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Mick – first of all, tell us: How did you become a member of BN.

I've been a huge Ritchie Blackmore fan since I was a kid. I often 
had dreams I was playing in his band. I had made many unsuccessful
attempts to get in touch with him throughout my life, but in wasn't
until 1997 that one of those attempts paid off.
One video tape of me playing a composition by Bach on the electric 
bass made it to his TV room, once he watched it his manager contacted
me and a difficult audition process began, it involved me having 
to send overnight recordings of Blackmore's Night songs on the bass.
After a while I was flown to New York for an audition in person with the rest of the band, and soon after that we went on tour to Japan.

What did that period mean to you musically?
It was without a doubt the most meaningful musical experience 
I've had. I was actually playing with the one person I had spent 
so many years studying and preparing to work with, it was such an 
unbelievable time for me that I still sometimes need to pinch 
myself to be sure it isn't yet another one of those dreams I had
before.

What are the strongpoints of Ritchie musically?

In my view Ritchie is the ultimate musician. He has an intuitive
talent that guides him in the right direction when it comes to 
songwriting, arranging and producing.
He is by far the most 
tasteful guitar player I know, and he demands the best out of each 
musician privileged enough to be around him.

What was the most funny experience from that period?(We all know Ritchies reputation on pranks…)

There were plenty of funny experiences all the time. Ritchie is very 
playful and has a great sense of humor.
Even though the pranks were
very much there, they weren't as heavy as the ones I heard about from
years ago.
But telling you the stories now would never do justice to
the actual experience of being there when they took place.
Things like
watching Ritchie annoy people at restaurantes with his laser beam pen, or coming to a casual football
game with a team of semi-pros
to beat his band's team 54 to 1
(because the day before we beat his 
team 2 to 1 (I made the 1 goal for out team!) and thing of that sort.


What is Ritchies peak looking back on BN, Rainbow and DP?

In my opinion Ritchie's stood out as an amazing musician in every aspect of his career.
I can site his incredible talent on just about every album he's ever put out with the different bands he was involved with.
It is unfortunate that so many people missed out on a lot of Ritchie's work, most people, especially in the States, only know him from "Smoke On The Water".

What was your input in to the band?
I tend to think that my role was a supportive one, I knew that by focusing on being a part of a "grooving", “swinging” rhythm section I would be doing my job.
I could tell how this affected Ritchie's inspiration when it came to soloing and improvising. I also noticed Ritchie's sensitivity with bass frequences, although at times it was hard to tell which ones were affecting him, as there were other people (keyboardists)doing bass lines with their left hands (…bastards!). So, I tried to play only what was necessary,
at a low volume to avoid hearing the usual phrase: "The bass is too loud!". 


Argentina is your birth place, a great soccer nation – do you share
Ritchies passion for the game?

I do when I am in Europe or South America. Living in the States,
where games like basketball, baseball or even golf are more popular 
you kind of lose interest until the World Cup starts.

What were you listening to growing up?
As a little kid I listened to the Beatles and some pop bands 
from Argentina. My dad always exposed me to other styles of music
like Classical and some traditional Jazz. But once I discovered
Deep Purple I became obsessed with them, to the point that I was
very annoying to everyone around me. As part of my self imposed 
routine to learn from other bass players I listened to Yes, ELP,
and of course Purple and Rainbow. Later on I became very interested 
in Classical music, especially J.S. Bach.

Ostinato – classical music. Why did you need to make that album?
I had experimented playing Bach's Two and Three Part Inventions
on the electric bass, and recorded the video that I used to approach 
to Ritchie the first time, playing Invention No.8 In F Major. 
One day talking with Ritchie I mentioned that I was thinking about recording a whole album of Classical/Baroque compositions,
which he encouraged me to do. It was something I did for my own
amusement and that I found to be a challenging and educational experience.


What is the strongpoints of  Ostinato when you give it a listen?

I guess that depends on the listener and the listener’s mood when they hear it. I suppose the fact that I used nothing but electric basses makes it interesting, as those aren't compositions designed to be played on the bass and it required quite a bit of work to figure out the correct finger positions. But from a listeners and critiques prospective Bach's Inventions and "Tibetan Dharma" (by the German band Adaro) are the ones that get mentioned the most.


You have played with many a great musiscian and are quite capable yourself – what are the similarities and what makes them different – Blackmore and Malmsteen. You have played with both.
Well, they are both extremely talented musicians. These days one likes 
to play at a very, very low volume while the other one likes play very, very loud!
They don't really have all that much in common. In musical terms Ritchie tends to use minor scales a lot or pentatonic if it is for a more rockin' feel. Yngwie uses the phrygian mode quite a bit combined with minor scales. 
Ritchie is very meticulous with what every musician is doing, while Yngwie only reacts when something is obviously wrong.


Now to  Violent Storm – where Yngwie M playes on a couple of tracks. How did  the band become a band?
I intended it to be a band (my band) from day one. Initially I had 
some musicians in mind, so I began the recording sessions and
made changes accordingly. Some people worked out, some didn't.
The line up I currently have is by far the strongest.


What is the natural to aim for with V.S.?

Our aim is to solidify our presence in the Rock/Metal scene, by going on tour in the States, South America and Europe and also by releasing a new cd in 2009. I want to show that you can still have a high energy band without sacrificing strong melodies and musical content.


So far – what is the finest VS moment?

Opening for Motley Crue in Switzerland last year was the
beginning of many fine moments to come. We expect there will
be a lot of exciting performances to come for Violent Storm, 
starting with "Hellstock Festival 2009" in Florida next January.

What did KK from Judas Priest fame bring to the table for VS?

KK's participation gave us more credibility, sometimes being an 
ex-Blackmore or an ex-Yngwie -as competent as you have to be to play 
with them- is not enough to break through and be noticed amongst the zillions of other new bands out there. Having KK not only playing on 2 tracks of our album, but also producing it instantly made us something special. Keep in mind that this was KK's first time to be involved with another band outside of Judas Priest, why would he bother unless he believed Violent Storm had something interesting to offer?


Why the band name?

At first I thought I would call it Violet Storm, you know...violet...
purple..., but when I told KK he said he'd have nothing to do with 
a band called Violet anything, so he said how about Violent Storm?,
and it actually sounded a lot better, so that was it.


Any chance of seeing VS on stage in Norway?

I certainly hope so, but you and your readers have to help us
telling the local promoters to bring Violent Storm! We'll do our best 
from our end, hopefully next summer.


You have done a lot of styles – prog is a genre with lot of variety
Into one track often, for instance classical music. Are you a prog musician?
I guess I am quite versatile, it helps if you're trying to make a living playing music. I absolutely love Classical but I am also a head banger at heart. However I don't exactly like most bands. You could say I am a very selective head banger!

How would you define prog?

I was hoping you would have the correct definition since you brought it up, but I would interpret prog as someone who is more musically ambitious and isn't afraid to take chances on his quest to achieve more sophisticated musical goals. 

What will happen for Mick Cervino musically in late 2008?
The plan is to go to the studio and release a new Violent Storm
cd soon. Then tour as much as possible and spread the VS word to
every corner of the globe.