
With the debut album “Trials of Torment” on CD a chat with RITUAL had to happen. Juan Ricardo answered my interview questions. Anders Ekdahl ©2018 <!–more–>
What kind of vision did you have when you started and how has it changed
over the years?
-When you are young, you really just want to make
music…. to follow your dream and be like the musicians you idolize. You want
the fame, the glory, the girls… especially the girls. Everything looks
possible and easy…. but as the years go by you realize that it’s not easy but
exceedingly difficult to make it in the music industry. After i joined Ritual,
(called Torment at the time), we were signed very quickly, flown to Germany and
recorded Trials of Torment. The album was released, did well and we thought
success was a easy… we didn’t realize how lucky we were…. we are more
mature and focused now on not wasting opportunities to make great music.
Does location mean anything today? We used to hear about how it was all
location, location, location back in the days if you wanted to make it big?
That you had to come from a certain place to be sure to make it.
-I’ve heard my entire life that in order to make it you
need to go to Los Angeles, New York or Nashville here in America. I decided
very early that moving to a big music location was not what i wanted to do. I
loved my hometown of Cleveland that always had a great metal scene and i wanted
to raise a family… i couldn’t see myself doing that in New York or L.A. Could
i have become bigger, more of a star or household name if i have moved?
Possibly…. but i do not regret my decision. Especially now in this wide open
digital age, where i am able to record anywhere and send my vocal tracks to any
studio in the world….
What
is it like to be a in a band and to get to tour all over the world? What kind
of feelings do that bring about?
-To be honest, I love touring…. it is difficult being
away from your family and friends but i believe it’s harder on your love ones
that wait for you to return. I love traveling, seeing new places, meeting new
people. I really enjoy talking to the fans and i especially enjoy performing. I
love to sing and began very early at around the age of 10 to perform in front
of a audience and after more than 40 years, averaging 100 shows a year, I still
can’t wait to get on stage every night…. I truly love it.
What kind of
feedback have you had on your music, your latest album and in general? How
important is feedback?
-The response has truly been amazing…. 9 and 8 in all
the reviews of the reissue. We really enjoy all the great feedback. Ritual
broke up shortly after the release of the debut album and only got back
together after 25 years because of an invitation to perform a reunion concert
at the Pure Steel Metelfest in October of 2018. The Trials of Torment went to
No 1 in Germany in 1993 and we never did a concert there and this year we are
performing at the Full Metal festival in Niederjossa…. really a dream come
true for the band. For me…. who has performed in Europe many times and has
always been supported there, there is great pride in finally bringing the band
to play here.
How do you know that you have written a “hit” song? Is there a particular
feeling you get when you know that this is the one, this is the big “make it
song”?
-Actually the feeling that this is the best song i have
ever written happens every time you write a new song…. there’s always a sense
of pride and accomplishment… Something new is always exciting. It’s really
after you stand back and hear all the songs that one or two stand out as being
exceptional. It’s only in a very rare occation do you write a song that from
creation becomes the focal point, title track or single to an album.
As I am no musician I will never got to know the difference of analogue
and digital. Can you explain the difference to me? what are the pros and cons
of analogue V/S digital?
-I am old enough to have recorded on 24 track analogue
tape and now digital…. There is a touch of natural warmth to the analogue
that is missing in the digital but i remember the painstaking task of recording
by tape. Editing a section actually meant slicing a section of tape off with a
razor and splicing the two ends of the tape together…. Now we can lay track
after track until we get the performance we want…. When you think of the
talent of the pioneers of metal that had such limited resources, it makes their
music even more incredible. We are spoiled by technology but i am at the same
time very grateful.
What is it
like to have people you never met liking your music and singing along to it at
gigs?
-One of the greatest joys is of course meeting the fans
of your music. Their passion and excitement equals your own sometimes…. There
isn’t that barrier that usually happens when you meet someone. It’s almost like
they have known you their whole life. They bring thier favorite albums for you
to sign and we talk about their favorite songs. It’s always interesting to hear
their prospective of the music or how my lyrics have motivated them or made
them feel. Being on stage and having people sing along as i sing makes me
always extremely happy and i try to make it extra special for them.
How important
are lyrics to you guys? Do you have any messages that you want to get forward?
-As a singer, lyrics and melody is my main songwriting
job and i’m very serious about it. I try to relay a story or an emotion in a
short time. Similar to poetry, lyrics are purposely made in a way that is
trying to make feel a certain way. I don’t just write about base emotions like
anger, sadness or love, i also like to write about great people who done
amazing things or events in history or even things that never actually existed
like legend and myth.
I love a really cool cover but I get the feeling that today with all this
digital uploading/downloading people aren’t that concerned about artwork. How
do you feel?
-Artwork is still extremely important, sometimes it
could make or break an album. I know many people will ask how is that possible
but alot of people decide wether they will give an album a listen based on what
the cover looks like…. a cool cover is a must. The other question is should
the cover be drawn or painted or done digitally…. i have had both and tend to
lean towards hand drawn or painted.
What does the future hold?
-That is an important question…. As a reunion, originally there wasn’t an idea of what comes after…. Now that we have the reisssue and shows, there’s a sense of excitement to a possible future. Will we record a new album? Should we extend or start a longer tour? These really are unanswered questions…. I feel there will be more. There is something really special about this band that was left unfullfilled so many years ago and now’s the time to see what the future holds for us.