Ronni

You've already read the first part of this story a hundred times. I got my first guitar when I was 16 and started a band with my friends and so on and so on.This is the part, where the story takes a turn. After I'd been playing local musicals as lead guitarist and backing keyboarder, I decided to start a tribute band to danish pop/rock success "One Two" back in January of 2005. As good, dedicated keyboarders don't come easy, I realised that I had to take the part as keyboarder my self. I wasn't a complete stranger with keyboards as I had owned and experimented with several classics for fun trough the years such as; The Emax, Roland D-70, Roland JX-8P, Yamaha SY77 etc. I started practicing a lot and quickly developed skills and techniques by practicing and studying other inspiring keyboarders. The "One Two" tribute band quickly developed into a cover band with a more broad variety of music which constantly forced me to practice hard and develop my skills as a musician as well as a programmer with the keyboards.In December of 2006 Eldorado, as the cover is now called, had developed into one of the better cover bands in Copenhagen. During the past two years Eldorado had been sharing practice locations with danish metal act Manticora. At the time Manticora was looking for a dedicated keyboarder who had the skills and the equipment to fill the part as keyboarder on their upcoming spring tour. They offered me the part as session keyboarder for that tour. Manticora was just finishing their latest album "The Black Circus Pt. 2, on which I got to record a couple of leads and harmonies.In 2008 Manticora got ready for their biggest year yet. In the spring of 2008 I went with Manticora on a European tour supporting Jon Oliva's Pain (ex-Savatage) on the european league of their "Global Warning World Tour". Fall '08 I toured with Manticora in the US supporting Jon Oliva's Pain on the north american league of the "Global Warning World Tour". The US tour was also supportede by Circle II Circle featuring Zakk Stevens (ex-Savatage). The first show on the US tour was an opening act for Helloween and Gamma Ray at Progpower USA IX.After the US tour and many considerations, I decided to stop playing for Manticora. My reasons for that was, my dedication to my own prog rock project “First To Mind”. I wish I could be with the guys on the upcoming 2009 EU tour supporting Circle II Circle, but I don’t believe I can do that without suppressing my own project. If I want to be the least serious about First To Mind, I can’t dedicate to another band as serious and time demanding as Manticora. Also, touring has been expensive for me and as I have all my money tied up in my own project, I simply don’t have the economy to keep on touring with Manticora. For the record, I’ve had a fantastic time touring with Manticora. Two years ago I had no idea I would ever get to go on tour round Europe and especially not in the United States. It’s been unbelievable and I’ll never forget it. I want to thank the Mantidudes for a good time and I wish all the best for them and all the fans around the world.I'm still doing my thing with Eldorado and I don't expect to stop playing with these guys anytime soon as I'm having a blast every time we're performing. First To Mind is writing and recording. The material we're writing will probably be in the genre of Neo-prog. At this time there's really nothing more to say about the project...except, that if you're into progressive rock, you should stay tuned.The more personnel part: I still have lot's to learn...as a musician as well as a human being I believe, that we should always try to be a little better the next time...whether it comes to playing skills as well as with anything else in life. There are many sides to being a great musician, and to me it's not necessarily about being the fastest on the trigger. I like to compare playing music to painting a picture. It's all about having an eye for details and colours as well as being able to interpretate what's on your mind and express your feelings whatever they might be.