Ralph Santolla started playing guitar at the age of seven when his parents wanted him to start playing an instrument. After a while he became addicted to rock music when he was exposed to KISS, becoming a huge fan of the sound of the quartet. One of the biggest influences on Ralph was Michael Schenker who he discovered at the age of 12 when he listened to his solo on the song "Only You can Rock Me" by UFO. That changed his life forever! Amongst his other main influences, Ralph includes Randy Rhoads, Uli Jon Roth, Gary Moore, Allan Holdsworth, Eric Johnson and Jeff Beck. His professional career started when he played for a short time in the extreme metal band DEATH, but later on he founded his first band, called EYEWITNESS, which released two albums "Eyewitness" on Now & Then Records (1995) and "Messiah Complex" (Alpha Brunette 1996). Later the band evolved into MILLENIUM and with this monicker and with his main songwriting, Ralph has reached the biggest heights in his career so far, expecially with the two commercially successful and critically acclaimed releases "Angelfire" and "Hourglass", the latter featuring vocalist extraordinaire Jorn Lande. Ralph was also involved in a more Skid Row/Kiss oriented project called Monarch released on Frontiers Records at the end of 1998. On his debut solo album, entitled "Shaolin Monks In The Temple of Metal", Ralph wanted to achieve a result in which his guitar dictated the songs, rather than vice versa. He also wanted a more natural and heartfelt approach. Featured on the album are drummer Mark Prator (John Wesley), Tere Bertke on fretless bass. Special guests appearing on the song "Starlight" are Dreamtide guitar player Helge Engelke and ex Ten axeman Vinny Burns. The album also features Emerald Rain members playing on "What Might Have Been". This instrumental album is guaranteed to please not only the technical guitar freaks but all fans of guitar driven melodic rock !
