SUNSTORM: Afterlife, ft Ronnie Romero

For those wondering what happened to JLT, here are the two statements he released regarding his departure.


Statement 1 - December 19, 2020

There has been and outpour of emails and requests for comments from me regarding the situation with the new Sunstorm album announcement.

I feel it is important to set the story straight and give my side of
the circumstances. Let me start by pointing out that until two days ago I had no idea that Frontiers will continue with the Sunstorm brand. It was a complete surprise to me as it was to all of you.

After five albums and over a dozen years of working with Sunstorm I decided it was time to move on. This was not taken lightly and the decision for me happened quite a while ago when I felt that the
original point of the Project was lost somewhere over time.

Sunstorm began as a reason to record and release song demos I had accumulated over the past years. With contributions from my good friend Jim Peterik and a few other talented song writers, the first two Sunstorm albums were born. These albums were a true labour of love for me and I was totally invested and inspired with the Project. I believe these albums will stand the test of time due to the conceptual originality and the contributions within.

As Sunstorm developed, it devolved into a more of a ‘’house band Project’’ for the Label and I became less inspired and disinterested about my participation. I felt like it was becoming more of a ‘’contract job’’ and to continue I would not only be cheating the fans but mostly myself as an Artist. It must come from the heart and soul to be real.

Don’t misunderstand, I am very proud of the Sunstorm series and the contributions of all the talented people involved. They are great records but it was simply time to move on. An Artist must constantly challenge themselves to grow and transform to reach their true potential. And that is exactly what I have been doing for quite some time now and the results are more than satisfying.

Sometime in 2021 I will deliver something new and exciting forged from the heart, soul and spirit of intense life experience.

I hope this message will bring some clarity and understanding of the situation. I thank each and everyone of you for your time and concern but most of all for the love, loyalty and support you have given me through out all the years.

These are very difficult and challenging times, so stay healthy, stay strong and stay true to yourself.’’


Statement 2 - January 17, 2021

Dear Fans,

Thank you for your attention and concern, as I felt it is necessary to release this second statement to further clarify and explain my position… I believe, the true facts of my personal decisions must be stated more directly.

I made an original statement in December where I kindly and respectfully to all parties involved, tried to explain the reasons for my departure from the Sunstorm Project. My statement was very clear, however, with the Frontiers official media release of the new Sunstorm and the accompanying statements, in my opinion, I see a definite attempt to twist my words to justify the effort to promote this new release of Sunstorm, show their autonomous power for any and all creative and business endeavours and prove the fact that no moral or ethical considerations exist as long as the corporation holds the legal trademark…

In my view, what Frontiers is claiming about Me in their official statement has nothing to do with real cause and events. I am very agitated with my professional brand, name and likeness being used by them in the media as an excuse to validate their narrative and agenda of continuing the Project’s title with a replacement singer. Trying to convince the loyal fans that I ‘’moved away from the original melodic rock direction of the early Sunstorm albums’’ of which I was the main vocalist and imply that I did not want to continue due to my ‘’desire to work on heavier music styles’’ is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE! FAKE NEWS!

Judging by the outpour of questions from fans on social media, I am very concerned with Frontiers false claims of which they have absolutely NO first-hand knowledge of. For the record, I still have so many more AOR demo songs and could easily do an AOR style record tomorrow, so, I guess, I will take my songs to another record label and continue my AOR discography… As I must now specify again and again, I have absolutely NO INTENTION TO STOP my AOR original roots!

Perugino states that he brought this 6th album ‘’back towards the original musical style that was established with the early albums’’ with ‘’outstanding results’’. In my humble opinion, after listening to the first released single from the new album, it could not be further from the truth. There seems to be a great deal of hypocrisy in this situation. I personally see absolutely no ‘’original musical style’’ about it.… No original: producer, vocalist, band members, song writers… Nothing. So, the main issue here is, why continue calling it Sunstorm? Who do they think they are kidding?... After all, only fans can be the judge.

To me it resembles the majority of releases on Frontiers Label as they often seem to be written, performed and produced by the same source. This being the exact reason why I was not going to continue…

‘’With Alessandro Del Vecchio as usual handling the songwriting and Perugino overseeing the A&R and creative direction’’, as they point out in their official statement, I believe, the purpose of the original classic AOR project ceased to exist therefore, I was extremely reluctant to offer any more of my original songs due to the lack of negotiation, promotion, poor business tactics and general lack of respect for Me on their part. And I tried to express these concerns 3 years ago while recording the 5th album ‘’The Road to Hell’’ but they were never heard, acknowledged or address by Frontiers. Completely frustrating!

I must make it very clear, I do not speak for other Artists on the Frontiers Label and never would, I have absolutely no intention to attack or malign anyone, but this is my experience and personal point of view after so many years of association… In my 50-year carrier, I have been with a lot bigger record companies and was never treated and discounted like I was with Frontiers Label.

I have spent 14 dedicated years to create Sunstorm’s legacy… Only to be unfairly replaced… Again, I was never informed that the Label will continue the Sunstorm brand with the replacement singer…

In closing, I’d like to take this opportunity and thank all the incredibly loyal fans that have supported Me and Sunstorm through out all these years… Right up to this present moment your dedication is the exact reason why I as an Artist needed to take this stand and uphold the quality and purpose of what we all love and treasure about the Music! I would never cheat You or Myself by being compromised by any dominating corporate forces! The Artists together with the Fans must preserve the integrity of the Art. For what we choose now, echoes in Eternity…

Love and Respect… JLT

 

A few observations:

1) JLT is correct that Frontiers has become a bit of a song factory. A really great song factory, but they are producing a lot of similar stuff with just the performers being switched around. The Sunstorm project is highlighting just how interchangeable Frontiers performers are.

2) Whatever Sunstorm was supposed to be, it became known as JLT's project and I don't think the fans will accept this new project, even if Ronnie Romero is the singer.

3) BTW, Ronnie's getting a little overexposed, although I do understand that it's a job and it's not like he's bringing in millions, so why not take any job that pays?

4) I'm a bit confused about why Frontiers thinks this album takes Sunstorm back to its roots. It doesn't really sound like Sunstorm specifically. Should've used a different name.