Ronny Milianowicz Saint Deamon
Interview April 2008

by Franco Wissa
Staff Writer

Hardrock Haven: Ronny, thanks for taking time to answer my questions. I immediately became an instant fan of Saint Deamon the moment I heard the opening riffs to “The Exodus,” on In Shadows Lost From the Brave. There are certain CDs, that the instant you hear them, something inside of the listener perks up, and you know that you are in for a CD that is sure to make many 2008’s top ten lists. First, congratulations, on coming up with such an incredible CD. If you could please, tell me how Saint Deamon came together, how did you and your band mates hook up, and why the name, Saint Deamon?

Ronny: Thank you for your kind words! I think I had the same feeling already when we wrote the material, a special vibe in your heart tells you when you’re on the right path.
The super early embryo of the band was Ragnar Widerberg and I. He plays guitar in a cover band with the singer of Wolf, and on vocals we had Tobias Lundgren, a super great singer, and he was also part of writing “Seven Seals” with me, Mat and Thomas Ohlsson. Later when we saw that the band growing to be a full time band with the legal stuff and so on they choose to give their positions to Toya and Jan Thore but everybody was still friends and we just continued to write songs together! Its so many great songwriters involved on this album; it’s a record in itself. The name was actually Tobias Nickname so his spirit lives on in the band name you could say. Last time I spoke with him he wrote songs for Nick Lachey, you know the Jessica Simpson dude >? so he seems to doing great anyway. But the name is more of a mix between good and evil and about our fictional ghost rider called S. Deamon. The song “Deamon” is about him for example.

HRH: There are of course certain influences that can be heard – namely Iced Earth, Queensryche, Symphony X, and so many great symphonic, progressive metal bands, but there is an underlying heavy core of your music that seems to go back to that New Wave of British Heavy Metal (Priest, Maiden, etc.). With such an amazing legacy of bands that each of you have been in, in your songwriting did you try to pull from any particular band? Was there a style you were trying to emulate, or did that just come about, that a certain style fit your music better than others?

Ronny: You might not believe me but I think at least two of the songwriters that never even knew about those bands you mentioned. I think is really great to mix some real metal heads that know the style and some fresh new ideas from totally different kind of music to make your ears curious. As you say there is a solid ground build on Priest/Maiden/Helloween but on the other hand you never heard a arrangement like the verse in “My Heart” in Priest or in Maiden so that is our contribution to the music scene I guess.

HRH: The track “My Heart,” of course is one of the many highlights to the CD. The escalating style of the vocals and music is one that is just superb. You find yourself, just being surrounded by a mountain of sound, and it just cascades and swirls around you. What is the story behind “My Heart?”

Ronny: First of all it was written for the Tajas solo album. My publishing company asked if I was interested to write something for her and we did “My Heart,” and “Run For Your Life.” We sent it and then we got a an answer that the company in Germany really liked it but then everything went dead silent so we re-arranged the songs for Saint Deamon and its nothing that I regret today ?

HRH: Are there any more videos Saint Deamon intends to make?

Ronny: Yes, we just did a second video for the song “Brave Never Bleeds” in the studio. It was the perfect song for a more relaxed video shoot we thought.

HRH: The music of Saint Deamon is complex, meaning there are layers of sounds, voices and instruments. What was the most challenging part of creating such a sound, both as a songwriter/musician and in the studio?

Ronny: I think it was to produce the sound we wanted. Before in the band Dionysus I pretty much did a shitty pre-production and played the drums on the records. This time I was involved in recording guitars and vocals. I did almost all keyboards myself, I even played the piano for the first time on the ballad. Especially to get all orchestra sounds and the choirs and drums loops and stuff really professional sounding was really tough. I mean we sat 15 hours a day for a week, only with the keyboards the week before mixing.

HRH: “The Burden,” “The Brave Never Bleeds,” and “Run For Your Life,” are furious rockers, with a concrete rhythm section, completed by some incredible guitar and keyboard work. With a vocal range that makes many compare Jan Grefstad to the great Rob Halford or Bruce Dickinson, especially that which is heard on “No Man’s Land.” So the question comes, which comes first, the music or the lyrics? What is the most difficult part of writing a track?

Ronny: Most of the time the music comes first but not always. For example in the church part of “No Man’s Land” it was only vocals and clean guitars there, but then we heard it sounded like a church anthem. Lyric wise we changed it to a church organ to make it fit with the lyrics. Most difficult is absolutely getting the song flowing and driven forward, avoiding stops and non-interesting parts. Metal in its worst form for me is when the guitar is chewing low “E” strings for 5 minutes without any changes. I really hate that!

HRH: In the video to “My Heart,” is it noticed that Nobby Noberg uses a 6 string bass. Is that normal for him, does he prefers that deep dark sound, or was it just for that song?

Ronny: He uses 6 strings because he is NOT normal! Ha, ha… That dude is one of the greatest bass players in the world! For me as a drummer it is heaven to play metal with a bass player that can groove - even when it’s a 16-note kick drum pattern in the song.

HRH: Do you have any favorites on In Shadows Lost From the Brave?

Ronny: If I can only choose one song it’s the title track, probably because I’m quite ok with my playing there. “My Heart” is also a favorite.

HRH: As a drummer who are your major influences?

Ronny: Scott Travis, Jörg Michel, Tommy Alridge, Uli Kusch - metal drums with groove and technical skills.

HRH: If someone were listening to Saint Deamon for the first time, what would you as a musician/songwriter want him or her to take away from your music?

Ronny: The quite original chord progressions and arrangements in the songwriting and the ultra-talented voice of Jan Thore.

HRH: It truly deserves that Saint Deamon was able to hook up with such a great label as Frontiers. How did this come about?

Ronny: My long time friend Mat Sinner played the CD for their boss Serafino and from that moment it was free pizza for all the Swedes! They really did a fantastic work for us. I really mean that!

HRH: Reading your Web site, you are touring the UK and Europe quite extensively. Any plans to visit us here in America? And when can we expect more music from Saint Deamon?

Ronny: We are booked for prog Power in Atlanta!! New album will probably be recorded around the New Year.

HRH: Thanks Ronny, for your time, and again congratulations on such an astounding CD. Is there anything else you would like to mention?

Ronny: We will play for anyone anywhere as long as we get the travel expenses paid!!! Give your good-looking sister a 20-year birthday band she never will forget!

http://www.saintdeamon.se/