09.04.16

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INTERVIEW FOR "Bunker Magazine" from Russia WITH NO CENSORSHIP!

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MY FULL INTERVIEW FOR RUSSIA! THE WHOLE THING! NO CENSORSHIP!

 

There story goes like this:

I was interviewed by “Bunker Magazine”, a Website from Russia that is interested in my music. They sent me very interesting questions and I asked if I could be myself and talk about me, the real me, the things I think, without any boundaries because I preach that we artists have to be true to our friends and to make them to know us exactly the way we are, with no masks. 

 

I think artists and fans have to have an emotional connection and not something cold. They cut out from my interview a LOT OF THINGS and that was something really negative not only because I talked about My Lord And Savior Jesus Christ but they also cut out a lot of strong opinions I have. About  Jesus Christ? My Faith and I WILL NEVER DENY HIM! If Satanists talk about what they believe, I have the right to tell to the world about my Faith and nobody is obligated or pushed to believe in Jesus Christ, people are free to make their choices. Wanna be a Satanist? Wanna be an atheist? Your choice, not mine! About strong opinions, I didn’t say names, but what I did was to really say what I think about some stuff. Where is my freedom?

I was told AFTER (not BEFORE) sending the questions that the whole interview would be on the air. On the other hand according to them “they liked my style and my vision of music and life.” So, why did I write this? Because I think that I have to be true to my fans and to not hide the truth from them. I am not bad mouthing “Bunker Magazine” whom I am thankful for the interview and to give Europe a chance to hear my music.

Now, enjoy the whole interview WITH NO CENSORSHIP!

1. How did rock music come into your life? How did you love rock?

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It’s common for Brazilians to have cooks and maids, although we were not rich at all. My grandma raised a girl with my mother and she later begun to work for my family. Grandma was a wonderful person and taught all the maids and cooks to read, to write and to have a very decent life. So that little girl became like a mother to me. Her name is Maria da Gloria as known as “Tia Glorinha” (“Aunt Glorinha). She got married, had two kids and became widow when they were still very young. Their names are Nelson and Joao Carlos. Those two used to listen to all kinds of music and to buy records. I was born in 1972 and I am really proud to say that I began to listen to music and to rock since the day of my birth! Because of that, I am not a fashion follower. One of them, Joao Carlos, that was the youngest, unfortunately passed away a long time ago but their mother is still alive and well. I still talk to her and to my brother named Nelson. 

My real mother was a Music Teacher and a Pianist. She used to play at Classical Concerts at the age of 4 and she was even complimented by Heitor Villa Lobos that is considered one of the musical genius’s of the 20th century! Mom was a virtuoso Piano player. She had teachers, attended to a famous School Of Music for Classical piano but she didn’t need teachers to show her how to play music. She was able to listen to any record and then to play a song at that very moment! The same thing happened to me when I was a little kid and I’m gonna talk about that on the next question! :D

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2. What musicians are your inspirations? Who or what did make you take the guitar in your hands?

I clearly remember the records that were playing all day long that time during the 70’s and they were “Who Do You Think We Are?”, “Machine Head” and “Made In Europe” by Deep Purple. I never got tired of them and I was really fascinated by Deep Purple! My mom had an acoustic nylon string guitar and I used to get it and to try to play along to Deep Purple records. I didn’t have any teachers at that time. I just learned some opened chords in some book, and that’s it! Deep Purple and Ritchie Blackmore were my first inspirations and influences. Years later, during the 80’s I begun to have guitar lessons but it was funny because the teacher was not able to play guitar solos and I was! He used to get very, very, very upset when he tried to play and teach me any guitar solos but he couldn’t play them and then I repeated all of them perfectly in front of him. I remember a day when he called my mom to complain about my passion for Randy Rhoads. My brothers had a friend called Valeria and his nick name was “Caninha” (“Caninha” is also a nick name for a small kind of alcoholic drink in Brazil, Vodka I think). He had long hair and guess what? A guitar! He was and is a wonderful guitar player and he lent me his guitar, a Giannini. The first time I had a guitar in my hands was because of him. About an electric guitar, my first guitar just showed up! That was a sign that The Lord would always be present into my life. I wanted an electric guitar but my parents were 100% against it. Then one day my dad was talking to one of his sisters on the phone and she said “we have your cousins guitar here in the closet, you can give it to John”. That was how I got my first guitar that I still have it nowadays, but I had to leave it in Brazil. 
My influences are Ritchie Blackmore, Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore, Randy Rhoads, Mel Torme, Vivian Campbell, George Lynch, Jake E. and Lee Ronni Le Tekro. BUT my MAJOR INFLUENCE Is The Holy Ghost. I always pray before playing at any gig and God has been blessing my guitar playing a lot. When fans and people come talk to me and compliment me I ALWAYS give glories to The Name Of Jesus Christ and not to the man. I am just a nobody without Jesus Christ. That’s the reason why amazing things have been happening to me and to my wife. There is a video on Youtube where a guy interrupts the show and goes in front of the stage and asks me “did you bring Stevie Ray Vaughan inside of you? He is inside of you! You play like him” or something like that. Here is the link to that video. He approaches the stage at 19:55. I replied that I have Jesus Christ inside of me and I pointed my finger to the sky while talking to him. He turned into a huge fan but unfortunately he passed away a few days ago. His name was Wayne and he was a hard-core fan.

 

3. When did you start make and play your own music?

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When Nirvana killed Hard Rock music and bands sold their souls to Grunge. I am sorry but I have to say that when you change your music because of a stupid vogue that you are an idiot who only want yours fans money and you are lying to the ones who always supported you. You are just taking advantage of them. Yes I am talking about almost 100% of the bands I used to listen to during the 80’s and 90’s and I don’t care. Let me tell you why, because my songs are honest. I don’t sing about things I don’t feel or didn’t live. I also don’t believe in overdubs on “live albums” too. It’s another way to lie to fans and get their money. I like honesty, record your mistakes! We are not God, we are not perfect! Be honest!! So I think that it was 1991 but I was not singing at that time. I tried to have a band and to not be a solo artist but people were not serious at that time. Only one or two members of the band were serious. Some gave up. At that time I began to learn about the show business, I mean the real one. I began to study everything about copyrighting, royalties, how to manage a career and even how to produce and record an album. I have a degree as a Music Producer and as a Music Executive. Studying all the parts of the machine behind the industry was the smartest step ever! A lot of people take advantage on artists because artists know nothing about those subjects. Still talking about my own music, I began to have vocal lessons because of Gary Moore! In one of his interviews he said that he begun to sing so he would not depend on singers to sing his songs.

 

4. Do you think rock culture as term exists and if so, what is it in your opinion?

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I think so because it introduced a lot of wonderful musicians and bands to people. Rock really added a lot of techniques to musicians and also a freedom of speech. Let me remind you that freedom of speech is way different than rebellion.

 

5. You played with a lot famous musicians in Brazil and now you live in the USA. You’ve heard a lot of music from US rock and European bands. What do you know about Russian rock and what’s the difference between all of them?

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Your question is gonna bring an interesting answer and it’s gonna complete my answer to question number 3. At that time, during the 90’s although I tried to put a band together thanks to God I met a two amazing people who worked for Sony Music at that time. There is a store in Copacabana called “Cantinho Sonoro”. I was coming back home and one of the samesmen was outside of the store. They also used to sell records there. I asked him if they had any albums by Dokken and to my surprise there was a “Tooth And Nail” CD! That was the door opened by God for me to make an amazing friendship with those two guys. So, we turned into good friends and then I told them that I could play the guitar and that I wanted to have a band. They asked me for some songs and I said I didn’t have any recorded but that I could record a tape with some guitar soloing. I came back home, recorded that and gave it to them. They were really impressed by my guitar playing and they begun to lend that tape to huge managers and artists in the show business. That’s how I begun to have a name in the show business. Managers and artists were really impressed. I began to be introduced to all of them. Now I got to the point where I am really gonna answer your question and that’s when the interesting thing is gonna show up. So, I didn’t play gigs or something like that with famous people but I played for them and soon even Playboy Bunnies and all of them were singing my songs to friends. Most of my friends were and are really famous actors, models, actresses and even Playboy Bunnies. Why did I tell you about it? To sound cocky? No, but to call the attention to the fact that it’s almost impossible for someone who has never recorded or released a record to begin to have people singing their songs and for important people to like the music!

About Russian rock, I’ve heard of Autograph and I do know Gorky Park. Russian bands do not sound like American bands but more like European bands. I know that sounds obvious and that my answer can sound dumb but let me explain. A lot of bands from countries where the English language is not spoken has a tendency to sing in English because it’s a kind of universal language so most people are gonna be able to understand the lyrics. Something really good about Russian bands is that they don’t sound the same, they sound different on every style.

 

6. Tell us about your music more. What do you play, your style, your new projects, your plans?

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Well, I am a guitar player but as a musician I can play the bass, acoustic guitar and make arrangements for several instruments. As I told you before, I begun to play the guitar very young and I never stopped studying and practicing music since then. I can read and write music too. Although my style is Hard Rock and Metal I can play all kinds of styles because musicians should be able to play all kinds of music. The more you listen to different kinds of music and the more you study music theory you can break all kinds of boundaries and not be a very limited guitar player. My style is Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, and Pretty Maids. I don’t play modern Metal. I’m sorry but I am lost in time in the 70’s and 80’s. I’m also a singer, arranger and songwriter. My projects and plans are to finish my album (demos are being recorded and you can check some samples on my personal soundclound page at http://www.soundcloud.com/johnritchens), put a band together, maybe a power trio and play everywhere! I really would like to play all over Europe and Russia! I think that it would be an amazing experience because my favorite bands are from Europe! About projects, as a musician I am working in different styles of music like Jazz, Fusion, Blues and more but because I like those styles and not as a fashion follower or to be dishonest with my fans.

 

7. What about your songs, what themes you are interested in and what do you want to tell your listeners about?

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I like to sing about Jesus Christ, the gospel and also about positive things to make people to feel better about life. I like to make them not feel like they are losers but winners, to put them up and not down or depressed. I’m not a Christian artist because most of people and bands who sing about Jesus a, they don’t do that for Jesus, but they use The Name Of The Lord to make money. You can’t sell Jesus Christ, you can’t sell a message and nobody is obligated to turn into a member of any religion. Conversions are personal experiences between you and The Lord. If The Lord is really calling you, please deliver your life to Him. I did that; He changed my life and myself completely. He saved me from suicide, from depression and He can do that for you too. I am a Christian and I don’t deny my Faith BUT I am not white metal or Christian artist. People from Megadeth and even Blackie Lawless from W.A.S.P are Christians but their Faith doesn’t make their bands be Christian bands. I sing about real feelings, I have ballads so, I sing about love and real feelings and my lyrics are not cheesy, there is also poetry. There are testimonies of people who were healed from depression after listening to the songs that The Lord gives to me. I also pray before and after writing and recording songs. It’s also good to sing about positive things and to lift people up. Did you realize that most of the songs people listen to are spiritual garbage and don’t help them to feel good an inch? The things you listen to can really influence your life. If you listen to negative things you are gonna attract depression, bad thoughts, darkness and bad things to your life. Can you prove that I am wrong? The opposite happens when you listen to positive things.

 

8. We are the generation of rock 80-90. Is there the difference between rock music of that time and modern rock music?

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YES! The 80’s offered us a lot of garbage because artists begun to sell their souls for money and copies of famous bands begun to show up. Bands began to look and to sound the same. I am not only talking about Metal but music in general. The 90’s were good because a lot of bands were unmasked because of the grunge. Again, almost 90% of the bands we used to listen to were posers and not true to their fans. They were like “so, we have to sound like Nirvana in order to sell records.” Modern rock for me is something that should be completely ignored, crap music. I am in favor of doing something different and to update their music without losing its originality. Gotthard did that and they rock! They are amazing! Great band!

 

Please support me by liking my page at this link: https://www.facebook.com/JohnRitchensOfficial/

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Here is the link to the original interview in Russian. You can translate it with your browser in case you want to check it: 

http://bunkermagazine.ru/index.php?id=975