Guitarist Ronnie Simmons has spread his talents far and wide over the span of his playing career, travelling as far away as LA to play with Faster Pussycat and Richie Ramone before settling on a permanent gig with Australian rock royalty Angry Anderson and Rose Tattoo.
While travelling the world doing the thing you love may seem like the pinnacle of musical achievement, Simmons had one more peak to conquer.
Fronting his own band.
And what better way to launch into that next phase of your career than to record a collection of tunes, utilising the help of former bandmates and good friends to herald your arrival?
Rather than jumping the gun with a product that has obvious potential but nothing by which to test that mettle, Simmons decided to commit a bunch of tracks to disk for future release before making his Australian assault, recording what would become his debut EP Bite! Part 1 at One More Time Recording in Los Angeles with the backing of Richie Ramone (The Ramones) and the late Chris Moye on drums, Johnny Martin (LA Guns) on bass, backing vocals by Danny Nordahl (Faster Pussycat) and Scott Churilla (Reverend Horton Heat).
With this assortment of punk-fuelled rock numbers safely recorded, Simmons returned to Australia to start gigging with his new band Ronnie Simmons & The Redback Spiders, confident in the knowledge he had a viable product to sell.
With the EP set for release on November 22, HEAVY sat down with Simmons for a chat about the new band plus anything else that seemed relevant.
"I'm excited," he enthused when we asked how the nerves were. "I was listening over the masters this morning and I'm really psyched to release this into the world."
We point out that Ronnie is used to releasing music with other bands, but with this being his first out the front of a project, the pressure is on possibly more than usual.
"Yeah, this is the first time in a long, long time I'm out the front doing my own thing," he affirmed. "It's a very new experience for me, putting myself out there like that. A lot of these songs are straight from the heart, so it's very different to slotting into an already existing band. I'm enjoying it. It's a lot to think about, and it's a new experience, but I think I've got enough gigs and experience under my belt to give it a solid crack (laughs)."
In the full interview, we discussed Bite! Part 1, with Ronnie explaining the sound is a mix of his various musical influences, including punk, ska, and rock. We spoke about the two singles released so far and how they represent the EP, as well as the decision to record in LA. He ran through his musical journey from LA back to Australia and the advantage of playing in bands of differing styles and genres.
Talk turned to the band's upcoming run of shows, with Ronnie telling us what to expect from the band live and who is in the outfit full time plus more.


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