Doogie White Ritchie Blackmore's New Band 1993: I'm sitting with some friends in a nice Grand Hotel in Lausanne. Next to Ritchie Blackmore and the beer tastes again very good. The atmosphere is relaxed. We are talking about the unplugged wave “I absolutely do not like this trend", says Ritchie: "I will never play unplugged. My name is not Eric Clapton, who is so bloody boring, just like Rod Stewart. "We're talking about football matches across Europe or about good ones singer ("I love Bryan Adams. He's a great singer", says Blackmore) and then he tells us he's bored of what he's doing. A month later he has been fired just before the Purple Japan Tour, even though the band undoubtedly delivered superlative shows. For over a year there have been constant rumors about Deep Purple and the guitarist problem. The guitarists chnaged, from Joe Satriani to Steve Morse. Janick Gers was also considered for a while, but no one heard from Ritchie. Then one evening in Mannheim, it was on the last Purple Tour, Jim, Ritchie's best friend and precious guitar technician, told that Ritchie got the old Rainbow back again and wanted to play songs like "Catch The Rainbow" and "Man On The Silver Mountain". One day he went back to Long Island, hired some good friends and auditioned in small clubs a damn hot audience. 1994: The summer of '94 was used for this to complement the band again, but only drummer John 0'Riley and keyboardist Paul Morris accepted. So it happened that Dougie White was hired as singer and co-writer of Ritchie - and in September bassist Greg Smith (ex Alice Cooper). With this line-up, but without a definitive band name, a demo tape was recorded before they went into a studio to record the new album. Metal Star met singer Dougie White for an exclusive interview. MS: How is it like to work with Ritchie? White: It's unimaginable. Working with Ritchie means trying something new every day. Really confessed. MS: And what about the band? White: We are very motivated in the band and we are happy that we can play this music. Believe me, we have really great songs. MS: Can you tell me more about that? White: Sure! Now that we're going to the studio. we have finished six complete songs. Two ballads, or rather slow pieces, based on the "Catch the Rainbow" principle. This is a song that I really love. Incidentally, so does Ritchie. We also have two really hard rock songs and two singles, really good singles. MS: Can you name a few titles? White: Oh yeah! One song has the working title "Judgment Day", which can still change. The two singles will be called "Stand & Fight" and "Treason and Pain". MS: What kind of texts do you write? White: I think I write very personal lyrics. I only write what moves me, what I think about and what I like. So. I'm not a writer like Gillan or Joe Lynn Turner: I'm different. MS: The fans are definitely interested in whether you've rehearsed old Rainbow songs. White: Sure, we even played some old Rainbow numbers that I had never sung live before, such as: "Rainbow Eyes", "Long Live Rock & Roll" or "Temple Of The King" which is from the first album. Then we have "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Jealous Lover", "All Night Long" and "I Surrender". We also played a couple of Hendrix tracks, but none from Deep Purple. MS: But surely people want to hear things like "Burn". White: Oh yeah, that's a good song. Absolutely brilliant. I really like it. But I think we don't really think about the concerts until the album is finished. MS: When are you going to record the album? White: It will last from mid-January till around Easter. Then we'll take care of a summer tour because that's the best time to play football. MS: You don't have an American accent. Right? White: No, definitely not. I am from Scotland. MS: As far as the band name is concerned, nothing seems to have been decided, even though I heard "Rainbow Moon" as a possibility. White: "Rainbow Moon" is our favorite name at the moment. We have not yet been able to make a final decision. We will decide on a suitable name during our recording sessions. I agree. that Rainbow has a very meaningful meaning. So I think our band name will include the word "Rainbow". MS: As far as I know, many European fans want to see Ritchie's new band... live on stage and of course hear the new singer sing too. White: It's great for me to be able to sing with Ritchie, really, I'm really looking forward to it. MS: Do you play an instrument? White: I play some guitar, just enough to write songs. MS: Are you going to play on stage too? White: I don't think so. It's enough to be the vocalist of this band and sing alongside Ritchie. Like I said, it's a great honor for me. Our conversation ends here, to set the time when Rainbow Moon (or whatever their name will be) will tour Europe for the first time. Blackmore would like a band without big, well-known musicians, rather with enthusiastic and motivated people who are able to play music with enough power. The power and feeling to play. And he surely found it. © Metal Star, Germany - February 1995