Roger Schultz 
“For me no amount of money can equal fans. It’s that heartfelt message, saying that they listened to a certain song and what it meant to them.”
I’ve always thought of fame as relative to the individual. An individual can be immensely famous within a given genre, such as heavy metal, but relatively unknown to the general public. I think vocalist Ronny Munroe falls into this category. Known in the metal scene as a former vocalist of the band Metal Church and known to the world as a former vocalist of Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Subsequently, what we do with this fame is what defines us. Do we hide the recognition away or find a way to share this success with the world?
Ronny Munroe has been on my metal radar since he became the vocalist of Metal Church (2003-2009, 2012-2014). Although he undoubtedly had big shoes to fill, he took the helm with both style and grace. This opportunity led to stints in other high-profile acts such as: Lillian Axe (2010) and Vicious Rumors (2022 -2023). I often wondered what it would be like to front so many successful metal bands.
When he became a part of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, I knew that he had managed to transcend metal, becoming a part of the fabric of human society.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Ronny. Please enjoy some excerpts of our September 12th 2026 interview.
Roger Schultz – You’ve been involved with a ton of bands I know and love specifically, Lillian Axe, Metal Church, Vicious Rumors even Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but they are all so different both lyrically and musically. How has contributing to so many different bands helped or hindered you as an artist?
Ronny Munroe – I actually think it hasn’t hindered me at all. I spent a lot of years doing club bands and whatnot singing let’s say Journey and the next song would be White Zombie so it actually kind of helped me I think in the long run really, the emulation part I mean. I was pretty good at going from gravelly to clear and back.
Roger – Your vocals have the whole Ronnie James Dio vibe to them. You’ve mentioned in the past that Dio has been a major influence on you, care to elaborate?
Ronny – Yeah, Ronnie was kind of an idol for me. I mean, I love the guy. I was a drummer first, so I’m practicing one day in Seattle. I don’t know, when I was 13 or 14 years old and “Man On The Silver Mountain” came on and I had never heard Ronnie’s voice before and I was blown away. I called the radio station, and I was like ‘who the fuck was that?’ and they were like ‘that was Rainbow’ and I was like ‘No, the singer’ and they told me the singer was Ronnie James Dio. Since then, his voice was always stuck in my head and so it was him as well a few others like David Byron of Uriah Heep, I loved his voice and Ian Gillian from Deep Purple of course ’cause I loved those screams.
Roger – Sounds like Dio had a huge impact on your musical career, did you ever get the chance to meet him?
Ronny – Yea, he was a great guy and I had the pleasure of meeting him and Wendy (Wife and Manager) a couple of times. One time I was with a girl I was dating, I took her picture with him and when I was my turn the camera ran out of film!
Roger – No shit?
Ronny – Yea, so I was a gentleman you know, I shook his hand and said, “Ronnie, it’s a pleasure to meet you. You are one of the main reasons I became a singer.’ And you know, the guy grabbed me, shook my hand, gave me a big hug and stuff, told me I have a cool name. I was like ‘dude thank you sir.’
Roger – That’s awesome.
Ronny – Another time I was in Miami and was actually on stage performing. I look over the side, and I see like this big fucking guy walking up and this short guy following behind. It was Dio and he actually came up and was standing at the side of the stage watching me sing!
Roger – No way!
Ronny – Yea, he watched for a couple songs! Man, it made me fucking nervous but only in my head, not in my voice.
Roger – Right on.
Ronny – Of course, I pushed a little more because I wanted to try to show off.
Roger – That’s understandable.
Ronny – A few years ago when Wendy put me on the guestlist when Ronnie was helping Tony (Iommi, guitarist Black Sabbath)
and the boys (Geezer Butler – bassist Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne) and (Vinny Appice – drums Dio and Black Sabbath) they were doing a Heaven and Hell tour. I met Wendy through an event when I was with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. At one point I thought Wendy might be my manager. At that time, she was handling Tom ‘Ripper’ Owens (vocals – Judas Priest and KK Priest). Unfortunately, we never hooked up, but I contacted her the night I was onsite, but Ronnie was unable to see me, he couldn’t come out of the dressing room because he was sick.
Roger – Bummer.
Ronny – Yea.
Roger – So what can you tell me about Livesay? It looks like Greg Livesay (guitars) started the band back in 1991, but the group hasn’t released any new material since 2016’s Frozen Hell. Are you still involved with that project?
Ronny – Yes, I am. The guy (Greg Livesay) is a phenomenal guitar player. He does all this neoclassical stuff. Our first show actually is November 21st in New York opening for Spread Eagle.
Roger – Kick ass! I’m a big fan of Spread Eagle, I love that song “Devil’s Road”.
Ronny – Nice.
Roger – What would you like to tell me about your other project Beyond The Wrath?
Ronny – Beyond The Wrath is my baby of course. I’m not gonna go into all that happened after I left Metal Church and what they’ve done to me; that’s for another time. Basically, I perform the songs that I wrote when I was in Metal Church. For the first three records, I wrote 98% of the lyrics. The Weight of the World (2004), A Light in the Dark (2006) and This Present Wasteland (2008) and then the last record, Generation Nothing (2013), when Kurdt (Kurdt Vanderhoof – guitarist Metal Church) and I got back together. It had been 13 years you know and he wanted to do that, so I wrote two of the songs lyrically and helped him with a couple of others, so I do those songs live.
Roger – That’s awesome!
Ronny – I also do my own material. There is a current Beyond The Wrath album coming, maybe 2 singles but we’ll work that out. I recently did an Iron Maiden acoustic cover of “Wasted Years”.
Roger – Nice!
Ronny – Yea, just to do something different. I’m always just trying different things and I’ve never been afraid. People try to pigeonhole you, which is never a good thing. I like a lot of different things and yeah, I listen to opera. I like Prince and Michael Jackson I mean, I just love the diversity.
Roger – That’s respectable. I read there was a bowling for charity event yesterday, how did that go?
Ronny – It turned out great. Initially, I was in fear of a Spinal Tap record store moment (laughs) but everything came out great.
Roger – That’s cool.
Ronny – I actually have plans for future events of this nature.
Roger – Awesome!
Ronny – Yeah, we just talked about that. I’m coming back in April; I could play here again but I’m hoping to do the Hobart theater in Hobart IN. Friends of mine know somebody that’s in the Chamber of Commerce there so we’re going to put something together for a charity.
Roger – I’m glad to hear it. So, here’s my final question. I’m about four years younger than you but we’re pretty much from the same era. In my opinion you’re a seasoned Rockstar veteran. What advice would you give to the upcoming rockers in today’s environment?
Ronny – Have a backup plan. Complete your day job and don’t put your dreams ahead of your day job. I did it because it was my passion and I was lucky. I mean, I worked my ass off. You know, TSO (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) was really hard to get into. I beat out a lot of people for that spot just to be able to sing those songs, and I’m very proud of that but you’ve got to be grounded. You really got to practice your craft regardless of what you’re playing. Whether you’re singing or playing an instrument you’ve got to practice constantly, don’t skip on that. Don’t rest on your laurels and think you’re the greatest person because when you start thinking that you’re the best is when you’re done because no one is the best. Be hungry, and always strive for more, because you can always be better. That’s my advice.
Roger – Hell yea!
Ronny – Good music is a beautiful thing. There’s a song for every emotion. If I didn’t have music in my life, you know, I don’t know what I’d do ’cause it’s got me through quite a few tough times.
Roger – Same here.
Ronny – For me no amount of money can equal fans. It’s that heartfelt message, saying that they listened to a certain song and what it meant to them. I cried after that after I read it. I’m not a hugely religious person but I believe somebody’s watching out for me.
Roger – It’s awesome knowing people can connect with your music.
Ronny – It makes me very proud. This one guy reached out to me on MySpace over the first Metal Church record I did they listened to it before a job interview and then they got the job.
Roger – Kick ass!
Ronny – Those are the really cool things. A lot of people say they’re looking for their purpose and I have to say, I know mine. I figured this out finally just a few years ago when I was going through a rough time. I thought about not doing (singing) anymore ’cause I had to take care of somebody that was sick with cancer, and it was really fucked up time for me.
Roger – Wow, that had to be rough.
Ronny – It was for a while, but when I started singing again and just got back into it, I knew I was getting over it. I noticed I had a different feeling than I did before. It was more of a ‘I am supposed to be doing this feeling’. Like a higher power said, ‘Boy we didn’t put you here to make cheeseburgers, we put you here to sing,” and I truly believe that. I’m going to continue to be singer, you know, rock’n’roll man. \m/
BEYOND THE WRATH is:
- Kevin M. Buck – Guitars
- Jason Michalik – Guitars
- Ronny Munroe – Vocals
- Joe Keleghan – Bass
- Gabriel Anthony – Drums
