Ronnie Romero admits: “I’m expensive”

By STEVE MASCORD

RAINBOW’s Ronnie Romero says he warns artists who want to work with him: “I’m expensive”.

But the Chilean vocalist, who has jsut released his first solo album Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters, says he also works for free with emerging artists. His biggest turn-off when approached to join a project, he says, is when his suitor goes straight to money.

“You know, I am very honest with people,” he told Hot Metal (see full interview below).

“The first thing I say is ‘listen, I know you want to work with me, I like the music but I’m expensive’. It’s the first thing so we have everything clear.

“Why am I expensive? First of all because I’m good. Not because I’m saying that I’m good. Because a lot of people are saying that I’m good and I worked with this guy and this guy and htis other guy.

“Then I ask ‘how is your budget’ so we can talk about it. I’m not that kinda guy that asks for, for example, 5000 euros for a song and the guy says ‘I have 4000’. Oh no, I can do it for 4000.

“It’s always to talk. I did records for free also, just because I liked the music and I saw some potential on the record and I tried to help this guy to get a record deal.

“…because I had that opportunity. When you can help somebody it’s better than to just get money and go to the studio and send the tracks back. It’s more worthy for me so I can do that also.”

But some established artists are weird about money, Romero reports. Some ask him straight away how much he wants, before he’s even heard the music. He normally ends those negotiations immediately.

“When you get to that point of the conversation – that’s the crucial moment,” he says.

“When I started with Rainbow and I started to do stuff with very renowned musicians, I had this advantage … because I can choose.

“What I was doing is … ‘OK, let me listen to the music … if I like it, we can start to talk’.

“I need a couple of weeks to listen to songs, in my car or in the house or when I’m travelling, in my headphones. If I like it and it tells me something I can continue with the conversation.

“I’ve had it a couple of times … when it’s time to talk about money, these people just disappear.”