VIOLENT STORM

Bassist Mick Cervino, formally at the side of guitar virtuosos Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Deep Purple/Rainbow guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, in Blackmore’s Night, knows a thing or two about the business, the music, the lifestyle and about “making it” with his new band, Violent Storm.

The Storm hails from Florida as a supreme Heavy Metal act, combining great musical diversity, Hard Rock elements, catchy riffs, vocal lines and a hurricane of massive power. This is a band that all heavy music listeners and those with an open mind should take heed of. Rag recently spoke with Cervino in regards to the band; it’s shaping and what to be expected in the near future.

As a musician who toured with big names such as Ritchie Blackmore and Yngwie Malmsteen, when did it hit you that it was time to make your own band?

The idea was there all along, but naturally I wanted to see what level of participation, if any, I would have in the writing process with both Ritchie and Yngwie, which of course turned out to be zero. It became obvious to me that if I wanted to ever record my own songs I would have to start my own project, so I did.

How would you define the essence of Violent Storm, and what makes it essential from other Heavy Metal bands that influence you and whom you have performed with?

Violent Storm is a high energy Rock/Metal band that actually plays quality music, rich in melodies, heavy kick ass rhythms and great musicianship. It is the result of a mixture of musical experiences I’ve had throughout my career, which goes well beyond Blackmore and Malmsteen. And thanks to the great band mates I have, we are able to bring to our own growing legion of Violent Storm fans around the world.

What brought about the collaboration with K.K. Downing (Judas Priest) and Yngwie Malmsteen on your debut album, ‘Storm Warning’?

When the first recording sessions began, Violent Storm was still without a guitar player. There were a couple of tracks that were ideal for Yngwie to play on and another two that I could just hear KK’s unique, very distinctive soloing style, so I asked them. After thinking about it for a bit, they both agreed. I also thought that it would be a grew treat for the fans to hear such amazing talent playing as guests on the same CD with a killer new band.

You are the primary songwriter of Violent Storm; can you describe the writing process, coming from a bass player’s point of view?

I come up with a lot of ideas just by creating bass lines. However, I don’t use any formulas. Song ideas come from different places and take a life of their own without any preconceived method. Some times you just wake up with a cool riff in your head, and if it is strong enough, you’ll continue hearing it for days, and the only way to get it out of your head is by actually making a song out of it. Other times it starts with a melody that comes out of no where which some times is accompanied by a phrase. This is usually what works best as the lyrics tend to flow more naturally and they don’t have to be forced into the melody.

Last year you had some great opportunities in Europe to open for such bands as Heaven and Hell and Motley Crue, but many shows were canceled, what happened?

It was a very disappointing experience since we had spent long months preparing for that tour. The shows we did do went very well, but unfortunately some issues developed with some of the band members at that time that forced us to postpone the rest of the shows. We are presently hard at work preparing for a European tour next summer. We’ll be updating our sites as shows get confirmed.

When can we expect the follow up to your first album?

Some time in 2009.

Based on the material already being written for the second album, how would you compare and contrast it from the band’s debut?

It will be stronger, heavier, and faster, yet it will be full of actual music. You know, it’s all good to be dramatic and scary, but if you lack the essential musical elements then you’re only part of a fad that comes and goes, and before you know it, it disappears and you’re forgotten.

What can we expect from Violent Storm in the near future?

We’ll be headlining Hellstock Festival in Palmetto, Florida. We’re also planning more tours in the States, Europe and South America, and will be releasing a new CD some time in 2009. And we expect everybody to buy it. Yes, everybody!

You are a prime example of, ‘if you work hard enough you can get there’. You grew up in Argentina, lived in England, now you’re in the States, and you pretty much hunted down your idols to play with them. What advice would you give to all of the musicians out there struggling to make it?

Making it means different things to different people. I guess if you work hard at something like I did for many years, trying to play with Ritchie Blackmore, and then you get to do it, then you made it. But let’s face it. Most people don’t have ridiculous goals like I did. The idea of “making it” usually means to play with your band and get to go on tour and make lots of money. But it is a tough time as it is becoming increasingly more difficult to accomplish such goals thanks to the illegal downloading, bad economy, etc. The only sound advice I can give to any young musician, struggling to make it is to have a good Plan B. However, if you know what you want, and you know what it takes to achieve it, then go for it and don’t listen to anybody. You are the one person that knows you best, listen to your heart, but also listen to your brain.

Violent Storm will be performing at the first annual Hellstock Festival 2009 at The Hall venue in Palmetto, Florida on January 17th. For more info visit www.violentstorm.net and www.myspace.com/violentstormband

VIOLENT STORM

Violent Storm is a Heavy Metal band hailing from Florida by Bass ace, Mick Cervino who formed the band after touring the world, formerly at the side of Swedish Guitar Wizard, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Deep Purple/Rainbow guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, in his band, Blackmore’s Night.

Violent Storm’s debut album ‘Storm Warning’ was released first in Japan, then in Europe in October of 2006 and later in the States during the summer of 2007. Both Yngwie Malmsteen, and Judas Priest’s, K.K. downing (who also executive produced the album) both contributed guitar solos as guest musicians for the Storm.

How did getting K.K. Downing and Yngwie come to be?

I was playing tennis with Yngwie, and I just thought I’d ask him since I was beginning to record part of the rhythm chops and everything else. I just asked him if he would like to be a guest musician and playing guitar solos in two of the songs, but since I was winning he didn’t say anything. I started to let him win and then he accepted. Then, I met K.K. I went to see Judas Priest a few times and he came to see me play with Yngwie a few times. I just mentioned to him that I was planning this recording and that Yngwie was going to be a guest and I thought that maybe he would like to be a guest on two of the songs. So he wanted to listen to the songs first, he liked what he heard, so he did. And that’s how it came about.

What did you gain with your years of experience performing with Malmsteen and Blackmore’s Night?

Well, with Ritchie Blackmore I learned quite a bit even before I met him, because I was really into his music, his work with Deep Purple and Rainbow. I was infatuated with his music and him as a person. But having experienced it first hand with him it was a quick learning experience. He has some aspects by the way he works that no one really knows by just being a listener. Rehearing with him I noticed how meticulous he was about things like the temple and how demanding he was of people being prepared for rehearsal and that kind of thing. It was great working with him. It was very enlightening. He requires his musicians not only to play like robots on time, but also to swing to play with feeling. I think that’s what inspires him to play his best solos, when he has a rhythm section that flows. It’s not just with a click; it’s like swinging with a click. He treats the songs, I noticed, like a third person at times. He refers to the song as, “what does the song want? What is the song asking me to do here?” rather than the other way around, like where can I solo and shine here. He works more for what the song asks for. And that’s part of what I leaned

And with Yngwie I learned that you have to play very loud [laughs]. The louder the better and you have to keep up with his extreme volume. He wasn’t as meticulous as Ritchie was in many aspects, but you did have to be prepared. But being Blackmore trained I didn’t have any issues being prepared for rehearsals and I think he was quite happy with the way I work with him because I was in his band for seven years or something like that.

Now that you have performed with two great musicians, is there anyone else you would like to perform with?

Mostly with Violent Storm. There are many good musicians out there but I’ve done it. I’ve done the playing with other people thing, and having heroes and all that stuff. It gets to the point where you just think, ‘well, what’s next?’ I don’t continuously want to be a side guy for somebody else. I have my own music that I think is quite good and I have a great group of musicians that I’m playing with so its time to do my own thing. I am always open to collaborate in other bands or other projects that other people may have, but my main focus right now is my band, Violent Storm.

When did you finally realize it was time to form your own band?

Well it’s something that I had in the back of my mind for a long time because I’ve always written music. I had to postpone this when I was wit Ritchie or with Yngwie, because you don’t have much of a chance to write when you’re with them. So I felt at some point that time had come and I had many ideas that I had put into demos in 2004. I didn’t do one of the Yngwie tours because I was already focused on recording the initial rhythm tracks for the album. It was an on going process and it took a long time to finish, but I am quite happy with the results. It was done in bits and pieces because different people who participated in the album were living in different places, and had their own schedule with their own things. So we had to time it in such a way that they were available and I was available. So it wasn’t done in the same room, at the same time, it was on separate times and a lot of it was done long distance. So it was done the best way we could do it.

What made you chose the line up you have now?

Well, I went through several musicians. The guitar player wasn’t the official guitar player, so I recorded the guitars and KK and Yngwie contributed their parts. Then Roy Z came along and he contributed 2 guitar solos also. We were auditioning people in between. So finally I ended up with the group of guys I have now. They are all very competent, very dedicated, and hopefully I won’t have to change band members for a while.

Violent Storm was set to tour Europe, what happened?

Well, we did some of them. We played in Switzerland opening for Motley Crue. We played in England with a well known artist there named Danny Bond. Unfortunately there was some issues going on with management and other musicians in the band, and we missed out on a great opportunity we had to open for Heaven and Hell. We were going to be opening for them in Denmark as their only opening act. We were also going to be playing with them at the Sauna festival in Finland. And then we were going to be playing Bang Your Head Festival in Germany, and we had all of these great things lined up but unfortunately we had to post pone many of those due to the issues we had going on internally. It’s a shame, but as we know, stuff happens, and we move forward. So we look forward to going to Europe next year and doing many of the festivals that we couldn’t do the last time around. We’re playing at the Hellstock Festival in Florida on January 17th. We’re also planning a tour on the East coast around that time. In the States it’s not going to be a national tour, we’re not going to every state just yet, we’re likely to do separate mini tours as we have other things going like preparing for a new studio album and such.

You are releasing an EP soon, can you give us the details on that?

Yes, we have an EP coming out first which is a live recoding of the new line up. We’re performing extended versions of some of the songs from the album. And then we’re going to be doing the studio album which is brand new fresh material, which is coming out in 2009.

The details of the EP that are different from the album are just extended versions, because the stuff that goes on during a live performance wasn’t necessary to put on the first studio album. The show will be quite active. There’s going to be lots of things going on, more than just us playing, so it will be a great surprise for the Violent Storm fans that come and see us, as well as anyone else who is around. We try to do a memorable show. We included some of those areas where those things take place, in this live EP, so that people who see us can remember what they saw during those songs at the show.

When can we be expecting a new album?

It all depends. If all goes well we’ll be starting some of the recordings in 2008. Then again, I’m not the kind of guy who goes into the studio and records everything in a week or two. I take my time, I am very meticulous. So I don’t know. It really depends when I’m done and then it will be up to the label to decide when they want to put it out. But my part is, I have to be 100% pleased or at least 95% pleased, because you’re never really 100% pleased, are you? But if I am quite happy with what we have I’ll try to get it out as soon as possible.

Any other guests contributors to look forward to?

Not at this point. I think we’ve done it already and now it’s time for Violent Storm to stand on our own two feet. I believe we are quite capable of doing that. Some times the guests becomes a little bit of a distraction for what we’re offering. We’re extremely thankful for K.K.’s and Yngwie’s participation, but for the next album, and I think that K.K., who co-produced the album would agree, we should do it ourselves. But of course if he insists on playing a song, obviously I won’t be very receptive to his suggestions.

Is Downing going to be producing the new album as well?

I don’t know at this point. I am likely to be the main producer this time around, but I always surround myself with heavy weights as you know, like K.K. and others. So I will totally be consulting with them as suggestions are required. But as I said, Violent Storm needs to stand on their feet, and we need to manage ourselves.

Seeing as though this is your baby, do you write most of the music yourself?

Yes. There is a very distinctive approach to the writing that I use that makes it really difficult to collaborate with other people. By having witnessed the way Ritchie works, and Yngwie works, I am more and more of a believer that things are done in a more focused way once one vision is followed, rather than five visions trying to find harmony with each other. Some bands do it and it works great. But if you notice many of the successful bands throughout the years were a minimal collaboration, the most, two people. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, from the old days. I think in Deep Purple they all put their names in the writing, except I know that Ritchie wrote most of the stuff, it’s pretty obvious, and Gillan, the lyrics. So I don’t know. I am quite happy writing the stuff myself, but depending on who I’m with. For example, this line up is not an engaging collaboration yet, so let me experiment and see what happens.

What is the writing process for Violent Storm like?

I had a real definite idea of what everyone should be doing. It doesn’t mean that I tell everyone what to play note by note. But then again, its better in the creative aspect of the process. I don’t like to not be in control of what other people in the band do. I mean, I would be the one approving the guitar solos or the drums, or things of that sort. Even though people will initially have the liberty to add to it themselves, I need to be happy with them. The same thing with the singing; I am very particular in the way I want the songs to be sung. I mean, in the ideal world you want to be with a group of people who think alike, have the same approach, and musical tastes so that you don’t have to do it this way, but again, this is a fairly new line up and I give people room to be themselves. But again, I have to be the one in charge.

What are you looking forward to in the near future?

We’re looking forward to the next few months to finish up what we started, and to continue on through 2009. We have regrouped we are stronger than ever and we are likely to please most audiences who come and see us, so come and see us.

Violent Storm will be performing at The Hall in Palmetto, Florida on January 17th 2009, alongside Aghora, Suspyre, Mena Brinno, Retaliation, Jet City, Highway to Hell and many more!