ritchie, a lot has changed since 1984. First there was the rise of heavy metal, then grunge. How can you ignore the existence of Nirvana and Pearl Jam? How can you play Rainbow music today? Do you seriously hope that someone will come to your concerts? You must be joking!" Obviously, many people think so, but I will remain honest. I won't compromise. This is the music I play, that's all! Hard N' Heavy Magazine, France No 17 - September 1995