David “Rock” Feinstein Interview: Looking to be Identifiable

By: Rob Cavuoto

David Feinstein

David “Rock” Feinstein, former member of Ronnie Dio & The Prophets, The Electric Elves, Elf, and the leader of the legendary NYC band The Rods, is about to unleash an all-new solo effort, Bitten By the Beast.

The nine-track disc will certainly be of interest to metal fans worldwide, due to Feinstein’s impressive hard rock pedigree and because the album features what turned out to be one of the last-ever recorded vocals by Ronnie James Dio (Feinstein’s cousin), on the headbanging anthem “Metal Will Never Die”.

Robert Cavuoto had a chance to sit with David to talk about his new release and share stories about his cousin Ronnie.

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Robert Cavuoto: Tell me about the inspiration behind the CD, Bitten by the Beast?

David Feinstein: It was a challenge to see if I could do it. I’m always working on new material whether it’s for the Rods or a solo project. For my solo CD I played all the guitar and bass parts. I’m not a bassist but I got through it pretty well. The original drummer and bassist for the Rods; Carl and Garry played on “Metal Will Never Die,” and a local kid in my town, Nate Horton played drums for me on all the other tracks. I’m really proud of the end result.

Rob: What was Ronnie involvement with the song “Metal Will Never Die.”

David: Ronnie and I spoke about collaborating on something for quite a few years but logistically, it never happened. He started making trips back to Cortland about 2 years ago to visit his mother who was ill. I had just had written “Metal Will Never Die” when he was planning to come to town. I was able to put together the words, melody, and music very quickly. Carl and I then did the demo. Ronnie heard it the next day and banged it out after a few minutes and performed a world class job on the song.

He put his own style and made it his own. He also did a song for a future Rods LP due out in the spring. Almost a year later, in December 2009 I stared working on my solo LP at the same time Ronnie and Wendi had just put together Niji Records so I knew it was going to come out. With his untimely passing it will probably be the most import song I will ever write. I look at “Metal Will Never Die” as a tribute to Ronnie.

Rob: Why continue to make music when so many bands are living off their heyday or complications CDs?

David: I think it’s something that’s in your make-up and just wanting to be creative. The Rods were formed after I was out of the music business for a while and needed to make some money. The intention of the band was to play bars so I could pay my bills. Both Carl and I are avid writers and we just started to write songs. Soon we got auditions and then got signed. The next thing we know we are touring the UK.

Click to Download Bitten By the Beast From Amazon

Rob: What guitars did you use on the CD?

David: My main guitar is a 1959 Melody Maker. I have a few but used the one with the flames on it. I used a Les Paul Junior on a few tracks. I really try to mix it up a bit and have to find the right guitar for the right track. For leads I use a Steinberg guitar since it has a tremolo.

All of my guitars have the same EMG pick-ups on them. For “Metal will Never Die,” I used a 10 year old Les Paul Junior that a friend picked up at a garage sale for $50 and then sold to me for $50 [Laughing]. It was the guitar that I happened to grab that day.

Rob: What about playing guitar made you the player you are today?

David: I’m influenced by three guitarists, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Ritchie Blackmore. I’m self-taught and those three guys influenced me. I can’t play anywhere as good as those guys, but in the end of the day I have a style which is unique. Your style must be is identifiable otherwise you are just one of a million guitarists.

Rob: What would you have done if you never picked up the guitar?

David: I probably would have been a drummer. I switched to guitar when Ronnie’s rhythm guitarist was leaving Ronnie Dio and the Prophets. Ronnie asked if I know how to play and told him I could. I barely knew three chords when I told him I could play [Laughing].

Ronnie was understanding, and the rhythm guitar player helped me along while we played clubs. After a few months I had it down. The lead guitarist was later killed in a car crash and I had to learn how to play leads. That turned into writing and then we got our first record deal as Elf. If it wasn’t Ronnie asking me to play who knows what I would be doing.

Rob: Any memories of Ronnie you want to share?

David: There are a million of them, so many I can remember them all. The one story that comes to mind is the time we were on tour back in the day and were riding in these old tour buses. It was basically a glorified school bus with seats rather than bunks. We got in the bus after a show and drove 9-10 hours to the next show down south.

We get to the hotel at 7:00am we couldn’t find Ronnie anywhere. We thought that Ronnie didn’t get on the bus. We didn’t have cell phone to call each other back then. I then went back on the bus to look around and found him asleep atop the luggage rack above the seats. It was frightening at the time but funny now.