His distinctive playing style and skills make him one of the most highly regarded guitarists from France. So it will come as no surprise that Patrick Rondat has lent his talents to a diverse number of bands and musicians, such as Blue Oyster Cult, Elegy, Joe Satriani, Consortium Project, Jean-Michel Jarre, Satan Jokers, Vanden Plas and many others. Rondat is also known for his instrumental solo albums. The most recent one is Escape From Shadows, which he recorded with bassist Patrice Guers (Rhapsody Of Fire, Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody), keyboardist Manu Martin and Dirk Bruinenberg (Elegy, Adagio, Place Vendome) on drums. And it is about this album that I start our chat.
Chris Galea: You released your solo album Escape From Shadows in 2025, which came about two decades after your previous album. Why did it take so long to make?
Patrick Rondat: Oh, many things happened in that period. First of all, the previous album I did was a duet with a piano player. [Patrick Rondat & Hervé N’Kaoua, 2008] I had in mind first to do a second album with, maybe, with a trio…with a cello and piano and guitar. But at the end, it was not that cool because the sales of the first one were not okay. We didn’t do too many shows, either. I was a bit disappointed. So I said, okay, I will go back to do a normal album with my band. And so I started composing stuff in 2010, which is still a long time ago.
But plans kept taking unexpected turns, you know, and I had some personal issues to deal with. My wife had a cancer at the time and she passed away in 2013. So I was a bit crushed at the time to get back to the real life, to find again a motivation to record an album, to compose stuff. So I did start writing some stuff for a solo album but I didn’t finish it really. It was difficult to to release an album, to sell it, to live with it. A lot of work is involved and it took time for me to overcome various issues. That’s also why this album is called Escape from Shadows.
Patrick then shares some thoughts about the musicians and bands he has played with over the years.
I’ve played with several bands and musicians. One of the collaborations I am most known for is probably with Jean-Michel Jarre, a very well-known keyboard player. We played in England too, you know. We played Wembley Stadium and we played Manchester Stadium back in ‘93, a long time ago. I also had the chance to take part in the G3 tour with Joe Satriani and Michael Schenker. We did a tour together in France with that band and we also played in Moscow. I played with so many people, you know, Tony McAlpine…….
Going back to Escape From Shadows and your solo albums, you seem to give music structure and composition the same importance as guitar technique, if not more. Would you agree?
Yeah, of course. There are so many good players now. There are so many technical players from the world. I don’t think you can do a real career just with your playing. Even if you’re good or even if you’re far better than I am, I’m not sure you can do your whole life with that. At first it’s very impressive and people will be into that but after one year, two years, three years, there’s some other guy coming with something even more impressive, you know. So composition is important. I think the music is why I started to play guitar. It’s to play music, not to show off stuff, not to show how well I play guitar. Techniques are important tools but it’s really important to write a good piece of music, I think.
When you first started to master your craft, what were your main influences and inspirations?
I started playing guitar, when I was 17 years old. I learned mostly by myself. I took maybe two years of lessons, but mostly I learned by myself. At the time, there was no video, no internet where to find instructional videos. I would also go to shows and observe guitarists play. I loved Rich Blackmore from Rainbow and Deep Purple. The first guitar player I listened to was Ronnie Montrose, an American guitar player. Hearing Ronnie Montrose was a real shock that made me start playing guitar at the time.
There are many other influences…there’s Eddie Van Halen coming through in ’78, and it was like a new revolution of the guitar, you know, this guy brought so many things, not only tappings, something more important than that, you know, the tone he had. The rhythm playing and the vibrato, tremolo, bend, everything was perfect. And the tone was incredible, he was a tone chaser, this guy. So it changed the whole thing. That was a very important shock in my own life. Then I switched to more jazz rock stuff. I had the chance to listen to Aldi Meola, John McLaughlin…all these guitar players…Alan Holdsworth…all the jazz rock scene. I really fell in love with Aldi Meola’s technique. His right hand use was, and still is, very impressive.
Yeah, I’ve seen Al DiMeola play a number of times. He’s really a guitar master.
So I was like a kid trying to mix all that. That’s why I came up with technique which takes from the early ‘80s. It was a time when many guitarists emerged: Yngwie Malmsteen or Vinnie Moore, Tony McAlpine, many players like that. And I really think it’s a mix of jazz and rock music….
There’s a lot of classical in your music, too.
Richie Blackmore was the first guy I listened to doing some Bach intro or play some Toccata stuff or Beethoven licks or whatever. He was the first guy I heard to mix classical and rock music. So that had a lot of input in my way of composing music.
And of course Malmsteen, when he came out, also had an input. He’s an incredible player, you know. Many people just hate this guy because of his ego but we have to be aware of what he brought to the guitar and how good he is. And the first time I listened to him, it was not the fast playing that impressed me the most. It was his vibrato, his bend. He has his own way of playing, he has his own tone. And that’s what I love in him.
I’d like to ask a few more questions about your solo albums. The title Rape of the Earth (1991 album), suggests an environmental concern. How much of the album was inspired by the environment?
Ah, yes, you’re right. The title of the album was at the time very ecological in a way. I always have to find a concept or a reason to make the song stay together. It’s very important. It’s not just about writing song and saying, I have 8 songs, OK, it’s an album. I try to have good reasons to do things. Of course it’s difficult sometimes when all tracks are instrumental for people to make a real connection between the title and the music. And to be honest, sometimes there is, sometimes there is not. It’s just I have to find a title. I have to be honest on that. But I try to make a link between the songs and the title and the title of the album.
In your On The Edge album of 1999, you had Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Yngwie Malmsteen) playing drums. How did his collaboration come about?
He was also on the album Amphibia. So he played on two of my albums, Amphibia from 1996 and On The Edge in 1999. My drummer left the band while we were starting to record Amphibia. I had written all the album’s music and I had many things recorded but no drummer. So I called a friend of mine, Olivier Garnier. He’s very well known in France, a tour promoter and he had a record company. He knows many musicians.
And he said, oh, I can call Tommy because Tommy was touring with Manic Eden and Adrian Vandenberg (guitarist, Whitesnake) left the band. So Tommy had a tour cancelled and he was free. So Tommy asked me to send him the demo tape. And if he liked it, he would do it. So I sent the tape and he said, “yes, I love it, I will do it.” He came to France to record the drums. They were recorded at the private recording studio of Jean-Michel Jarre.
As you mentioned earlier, you’ve worked with many bands and musicians. When you join a band or a tour, how much do you try and adapt your gear and your playing?
Not really. I mean, I try to be myself. Mostly if people ask me to come, it’s to get my playing and my tone. Of course, with Jean-Michel, because it was all keyboards and electronic music, I have to change some setting in my sound, although not so much. I try to be myself all the time.
Around the turn of the millennium you also did two excellent albums with Elegy: Forbidden Fruit (2000) and Principles Of Pain (2002). Do you know why the band split up after those two albums?
All the solo stuff, I have to play with my own band. I know that now they have a reunion. They are touring with the original formula. But I’m very happy and proud of having recorded those two albums with them. It started with Jean, the singer. He first called me in 1999 to be a guest on his solo album, The Consortium Project.
Ian Parry, right?
Yeah, Ian Parry. So I played on a few tracks of the first Consortium Project album. And then he said, oh, the guitar player of Elegy left the band. Would you join to do an album? I said yes. So I started to compose with the guy. I recorded the albums Forbidden Fruit and Principles of Pain with Elegy. And after, it was complicated, difficult because I live in France. The band is in Holland, so I had to travel all the time.
Were you surprised that Elegy didn’t call you to join the band for the reunion?
I was not surprised because I didn’t really want to do that. I was not into that stuff anymore. I really love instrumental music. I’m not happy only doing rhythm guitar in a song, and then a solo, and then a rhythm guitar, some technical part, and then vocals back. I love the melodic approach of the guitar, doing the synths and melody line. I really love to do that.
You mentioned earlier that you went on stage with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Can you tell me more about that experience? Did you enjoy yourself?
It was not with Steve Vai. It was with Joe Satriani when I did the G3. Joe is a very cool guy. I’m still in touch with him. I live near Bordeaux in France…you know…where they make the red wine. And Joe played in Bordeaux two years ago, he did a show, and he just called me to come and jam on one song with him.It was a very good experience to share the stage with this guy, and with Michael [Schenker]. And he was a very good player with a lot of experience. And it’s always nice to share the stage with people of that level. You always learn something, you know. It was the case with Steve McAvern, it was the same with Bumblefoot. You always learn something.
I think the most difficult is to be yourself and still try to play music. Sometimes when you’re jamming with people, it’s kind of a competition, you know. And at the end, there’s no music in that. But Joe [Satriani] is really not into that kind of thing. He’s very peaceful, he plays music, and you are not in this competition stuff, really. It’s very… I don’t know the name in English. In France, we say ‘bienveillant.’
I was in Bordeaux, so he invited me to jam. And normally, we don’t do any soundcheck, but because I was there, he said, “Oh, we will do a quick soundcheck and check the song together.” So, okay, cool. And we start doing the soundcheck, and at one point, Joe told the sound engineer, “Can you remove my guitar in his monitor? It will disturb him.” And you don’t have many guys with his kind of name that take care of somebody coming to jam with them. They would normally think, you know, that they’re doing you a favor because you’re their guest, so you just shut up and play. Joe, however, was concerned by my comfort in playing music. That’s what I call a gentleman, really.
I believe you also teach music, is that right?
Yes.
Do you think it’s necessary to learn music theory in order to become a good musician?
I don’t think so. It depends on how you are. I know some very good players that don’t teach because they are not able to do it, because they don’t know exactly what they are doing, or they don’t know how to tell it to other people or to show it, you know. But I like it, really. I don’t give really lessons. It’s more master classes or clinics. I do a few private lessons, but not so much.
Do you still have any unrealized ambitions? Is there anything still that you want to do and you haven’t done yet?
I was supposed to do an EP to add on Escape From Shadows but the record company told me, you better keep that for now. So the idea is to do a kind of medley of old songs and new songs, you know. It will be 40 minutes of traveling. With some of my old stuff but also some new parts. And the old stuff will be redone. We will change the whole thing. So it will be like a journey in music with non-stop 40 minutes of music with piano, strings, acoustic guitar. I think it will be interesting. Manu [Martin] is my keyboard player and it’s getting somewhere.
(interview published January 10, 2026)
Listen To Patrick Rondat – “Escape From Shadows”
