Interview with guitarist Craig Goldy
Interview conducted by Luxi Lahtinen
Date online: November 25, 2018
Dream Child can rightly be considered a "supergroup" with names such as Craig Goldy, Wayne Findlay, Simon Wright, Rudy Sarzo and last but not least Diego Valdez in their ranks. Things for Dream Child happened quickly thanks to an important conversation between Frontier Records boss Serafino Perugino and Craig Goldy, who is best known for his many years playing in Dio.
Listening to the band's debut album, Until Death Do We Meet Again, is like taking a trip back in time as the music combines the catchiness of classic eighties Hard Rock and the power of Heavy Rock anthems perfectly. Diego Valdez's strong and emotional vocal parts also hint at these gentlemen's involvement of many years with Ronnie James Dio.
The Metal Crypt was offered a great chance to speak to Craig Goldy about the band, the making of the Until Death record, Dream Child's touring plans and the chance to carry on with this project in the future.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Mr. Craig Goldy...
Luxi: First off, the obvious question is how did you get together in the first place and decide to form this "supergroup" called Dream Child?
Craig: I was on the phone with the President of Frontiers, Serafino Perugino. He and I were discussing the 
Eisley/Goldy album and we started brainstorming about another possible project. I remember making mention of some comments by fans that I had read so often about some of my favorite Rainbow and Deep Purple songs on YouTube, those comments being," they don't make music like THAT anymore!!" Serafino asked me a simple question that would forever change the course of my future. And that question was," well ... can you?" And I said... "Yes!"
The very next thing Serafino asked was," Can you get me Rudy Sarzo?" and again I said, "Yes". Fortunately for me and this project Rudy was both interested and available. Then Serafino asked," Can you get me Simon Wright?" and I said," Yes". And fortunately for me and this project Simon was both interested and available. Rudy and I go way back when he and Tommy Aldridge left Ozzy. They had a band together and I was fortunate enough to be their guitar player. Then I got the call to join Dio. Rudy and I had stayed friends and later on Rudy joined Dio and was with us in the beginning stages of the Dio Disciples. Simon and I had always wanted to do an album together and this was a perfect opportunity for that to happen. Serafino's next question leads us to your next question...
Luxi: How did you find Diego Valdez? Was it pure coincidence that he sounds deceptively like Ronnie James Dio or a "calculated move" to find a singer for the band that sounds as close to Dio as possible?
Craig: Deceptively? It's a dream come true that I was able to work with such an amazing singer as Diego, not only because he is one of the greatest people that still walk this earth but he was blessed with so many attributes that are so close to the many and UNEQUALED attributes of Ronnie. Ronnie was and is my favorite singer, even before I met him. I worked with him in Rough Cutt and then in his band Dio. I was in a constant search for someone that could sound like him—not to copy—NO ONE can sing like Ronnie... NO ONE!!! But I needed a singer that could do the things that my songs needed that singer to do. And much of it is the inflections if the lyrics call for anger, you can hear anger in Diego's voice. If the lyrics call for sadness, you can hear sadness in Diego's voice. Power... I need power in the voice within my songs—and Diego has plenty of that, too!
Nearly eight years ago, a friend of Diego's sent me an MP3 of a Dio song that Ronnie and I had written for the Killing the Dragon album, a song called "Push" that Diego's band back then called Helker had done as a cover. It was chilling, to say the least! It sounded as if Ronnie had covered his own song! I got a hold of Diego and told him how amazing I thought he was but that it was just too soon for us to do anything together right then. But that someday he and I would indeed do an album together. When Serafino asked me," Who would you get to sing?". I told him:" Hang on a minute and let me send you an MP3!" There was no mistake ... it had to be Diego!!! And I woke up to a record contract in my email inbox the very next morning!
Luxi: What can you tell us about the songwriting process for Until Death Do We Meet Again? How much did each of you support the entire songwriting process and would you say the album is, more or less, a product of seamless teamwork?
Craig: It's a sort of a "hybrid" between the old school and the new school. Many songs were written 
while being in the same room as one another and some recordings were also done while in the same room together as one another. Rudy, Wayne and Diego each had their own home recording studio where they could record professionally as well. Some songs I had written myself and others were collaborations with other great song writers like Jeff Pilson, Doogie White, Chas West, Wayne Findlay and Alessandro Del Vecchio. Even the songs that I wrote myself still ended up being a collaboration once in the very capable hands of Rudy, Wayne, Simon, Diego and Alessandro. We had kind of a running joke between me and them; they would send me back their performances asking me "Is that right?", or "Is that OK?"—and I would answer back," no ... it's better!"
Luxi: Do you believe everyone in the band gave 100% effort for this album, especially Diego as he surely knew very well who these other guys in the line-up were and in which bands all of them had built up their long musical careers?
Craig: Everyone, and I mean everyone brought their "A" game to the table. And this made for not only a very special album but a very special spirit behind this album!
Luxi: Were there any obstacles in your way when you were doing this album? I mean, each of you is located far from each other, so obviously modern technology helped you put together this "big puzzle".
Craig: I think I kind of answered that question in the questions before this one, with the exception of obstacles. Luckily for me and this album, there weren't any formidable obstacles other than what is automatically built into doing an album in the first place. And I really like the way you put it..." big puzzle". Thank you for that! In many ways, this too was sort of like a puzzle!
Luxi: In my sincere opinion, the album's just amazing. Every single song on the album stands out on its own and there are no fillers whatsoever. I guess it's safe to say all your hard work truly paid off on this record, right?
Craig: Thank you so much for that!! This album did come out better than I hoped for but secretly knew that these particular guys, at this particular time, would indeed help create an amazing album. And I think they did! Not me... THEY!! It was a collaborative effort all the way.
Luxi: What are chances of seeing Dream Child playing live at some festivals in 2019, keeping in mind you also have other active bands?
Craig: We all want to tour for this album. We are trying to sync our schedules.
Luxi: I also have reason to believe we can get a follow-up album from Dream Child. Tell me I am not wrong by 
throwing this hopeful thought in the air... ;o)
Craig: Oh we are DEFINITELY going to do another album!!
Luxi: One last question and then we are done. Ronnie James Dio is sitting on a silver cloud, listening to the Until Death ... album. And you know what? He dropped a tear while he finished listening to the album. Why do you think he did so? Let your imagination fly free and high now... ;o)
Craig: Thank you for that!! But in actuality, this question is just asking for trouble later down the line. I did say at the first public memorial for our dearest beloved Ronnie that when I would be doing original material again that I would try and utilize everything that I had learned from working side by side with the Master for so long, in such a way that I could only hope to make him proud!
My first attempt at this was my own personal tribute to Ronnie. Two songs that I wrote for this were" Hole in my Heart" and "Dark Rainbow". When Wendy first heard these songs, she said that she was in tears and that my "beautiful songs would make Ronnie proud". Since those songs were/are for charity, I think those songs are still available on CD Baby.
But now I have come a very long way and have learned so very much from Ronnie and all the people that I was fortunate enough to work with and absorbed as much information from those experiences as possible and put it to good use on this album.
Going back even further, my first solo album Craig Goldy's Ritual Hidden in Plain Sight had some good song 
ideas on it, but I wasn't as strong with lyrics back then as I am now because there's a difference between learning Ronnie's way of writing songs, melodies and lyrics when working with him. But it is an entirely different thing when the man himself pulls you aside and shows you bit by bit his methods and how he works and that is what he did for me. That is why I believe in utilizing his method in combination with my own. For the right reasons, this album and the albums to come in this genre (Resurrection Kings is different) will be as strong as they will be, not because of me but because of the collaboration and combination of past and present skills of my own and other particular and special people with special and particular gifts given towards a common goal and without any hidden agendas!! This alone is very rare! It shouldn't be ... but it is!!
Luxi: Thank you for the interview and all the best with your future endeavours with Dream Child. It was a pleasure. :o)
Craig: Thank you!!!
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