Hot on the heels of the single launch for Ronnie Simmons and The Redback Spiders ‘Alone With You’ I caught up with Ronnie and we discussed all aspects of his career and what the rest of the year looks like for Ronnie. We also took a drive down memory lane to where it all began for him playing live as a fourteen-year-old.
Andrew : Hey, Ronnie.
Ronnie : How are you, mate?
Andrew : Welcome to The Rockpit. Congratulations on the new project Ronnie Simmons and the Redback Spiders. It really doesn’t get much more Australian than that as a name for a band, does it?
Ronnie : Yeah. When I found out that that was available, I was like, I can’t believe that hasn’t been done. Then when I realized that it’s the same letters as my name, I was like, Yeah, this is mine.
Andrew : Tell me a little bit about the band, who’s in it, how it came to be?
Ronnie : It’s quite a long story actually. Hayden McGoogan and Sean Anderson are on guitar. I’ve known both those guys since before I moved to the States ten years ago, we go way back. They were in a band themselves with Chip who’s on drums and young Tommy Hills is on bass. When I got back and I was putting this band together to play and tour the album I had recorded in LA back in 2022. On the record Richie Ramone played drums on some of it. Chris Moye played the rest of the drums. Johnny Martin played bass on it. I had this record ready to go then got The Tatts gig, came back to Australia and then went, well, I need to play these songs live. After catching up with all my mates back here, it didn’t take too long until it was like, all right these are the guys. We got into a rehearsal room and it was awesome, this works. So, I’ve just been putting that together on the side of working with the Tatts and finally everything came to a head with this launch on the weekend. That was really cool.
Andrew : The first single ‘Alone With You’. Tell me the back story behind it.
Ronnie : It’s like kind of like a rock and roll touring love song. I literally wrote it in transit whilst on tour. Like my 2022, I think I spent fourty-nine weeks on the road and slept in my own bed for a total of three if I’m lucky. It’s about the highs and lows of what it’s like to actually be a touring musician. There’s a joke I make, you want to know what it looks like to be in a relationship with a touring musician? Take out your phone and type, I miss you too. Because that’s what it’s like you know, and being alone in the song doesn’t necessarily mean physically being alone. It’s the flip side of the solitude that goes with the high highs of being on the road, surrounded by people, meeting lots of people and gigs. Then being in the hotel room by yourself or being in your bunk on the tour bus by yourself is “I want to be alone with you.” It could be an individual or a collective. It’s also expressing I’m consciously choosing to be alone for this lifestyle for this dream, I want to do it with you. In other words, it’s a symbol of gratitude for being able to do this. There is a double entendre in there.
Andrew : I guess the message in that is a lot of people don’t realize the hard work that you put in as a touring musician and making this your life. When you turn around and say that you spent, you know, a total of maybe three weeks out of the last year in your own bed, that’s insane.
Ronnie : Yeah. Hence my life is just a bag, my guitar and another hotel or a bar, it’s like literally every day, it’s just guitar case, suitcase and then, you know, next hotel room, guitar case, suitcase. That’s what you have to kind of condense your life down to. I love it, but you know, it’s also not for everyone. I tried to figure out how to make that sentiment rhyme. Like I said, the lyrics were written sitting on a tour bus, staring out the window, just watching America fly by. I think I encapsulated that pretty well.
Andrew : The video for ‘Alone With You’ I love too. It’s that iconic background that you chose for it. It shows Sydney Harbour, the bridge, the opera house in all its glory. What a great clip it is too.
Ronnie : I’m very proudly from Sydney. I grew up here. I started off here before I moved to Hollywood for a decade, then I came back, and I wanted to show the world where I come from and also make that statement. We got a boat, went out on the harbour for a day and just filmed. It was really, really cool to take a boat out on the Harbor and rock out. That’s why it was really cool to launch the single on the same ship on the weekend. It became like an immersive experience. People saw the video, then they got to come out and basically be in the video because we performed in the exact setting doing the exact same thing. It was a little colder and windier at night, but it was still a lot of fun.
Andrew : There is something to be said about that genuine Australian rock and roll sound, and you would probably know and understand it better than anybody else being a member of Rose Tattoo. There is a certain bite, edge and aggression in the way we play rock n roll, through-out your career you’ve always had that grit about you. We have in some ways lost our way and as a nation I feel we don’t embrace the way we should. Is that something consciously that you’re trying to bring back to the forefront of Australian music?
Ronnie : Yes. In The States, the amount of people I’ve met, like “Have you ever heard of an Australian band that doesn’t rock?! AC/DC! Oh my God!” It’s like we’re known for this legacy of great music. I just want to keep the flame burning and carry the torch. As far as my guitar sound is concerned, it’s what I like, but it’s definitely influenced by the Alberts Records catalogue and definitely Rose Tattoo, Angus and Malcolm Young and that sound. Throw in my influence with working with Richie Ramone and my love of punk rock and I think it falls somewhere in the middle.
I definitely wanted people to know I was back in Sydney after being gone so long and that’s what ‘Alone With You’ is about as well. It’s like the waves of homesickness; the amount of times where I was the only Australian in the room was huge, my life was like that for a very long time. For example, I would be on tour in say West Virginia, I’m the first Australian some people have ever met. I’d be on the road and whether I’d be listening to the Tatts or Chisel or anything Australian people would be like “Oh, Ronnie’s listening to his weird Australian music again.” I’m like, “this is on the radio every day in Australia!” This is us. I wanted to take a stand and be like, you know what, Aussie rock is still here.
Andrew : The ‘Alone With You’ video has montages of footage that you have from life on the road with Rose Tattoo, Faster Pussycat and Richie Ramone nicely meshed into it. It does document your journey and acts a great time capsule of getting to the point where you are now.
Ronnie : Thank you. The video director Gene Alberts is actually my lifelong friend. Like we grew up on the same street in Erskineville and we’ve known each other since we were born. I picked music and he picked filmmaking. When I got back, we connected, and he goes I want to do something really cool with you. What do you got? I’m like, I’ve actually got a new album. He goes OK let’s do a video and let’s make it awesome. While we were chatting about ideas, I tell him that I’m a total tourist when I’m on tour. Ever since the early iPhones could film video, I’d be filming everywhere I went, I was trying to document it all just out of the fact I may never be here again. That footage had accumulated and I had this hard drive with a decade’s worth of touring the world and all these experiences. When I gave it to Gene, he was just like, this is gold. We managed to splice it all together and it’s a homage and thank you to the people I got to work with along the way like Faster Pussycat, Richie Ramone, and guys like Slash who got up on stage with the Tatts and played with us. It was kind of a way of giving context to the song itself, but also gesturing to these people “I wouldn’t have got to live this amazing dream if it wasn’t for you guys.”
Andrew : ‘Alone With You’ is the first single from an EP that’s coming called “Bite : Part One”. When can we expect to see that, and will it be along the same lines stylistically?
Ronnie : The second single, ‘Little Misunderstood’ has Richie Ramone playing drums on it and drops on October 18th and then on November 22nd the full EP “Bite : Part One” comes out. “Bite : Part Two” you can expect next year. Then both parts are going to be put together with bonus tracks as a full LP.
We had only done two gigs in Sydney before the launch and Suburban Records in the Netherlands offered us a record deal. It was like, awesome let’s do it. Through their distribution channels, we’re getting everything out and I’m working with them on everything. I’m an albums guy, I’m old school. I love the track listing, the artwork, the whole package, that’s all part of the delivery. That’s what inspired me to do it. I had 15 songs built up, and this was in 2022 when I was juggling all that touring. During that time, I managed to get into One More Time Recording Studio in Van Nuys. My buddy Clay Davies engineered it and mixed it. Richie Ramone offered to play drums on it and Chris Moye, who’s Richie’s other drummer, may he rest in peace, unfortunately Chris passed away of a heart attack last Christmas. This was the last thing that he played on. I went into the studio with next to no time, knocked everything out because I wanted to make an album, and now it’s like with the way things are delivered and you know, the visual is everything. This is a way I kind of get to have my cake and eat it too. We put the singles out, put the videos out, you know, release two EP’s, but then I get my album at the end, and I’d like to go all out with that and do something really cool for the punters that is a tangible experience.
Andrew : How do you end up with a contract for a label that’s based in the Netherlands? Given that the band has only played two live shows in Australia, what brought that to be?
Ronnie : I’ve been touring the world for over 10 years, and it was one of those things, this all came together because everyone’s my friend. It’s with help from people like Richie Ramone, Johnny Martin, and Clay Davies. Yes, they’re professionals, but we’re all mates at the end of the day. We’re all really good friends. The manager of Suburban Records, Santina was someone I met touring in 2013 when we were in Amsterdam. We met and became friends and we just kept in touch all these years. When I was getting all this together, we were just chatting and she says to me, “you know I work for a record label?” and I was like, “Oh?” Right, so I sent it through and she’s like, “everyone at the label loves it!” and that’s kind of how it came about. It all stemmed through a nurtured relationship with someone that I’m very close friends with, but I also had the goods to deliver when they asked for them as well.
Andrew : If we can go back to the beginning of your career you started playing Sydney pubs at the age of fourteen or fifteen around 2004.
Ronnie : Yeah, I started playing pubs about fourteen or fifteen.
Andrew : This led to your first original band Lust in 2008, from there, there have been a number of projects, The Art, Motochrist, The Raskins, The Hots and working with Ritchie Ramone, Faster Pussycat and Rose Tattoo. What a journey you’ve been on. I’m trying to remember back to the time first came across you. That would have been in around 2013. You were in The Art and were supporting Buckcherry.
Ronnie : You are right that was 2013 and it was also supporting Richie Ramone.
Andrew : The side shows around Stone Festival was the first time I came across you and there was something that captivated me about you back then. I couldn’t help think “this guy’s got a big future. Who the hell is he?” From there I lost track of you for a couple of years. That was until 2018 when I stumbled across your band The Hots. I really connected with that EP because of how it captured that whole Aussie rock, in your face strong female front which reminded me of the spirit of Chrissy Amphlett and again that whole Aussie rock sound. What happened there and where did that band break down?
Ronnie : Covid pretty much ended that. It was 2020 and that’s when the wheels kind of fell off. Coming out of that the band breaks up, the singer and I go our own ways. Lockdowns are going on and I was in Hollywood for all of that. They closed the borders, and I was faced with a choice of, do I stay here? Do I go back to Australia? Will I get back in? all this was running through my head, and I just went, “I’m digging my heels in and staying here.” When that dissipated and fell apart. It’s also when I started putting together these songs and that became the Redback Spiders record. They just started off as me sitting in a room with my laptop on a guitar and just started writing as time went on it became certain that I wanted to move forward with it. Once things started opening back up again, I got a phone call from Danny Nordahl from Faster Pussycat that goes “The Throbs need a guitarist, we’re going to play the Rainbow” and I went, “awesome!” I just wanted to get out and play. I’ve been locked in a bloody room for so long. That gig led to “the guitarist has left Faster Pussycat. Do you want to join Faster Pussycat?” Richie Ramone goes, “do you want to hit the road?” So, life went from like my band’s broken up and I’m in lockdown to the year that was 2022. I’m on the road and busier than I ever have been before. At the end of that Tamie from Faster Pussycat goes “we’re going to go to Australia and you get to go home.” As that happens Angry Anderson reaches out to me and goes, “Bob Spencer’s left Rose Tattoo, do you want the gig?” I tell him “I’m actually going to be in Australia with Faster Pussycat, when does the tour start?” It turned out to be like three or two or three days after the Faster Pussycat one ended. So, I went straight from the Faster Pussycat tour into the rehearsal room and bang I’m on tour with Rose Tattoo. I wasn’t quite sure at that point in time where it was all heading. They hadn’t made me a member yet I was still only the touring guitarist. I still had a place in LA while I was doing this tour. I think we were in Ballarat and Angry went, “I want to keep you.” And I went, what? He goes, “look, we’re going to patch you in. We want to make you a member. Will you stay?” I went, “yes” Obviously, that involved the reverse of moving to LA. I had to arrange to come back. There were a lot of other contributing factors in that decision and I get asked that a lot. I’m still working with Richie Ramone. Kieren has now filled my shoes in Faster Pussycat; the Scotsman, he’s a great guitarist and a great guy. There’s only one of me. I can only be in one place. Will I play with Faster Pussycat again? The future is unwritten. They’re like my family out there. But as you can see, there’s a lot of moving parts that have led to where I am now.
Andrew : Absolutely. One thing I do have to say is that seeing Faster Pussycat at Glamfest with you and Sam Bam was super cool, what a killer guitar duo you made. There was a magic and an energy between the two of you and he’s grown to be another one of my favourite guitar players through his work with Crossbones Scully and Faster Pussycat. Everybody speaks so highly of him as a human and a guitarist.
Ronnie : He is a great guy and great guitarist. When we started working together and we were in the rehearsal room just going through the Faster Pussycat songs for the first time, we had this moment where we looked at each other and we realised that if we put the two of our skills together we can make this really cool. Sometimes it was as simple as throw a harmony on this or try this out, and it became a matter of how close can we get these songs to the record, but also what else can we do to elevate things? I had a blast working with him and he’s a phenomenal guitar player and a really good dude.
Andrew : The other big thing that’s happening for you at the moment is that you’ve got a signature guitar pedal, the RTS 1 coming out through Moztronics. How did that come about and, whose idea was that?
Ronnie : That was a joint effort. Andrew at Moztronics in Melbourne had been sending me pedals for a while, and because my setup is very stripped back. I try to have as little as possible and if I had it my way, I wouldn’t even have a tuner, I would just plug straight into the amp. I like that old school approach to it. Obviously for solos and certain parts and songs, I do need a pedal and he’d sent me a few and there was a couple I was using and running into my solo Dallas JTM 50 amp. I was like, “man, I love this one and I love this one, but it’d be great if they were just in one unit” and he goes, “I could do that. If you want, we could make a signature Ronnie Simmons pedal.” I went “Ok!” and fast forward, now here we are. We came up with a concept and so it’s a combination of the two pedals in one that I mainly use. One side’s a distortion, one’s more of a boost. I went “can I design it?” Andrew went, “yeah, of course you can” and that’s why it now looks the way it does. I’ve sent one to Slash, Tommy and the Alice Cooper guys, Chris Cheney from The Living End just got back to me yesterday and he’s like “man, I just got it, I can’t wait to plug it in.” I’m really, really keen to hear what everyone says about it. It’s literally what I use live myself with The Tatts. I have that and a tuner. I’ll never forget once I had it on my board Dan from The Poor came up to me and went “what the hell is that thing?” At this stage it was just a total prototype and had nothing on it. I’m like “you’ll see” and he’s like “that thing sounds amazing” I’m like, “cool” and if that’s the feedback, then it’s like “alight we did it good.” The pedal is available now to purchase worldwide and you can get it from my website.
Andrew : You mentioned Daniel Cox from The Poor who is filling in for you after having some work done on your hand. How’s the hand holding up and healing?
Ronnie : It’s all good. I’ve bounced back. It’s on the mend and I can have a guitar back in my hands within six weeks or so I’ve been told. I’m very, very glad that he got the gig, Dan’s also a good mate of mine and he’s a great player. I’m devastated I’m not going to be able to do this run with The Tatts, but I’ll, I’ll be back with them as of next year. The hands healing up good, but you know it wasn’t right.
Andrew : Was it something that came about through playing guitar? Was it like a fatigue or strain issue?
Ronnie : I’ve put my hands through hell over the years. I was in a motorcycle accident in 2016 in Hollywood where I got hit by a car and broke my hand, the same hand. I went on the road with Richie Ramone pretty much right after the accident with a broken hand, I had to do it otherwise I would have lost my spot so I just did it and I just kept powering through and then earlier in this year, I was having some troubles with it. Again, I just kept powering through and powering through, until a few weeks back I just gripped the steering wheel in my Ford Falcon, and it was like a bolt of lightning hit me in the hand and I went, “okay, that’s not good.” I went to get an X-ray and then the X-ray turned into a cat scan. Then I have the sword of Damocles hanging over my career’s head and the surgeon telling me, “if we don’t operate on this immediately, you’ll never play guitar again.” So here we are; I’m very grateful that they could do something. I’ve got a metal plate and a bunch of screws in there now, but I’ve been told it’ll be better than ever. I’m feeling fine, but it’s an unfortunate speed bump. My number one goal at this point is getting a guitar back in my hand and getting back on stage with Angry and the boys.
Andrew : Given that you spent that decade living in LA, what actually feels more like home?
Obviously, you are Australian born and bred, but between the two, is there a place that you miss most when you’re away from the other?
Ronnie : That’s a really good question, this comes up a lot. My home is the stage, that’s the place I miss and where I feel the most home. They’re very different places, I love my friends and family here and I love my friends and family there. If I could ideally have it, I would just live between the two. Australia definitely means the world to me and coming back as a member of Rose Tattoo and joining such an iconic Australian band is an amazing homecoming. I’ve looked up to them and learned so much from them, they have contributed to my playing style. It means a lot to me. As far as where home is, again, that’s kind of what ‘Alone With You’ is about. It’s like trying to find a damn answer to it all. If I wasn’t living this life and doing the things I am, I know I wouldn’t be as happy. So, it’s high highs and low lows.
Andrew : Through that decade in LA, there must have been surely some interesting offers that presented themselves but obviously due to existing commitments that you weren’t able to make happen due to your commitments with Richie Ramone or Faster Pussycat. Was there one that you wish, damn, I wish I could have done that?
Ronnie : Um, no, actually. I’ve been really, really fortunate that everything I got to do has gone really, really well out there. I almost played with punk band The Dwarves at one point and that would have been cool, I would have liked to have done that. Having said that I was still with Richie at the time. There’s only one of me and at the end of 2022, there was this weird period where it was like, “I’m in Rose Tattoo, Richie Ramones band and Faster Pussycat all at the same time. What?!” You know the fourteen year old me would have freaked out if you told him that. But then, you know, the reality is being a grown up and knowing you gotta do the job and you have to make decisions. There is only one place that you can be in at one time. I’ve been really lucky and I think a part of that luck is because I’m tenacious and pretty stubborn as well. I made things work the way I did out there. It wasn’t easy, but I’m very glad I did it. And will I go back? The future’s unwritten.
Andrew : So Australia and Sydney are home for now?
Ronnie : Yes.
Andrew : Excellent. We’re glad to have you back. In wrapping things up, I can’t wait to hear what these Bite EPs have in store for us, and I can’t wait to see Ronnie Simmons and The Redback Spiders live. It’s been great to be able to watch you grow and follow your career since 2013. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this band goes live because it does have that that that incredible energy to it.
Ronnie : Thank you. We’re just about to announce tour dates for Australian shows at the end of November through to December any second now I’m just waiting for them to come through. We’ll be going to Victoria, Queensland and Sydney. Next year we’ll branch out and hit some more places. That tour is going to be to coincide with the “Bite : Part One” release. I came up with the tour name, the Australian Bite Tour. I thought it was a great name for it and it makes me chuckle. Those dates will be up and online hopefully by the end of today. Check out a show.
Ronnie Simmons and The Redback Spiders
2024 Australian ‘Bite!’ Tour
Nov 21 Sydney NSW – Factory Theatre (Supporting SWEET) bit.ly/rsbitetoursweet
Nov 23 Brisbane QLD – Greaser Bar – tickets at venue
Nov 29 Bendigo VIC – Golden Vine w/ Black Aces https://bit.ly/rsbitetourbendigo
Nov 30 Melbourne VIC – Cherry Bar https://bit.ly/rsbitetourmelbourne
Dec 14 Sydney NSW – Factory Floor (Factory Theatre) bit.ly/rsbitetoursydney
Debut EP ‘Bite! Part One’ Out Worldwide Nov 22 on Suburban Records
New Single ‘Alone With You’ Out Now bit.ly/rsalonewithyou
Second Single ‘Little Misunderstood’ feat. Richie Ramone Out Oct 18
ronniesimmonsandtheredbackspiders.com
ronnie-simmons.com
Thanks to Ronnie and Catalyst PR for the access.
Follow Ronnie on his socials and website.
To purchase the Mozztronics RTS-1 pedal, merchandise and the latest news visit his website www.ronnie-simmons.com.
