RONNIE JAMES DIO Talks About Recent Songwriting Session With TONY IOMMI

David Felix of Rock Eyez recently conducted an interview with legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio (RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, DIO). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Rock Eyez: You've recently returned from England where you were writing with Tony Iommi [BLACK SABBATH]. There are a lot of rumors circulating now about a possible BLACK SABBATH reunion. Is there any truth to that?

Ronnie: "Oh no... this project was done for the release of a box set called 'Black Sabbath: The Dio Years' and it was bantered around that it might be a good idea to add a couple of tracks which had never been done before. This, obviously, would increase the sales and interest but that's the only project that we talked about. Anything that happens in the future is purely dependant on how it affects this band... DIO."

Rock Eyez: If not, what was it like writing with your old partner again?

Ronnie: "It was great! It was fun... I've always liked Tony. He's a good person, fun to be around, obviously a brilliant player which is always the first attraction because if you don't like the player you're, kind of, doomed. But it'd been ten, eleven or twelve years since I've seen Tony except he did come to one of our shows a couple of months ago that we had done in Birmingham. So I did get to see him for the first time then and it was just as it always was. Then, when we worked together, it was the same productive thing that we've always got up to. Just the two of us... me playing bass, Tony playing guitar, a drum machine in Tony's studio... it was great! I think we both said inside to ourselves, 'Damn... I forgot how good he was!'"

Rock Eyez: So when can we expect a new [DIO] studio release?

Ronnie: "I would think, probably, around the end of this year or at least the beginning of next year. With all the touring that we have to do, I think it's going to be impossible for us to really concentrate on that until sometime in the fall. It'll take three months to write it, record it, mix it... if not four or whatever it takes. So I imagine that would be the time."

Rock Eyez: As you mentioned, more and more tour dates seem to be added every day. Are there any plans for doing anything in the United States this summer?

Ronnie: "Well, most of the summer, for us, is going to be spent in Europe or South America. So if there is anything to do, it certainly sounds to me like it would be more of a one-off than anything else. We haven't played the States in a couple of years now and if we don't this time, it'll be going on three. There's really no purpose in that. We not trying to punish ourselves or anyone else... if anyone thinks they're being punished by not seeing us! But the market in Europe... let's be honest about it... is so much better than it is here for the kind of music that we play. We are a country built upon incredible trends and boy do we hop on top of them as soon as we can. But a lot of times, it leaves a lot of others in the dust and I think that that's a lot of what has happened to 'metal' or 'hard rock' or whatever label we want to give to it. That's just the way life is and I understand that so you go to where your strengths are and for us, that lies overseas. It's not that we wouldn't do well in the States and we certainly WILL play in the States but we made commitments to places that want us a lot more than others. But we will play the States again at some point... of course we will."

Rock Eyez: I have had the opportunity over the years to speak with not only yourself but also several of your past band mates. From Jeff Pilson to Geezer Butler to Rudy Sarzo and also other musicians and fans and they always have nothing but praise and respect for you and your work. You are one of the most respected musicians in the industry and, in a lot of ways; a living legend… how does that make you feel?

Ronnie: "Well, I've always felt that the best thing to be is to be praised by your peers... there's nothing better than that. Because if the people you respect; respect YOU... there is no greater compliment to me. As far as the rest of it goes, I've worked hard at being as good as I possibly could without thinking to myself that someday I'm going to be a legend or someday I'm going to be something bigger than life! What's going to happen is I'm going to die and rot just like everybody else does. So that doesn't do me any good at the end of the day. But while I'm still here, it's wonderful to be appreciated. It really, really is but I try to let that take a back seat to what I have to do because I think if you start reading your press releases too much, you start believing them. I know very, very well what I'm about and what I can and can't do and I'm very disappointed when I can't do the things I want to and very elated on the other hand. So, I try to keep my own tools in perspective. I try to keep them clean and I try not to listen too much when people are like, 'You wield the greatest saw! You can drill better than anyone else on the face of the Earth,' because at the end of the day, I don't think that's true. I'm not trying to downgrade the accolades that people have given me. I mean if I didn't get them, I would probably be a very bitter, horrible person! So I try to keep them in perspective and I think anybody and everybody who has helped nourish my career and has liked what I've done is a legend. If I'm a legend... then so is everybody else... all the people who put me here."

Read the entire interview at www.rockeyez.com.