David “Rock” Feinstein Interview: Vengeance is Mine

By: Rob Cavuoto

One band that many veteran metal heads feel should have hit the big time was New York’s The Rods. Comprised of members David “Rock” Feinstein (guitar/lead vocals), Garry Bordonaro (bass/vocals), and Carl Canedy (drums/vocals), The Rods would go on to open arena shows for such renowned groups as Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, the Scorpions, Rainbow and during the mid ’80s, even had a then-unknown Metallica opening a headlining tour for them.

Add to it the fact that Feinstein is the cousin of the late/great Ronnie James Dio (both played together in Elf) and Canedy is an acclaimed metal producer (having worked on classic early releases by Anthrax, Overkill, etc.), and it makes it even more baffling why The Rods never got their due.

But this appears to be changing quickly, as the trio has signed on with the Niji Entertainment Group, a label that was created by Ronnie James Dio and his wife/manager, Wendy Dio. The band’s seventh release overall (and sixth release overall for Niji) is titled Vengeance, and will be released on May 24th, 2011. The release comes hot on the heels of Feinstein’s recently-released solo album, Bitten by the Beast.

The first single off Vengeance will be “The Code,” which features vocals from none other than Ronnie James Dio (one of the very last songs that Ronnie ever recorded, before his untimely death in May of 2010).

I had a chance to catch up with David before he heads to Europe to open for Dio’s Disciples – A Tribute to Dio and talk about their new CD as well as remembering all things Ronnie.

The Rods

******

Rob Cavuoto: You really nailed the classic Rods sound on Vengeance. Was that intentional?

David Rock Feinstein: It wasn’t intentional it just came together that way. I look at myself as pretty one dimensional. We just play and what comes out is who we are as a band. I don’t think we could get anything different even if we tried. Carl wrote a few songs that were a bit in left field, compared to traditional Rods stuff, but they still have the same identity. We were concerned with what the fans of the band would want from us.

Many bands that have been gone a while, when they put something new out and it comes out in a totally different style. What we do come up with must be reminiscent of what we’ve done in the past. All of a sudden when we started to put something together it all came rushing back naturally. I’m really happy with it.

Rob: Were any of these old Rods songs that never made it to a CD or were all the songs new?

David Rock Feinstein: They were all new.

Rob: How do you decide what goes to a Rods CD and what you should use for your solo projects?

David Rock Feinstein: It’s kind of difficult, because anything I write for my solo projects would probably be equally as good as a Rod’s song. The songs all come from the same place. There’s also no difference in production either. There’s an abundance of material to choice from. I’m an avid song writer as well as Carl. They all fit into the same format.

Rob: “The Code” is a great song and sounded like a lost Dio track. Did you write it for him in mind?

David Rock Feinstein: When Carl wrote that song, we both said that it was very Dio-esk. Having Ronnie sing that song was like a no brainer.

Rob: Tell me a little about the background of Ronnie’s involvement?

David Rock Feinstein: We had planned to do something for a while, whether it was a Dio thing or an Elf reunion. We talked about so many things but logistically I never knew if anything would come from it. He was always busy and we lived 3,000 miles apart. Yet we both really wanted to do it in the worst way.

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” off of my solo CD 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 also did “The Code” which Carl wrote for The Rods.

Initially we both agreed that it wasn’t in the Rods’ style. Carl sang the demo as I could never envision myself signing it because I’m not really a signer’s signer. It was a great song. When Ronnie was going to come in to sing, it was the first songs we thought of, since it was so conducive for a great singer like him. He made the song something great as he always has.

Then in February of 2010, I went to visit Ronnie so we could master the two songs out there in the studio he uses. The day we went to the studio he was in a lot of pain but he still insisted on coming. He really wanted to be a part of it. I came home with mixed emotions. I left there feeling great that we could master the songs together and looking forward to the future of an Elf reunion and remastering/redoing old Elf songs. Ronnie was in the mist of working on a Magica 2. It wasn’t two months later that he took a turn for the worse and then passed. He had so much more to offer the world as a person and musician.

Rob: Did Ronnie know how seriously ill he was at that time?

David Rock Feinstein: I think he did, but I didn’t. I realized he was in pain from the chemo treatments. It was really taking its toll on him. We all had a positive attitude that he would beat this thing. None of us though that it would turn out like it did because he had such a positive attitude.

Rob: What are the touring plans to support the new CD?

David Rock Feinstein: We have a European tour planned in June and three local shows as warm up dates in end of May. Our first date in Europe is June 11th. A few dates are festivals but for most of the tour we will be opening for Dio’s Disciples – A Tribute to Dio. It’s a good stomping ground as going to counties where The Rods and Dio are popular. It’s important to honor his music and we get to open for them. It is the greatest thing in the world for me!