Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands? Yes, When I started out in 1984, I played in a short lived band in high school in Newark, NY [USA] called “Power Trio”, we only played maybe 4 shows and they were at parties and 1 show was for the high school talent show and we played two songs, The Who’s ‘My Generation’ and Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’. Then in college, in Auburn, NY [USA] I played in a rock cover band called “Thunder in The East” we played 8 or 9 shows and took second place is a ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition in Syracuse, NY [USA]. We did have 2 original songs recorded – I do not know if they still exist, maybe on a VHS video tape somewhere. Then in the Spring of 1993, in Rochester, NY [USA] - myself and two co-worker/musician/friends decided to have a jam and then formed a band from that jam. We all liked AC/DC music so we started playing their music and it sounded very good, so we needed only a singer to play out, so we advertised in the local music paper for a singer and once we found him it came together quickly and we started playing our in 1994 as High Voltage [AC/DC Tribute band]. We had some various band member changes on rhythm guitar and drums, but we kept that together from 1994 to 2010 and were very successful in the Rochester, NY area.

How is it that you started playing music? My Mother had passed away when I was age 10 and I saw concerts on TV by ‘The Who’ and Jimi Hendrix, then in the store saw a Kiss double live album and I got hooked on Rock n Roll from that moment one at age 10-11….I wanted to play guitar.

What are your names? / Who plays what?

Donnie B. Angus – Lead Guitar

Steve Seniuk – Lead Vocals

Kenny Romer – Rhythm Guitar

Mike Dell Olio – Bass Guitar

Rick Sheldon - Drums

How old are you? 52.

Have you had other previous members? Yes, several, throughout our years as a band, too many to mention.

Did you make music even when you were young? Make music? No, I did not write or record music, I only ever copied the music that I heard on records from my favorite bands growing up.

Where are you from? Newark, NY [USA] – I currently live in Cortland, NY [USA]

What year did the band form? Bonfire formed in 2012.

What's your style of genre? We are a strict AC/DC tribute band – classic, hard rock n roll.

What inspires you? The energy of performing in front of people and entertaining them.

How often and where do you rehearse? Not too often these days, but we used to rehearse a lot when we first started up or whenever we had a band member change to get that person up to speed to play out live.

How have you developed since you started with the music? I have found that the more you do something (play guitar – for example) the better you get at it as you build up a stamina for playing and a muscle memory of how you play guitar.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? I like to work on guitars for friends and bands that I know and like to see play out.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? Actually yes, I do most of the show bookings for Bonfire and it takes a lot of time and energy to reach out and contact places and to find who the person who is responsible for making the booking decisions and deals– I would like to find and hire a booking agent to do that leg work for the band so I could just focus on playing lead guitar..

Are you looking for a record label, and what are your thoughts around that? Not Applicable. We do not record the music we play in a studio.

What made you decide to do a tribute to AC/DC music? I was with my fellow band members jamming and we went out one night to see a band that was covering AC/DC’ songs and we decided that we could do it better than they did – so we put it together – at that time (1993) we formed the band called “High Voltage” that lasted from 1993 – 2010.

What language do you sing in? English

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? 20 – 5,000.

What ages are most of your concert attendants? Mostly adult aged over 21, unless it is billed as an all-ages show where families with kids and people under age 21 can attend.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? No, we usually play a 3 hour show straight through which averages out to about 28-30 songs for the show and I would say that there are about 22 songs that are played every show and the remaining 6 to 8 songs are other songs that make their way in and out of the set list just to shake it up a bit.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? Yes, we get asked back to play repeat shows at some standard clubs, venues and festivals.

What was your first Bonfire gig like? It was good, we opened up for friend’s band and we played 8 to 10 songs and we blew them away – Lol!

What was your latest gig? We played at a place in Buffalo, NY called Rockstarz small to medium sized rock club/bar and we killed it there – we made some new fans and friends.

Have you had to cancel a gig? Only 1-time way back in the “High Voltage” band days as the singer had to have an emergency appendectomy the night before a show. The club owner was very understanding of the situation.

Where have you played live this year? Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, Sterling, Albany, Corning, Sodus Point, Farmington – all in New York State and 1 time in Enosburg Falls, Vermont.

Where do you plan to gig the coming year? I would guess all of the same places mentioned above, unless we get calls or invites to play new places.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We have always had some sort of band merch for sale at the shows, band logo T-shirts for men and women. We also have sets of our custom guitar picks, flashing light up devil horns and a band logo vinyl sticker. We have had can Koozies in the past.

Where can people buy your merchandise? At our website: acdcbonfire.com.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? I am ok with it as it is a sign of the times in today’s technology.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? The music industry was not ready for it to happen and took major losses because of it – but now I think they have adapted their business model to make it work for them.

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? Anything that get’s you, you band or your bands name out in the public eye in whatever forum is always a good thing.

Do you have any role models or idols? Angus Young, Malcolm Young

Why do you think that they exist? Because they are both so good at what they do and they stayed their course of straight-ahead guitar rock n roll music and they never changes to anything different.

What have been your biggest obstacles? Needing a solid day job career to pay the bills, it limits how many shows and how much travel (for shows) that you can accept.

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Find good people to play with, avoid stress and drama, make a plan, stick to the plan and follow your dreams

How do you get psyched for a gig? A great soundcheck is key to getting psyched for the gig – if that goes well, then the gig usually goes well.

What are your web sites?

acdcbonfire.com

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BonfireATributeToACDC/

How can people reach? See above…and via e-mail at [email protected]

What are your plans for the future? Just to keep playing and bringing our AC/DC Tribute show to the people to make them smile and have a great time at the show.

Do you have something to add? Thank you for asking me to do this interview.