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From MelodicRock.com, Wednesday, January 6th, 2009:

FINE-TUNING FOR A ROCKIN' 2009; EONIAN RECORDS ANNOUNCES SIGNINGS:

Eonian Records has also signed Southern California Guitar Hero Ronny North. Ronny endorses his own signature line through Tregan Guitars and was named Best Male Guitarist Award at the 2006 All Access Magazine Music Awards. Ronny North's Then & Now release will feature several never released tracks from his earlier days on the Sunset Strip: Kidd Comet and Forever Young, and a few big name guest players such as Rikki Rocket, Eric Singer, and CC Deville to name a few.

Guitar Player Presents How to Play Like Stevie Ray Vaughan 2008

Modern Guitars Magazine August 19, 2008

Modern Guitars Launches New Column by Ronny North

by Rick Landers.

Ronny North. Photo by Karen Barrezueta.

Modern Guitars magazine is pleased to announce the arrival of Los Angeles area guitarist, Ronny North, to the pages of our magazine. Ronny's PSYKO Guitar column will focus on his insights about guitars, performance, and the business challenges of building a career in music.

I first saw Ronny a couple of years ago in Anaheim, California, while he was the featured player at a guitar demo during 2006 Winter NAMM. His enthusiasm was infectious and his love of the guitar obvious. His talent has earned him accolades from guitar aficianados, including Guitar Player magazine's Michael Molenda who noted, "Ronny can lay down a dumb rock rhythm and shred like a mother."

While at 2008 Summer NAMM, Nashville, Tennessee, I bumped into North while we were watching a young boy pummel a drum kit with an equal amount of awkwardness and enthusiasm. We tallked about pulling together a Modern Guitars column when our schedules loosened up after NAMM.

North regularly teaches guitar clinics around the country for such firms as the Guitar Center; Tregan Guitars; Buzz Feiten; Laney amps, as well as demos at both Winter and Summer NAMM trade shows. He also couples his love of guitar with a high sense of altruism and can can often be seen performing for childrens' charities and at military bases where he wows the men and women of the Armed Forces with his guitar licks.

To kick off Ronny's PSYKO Guitar column, we decided to introduce him in some depth with the following interview.

* * *

Ronny North. Photo by Karen Barrezueta.

Rick Landers: Let's start out by hearing about the good, the bad and the ugly of how you began your musical journey.

Ronny North: I was raised in Southern California in the OC [Orange County]. I took piano lessons at the Yamaha Music School when I was in first grade. I really wasn’t feeling it and eventually got kicked out! [Laughs]

I really do wish I would have stuck with it. I still play piano and own a few keyboards that I use when I record. Like everyone, I was into sports when I was a kid. My dad got us into baseball and football and it was fun. But, then I started skateboarding and surfing.

At first I wanted to be a pro skater like Tony Alva. My parents were always very supportive of everything. My dad used to take us everywhere, including trips to the skate park, the driving range and to concerts.

Both my parents play instruments, so it was only a matter of time before I started playing. My dad tried to get me and my brother to play guitar early on by getting us lessons with a guy across the street. But the guy didn't know what he was doing and we really weren't into it.

When I was 13 I got a KISS record for Christmas. From then on, I knew what I wanted to do. That spring dad took us to our first concert. It was KISS on the 1977 Love Gun tour at the L.A. Forum. This was at the peak of their fame. After that, Ace Frehley became my first guitar hero.

I got my first real guitar for my 14th birthday. It was a cool black copy of a Les Paul. Wish I still had it. I traded it later for a Pignose battery powered amp that I still own. After I started playing a bit, I got into Eddie Van Halen, Michael Schenker, Joe Perry, Randy Rhoads, George Lynch and Warren DeMartini. Eddie is still my main guy.

I quickly got pretty good and soon after I got an Ibanez Iceman and a Risson half stack. I was set! Me and my brother used to jam in the garage. He got a cool set of Slingerland drums. We went through various people, or victims, to jam with. We played tons of backyard parties and local clubs in the OC and had a blast. We'd open for Slayer, Great White and others at some of the local clubs.

My dad always made it to our gigs. Yeah, my dad was very cool. I eventually started jamming with some older people. By the time I was 15 I started playing the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. That's when I noticed that I was better than most people I played with, even though they were much older than me.

Once I started playing in Hollywood, I started getting more attention and had a couple high profile offers and some record company interest, none of which turned into anything significant.

When I really started playing in bands on the Strip it was the early '80s and there were tons of great bands going. We were playing alongside Guns 'n Roses, RATT, Motley Crue, Quiet Riot and Sound Barrier. Sound Barrier had Spacey T, a great guitarist who had amazing chops. They were an all black metal band that had the attitude of early Van Halen. I would see them play anytime I could. Seeing Spacey play was like seeing Eddie. But Spacey definitely had his own style and sound.

There was also Steeler with Yngwie playing guitar. I even saw Randy Rhoads play at the Starwood. It was a great time for music in L.A. As expected, there were some not so honest business people around and we got ripped off a few times, like most bands back then. I definitely learned a lot about the business, in all ways.

Rick: Your music was selected to be used with MTV's "Real World' series.

Ronny: I was approached by MTV's production company about using my music for their reality shows. I guess I was lucky. It really has given me a lot more exposure. The funny thing is that I have had lots of people come up to me that have heard my music on the shows. But I've never seen one of the shows with my music.

Rick: When presenting guitar clinics around the country, what's your approach given that there are guitarists at various ability levels in the audience?

Ronny: I really do enjoy doing clinics and feel very privileged that I get the chance to share a few of my tricks with fellow players. When I do clinics I try to make it so there's something for everybody at all skill levels. I keep it pretty straight forward. I play a few songs throughout the clinic and then talk about my philosophies about how I approach playing the guitar. I demonstrate some exercises I've developed to help myself become a better player. They're really simple things that help your chops very quickly.

I also answer all questions and then after the event, I hang out and chat with everyone. It really is a very cool thing being able to help up and coming players get going. Basically, what I stress more than anything at my clinics is that you have to be focused on what you want to accomplish and practice is very important.

When I do my private shred clinics I keep the class down to 20 people or under, so I can spend time personally with someone that is having issues getting something we're going over.

I've had great success teaching my licks and exercises at these events. I also go over other things like gear selection and I touch on business stuff as well.

Another interesting thing I have been seeing at my clinics lately is that more girls are starting to play guitar. I think that's great! We really need to have the first girl Eddie Van Halen some day. I hope I'm around to see that. It'd be great to have a girl that was right up there with the guys!

There have been some great women players in the past. But I would like to see a girl that has it all and gets out there and blows the doors open. That being said, both Roxy Petrucci and Jennifer Batten do shred.

Rick: How would you describe the full spectrum of your guitar playing, compared to what you like to play?

Ronny: I always get pegged as a metal guy and I really do enjoy playing rock stuff. But I also enjoy playing acoustic quite a bit. I making an acoustic CD called Acoustify that I plan to put out before the end of the year.

I really do enjoy all types of music. But doing my rock instrumental stuff is the most fun, because I can really tear it up. That being said, guitarists should really know more than one style and should be open to other types of music. When I'm in my car, I have XM Radio and so I listen to everything.

Rick: Were you formally schooled in the theory of music or are you more intuitive?

Ronny: I'm totally self-taught. I did try lessons. But they really didn't help at all and I only started to improve after I started figuring stuff out on my own. When I was young, all I did was practice. I was totally obsessed with playing guitar. Dad always took us camping and I would take my electric guitar with us, with my battery powered Pignose amp. I'm sure I drove everybody nuts! But that's all I wanted to do.

I don't know any music theory and play completely by ear. I can pick out stuff pretty quickly, which has definitely helped me when I do high profile recording sessions. An interesting thing I do, which drives people crazy, is I always play my guitar unplugged when I watch TV. I always watch TV! A lot of times, when there's music on a show or commercial, I see if I can learn it before it's off. I'm getting pretty good at it these days. You usually have under 30 seconds to figure out the music. It's great ear training.

I couldn't tell you what was going on in theory. But I could play it for you. That being said, I'm definitely a believer on doing what's best for each player. If you think lessons will help your playing, then by all means do what's best for you. It's important to find a good teacher. There's also a ton of cool DVD instructional videos out there. The Paul Gilbert ones are so cool!

I will be coming out with one myself soon, hopefully by Christmas. Knowledge is power and you can always learn something new.

Rick: I see that you're a positive force in the community with respect to contributing your time and talents to various compassionate causes, including Support to the Troops, Tsunami Relief, Toys for Tots, Musicians in Need, and the Special Olympics Summer Games. How about telling us about your interests in helping others through your music and some special moments that you've experienced along this road?

Ronny: I really do believe that music is a great healer in all ways. It's so great that I can play these events to help others in need and they enjoy it so much. All it requires is my time. It really is a great thing to be able to help these causes and to make a difference. It's all about the Karma. I've done the Special Olympics for the last eight years in a row. I have a sister who is one of the athletes and before I started playing the event, I saw how it turned her life around in a great way.

Once I saw what effect it had on the athletes and everyone involved, I had to be a part of it. I talked with the organizers and I have been a part of the event ever since. When we play I give away a ton of promo CD's and then I sign stuff and have pictures taken with everyone and hang out. It's a great thing that I probably enjoy more than they do. I will do it as long as they will have me. It's a great thing how much they appreciate the music and just having us being there. As for the troops, it's a real honor to be invited to play for the people insuring our way of life.

Rick: You are endorsed by nearly 40 music related companies. How does the endorsement arena work with respect to how you and the companies mutually support one another and how does this type of deal get initiated?

Ronny: I feel very fortunate that I'm in the position to get such great support from those companies. The endorsement thing is a very tricky game for an up and coming player. It's obviously much easier for the famous guy that's on MTV everyday.

But, for us regular guys it's a little tougher. It's a great thing to have all my endorsements. But it's a lot of work and responsibility. I'm very lucky that I get a lot of press in magazines and from doing clinics and trade shows, and So, it's easier to approach a company if I'm interested in their products. More often than not, they'll know who I am. I also get approached by companies all the time.

Rick: One of your most recent endorsements is with Tregan guitars. Tell us about the development of the Ronny North Signature Tregan guitar.

Ronny: I met with Tregan guitars at the Winter NAMM show in January of this year. I was introduced to them through my friend, Skunk Wright [Quartershackle], who is a Tregan endorser. He kept telling me throughout NAMM weekend that he was playing these cool new guitars and that I had to check them out.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon when I was on my way to my last demo at the Laney booth, I just happened to walk by the Tregan booth by chance and I saw Skunk. He waved me over to the booth and I tried one of the guitars. I was really surprised how good it played. After I played it for a few minutes through an amp they had at the booth. Tony Guarriello, the owner of Tregan, came over and introduced himself to me. We talked a bit and he said that it would be great to have me playing their guitars. I told him that I was looking to do a signature guitar. We talked some more and he offered to send me a guitar to try out.

Once the guitar arrived, I really dug it. So we we started working together. I designed the entire guitar from the ground up. It's a design that I already had created, I was looking for a company to work with, but the guitar companies I was working with at the time didn't see my vision. I was talking with a few big guitar companies at NAMM and they were interested. But they didn't get it at all. They just wanted me to put my name on an existing model.

Tregan got it right away and I went with them. The prototype was built by Greg Back for Tregan Guitars. Greg has built or worked on guitars for Satch, Vai, Eddie Van Halen and many other big guys. He also helped create the Feiten Tuning System with Buzzy Feiten.

My Ronny North Signature Tregan guitar has a smaller three quarter size mahogany light weight single cutaway body, with a flamed maple top, in Psyko Green! It has a curly maple neck with a flatter radius and 22 jumbo frets, 24 3/4" scale, an original Floyd Rose trem, Seymour Duncan pickups and the Feiten Tuning system for perfect intonation. The electronics are a single volume knob, a three-way Gibson style pickup selector switch. It has a kill switch that only kills the front pickup, so you can do the cool Ace Frehley style stuttering effects.

I took all the elements of my favorite guitars and combined them for my ultimate playing weapon. I worked very closely with Greg Back on the prototype and every detail of this guitar, including the neck dimension and the size and thickness of the body. My guitar has a traditional look with modern playability. I know what I need in an instrument and I put all these features into my signature guitar. I really know my gear and I know how to work on guitars when I need to, so I know what size frets I need and about scale lengths, as well as everything else. I designed it.

We just premiered the guitar at Summer NAMM in Nashville in June and it was a big hit. I played the production version of the guitar at the show and it rocked! The guitar will start shipping in the fall of 2008. It really is a dream come true, to have my own signature guitar.

Rick: Have you been heavily involved in the development of other guitar products?

Ronny North. Photo by Jim Morris.

Ronny: It's great to be in a position to be involved in the development of new guitar products. As you know, I'm very opinionated when it comes to guitar gear. My main concern when developing new gear is that it plays and sounds great and is versatile, durable and affordable. These are major things. I'm always pushing the envelope and checking out the latest gear, so it's a great thing to be able to consult with companies and create gear that will help all players.

Rick: I understand that there may be some more Ronny North signature products coming on line soon. Can you tell us about any of them?

Ronny: Yes! I am working on a couple new signature products with a couple companies, as we speak. One of them is a signature Distortion-Overdrive box that I'm working on with AMT Electronics. It's going to be very versatile. The products will be very cool. My main concern at this point is the launch of my new Ronny North Signature Tregan guitar this fall.

Rick: How about telling us about your love of Laney amps and what's going on, if anything, with you and their products? Atomic amps?

Ronny: I really do love Laney amplifiers and it's a great honor to be endorsed by such a great company. I bought my white Laney stack back in 1983 from Norwalk Music. I still have it. I first saw Laney’s when Tony Iommi used to use them in Black Sabbath. Then in the early '80s, RATT, George Lynch and Richie Kotzen used to use them. I tried one and was hooked by their British raw tone and how loud they were. I later had the head tweaked a bit by my great friend, Mark Cameron, who now has his own amp company called Cameron Amplification. Mark has done amps for lots of big guys like Lynch, Doug Aldrich, John Norum and tons of others. He actually took some of the gain out of mine and just dialed it in. I still use the amp to this day when I record. It still sounds amazing!

A couple years ago, I approached the Laney guys about a possible endorsement and they were very cool and hooked me up. I am very honored to be sponsored by such a legendary company. I am currently using their VH-100R tube heads, my favorite amp,the GH-100 tube head and the TT-100 2x12 combo. I also use Laney 4x12 cabs with Celestion G-65 speakers. You really can't beat that British tone with the EL 34 tubes. It's a legendary tone that I grew up listening to.

As for Atomic Amplifiers, I've been with them forever. The company was created by legendary amp builder Harry Kolbe. It's a great small combo that you put your Line 6 POD or any other similar device into and it plugs in and will now control the combo. It's a very revolutionary product and very versatile. I've used it on tons of smaller sessions and gigs over the years. It has a tube power section in the amp that really warms up the sound of the POD. I even used it on some of the sessions I did for Snoop Dog. Great stuff! Once again, I met them at NAMM many years ago through a friend who took me by their booth.

Rick: Tell us about your 2008 Summer NAMM experiences and how well you were received during the trade show?

Ronny: Nashville was a blast and I hope to get back and see the local sites sometime. We had a great show and my new Tregan Signature guitar was a big hit at the show. I played every day of the show for Tregan Guitars and for AMT America. I played so many demos that I really didn't even walk around the show and see anything. It is always great seeing friends from the industry at the show and I always enjoy meeting everyone. The summer show was really an adventure. I did a lot of press at the show and that's always a great thing!

Rick: I see you'll be headlining the San Diego Music Fest in September for the Sailors and Marines stationed there. How do the troops connect with a long haired wild guitarist pumping out massive shredded riffs?

Ronny: I'm actually really big with the troops! It's such a great honor to be invited to take part in such great events. I'm all about supporting our troops in anyway I can. They really like to rock and that's my thing. The guys in the Services really like to have a good time when they're off the clock so it's always fun hanging with them. If it wasn't for them I couldn't do what I do.

Rick: A lot of musicians get so caught in their music that they either don't have time or the inclination to take care of business.

Ronny: Don't even get me going on the biz thing! These days it seems like it's 90% biz and 10% music. You really have to stay on top of it. It's a 24/7 thing. I handle my business stuff myself, with help from a couple of people. I'm very lucky to have a great team around me.

I have been burned in the past and I've learned from it. Unfortunately, musicians these days have to really know the business end of things if they're going to make it. If I could go back and change anything from the past, I would have really learned the business end of things, so I would be on top of things. When you first get started, you're out there playing and you're just happy that people dig what you're doing. Unfortunately, there are people out there that just want to take advantage of you and make money off of you. I definitely have made some people a lot of money and where I got nothing.

When I do my guitar clinics, I touch on the biz end of thing a bit. It's a necessary evil in our industry. I do know what's up these days. Sometimes, when new companies approach me, they're surprised that I know my business and that I'm not a dumb musician [Laughs]

Rick: What's happening with your new label, Eonian Records?

Ronny: Eonian Records is a new label that I'm very excited to be with. The owner, Steve Craig, is a real fan of music and he has a great plan for the label.

I had a very ugly situation with a label last year that definitely made me weary of record companies. With Eonian Records, it's all good. It's been a blast working with them. My first release for the label is a greatest hits CD called Then & Now. The CD features my music from 1985 with singers until my present day instrumental thing. There are even a few special guests on the CD and a couple brand new tracks. We have done a special package for the release with photos and histories on all my former musical projects up to my current instrumental project.

I keep everything and so we have tons of cool stuff from my past that nobody has seen before. My assistant, Karen Barrezueta, has done all the art work and layout for the project and she's done a great job!

It's been very interesting going through all the music and pictures of my past. The CD will be out this summer and the label has got some great major distribution going. I'm told that it will be in a lot of the music chains, including Best Buy stores.

Rick: What other hobbies or interests do you have beyond the guitar thing?

Ronny: I'm an avid golfer for sure. I used to ditch school with my friends when I was a kid to play golf. If I wasn't playing guitar, I'd be trying to make it on the PGA Tour. [Laughs] I try to golf as much as possible. But lately I haven't had the time. I do have a small golf group of friends in the industry. We try to get together when we can and hit a quick nine at a local course.

I can play and have some great Taylor made clubs that the company hooked me up with as well as my very cool Oakley golf shoes, golf bags and glasses. Thanks Oakley! Sometimes I take my clubs with me when we do out of town stuff and I'll have the promoter get me a golf time as part of my deal for the show. I really wanted to play in Nashville, but I had no time.

Unfortunately, to be great in golf you have to practice constantly. A pro golfer hits at least a thousand balls a day on the driving range! Like guitar, I'm not a naturally talented golfer, so I would have to practice constantly to be great. That being said, I still win a lot on the golf course. And no matter how my game is going, when I'm playing golf, it's very relaxing to me.

I also surf when I can. I'm going this weekend. I skateboard anytime possible. As you can imagine, everybody in my camp isn't too hip on me skating pools. The funny thing is that I originally grew my hair long to be like Tony Alva, who was my hero when I was a kid. I used to skate and surf all the time and was actually planning on becoming a pro skater back in the day. When it came down to it, I figured out pretty quickly that I was a much better guitarist than I was a skater. I do skate whenever I get the chance and I hit up the local skate park now and again.

It's a great feeling riding a pool and I will always do it as long as I am able. These are all fun things. But these days playing guitar takes up most of my time and I need to stay focused.

A good friend of mine plays guitar for Alice Cooper, who is an avid golfer. Now that would be the perfect gig for me! I would get to play great classic songs in stadiums at night and play golf with the boss by day. Paradise!

Rick: So, no recreational pharmacueticals that might side track you?

Ronny: The way I look at it is that I'm very fortunate to be able to do what I do and I never take it for granted for a second. It is my life, for better or worse, and to make it work I have to be focused on it, and that's no small feat. That being said, I rarely drink and I never touch drugs. These are major factors in side tracking all your efforts to make it and I've seen that happen to friends so many times.

Rick: With the Internet pushing out music from all over the world, do you find yourself exploring music from different parts of the globe?

Ronny North. Photo by Karen Barrezueta.

Ronny: The Internet is a great thing! I have XM Radio and I listen to Internet radio all the time. I listen to lots of music from other countries. The pop music of France and Russia is very cool. I also listen to lots of Spanish pop music. You have to love XM Radio! It's all great stuff and it gives me a fresh outlook on my own music. Just MySpace alone has been a great help. I met a ton of my MySpace friends in Nashville. Bands and musicians always send me their music to hear on MySpace. Some of it is really good. The key is using the Internet to your advantage. We have a few MySpace pages, with one dedicated to my gear. I'm a gear fiend! We have tons of my guitars and other gear on the site.

Rick: Each time we've met, you've been contagiously enthusiastic about music and unlike a lot of folks, you have this abundance mentality where you enthusiastically support other players, where other guitarists would consider them competitors for the spotlight.

Ronny: I'm confident enough in my playing abilities where I'm all about supporting new players. We're all in it together and it's not a competition. If you're insecure, you start being all weird and you become a player hater for lack of a better term. That's all wasted energy to me. If you're so worried about these other players overtaking your limelight, then maybe you should practice more yourself! I definitely have no time for those games.

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Metal Music Promotions.com July 2008
www.metalmusicpromotions.com

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Ronny North Interview
by Paul Tauterouff

Photo Courtesy of Karen Barrezueta - Nashville 6/21/08

Paul Tauteroff: At what age did you make the decision that you were going to be a professional musician and what (or who) inspired this?

Ronny: I actually started playing piano right around 1st grade... I really didn't dig it. My parents enrolled me in the Yamaha music school to learn to play. I eventually got kicked out for beating up an obnoxious kid next to me. (He so deserved it..LOL!!) I do wish I would have stuck with it. I still play piano to this day and have one in my living room. I can only play stuff I wrote. As for guitar, the funny thing is at first I really didn't want to play. When I was a kid, I was much more into sports football, baseball, and skateboarding.

I actually wanted to be a pro skateboarder like Tony Alva... When I was 8 or 9, my Dad made my brother and I take a few guitar lessons from a guy that lived across the street. It was totally useless and the guy really had no clue about what he was doing and we really didn't want to be there. The funny thing is that several years later when I was starting to get a name for myself, the teacher guy actually hit me up to help him make it in the music biz when I was visiting my parents' house.

NEXT!!! When I was 13, I got a KISS record for Christmas. (It was the Destroyer Album!!) Before that I had never heard of KISS... I thought it was the greatest thing and I immediately wanted to be Ace Frehley. He was my very first guitar hero. I started playing my Dad's old guitar and that spring I got a Copy Les Paul and a small solid state amp for my B-Day. On that note, that summer my Dad took the whole family to see KISS at the Forum during their Alive II tour. That was the peak of their fame...

After that I knew that's what I wanted to do...

All I did was play and then when I found out girls really dug guys that played, I was hooked!!!! I seemed to get pretty good quickly and could figure out songs pretty easily. My brother plays drums and we started jamming in our garage with various people (aka victims..). I was actually playing the Sunset Strip in Hollywood when I was 14. On that note, I'm definitely not a natural musician and have to practice constantly even to this day. I compare it to being a Pro golfer. (Something I always wanted to be!!) You have to work on it everyday to keep your chops up. A pro golfer hits up to a 1000 golf balls a day on the driving range just to keep his shots in tune.

PT: Was your family supportive of you from the very beginning or did it take a little while to convince them?

Ronny: My Dad is actually a guitar player even though he never played seriously. My mother used to play piano. My Dad was pretty supportive of my playing and would even take my brother and I to gigs before we could drive. I guess you could say it was in my blood to play. When I first started my dad insisted I take lessons. The lessons were useless. I had no desire to play "Mary had a Little Lamb" (that's what he was really teaching me..). I was obsessed with playing guitar and figured out pretty much everything on my own.

After a while my brother and I started playing in different bands with different people. He used to play with older guys. (He was 12...) His guitar player was a couple years older than I and he had all the Van Halen tapping stuff down. He would play VH songs note for note. His name was Steve James. He later went on to play in an early version of Metallica and wrote “Hit the Lights”. (Metallica started out in my town.) I figured out the VH thing from seeing him do it. Once I saw it close up I knew exactly what to do. It all made sense. That's all I did was play guitar.

PT: Was there a single significant event or milestone in your career where you finally said to yourself: "Alright - I've made it!"?

Ronny: Even though I am getting a name for myself, I still don't think that I have made it. I still have a long way to go.

Getting my first endorsements and seeing myself in ads in Guitar Magazines back in the day was pretty cool. I got my first endorsements back in '94. I signed with Seymour Duncan and DR Strings the same day at Winter NAMM 2004. It was so long ago... It really has been a really long road to get here for sure.

Getting my own signature guitar from Tregan Guitars (www.treganguitars.com) has been a great thing. We just premiered it at Summer NAMM 2008 in Nashville and it was a big hit. The guitar will start shipping in the fall of 2008. It's been a blast working with Tregan on my new guitar. Finally a guitar company that gets me... Definitely a dream come true to see it become a reality. I will be having a few more Ronny North signature products coming out very soon. Stay tuned!

PT: Do you think it was more difficult to achieve success in California vs. some other less competitive area of the US or world?

Ronny: It really is hard everywhere but I think I was at an advantage being in LA back in the Day. Plus I got to see Van Halen and Randy Rhoads play. It really was a great scene. The only thing that was discouraging was seeing how great they were and seeing how far I still had to go in my playing. I'm still trying to get there to this day. You can always improve...

PT: What was the toughest challenge or obstacle you faced while developing your career and how did you overcome it?

Ronny: Not knowing the music biz definitely hurt my career. I was definitely taken advantage of early on and made a lot of people a lot of money and didn't see a dime myself. I also have very small hands so I have to do some things differently when I play but that also might have helped me develop a style of my own.

PT: What would you say are the most important traits a musician should possess in order become successful?

Ronny: A focus on your playing, a great business sense (Very important in today's music industry), star quality and the drive to make it. It's very tough out there and it's definitely not for everyone for sure. For better or worse, I have sacrificed everything for what I do...

PT: You have endorsement deals with some very good companies. What advice can you have offer for musicians who are seeking endorsements?

Ronny: I have been very fortunate to get the support of some great companies. I thank my lucky stars everyday that they believe in me as a player and artist. My thoughts on endorsements are that they definitely can help the up and coming player get more out there. I'm lucky enough to be able to attend trade shows all the time and meet the companies face to face.

When I got my first endorsements at Winter NAMM in '94, I had promo packs made that showed what I had done at that point with a CD and a pro shot promo pic in it. I also had a plan on the companies I was going to approach. It was really easy and I have been with Duncan since '94. We have grown together... I have found that most companies want to get their products seen in the hands of great players. If you get out there and do it and are making a name for yourself, it's a great way to get their product seen. I can go on and on about endorsements. I'm always getting offered gear from different companies and more often than not, I turn stuff down. I feel very lucky to be in my position but I will only endorse gear that I use. It's a question I get asked a lot.

PT: If you had to start your music career all over again knowing what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?

Ronny: After learning my guitar, I would learn the biz end of things before doing anything and surround myself with only people I trust. If I would have done that at the beginning, I'm sure things would have turned out a lot differently and we'd be talking from my mansion in Malibu... LOL...

PT: What would be your single greatest bit of advice to someone considering starting a music career?

Ronny: You have to love it!!! If it's not your life, do something else and make money because chances are you're not going to playing music. That being said, it's all I know and it is my life. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. If I could do something else, I'd either be a PGA pro golfer or a pro skate boarder... I am a good golfer and skateboarder, but I definitely play guitar better... LOL... I do take my golf clubs with me when we travel sometimes. I have a great roadcase for them...

PT: If you could live your life all over again and do anything you wanted to do, would you still be a professional musician?

Ronny: Yes I would! I would just do things a little differently. Playing guitar and music is my life. I have always been a fan of music as long as I can remember. Once I started playing guitar, it all made sense. Everything in my life from 14 to present day has something to do with my guitar in some way. It's been a crazy adventure and I'm still going... Can't wait to see my new Tregan signature Ronny North guitar come out in the fall.

PT: Thanks so much for your time, Ronny. You are a true gentleman and I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions.

Ronny: Thanks for taking the time to interview me.

Photo Courtesy of Arlene Ferrar - Special Olympics Summer Games 6/17/2008

Ronny's Bio:

Ronny North is fast becoming a Southern California guitar hero. In November 2006, he won the Best Male Guitarist award at the All Access Magazine Music awards. He also regularly gets press and airplay all over the world. Ronny has shared stages with Yngwie Malmsteen, Queensryche, George Lynch and RATT, among many others. He is endorsed by 40 different music equipment manufactures and regularly plays clinics and trade shows for them as well being featured in their ad campaigns in all the music magazines. In March 2007, Ronny was featured in Guitar Player Magazine where GP editor and chief Michael Molenda said some great things about Ronny's playing. Tregan Guitars premiered the Ronny North signature guitar at summer NAMM in Nashville in June 2008. The guitar was a big hit and will start shipping in the fall of 2008. On top of all this, he writes a few columns for Guitar Jam Daily Online. His main column is called "Adventures in Guitar with Ronny North". The column has become really popular with the readers. In the summer of 2008, Ronny will be releasing two new CD's. The first in July called Then & Now. It's a greatest hits CD of songs from Ronny's past bands with singers up to his present day instrumental project. The single off the CD is a brand new song called "Destruction of You" that features Ronny and a few of his high profile friends. It's his first release under his new deal with Eonian Records. The second release is the new instrumental CD tentatively titled Light that will be released later in the summer. Ronny is tomorrow's guitar hero today...

Guitar Jam Daily July 2008

SN '08: Tregan Announces New Ronny North Custom Guitar

Tuesday, 01 July 2008 16:46

By Jim Basara - GJD It was a great pleasure to see GJD's own Ronny North showing off his soon-to-be-released signature guitar. Maufactured by Tregan Guitars, the Ronny North Signature model sports a small, light, single cutaway contoured mahogany body (about 7 lbs.); a carved flamed maple top; a curly maple slim fast neck; maple fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets (24 ¾" scale); original gold Floyd Rose tremolo; original Seymour Duncan pickups directly mounted to the body (no pickup rings); and the Buzz Feiten tuning system for perfect intonation. Ronny tells us that he had a great deal of input into the design of the guitar, basically taking the best aspects from all of his guitars to essentially create his dream guitar. "It's made for the player with smaller hands, like myself. (We) made the body smaller with a very deep cutaway that goes up to the 22nd fret. The neck is a little wider and thin in depth with a flat radius with jumbo frets to make bends easy. I even put a kill switch on it that only kills the neck pickup, so you can do stuttering effects and, of course, my favorite-the DJ scratching thing!" The instrument will only come in PSYKO green, with cream binding and a matte green finish on the back. Ronny's "signature" is represented by the North logo on the 12th fret and Ronny's "Happy Face" skull logo on the headstock. Controls consist of one volume knob, one 3-way (Gibson style ) pickup selector, and the kill switch. The volume pot has a capacitor that keeps maintains singing highs when the volume is turned down. The price for the Ronny North Signature model is yet to be announced.

Guitar & Bass Gear Guide July 2008

Department of Virtuosity Issue #9, March 2008 - July 2008

The 9th issue of the DoV has just been released online. Due to many other obligations, there was 5-month must-be break from publishing. Although I typed as fast as mad dog, I am not a robot, that's why it lasted so long. To those who aren't familar with the DoV, I would like to inform that DoV is a place meant for highly skilled artists and bands regardless of their genre. The only one rule I am guided by while preparing the stuff is: "If your monkey can play the comb like a real virtuoso, I am ready to write a review!" Obviously, my words should be taken with a pinch of salt, and not too seriously. In other words, the style range is very wide: from instrumental guitar-oriented music to shredding, from neoclassical to jazz, from experimental to avantgarde, from electronica to electroacoustic stuff, from AOR to progressive music etc.

The newest issue is a proof of aforementioned words, since it includes artists and bands (92 new reviews in total) playing in various and sometimes even stark genres. Let us begin then: Konstantine Andeson (1 review; acoustic guitar), Philippe Ansari (1; experimental/progressive), Archeon (1; neoclassical metal with growling), Yann Armellino & Chris Caron (1; hard rock with bluesy touches), Balkan & Beyond (1; Balkan music for acoustic guitar and hand percussion), George Bellas (4; neoclassical metal with progression), Blotted Science (1; instrumental experimental metal), Srdjan Brankovic (1; melodic progressive rock/metal), Charles Brown (7; cinematic progressive rock), Cosmics (1; instrumental progressive metal), Cassandra Cross (2; neoclassical metal), Marcos De Ros (1; classic hard rock), Jose Del Rio (1; acoustic guitar), Kevin Ferguson (1; classical music), The Franklin-Neumann Project (1; progressive rock)! , Marty Friedman (2; instrumental rock with Japanese pop influences), The Great Kat (6; neoclassical shredding metal with thrash influences), Oleg Gurtovoy & Vega Group (1; space-synth with progression), Justin Hellman (1, jazz), Chema Herrero (1, instrumental rock/metal), Emir Hot (1; instrumental metal with progressive and Balkan folk music influences), Inner Gypsy (1; Gypsy music for acoustic guitar and flute), Ron Jarzombek (2; experimental cartoon-inspired metal), K3 (1; instrumental progressive metal), Laura Kaye (1; contemporary hard rock with female vocals), Lale Larson, Gary Willis, Sebastiaan Cornelissen (1; jazz/fusion), Daniele Liverani (2; instrumental shredding metal with progression), Paul Lowe (1; instrumental rock), Made Of Hate (1; neoclassical metal with growling), Mattsson (1; symphonic progressive metal), Misa Micevski Group (1; jazz/fusion), Ronny North (1; instrumental rock/metal), Mario Parga & Tony Martin (1; melodic rock), Michaela Rabitsch & Rober! t Pawlik (2; jazz), Stefan Rosqvist (2; instrumental rock/metal), Jorg e Salan (3; melodic hard rock), Bob Savage (1; instrumental rock), Jeff Scheetz (5; from shredding to blues rock), Marco Sfogli (1; instrumental rock/metal), Atanas Shishkov (3; from instrumental rock/metal to acoustic and fusion), Six Minute Century (1; melodic progressive metal), Ken Snyder (3; instrumental metal with progression), Spastic Ink (2; experimental metal), Spiraless (1; fusion), Michael Stollaire (1; corporate rock), Tangria Jazz Group (1; as its name indicates), Two Of A Kind (1; classic jazz), VA - Northwest ShredFest 2008 (1; shredding metal), Juan M. Valero (1; instrumental melodic metal), Vio7 (1; electric violin metal), Jeff Watson (2; melodic hard rock), Mark Wood (6; electric violin rock/metal with neoclassical elements) and Phi Yaan-Zek (2; experimental rock/metal with progression and cartoon-inspired fragments).

The total amount of reviews come to: 473. You can read all of them by visiting the "HMP Magazine" official website and clicking the golden banner or linking some of the URLs enlisted below.

Mikolaj 'Nicolo' Furmankiewicz (Head of the DoV and website's editor-in-chief) e-mail {nicolo at hmpmag.pl} | official website {www.hmpmag.pl}

Premier Guitar Summer NAMM 2008

Summer NAMM '08 - Tregan Guitars Ronny North Signature

Metal Monthly July 2008

Listen to Ronny's interview online at www.metalmonthly.com/RonnyNorth.html!!

Modern Guitar Magazine June 2008

www.modernguitars.com

I ran into guitarist Ronny North whom I'd met at Winter NAMM 2006 in Anaheim, California. He was in a crowd watching a young kid of about five pummeling a drum kit, a bit awkwardly but the little guy was cute and into it. North's a superb guitarist and full of enthusiasm that's as infectious as it is genuine. He's now endorsing Tony Guarriello's Tregan guitars.

Ronny North with a Tregan guitar at the 2008 Summer NAMM Show. Photo by Rick Landers.

Premier Guitar Magazine (www.premierguitar.com) Daily News Summer NAMM 2008 Wrap Up

by Joe Coffey

Ronny North fired up his new Tregan for us, as did Rob Marcello with his new Paradise guitar and Danny B. Harvey with a killer James Trussart.

Ronny North demos his Tregan

Performer Magazine, June 2008

Tregan Guitars 2008 Catalogue

AMT Electronics Summer NAMM 2008 Postcard

NAMM Playback Summer 2008

Buzz Feiten Ad in Guitar World Magazine, June 2008 Issue

Music Connection Magazine, 5/12/08-5/31/08 Issue

Tregan Ad in Up Beat Magazine, Summer NAMM 2008 Issue (6/20/08)

From Premiere Magazine, June 2008 Issue

Summer NAMM Preview: New Guitars from Ibanez, Tregan

by Premier Guitar

Rumors of an Ibanez reissue, plus a Ronny North Signature Guitar from Tregan

Nashville, TN(May 23, 2008) -- With less than a month until Summer NAMM, news is starting to pour out of Nashville. First up, we have it on good authority that Ibanez is planning to roll out a high-end re-issue in the RG family. Though that's about all we have to share at the moment, we'll keep you updated as the details come in, and look for videos with Ibanez from the Summer NAMM floor.

Confirmed for June is the Ronny North Signature Guitar from Tregan Guitars. The long-time Southern California instrumental rocker chose Tregan Guitars to create his signature guitar due to the company's reputation for exciting new designs and reasonably-priced quality instruments, along with luthier Greg Back’s ability to tweak a guitar to fit the player perfectly.

With its lightweight body, super fast neck and great looks, the guitar will offer features unheard of on guitars in its price range, including an original Floyd Rose Tremolo, Buzz Feiten tuning system and custom Ronny North Monster Tone pickups hand-wound in the USA by Performance Labs. The guitar will also feature a mahogany body with a maple cap and flame maple top, and a bolt on maple neck with a birds-eye maple fretboard and custom inlays. The pickups have been custom-designed for Ronny North’s Signature guitar and offer the perfect blend of tones so each note rings out true and clear. MSRP is yet to be determined.

Ronny North will be demonstrating his signature guitar in the T. G., Inc. booth #1436 at this year’s Summer NAMM. Also Demonstrating Tregan Guitars in TGI’s booth will be Flash Bathory and Skunk from Quartershackle. For more information, visit treganguitars.com, ronnynorth.com, and gregbackguitars.com.

Remember, Summer NAMM is from June 20-22, and we'll be there bringing you ongoing coverage of everything new.

Tregan Ad from Premiere Guitar Magazine
March 2008

Flash Magazine, March 2008 - Issue #227

Fireworks Magazine, Mar/Apr 2008 - Issue #31

From MelodicRock.com, Wednesday, February 27, 2008:

FIREWORKS MAGAZINE #31 - MR SHOWCASE OPEN:

The hard copy of Fireworks Magazine #31 has sold out! Yes indeed... The Fireworks office is fresh out of copies, but if you would still like a copy, please search the stands at Borders stores in UK as well as specialist retailers www.destinyrecords.uk.com or www.aorheaven.com.

Or....even better - purchase the Digital PDF version right here...right now!
FW31 PDF Online Version is the same as the print version - 96 pages, including interviews with the following: Helloween, WASP, Dee Snider, Doro Pesch, Ted Poley, Gamma Ray, The Poodles, Work of Art, Bobby Kimball, Tyla, Pagan's Mind, Richie Kotzen, Rob Rock, Rik Emmett, Big Cock, Crystal Ball, Tomy MacAlpine, Jordan Rudess, SAHB, Epica, Xandria, Sonic Syndicate, Sieges Even, Lechery, Ronny North, Far-Less, Angel of Eden, To-Mera and Laura Kaye.

Also included via MP3 (@192.kbps) is the following tracks:
Catz N' Clawz - 1. Shauna Young - Given Enough, 2. Tarja – Ciaran's Well, 3. Jaime Kyle – World Of Crazy, 4. Imperia - Norway, 5. Glitzy Glow - Black & Sunny Day, 6. Sofia - Hangover, 7. Xandria - Save My Life, 8. Kelly Padrick - Sometimes, 9. Eilera - Fusion, 10. Vanity Ink - Someone Else, 11. Rott - Out Of Time, 12. Toni Rowland - I'll Be Waiting, 13. Clandestine - My Lord, 14. Skytah - Gypsy Mentality, 15. Barbe-q-barbies - Escort, 16. Vice Squad - Voice Of The People, 17. Blind Shot - Haunted Heart, 18. Alexx Calise - Give It To Me, 19. Mystic Jayyd - Girls Night Out, 20. Jaded – Lies.

The Rock Disk - 1. House of Lords – Come To My Kingdom, 2. Last Autumn's Dream – My Alibi, 3. Avantasia – Shelter From the Rain, 4. Draconia - Seasons Apart, 5. Work of Art – Why Do I, 6. Laura Kaye – Under a Cloudless Sky, 7. Circular Logik – Welcome Home, 8. Brant Pethick – It's Your Fight, 9. Angel of Eden – The End of Never, 10. Atrocity – Smalltown Boy, 11. Ronny North – A Day in the Moment, 12. P:O:B: – Promises, 13. Diablo Swing Orchestra – Poetic Pitbull Revelations, 14. S.E.X. Department – Revenge of Vampires, 15. Manzana - Falling to Pieces, 16. Vindictiv – Caesar's Commentaries.

The Roll Disk - 1. Leverage – Stormchild, 2. Lechery – Your Fate, 3. Sandalinas – Fly to the Sun, 4. Glyder – 'Dark Meets Light', 5. Biloxi – Here Alone, 6. Sieges Even – Eyes Wide Open, 7. Overdrive – Chasing Highways, 8. To-Mera – Inside the Hourglass, 9. Redline – King of the Mountain, 10. Mattson – This Is Our Time, 11. Arthemis – Angels in Black, 12. 3 Wishes – Two Young Hearts, 13. Madron – Ever Remember, 14. The Bonesmen – It's All Right, 15. Three Quarter Stone – Full Moon, 16. Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge.

Minarik Guitars NAMM 08 Global E-Letter, February 2008

RONNY NORTH

This years show actually had its beginning on Wednesday Evening when the stages at the Hilton began jumping and none other than our own Ronny North was there to get them going in earnest. For anyone who has been attending NAMM for any amount of time, Ronny has been a fixture at the booths around the show, doing demos for the benefit of virtually every component manufacturer. However, he had never been given the chance to perform on the Main Stages until this year, when the powers that be realized their oversight of previous years and brought Ronny and his band to the forefront. I believe you all know how dynamic a stage performer Ronny is, so I will let the pictures below speak for themself. It will suffice to say that the place was PACKED!!!! All pix below are courtesy of Arlene Ferrar.

Verde Valley Independent May 16 - May 22, 2007

Family tie draws national recording artist to Cottonwood

Cottonwood Music Store hosts 'shred clinic' Saturday By Michelle Borgwardt Staff reporter mborgwardt@verdevalleynews.com As a boy, Ronny North wanted to be a pro golfer. Instead, he has become a premier guitarist with a rising reputation. His plans changed after he received his first KISS album at Christmas. "I knew I wanted to do that right then", recalls 41 year old Ronny, who's based in Los Angeles. He got his first guitar at age 14 and within a short time frame was surpassing his friends on the instrument. "Next thing I know I'm playing the Hollywood Strip", he reflects during a recent phone interview. Fast forward to December 2006 when Ronny is named "Best Male Guitarist" at the All Access Magazine Music Awards. He consistently gets airplay, his name can be seen regularly throughout the press (most re- cently he was featured in the March 2007 issue of Guitar Player Magazine), and his image is splashed in numerous ads in guitar magazines endorsing many of his 35 sponsors. On Saturday May 19th, area residents can catch a glimpse of this national recording artist when he presents a "shred clinic" at 2p.m. at Verde Valley Discount Music in Cottonwood. Last year Ronny presented about 20 such clinics throughout the United States and he plans to continue the trend this year. During this free shred clinic, Ronny will show off lots of cool licks and guitar tricks, including the DJ Scratching trick that has been a highlight of his clinics. He will also play several songs off his new CD Disconnected which was released in April, as well as recordings off his previous two CDs: Smeared and Going Psyko.

As an added bonus there will be numerous giveaways and Ronny will sign autographs. Anyone is invited to attend this clinic but space is limited so reserve a spot in advance by calling the store at 649-0901. Those who sign up will have first priority.
"This marks the first clinic hosted at Verde Valley Discount music," says owner Ted Karstadt.
"It's something I can offer the community, which is one of the reasons I have the store here", he explains. "This is something that happens at the mega guitar stores. It's exciting to bring it here to Cottonwood."
The shred clinic will feature light to hard rock sounds with a dash of heavy metal for good measure. Switching between two of his Minarik guitars (He has nearly a 100 guitars), Ronny will demonstrate simple exercises he created to help players increase their accuracy and speed, as well as techniques to make it easier to play like a pro.
"I'm far from a natural musician", Ronny confesses. "I have to work at it daily. I hate practicing but I have to do it."
The hour-long clinic will benefit anyone who wants to be better at playing guitar, he ads, regardless of skill level.
"It's very user friendly, not music theory", he states, "and you'll gain basic insight to strengthen your hands."
There's another reason that brings Ronny to the Verde Valley. It's his second home, his mother was born in Jerome and the family owned a house there for 30 years. In fact, his grandfather Baldo Nunez lives in Clarkdale. He has fond memories spending summers up on the hill since the early 70's. It's his affinity for the town that draws him to hold his photo shoots in Jerome. His new CD cover provides an excellent example.
Ronny's hectic schedule keeps him hopping. In July he's slated to play at Summer NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) in Austin, Texas. Later this summer He plans to kick off his "DISCONNECTED in AMERICA 2007" tour as well as release Acoustify, a CD containing all acoustic tracks including one called "Arizona Sky". You can read more about Ronny on the Web at www.myspace.com/ronnynorth. He also writes a monthly column for Guitar Jam Daily Magazine (www.guitarjamdaily.com) Called "Adventures in Guitar with Ronny North".
Ronny is donating his time for the Cottonwood clinic and footing his travel costs. But he Says it's worth it, "I love Arizona and I love doing this stuff. Hopefully the clinic will enlighten them on the art of playing guitar."

Music Connection Magazine 12/7/07 through 1/6/08

As the music industry continues to morph, and the internet looms larger every day with independent artists seeking success on their own, the number of Southern California signings is slightly down from last year. Music Connection received reports of just over 60 signings in 2007. It should be noted that responses to our quest -- especially from the majors -- were notably subdued this year. Once again, we can't help but notice that the majority of signings were indie deals. Additionally, the same factors that generally get acts signed were in play: driving ambition, great songs, the right connections, and a strong live show.

Ronny North Zoomoozik A&R reps: Dan Behlman Dan Behlman contacted North after watching him for some time. Following a conversation about the label and North’s needs, North decided to get on board. The label sells music almost exclusively online, which North be-lieves is the future. His first label recording was a Christmas song, "A Day in The Moment", released on Nov. 10, 2007.

The New Minarik Ad June 2007

Ronny is on the Buzz Feiten Systems Website (May 2007).

Ronny is in the March 2007 Issue of Guitar Player Magazine.

Ad for Guitar Wheel 2006

Guitar World Magazine, September 2006

The Flyer for Ronny's first Shred Guitar Clinic at Hot House Studios, March 2006.

Music Connection Magazine, July 14, 2005

Ronny's ad for sponsor Minarik Guitars was featured in the July 14th, 2005 issue of Music Connection magazine.

Guitar Player Magazine, February 2003

Ronny's ad for sponsor Zaolla Cables was featured in the February 2003 NAMM issue of Guitar Player magazine.

Guitar One Magazine, May 2004

Ronny's ad for sponsor Morley Pedals was featured in the May 2004 issue of Guitar One magazine.

Music Connection, March 1, 2004

A little blurb about Ronny was in the March 1, 2004 issue of Music Connection.

Interviews and Reviews

Take12Radio.com Interviews Ronny North

Click on picture to hear Ronny's interview with Take12Radio.com!

Radio Basile in Italy - DISCONNECTED CD Review

All Access Magazine, November 15th, 2006

The Award Goes to...
Ronny North,

Best Male Guitarist

IndieGuitarists.com October 2006

www.indieguitarists.com

1. You had your own cable show called "In the Now with Ronny North". Describe the experience. What was the format of the show? Guests? Live performances?

As for my cable show, right before we were going to start production the cable company was purchased by Time Warner. This put us a little behind. We have a bunch of stuff already but we haven't finished any shows yet. I'm told my shows will air but because I've been so busy, we're looking to start airing in early 2007. My show "In the Now with Ronny North" will be an action/music show. It will have both Music and Action Sports guests and there will be occasional musical performances. I will also be doing a segment called PSYKO GUITAR to give lessons on how to shred. I'm very excited about the show and hopefully it will do well once it starts airing next year. It's really been fun working with everyone at the cable station getting my show together and I have learned so much about how cable and TV shows are made.

My current CD GOING PSYKO was released in January 2006. It has done really well and has received a ton of airplay and exposure. It was also written up in a bunch of guitar magazines. The CD was recorded entirely in my home studio. I produced and engineered it myself. It was mixed by Jim Deccinco at Pyram Axis Sound. I think the CD represents a good mixture of what I'm about in my playing. Some poppy stuff, some heavy stuff, and some acoustic stuff. I think it came out great. The CD cover and all the art work was created by my assistant Karen Barrezueta. I think it looks awesome. You can purchase the CD on my website www.ronnynorth.com.

I'm currently working on a brand new EP called DISCONNECTED. It consists of some very heavy material that I had that just didn't fit on my regular CD's. All the guitars are down tuned on all the songs. I felt it would be better to put all the songs on one EP where it would be a more cohesive package. Basically, when I'm writing for a new CD, I demo all the songs by myself in my studio, do a rough mix and make CD's for my band. I then have my band learn the songs off my demos. They add their spin to the songs and we record them in my studio. When recording, I track the drums first, which is a breeze with my drummer Nick Horn. Sometimes Nick plays along to the demo with the drum machine and sometimes we play all together with both the guitar and bass running direct and everyone listening with headphones. We do record everything but the bass and guitars are just used as guide tracks for when we start doing overdubs. My main concern is to get a great drum sound. Once we dial in the drum sounds, he's done in nothing flat. Most of the time he'll nail it on the first take and we just do a couple of other takes because we feel guilty that we finished so quickly. After the drums are down, I have my bassist put down his tracks. Then I do all my guitar tracks by myself. I hate to have people around when I'm doing my thing so I can concentrate on my playing and getting a great sound and trying out various pedals, amps, guitars and effects. After I do my guitars, I make some rough mixes and listen to all the songs in my car for a couple days. If everything is good, I then take the tapes to my friend Jim at Pyram Axis Studios for mixing and mastering. We mix in Pro Tools. What Jim does is he works on the songs for a couple days and dials everything in. After that I come in and we tweak everything the way I want the songs to sound. Usually Jim has it 99% there already and it's only something small that we fix like raising the level of the guitar solo one notch.

I was just offered these opportunities and I took them. I feel very fortunate that I get the exposure that I get. I don't take it for granted.

Both the songs "Remember" and "Race with Me" made into the top 10 on High Octane Radio in Texas. This was after no promotion at all, which really surprised me. Texas is so cool and I really seem to do well there.

I'm shooting to have Acoustify out before Christmas this year. I think people will be surprised to hear me acoustically. The CD will even have a song with guest vocals on it by my close friend Michelle Casilas from the band Angelspin. The song is called "Reason". It's definitely a very mellow CD.

I am looking to have DISCONNECTED out in January of 2007. The CD is the heaviest music I have ever recorded. The songs are all very dark and are all down tuned. They were all directly inspired by some very bad that stuff that I had to deal with this year. I was definitely venting and it felt good to get it out in my music. It will be available on my website.

I have been lucky to have been invited to be a judge in Guitar Center's Guitarmageddon Guitar Competitions. Basically any up and coming guitarist can get up and do his thing playing to the Guitar Center backing tracks that they provide all the players. They have a choice of 10 songs to solo over. It really is great to see some of these players do their thing and to judge them and give them pointers if they want advice. I just feel honored to be able to participate in the event. It's always great to be able to help out up and coming players if you can.

I was approached by the production company that provides the music for MTV and some other networks. They felt my music would work for some of the MTV shows. It has given me some great exposure.

My new signature AMT PSYKO DRIVE Pedal is a collaboration between my ideas and AMT electronics (www.amtelectronics.com). I am definitely in on the design of the pedal. I'm very excited about it and it's a great honor that AMT believes in me enough to put out my Signature Pedal. The Pedal will be switchable between overdrive/boost mode and distortion mode. It will have a real detailed EQing functions so you really can dial in your sound. I've been a proud endorser of AMT Pedals for several years now. They really do make a fine product. I actually used my AMT pedals for all the distorted guitars on my new DISCONNECTED EP. As for my signature guitar, unfortunately the company that I was working with ran out of steam and couldn't get it together. I gave them every opportunity to get everything going, but they just couldn't do it. Ultimately I was worried that the guitar with my name on it would not be up to my standards. After I terminated my relationship with the company, I was approached by a few other companies about signature models, but I'm still thinking it over. I have been working with a cool new company called Brazen Guitars (www.brazenguitars.com). I've been using a couple of their Dynasty models for my main stage guitars lately. Great stuff and the owner of the company Steve Tsai is such a great guy. It really has been fun working with him. The quality of the guitars is great and best of all they are really affordable. The guitars I use have mahogany bodies with maple tops. The necks feel like a 60's Les Paul. The guitars are very Les Paul-like in tone but are much more playable... I also use Minarik guitars as well (www.minarikguiatrs.com).

I do open up for a lot of national acts. It really is a great thing because the shows are usually sold out and I get to go out and just do my 1/2 an hour set. There are several limitations and the bands and their people aren't always nice to the opening bands, but we deal with it. Just the chance to get some exposure on the shows is a great opportunity. It's also a great challenge to win the crowds over. I especially enjoy meeting everyone after we play. After our set I go out and hang at our merch booth and talk to everyone and sign stuff if they like. It's great to talk with people that just found out about you and want to know where you came from.

We are going to be playing in Iraq, but they're still getting everything together and so it looks like we will be going early next year. It's so great to be able to play for our troops that are out there defending our way of life. If I can bring them just a little bit of joy, it will be all worth it.

When I track rhythm guitars, I usually just use a Shure SM-57 and find the best sounding speaker on one of my various 4x12 cabinets. I usually put the mic a couple of inches away from the speaker with the grill cloth removed from the cabinet. Sometimes I put it directly in front of the cone and other times I'll put it about 2'oclock on the speaker. On that note I just got this new speaker cabinet from Mills Acoustic (www.millsacoustics.com) called the Afterburner 412B. It's a 4x12 cab and it sounds amazing. It's loaded with Celestion speakers. For some reason the cabinet just sounds better than all my other cabinets. I've just recently became an official Mills endorser and couldn't be happier. I record at very loud volumes. Currently I'm using a Carvin V-3 100-watt tube head. I put the cabinet in our guest bathroom on the other side of the house and I stay in the control room with the amp and play my parts to the monitors. You be surprised how much difference just moving the mic a hair will make to your guitar sound when you're recording. The mic is run through an Aphex Tube Essence Mic Pre into an Alesis Black Face Adat. I usually double my rhythm guitars with two different guitars and sometimes two different amps. Another trick I do when you want super heavy guitar tracks is do two tracks where I split the signal with a Morley ABY box into and amp and run a separate direct signal simultaneously into two different tracks. For the direct signal, sometimes I use a Marshall JMP-1 preamp that has speaker emulated outs and sometimes I use a Groovetubes Speaker Emulator. This plugs into my amp just like a speaker cabinet would. I have been doing more and more recordings using the emulator. You really can make it sound like speakers with way more control. Last but not least, sometimes I use an Axetrak unit (www.axetrak.com). This is a small box that has a 6" speaker in it. It has plugs into your amp like a speaker cabinet and has a built-in microphone that you plug into your board or as I do, into the mic pre. I had Jeff the owner of Axetrak tweak mine and this thing rules and I have been using it forever. It really does sound like a great Marshall cabinet and is my secret weapon. When I combine the signals, I'll take two passes. On pass one I'll use say the Carvin V-3 plugged into a 4x12 cabinet on one track and one plugged into the Groove tube speaker emulator. On the second pass I'll run the Carvin into a 4x12 cabinet and into the Axetrak. That gives you 4 tracks of guitars. You have the 2 tracks of speaker cabinets that give you the air and then you have the various direct signals to give you the bite. This really does fill out the frequencies. When you're mixing you can really taylor the sound how you want it. It never hurts to have options.

For drums I keep it very simple. I use 4 mics. I use a Shure B-52 on the bass drum plugged into this little connector plug thing my friend gave me from Shure. It was made in the 60's and is basically an attenuator that is basically a pad so you can get a good clean recording. I use a Shure 57' mic on top of the snare and two Octava mics for the overheads. The over heads are run into my Aphex Mic preamp and the others go into a Presonus Blue Tube mic pre amp and to tape. I try to use as little EQ as possible. I'll position the overheads while my drummer is playing to get the best blend.

When we have a say in the shows and are headlining, I usually take a walk around the venue and see where all the exits are and check out the stage and dressing rooms to make sure everything is cool.

After just doing the Arlington Guitar Show in Texas on Oct 21-22nd, I am done doing trade shows for 2006. I am now going to get to work on finishing up my new CDs and start gearing up for Winter NAMM in January. I will also be doing a few shows in So Cal to finish up the year. I will have an guitar instructional DVD coming out called PSYKO GUITAR. It will be out in time for Christmas 2006 and will be available online @ www.hothousestudios.com. I'm very excited about it...

My publishing company is called Terror Kitty Music and my record label is called Nothing But North Records. I created all this solely to get my music out there. So far it's working.

I have basically always wrote music but never really got credit for it until I went solo. I now have control of everything. I decided to stop waiting around for the record companies and to just do it myself. It's really funny because sometimes when I do get approached by record companies, they're all well we can do this and this for you. Then I come back with well I'm already doing all that and getting a bigger piece of the profits. The only benefit to being signed to a label at this point would be tour support and distribution. When the right offer comes along I will take it, but until then I'm doing all right.

I have consulted with a few legal friends a couple times for some situations with my music and luckily we were able to work it out without me having to go any further.

To this date I've never really had to get a lawyer but I have got some legal advice on a few occasions. On that note, I do believe in having an Entertainment Lawyer and I will be looking into getting one soon. On that note, my bassist is a lawyer. How cool is that????

My current band is Nick Horn on Drums and Jorg Schroeder on Bass. This is definitely the best band I've ever had.

I am affiliated with BMI. So far so good!

I'd also like to say that I couldn't do it without my crew: my girlfriend, Arlene, who takes all my pictures and gives me her support; my assistant, Karen Barrezueta, for handling a lot of my business stuff and taking care of my website as well as creating all my flyers, posters, and promo material; my manager, Annie Miller, for making it happen; and last, but not least, my great band Nick Horn on drums and Jorg Schroeder on Bass. They really do rock. I'm out front but it really is a team effort... I call it Team North!

Ronny is also mentioned in the April 2004 issue of Rock City News in the Metalshop column.

Metalshop #60

By Revn Kevin

I go to a lot of shows and events and I am still amazed at how many bands have no promotional or biographical info with them. I always ask if they have anything and if they don't then I give them my contact info so they can forward me some. Probably nine out of ten times the band never contacts me so I have nothing to say about them. If your band is in this situation then take to time to make some business cards and a short bio. Usually when I go to check out a band I will watch a couple of the others and include them in the review so having some info on hand is to your bands benefit.

Someone who doesn't have any problem promoting himself is Ronny North. I am on his e-mail list and I can see that he plays some great shows all over SoCal. I caught up to him at the N.A.M.M. Show were he loaded me down with a press kit which included a 3-song demo of a new instrumental project he is working on. Ronny has been tearing it up for quite awhile now and has received extensive airplay, sold CDs in the US, Japan and Europe, and recently MTV licensed his music for their Real World TV Show. Along the way Ronny has accumulated quite a long list of sponsors including Italia Guitars, Ashdown Amplifiers, Morley Pedals, Groove Tubes, DR Strings and more. It is his high skill level that gets him recruited to play clinics and trade events for these same sponsors. The songs on the sampler CD are all quite different from each other and all are done well. Track one "Remember" is a happy tune with a few interesting time changes and nice solos reminiscent of Satch. Track two really caught my ear, as I haven't heard any classical style acoustic in quite awhile. Very intricate fingerpicking that was burning up the fretboard on this one. The last track, "Dawn of Hope", is a little mellower song done with a lot of feel. It kind of makes you feel like you're at the beach, or at least want to head there. Ronny works hard at his craft, which is starting to pay dividends with the increased attention by the music industry in general. I'm sure that we'll all be hearing from Ronny North in the future. To find out more on what's going on in the North then log on the www.ronnynorth.com.

Ronny did an interview for www.indieguitarists.com. Below is that interview:

1. Describe the early years of your musical roots and how your talent was nutured.

I actually started playing piano at age 6 and took lessons for a while but found it very boring. A few years later, my father made my brother and myself take guitar lessons when I was 10 and my brother was 6. I really wasn't into it because skateboarding, playing football and baseball seemed to be much more fun at the time. Plus the teacher was a guy from across the street that really didn't know what was going on. When I was 13 I received a KISS Record (Destroyer) for Christmas. I actually got my first good guitar (a Les Paul copy) for my 14th birthday a few months later. My mother got me a cheap guitar at first to see if it was something that I would stick with. Well the guitar never left my hands.

Seeing KISS live in 1977 at the Forum on their Love Gun Tour was definitely an eye opening experience. I also watched lots of music on TV and we always had music playing in our house. As far as guitar players that I'm into I started out wanting to play guitar because of Ace Frehley then Van Halen 1 came out and I've been into Eddie ever since. I really like Warren Demartini for his feel and choice of notes. I'm very lucky that I actually know him so I've seen him play more than anyone and I'm always very blown away by his playing at every one of his shows. I also like George Lynch a lot. I recently played an industry event for Seymour Duncan and I went on after George played. As I was waiting to go on I was standing on his side of the stage so I got to see George's technique up close and it was really inspiring. His command of the instrument is something to see. He really does have his own sound . All the great players have an identifiable sound. I'm also a major fan of Satch, Vai, Nuno and Mr. Malmsteen and I always listen to everything. Lately I've really been into techo/trans music. I'm very into today's current pop music.

Currently my live rig is an older Randall RGT Tube 100 watt head. The head has been heavily modified by amp guru and good friend Mark Cameron at Cameron Electronics. Mark completely reworked the EQ section and added a depth control for added low end. He's tweaked all my tube amps. Basically live I use whatever 100 watt tube head is behaving that week (usually a Randall or Laney tube head) into either one or two 4x12 cabinets with Celestion 65 watt speakers wired at 4 ohms (for added low end). I also use an Atomic combo amp that is pretty cool for smaller shows. My pedal board is by Black Kross and is loaded with a Morley Bad Horsie Wah and a MXR Phase 90. There is also a switch for the channel switching on my amp and a switch for my rack. In my rack I have an old Rockman Stereo Chorus and a Zoom Choir Pedal for a little echo. It's all powered by a Furman power conditioner. All cables are Zoalla. As for guitars I use Tipton and Italia guitars. My current main guitar is a white Tipton Custom. It's made of mahogany, has a maple neck, Seymour Duncan pickups and an original Floyd Rose trem. I've been endorsing Tipton guitars for the last year and couldn't be happier with them.

We're now planning on releaseing the Forever Young CD in June 2005. We're running a little behind in the release date because I've been so busy and becuase we're really taking our time making sure the art work looks like it did in the 80's when it was originally released.

Over the years people have always asked me where they can get the Forever Young CD. Well as luck would have it I ran into Paul Gold (singer & co-founder of FY) at the 2005 NAMM show in Anaheim. Well we got to talking about the FY CD and decided it would be fun to rerelease it. Well Paul had the CD masters and had everything ready to go so it made everything much easier for us. All we had to do was to recreate the art work like the original. The CD is definitely from the 80's and it sounds like it in a good way.

This year we are planning on playing everywhere. I was even offered some stuff in Europe so we need to look over the offer to see if that is feasible. I do sell a lot of CD's and get press over there so it could be a good thing. I'd also like to get to Japan since I get airplay and sell CD's there as well. I will be doing some acoustic shows and of course I'll be doing some rocking shows on my Psycho Barbie Tour.

The Forever Young CD was actually recorded at Jeff Pilson's studio. Jeff produced the CD so it was a no brainer to use his studio. You have to remember the CD was originally recorded in 1990. Paul had the tracks remastered a while back. The CD was recorded on two Akai digital 12 track machines that Jeff was using at the time. The tracks were mixed by Jeff and his bassist Tommy Erikson. On a related note, all the songs were written by Paul and myself. On the guitar front, I recorded all the FY tracks with either a Washburn G-5V or a 70’s Les Paul. I also used one of Jeff's Alvarez acoustics for the acoustic stuff on the CD. For amps, its all the Randall RGT-100 tube head that I still use to this day. I ran it through one of my Laney 4x12 cabs with Celestion 65 watt speakers.
These days I have my own small studio in my home and have made all my CD’s there for the last ten years. I use Alesis Adats for my recording format. I have a ton of outboard gear and even more guitar gear. I'm really into the recording process and I engineer everything myself. I usually do rough mixes myself and send out the stuff to be mixed and mastered to a couple people that I trust. I let them do their thing then I come in and listen and we tweak few things to my taste.

As for my endorsements I basically just went after all the companies that made the gear that I used. Even though I was getting some free gear back when I was in FY, I actually got my first official endorsements in 1996 at the Anaheim NAMM show. To this day I'm still so greatful that my endorsers believe in my talent enough to give me their support. I'm always getting asked about my endorsements and to give advice on how tho get them. Well in my mind it has always made sense for an up and coming musician(s) to get endorsements to help them get going. The thing is what most people don’t realize is that it really is a lot of work to maintain your endorsements. You have a responsibility to your sponser to get out there and use thier gear in the best light possible. It's also great to keep them updated with pictures of me with the gear. I'm currently endorsed by twenty-four different companies.

As for my philanthropy work, I really believe in helping out great causes if you're in the position to do so. As for the Special Olympics, I saw first hand what that did for my little sister Jennifer. She's been competing in the games for years and it really has made a big difference in her life. After I saw what it did for her and everyone else who participates in the games I knew I had to get involved in this great cause. Well, I talked with the people who organize the games to tell them I wanted to get involved and now I’ve done several events. On that note, I've also done several benefits for Tsunami victims and for the troops as well as a few things to help out artists in need. I feel very fortunate that I have the talent to play guitar and I'm able to use it to help others. Definitely a great thing! It really is all about Karma.

My musical ambitions are to be known and respected by my peers and in the industry. If I sell a few records along the way all the better!

I started playing piano when I was five years old. On the demos I do for the band I play all the instruments and use a drum machine for all the drums.

We will be performing some big shows this year and I will be traveling internationally to play some stuff for Tipton Guitars. We will be doing the Special Olympics in June and we'll also be doing some other big stuff as well. I'm planning on really getting us out there in 2005.
In closing I'd like to thank all my fans who have given me support all these years. They definitely keep me going! I'd also like to add that I couldn't do my thing without my crew. Without them I couldn't be me. My girlfriend is responsible for taking care of me. Next we have my assistant Karen who definitely makes my life so much easier by handling all my web site stuff and designs all my flyers and CD artwork. Last, but definitely not least, my band: drummer, Jason Lee, and bassist Mike Nunez. They have been the best guys I've played with so far and they're fun to hang out with as well. My name is out front, but it's definitely a team effort. You're only as strong as the people you work with.

For more info on Ronny North visit www.ronnynorth.com or see the male rock category in the database.

In March 2005, Ronny did an interview for www.tormentedvhfans.com. Below is that interview:

I'd like to introduce you guys to a great LA area guitar player named Ronny North. Ronny does gigs all over the Southland, and has recently done numerous charity events including Special Olympics, Concert For Unity (Surfrider Foundation), and two Red Cross shows for tsunami relief. He has another Red Cross show coming up in April. Visit his website, www.ronnynorth.com, for details on upcoming shows.

Where were you born/raised? I was born in Downey California at Downey Community Hospital. (It's now a Condo Complex!) I grew up in Norwalk and graduated from Norwalk High School. What is your biggest pet peeve? Biggest pet peeve? Neurotic Lead Singers, Stupid People and Posers (Aren't they one in the same??)

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 5 CD's would you bring with you?

I'd say RATT "Greatest Hits", Marvelous 3 "Hey Album", Kate Bush "Greatest Hits", Steve Vai "Passion and Warfare", Anything from The Chemical Brothers!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

When I have spare time which is rare these days, I like to Torch Guitars with a blow torch, Skateboard, Surf and Golf. When I grow up I want to be a PGA Pro!!!

What's the cr - Wait a minute...guitars....blow torch? What???

Would you like to talk about the accident?

On Jan 8th, what happened was a 75 year old lady came across the yellow line into on-coming traffic floored it and tagged us head on!! Well she hit us so hard that we actually spun around 3 times. The police said that they estimate that we hit at a combined speed of 75 mph! Well my Montero was totaled and my girlfriend and I got messed up and have been seeing a doctor 3 times a week ever since. I just recently got a new car last week and we're still a long way from getting the case settled!! I guess it's great that we were able to walk away. (The old Lady had to be cut out of her car by the Fire Dept!) It takes a lot more than a Kamakazi crazy old lady in a Saturn to stop me!!

So, you wanna be a PGA Pro, huh? Do you do much golfing?

I do try to play golf as much as possible. I have recently started to go to the driving range again to get my golf chops back. (My back injury from the accident has made it difficult to swing a golf club but I'm getting back into it slowly!) I really do love the game and have actually been playing golf longer than I have been playing guitar. I used to be very good when I was a kid and did quite well in tournaments. (My friends and I would regularly ditch High School to play golf!) I used to worship Jack Nicklaus and wanted to be a pro golfer in the worst way. I can definitely hold my own and usually win. I would like to start playing in tournaments again sometime soon but to be great in golf it takes a lot of practice and time is not something that I have a lot of these days. I do play with my Dad on holidays and I also manage to play with a few friends. (We have a golf group!) We play every now and then when our busy schedules allow. We have a great time and talk about all the latest industry gossip. (Most of them are in the music industry from various major music companies!) I also play in the two tournaments a year that my Mom's bar sponsors (So far I haven't done well in any of them!) and I do go to the driving range when I get a chance just to stay in my groove. My friend Mark is a PGA pro so he gives me pointers from time to time. I use Taylor Made everything. My gear is all pro stuff all I need to do is start playing like a pro. On a related note, I've beat a lot of big rock stars on the course!! On that note, I was approached by MTV to do a rock and golf pilot. They want to do a show where the host would play a round of golf with whatever Rock star they had on the show and they would interview them during the round while they were playing. I was going to be the stand in Rock star for the pilot so they could interview me and ask me about my musical stuff. They're even talking about possibly having a little jam at the end of each episode! Truly a great game!!

What's the craziest thing you've ever done?

Crazy stuff? I'd say that going to traffic school was pretty crazy as are any family functions (The Holidays!). My girlfriend and I went to her friend's wedding a few years ago and this 40 something year old fat cowboy married a 25 year old skinny cute girl. The Groom sang during the ceremony (He couldn't sing!!) After they were married they went on their honeymoon with her parents and then moved in with them! Is that crazy or scary?

Probably a little of both. What would people be most surprised to know about you? People would probably be surprised that I'm actually a very private person when I'm not doing the band thing. Another thing that might surprise people is that I always listen to current pop, rap and dance music. I also really like the current Spanish rock stuff! When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? When I was a kid I really wanted to be a pilot for some reason. I had tons of toy planes. As you can see I definitely chose a different career! What was the first concert you ever attended? How old were you?

The first concert I went to was KISS at the LA Forum during the Love Gun Tour. I was 13. Cheap Trick was the opening band. The Alive II record was actually recorded during the LA shows on that tour. My Dad took the whole family to the show. It was very cool!!! I also managed to see Van Halen at the Golden West Ball Room in Norwalk and Randy Rhodes with Quiet Riot at the Starwood. On a related note, I had just started playing guitar earlier that year!!

Do you play any other instruments? Have you in the past?

I actually started out playing piano at age 6 but quickly got bored and eventually got thrown out of music school because I beat up a stupid kid. (He was asking for it!) These days I can play piano and bass as well as guitar. I'd also like to mention that my parents were a big part of why I play today. My Dad actually got my brother and I to take guitar lessons when we were very young. Well, I really didn't take to it, since at that point I was really into sports. Both my parents were very supportive. My dad would actually take my brother and I to gigs since both of us were years away from being able to drive. (My brother is a drummer so we grew up playing together!) He also let us jam in the garage with our various bands. This is really where I got my chops together. On the gear side of things, my Mother really backed us as well once she saw we were serious about playing. She bought my brother a drum set and got me my first guitar and a cool half stack once I started getting better. Having our parents behind us definitely helped. My guitar influences when I was starting out were Ace Frehley and then Eddie Van Halen after Van Halen 1 came out. Eddie's playing was a major influence on my playing and still is to this day. His playing on the Roth era VH records is amazing!! I was also into Joe Perry (He looked so cool!), Michael Schenker, Alex Lifeson and Neil Giraldo. When we were young, we used to play UFO and RUSH songs at Back yard parties.

Were you a lot of bands before you started your own instrumental group?

When I was young I was in all kinds of little bands with my brother on drums. We did the whole back yard party thing which was a lot of fun and even managed to play some clubs around OC. I played Gazzari’s on the Sunset Strip when I was 14. It was my first time doing the Hollywood thing and meeting Bill Gazzari was definitely an adventure. After that I was in a few Hollywood bands such as Jade, Kidd Comet and Forever Young. My band NORTH was actually getting airplay all around the world before I put the project on hold to do my instrumental thing. I also managed to do a couple of high profile auditions over the years as well. In the end I decided I was much better off doing my own thing my own way.

So you’ve been around Hollywood for quite a while...Any funny celebrity encounters you can tell us about?

Celebrity encounters? My girlfriend and I have a bunch since we often go to industry functions. There are a couple that come to mind…one is Bringing in the new millennium at a private party that Poison was playing at. I toasted in the New Year with my friend Robbie Crane from RATT. It was also cool to hang with my buddy Rikki Rocket. Everyone was at the party!! Then there was meeting the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer backstage at Marilyn Manson. On that note, I was actually invited to go outside and hangout by one of the female cast members!! I passed…. Another memorable moment would be when I was meeting some friends for dinner at the Rainbow and our booth was between Vince Neil and his harem of blondes on one side and Kelly Osbourne and her Friends on the other. Well Vince was very cool and would chat with us between him playing with his chicks. On the other hand, Kelly just yelled at the restaurant staff the entire time complaining about everything and basically just making a big scene in front of everyone (Great Girl!!)

What's the weirdest thing that's ever happened at one of your gigs?

Weird stuff on stage? We've had a few over zealous fans and the usual flying girl's undergarments but nothing out of the ordinary!!!

So, is the rock & roll lifestyle all it’s cracked up to be?

The Rock and Roll lifestyle is definitely what you make of it. When I was younger it was all about doing shows and ruling the Sunset Strip and living the lifestyle. (Girls, girls, more girls and parties until dawn 24/7!) Now days it's about going out and tearing it up on stage and having fun. I also really enjoy meeting all the fans as well. These days I rarely drink and I really don't go out if we're not playing. When I do go out it's usually to see one of my friends play. These days I'm much more business minded. Boy, times have changed!!!

Do you have a general philosophy on life?

I feel that in Life you really have to go for it since it only comes around once!!!

Talk about your new CDs…

In 2005, I will be putting out 3 new CD's In April. I'll be releasing Acoustify. It's my first acoustic instrumental CD. In May I'll be releasing Saturn Suicide Live. It's a live EP with songs from both my current and upcoming CD's. Last, but not least, I will be putting out the long awaited follow-up to Smeared. The CD is called Psycho Barbie. The first single "Benihana Breakdown" will be released in April.

What's in the future for the Ronny North Band?

The future for my band is that I will keep doing it until it's not fun anymore!!!

Anything else you'd like to mention that I haven't asked about? I'd like to close by saying that I couldn't do anything without my crew. First, and foremost, I'd like to thank my girlfriend. She definitely keeps me going. I'd also like to thank my assistant Karen who takes care of all my business stuff and definitely makes my life a lot easier!! Last, but not least, I'd like to thank Tim Mahoney my Production Manager. He keeps all my gear going and makes sure I have everything I need when I'm playing. He's also a great friend and he puts up with me. (Not easy by a long shot!!!) I'd also like to mention my drummer and close friend Jason Lee who has stuck with me through thick and thin!!! I'd also like to thank all of my sponsors for all their support and for believing in me!!

Music Connection, July 28, 2005

A review of Ronny's show at the Special Olympics is in the July 28th, 2005 issue of Music Connection.

Musicianship: North’s impressive axe handling includes his expertise in the use of effects. In fact, the bass and drums serve as a platform to launch his guitar skills. North uses a variety of guitars to capture the essence of rock and metal without the annoying lyrics that can never be heard over the loud music anyway. His guitar riffs compare with those of Ox Fox of Stryper and Harold Faltermeyer of “Top Gun” fame.

Performance: North was the perfect choice to wake up this special event –– he was full of energy, running around the stage, and assuming all the classic rock guitarist poses; and his music was played very loud. Besides the compulsory rock ballad, North tried his hand at some blues, which, although technically good, lacked the soul and passion of a professional blues musician.

Without a set list, North's show was done with "seat of the pants" style. Under the circumstances this did not present a problem, but will need to be tightened eventually. After performing “Dawn of Hope” North closed the set in classic metal style with a hard rocker complete with all the things one loves about metal music –– fret playing, driving drums and bass, and lots of hair.

Summary: Although North’s music speaks for itself, he felt compelled to comment on it. Despite his skills on the guitar, North is no public speaker. His repetitious use of the phrase "There you go" was the perfect example. His music is a winner -- he just needs to perfect the stage show to be a real contender.

—Bob Leggett