Ring of Fire Interview (Mark Boals)

Ring of Fireis a band that I discovered while listening to Planet X, because listening to “Universe” (2000) or “Moonbabies” (2002) I saw that Tony MacAlpine and Virgil Donati were associated with Ring of Fire. So, I went into their first and second albums, where Mark Boals was attached on vocals, and I found an interesting hybrid between progressive power metal and some neoclassical doses in between. It may not have been a musical burst at the time, but within those two albums the music was striking, in addition to seeing another compositional side of Tony and Virgil, whom I always listened to more experienced in progressive rock and metal. So, just 20 years after the first time I heard it, there is his fifth studio album called “Gravity”.That's why Metallerium interviewed Mark Boals about the release of his latest album.

Para leer la entrevista en español: Entrevista a Ring of Fire

Metallerium:Welcome to Metallerium website Mr. Mark Boals. Thanks a lot foryour time. We really appreciate it and congratulations on the new album “Gravity”!Firstofall,howhaveyoubeenduringthesecrazytimes?

RingofFire:Hello!Ithasbeenacrazycoupleofyears!Ihavebeendoing my best to survive like everyone else, spending lots of time at home and working in mystudiowritingandrecordingvariousstuff…

Metallerium:Youreleased“Gravity”onNovember11th.Whendidyoubegintocomposenewmusicforthisalbum?Whydidittake8yearstohavenewmusicfromRingofFire?

RingofFire:VitalijandIstartedworkingonnewsongslastfall,andAldojoinedinwritingwithmesoonafter. Thereasonfortaking8yearsaway?

Iguessit’smostlybecauseourlastalbumwasnotreceivedwell,Ithinkprimarilybecauseofbadtimingandalso, because wewerenothappywiththeproduction.

Metallerium:Whatcanweexpectintermsofsoundandlyricsinthisnewalbum“Gravity”comparedtothepreviousrecord“BattleofLeningrad”(2014)?

Ring of Fire:This one is a totally different animal, firstly, it’s not a concept album,each song stands on its own. Also, with a new member (Aldo) co-writing with me, weendedupwithsomenewflavorsinthesound butkeepingthestyleofROFintact.

Metallerium:Whichwasthemostdifficultsongtorecordinthisalbum?orWhichwasyourfavoritesongtoworkwith?

RingofFire:Well,thesongsIco-wrotewithVitalijwerechallenging,especiallyThe Beginning and Storm of the Pawns, because of the classical stylings in terms oftimingandrange…

Ihavealotoffavoritesonthisalbum,butifIhadtopickone,Iguessitwouldbe   StormofThePawns….

Metallerium:YouhavebeenbusyworkingwithShiningBlacktoo.HowdoyouseparatetheideasthatyouusebetweenShiningBlackandRingofFire?

RingofFire:That’seasybecausethestylesaresodifferentwitheachband…ROFisNeo-classicpowermetal,andSBismelodichardrock…Ilovebothbands…

Metallerium:ThisisthefifthstudioalbumbyRingofFire.Didthewayyoucomposeandrecordanalbumchangemuchcomparedtoyourearlyyearswiththis band?

Ring of Fire:Yes, of course, 22 years ago the technology was different, recordingbudgetswereMuchlarger,sowecouldgointobigstudiosandrecordtogetherinthesameroom,sotospeak.

Nowadaysthatisimpossiblewiththetinybudgetswehave,butthankfully,technology has come to rescue us with new ways to record and produce our music, inremotestudios,separately.

Metallerium:Line-upchangesarealwaysdifficult,especiallywhenyoureplace the vocalist or guitar player, I guess. In this case, how have you been dealing with this newline-up?Howdoyouseefans’reactionstothesechanges?

RingofFire:Sofarreactionshavebeengreat!Wediscussedseveralpossibilitiesbut came to embrace our choices fully. The new members stepped up and nailed theirparts,seamlesslybringingthetotalpicturetogether.

Metallerium:I had the chance to listen to the album and we are going to post areview about it. I really liked it! Your voice still sounds powerful! Not many vocalistscanpreservetheirvoicessowell.Howdoyouworkinordertopreserveyourvoice?Isthereanyadviceyoucangivetoyoungvocaliststhatarebeginninginthisbusiness?

Ring of Fire:I am very lucky and blessed to have been given singing talent frombirth,agiftfromGod,andmyloveofmusicandsinginghavekeptmeworkingatitandlearning,stilltothisday.Myadviceistolisten,listentoyourfavoritesingers,learnfromthemanddevelopyourownsoundthatflowsnaturally.Fromthere,keepsingingeverydayandneverstop.Keepyourselfingoodphysicalshapeanddevelopstrengthinyourlungsanddiaphragm.Bottomlineis,yourpurevoiceisa sound that comes from your soul…Physical elements can help or limit you, but yourspiritwillmakeithappenornotintheend.

Metallerium: Another aspect that I always appreciate in your music is that we allknowthatyouareallvirtuosomusicians,veryskillfulandexperienced.Youshowusall of those skills in your music without losing the sense of melody or emotions whenyou perform. How do you work in order to keep that balance? Because it is awesomehow songs like “Storm of the Pawns” and “Gravity” could be quite long but it alwayskeepsourattention.

RingofFire:Well,thatisjustwhatwedo!Weallhavealotofexperienceandtrytonotbeboringhahaha!

Metallerium: Again, you are releasing the album under Frontiers Records. In thesetimeswheremusicianscanworkinanindependentway.WhydoyouthinkitisimportanttohavethesupportofalabellikeFrontiers?

Ring of Fire:Frontierscangiveworldwidedistributioneasily,andtheysupplypromotionalso…

Metallerium:Whatareyourplansafterreleasingthealbum?Aretherechancestosee you on tour with Ring of Fire or Shining Black? Any chances to see you touringacrossLatinAmerica?

RingofFire:Isurehopeso!Wewanttoandwilldoourbest!

Metallerium:Talking about other aspects of the music industry. As a professionalmusician, you have seen a lot of changes and in the last 2 years probably the pandemicforced us to change in many aspects like working remotely or streaming events, etc.How do you see the music industry nowadays compared to the 80s when you beginyourcareer?Whichperioddoyoulikemore?

RingofFire:Well,the’80swereincrediblybetter,becausepeoplestillboughtalbums in vinyl and cd formats, so there was a product that people could hold in theirhands, especially vinyl! And with these products, as I said before, labels would givelargeadvancesandwecouldgetroyaltiesfromsales.Thatisprettymuchgonenow,soit’sevenharderastimegoesbytomakealivingatmusic…

Metallerium:Intermsofnewbands.Doyoustillhavetimetodiscovernewbandsornewmusic?Whatdoyoulistentowhenyouhavesomefreetime?

Ring of Fire:I listen to a little of everything, from pop to metal, to classical, toeven modern rock bands, and every once in a while I hear bands that sound a bitdifferent, which is always what I’m looking for. I hate how so many bands copy eachothersomuchnow.

Metallerium:How has been your experience with digital platforms that give usaccess to a lot of music? Because for example nowadays an unknown band can bediscovered by thousands of people around the world but on the other side, we havepeoplethatfocusmoreonsinglesfromaplaylistthanenjoyingthecompletejourneyoflisteningtoacompletealbum.

RingofFire:Ithasgoodandbadpoints, and availabilityisgoodbuthundredsofthousands of new music posted daily also creates a challenge for new artists, and it isalsoashametoonlyhearonesongfromanybandinsteadofhearinganentirealbum…

Talkingabouttechnology,nowadaysartificialintelligenceisgettingmoreaccessibleto people. For example, we can write a detailed description of a picture we have inmindandtheA.Iwillcreateanimagebasedonthatdescription,theresultscanbe amazing. So, do you think this will impact the music industry sooner or later? I meando you see yourself for example using A.I to create the covert art for a new album? ordo you think this will be used by people to create music without working with realmusiciansforexample?

It is already being used to create music by non-musicians. I hate that, taking ourhumanityawaylittlebylittle,right?Iwillalwaysusehumanartistryinmyprojects…

Metallerium:Before we finish. I am just curious; you have worked with a lot oftalentedmusicians.Butifyouhavethechancetocreateanewbandwithanymusicians you admire but have not had the chance to work with. What will be yourperfectteam?

Ring of Fire:That is difficult. I have already worked with most of my favorites, butthere are a few still missing, I guess Jeff Beck and Neal Schon on guitar, AinsleyDunbar on drums, Billy Sheehan on bass, Jordan Rudess on keyboards. Now that would rock!

Metallerium:Again,thankyouverymuchforyourtime,andcongratulationsonthe new album! It is great to enjoy your voice again in 2 great albums this year! Wewishyouallthebest!IsthereanythingyouwanttosaytoMetalleriumreadersandyourfansfromLatinAmerica?

Ring of Fire:Hey, thanks everyone for supporting me and listening to my music!PleasespreadthewordaboutmesoIcancomeandrockyourcitywithaliveband!

CheersandGodBlessyouall!