Interviews About Albums: Ron Coolen - Here To Stay (2023)

In this new interview, we sat down with the Dutch Rock artist Ron Coolen to ask him some questions about his new album "Here To Stay". 

1. What can you say about this new CD?

‘Here to Stay’ is my 2nd album, following after my debut album ‘Rise’ (2020). I co-wrote ‘Here to Stay’ with the amazing American singer Keith St John whom you may know from bands like Burning Rain, Kingdom Come, Montrose, Lynch Mob, and loads more. There are 7 world-class guest guitarists present on the album: Gus G., Christopher Amott, Timo Somers, Joey Concepcion, Per Nilsson, George Lynch, and Satchel. The latter two are featured on the bonus tracks that are on the CD version only. The mixing was done by Hans Pieters, an experienced engineer from the Dutch metal scene, and the mastering was done by Svante Forsbäck, who worked with Rammstein and has 2 Grammy nominations in his name.

All in all, I am very happy with ‘Here to Stay’ and the fans and press seem to think the same since the album is getting rave reviews all over the world from leading magazines.

2. What is the meaning of the CD name?

The first album was called ‘Rise’ which referred to myself, rising like a phoenix from the ashes of the corporate life that I had, into the music scene. The new album title ‘Here to Stay’ is a symbolic way of saying that I plan to stay in the music business and do a few more albums in the future.

3. Which one is the composer of the CD?

The process is that I write the music and record all the instruments. Since Keith and I work completely at a distance, I then email the instrumental tracks to Keith. He writes the lyrics and the vocal melodies and sometimes adds some changes to the arrangements. After that, it is usually fine-tuning, re-recording of the guitar parts, and finishing the arrangement. As a last step, the guest guitarists add their solos to the song, after which we go to the mixing stage.

4. If you had to pick one song, which one would you pick?

That’s the same as when you would make me choose between my daughter and my son. Every song has its own story, its own special meaning to me, its own process of how it came about and they are all very dear to me. I can give some qualifications and then mention the song that fits best with them:

Best ‘arena-style’ song: Heavy Metal Till I’m Dead

Fastest song: You’re just a bad dream

Most romantic song: Jaded Eyes

Heaviest song: 90 Shades of Hell

Lamb of God meets Led Zeppelin-song: Firebird

Song with catchiest chorus: Shake me to the Floor

Song with craziest guitar solos: Mr. Jones

5. Is there a special message in this CD? If there is what it is?

No not really, I make music because I love being creative and I hope it will give the fans a good time. Music is entertainment and should be fun. I’m not the preaching type of person who tells people through music what they should think or do. People should just enjoy the music and it should make every minute worthwhile.

6. Are there some lyrics that you'd love to share?

The lyrics are mostly written in a sort of spiritual style which allows the listener to create their own story or truth from what they hear. Lyrics can have different meanings to different people, they are not one-dimensional on the album. Personally, I like the lyrics of Heavy Metal Till I'm Dead. The opening sentence is 'It's my sole religion' and this simple sentence caught my attention immediately. As a kid I struggled with my catholic upbringing; I was never into religion, as religions never bring anything good. Except for Heavy Metal, that's the only religion that I will be faithful to until I die. That is what I get out of the song Heavy Metal Till I'm Dead. I’m sure there are many more of these lyrics on the album that have a special personal meaning to the listener.

7. Which inspirations have been important for this album? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thank especially?

My musical inspirations are Eddie van Halen, Malcolm Young, and Jason Becker. These guys are all legends. Then there's a whole range of musicians that I admire for their skills and songwriting, just too many to mention. And of course, my wife and kids are very important to me. They are not really into my style of music, but they have always been so supportive to me, and always motivated me to do what I do.

8. Something to add?

With 75,000 songs being released every day on Spotify it is all about grabbing a listener’s attention for a while. So I would really appreciate it if your readers would spend a little bit of their valuable time listening to my music. I guarantee they won’t regret it!