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Part 1 Teaming up with Billy Idol again, solo records, flamenco guitar playing. From
Flash to Flamenco, An Interview with
Guitarist... STEVE
STEVENS Since
guitarist Steve Stevens began working with his
partner in crime, the pop icon, Billy Idol, the
music industry has seemed like an often
revolving door, nevertheless, the punk rock
attitude and intoxicating tunes fueling the band
have left them as vidol as ever. "Oddly
enough, and this is going to sound really weird,
we owe a lot to groups like 'N Sync and the
Backstreet Boys, because they've made it cool to
present a real show again and be
glamorous," Stevens admits. "Billy,
fortunately, because of his punk rock image,
avoided the hair metal band thing. He always had
me as the hard rock - heavy metal guitar player,
although I'm not a heavy metal guitar player,
but we combine dance music and heavy guitar and
that's why he still has a career and he's not
just an eighties artist," explained
Stevens. And in addition to successful
sales of the band's recent Greatest Hits
release, he was happy to report that the tour
has been going great as well. Stevens
has found a company that builds nylon and steel
string guitars that have MIDI in them, enabling
him to do much more than just play acoustic.
He says that since (unlike the school of
players that he comes from) he doesn’t rely on
picks for every note, playing acoustic guitar is
a chance for him to really shine. "It's
funny, because when you strip down the songs and
you do them as acoustic guitar pieces you learn
things about your own music that you know you
may have forgotten twenty years later. It's been
really good to just kind of reevaluate some of
these songs. The reaction has been great. It's
just incredible. We've done of number of these
kind of radio shows where we're on with a lot of
teen pop bands. We were on with Ricky Martin the
other day, and it's just wild, it's almost like
you're on a mission to remind people what it's
like to play rock 'n roll" In
addition to the recent Chrysalis/Capitol Records
Greatest Hits release for Billy Idol, Stevens
says that we can definitely expect a new studio
album. The band is already performing two new
songs live and they are actually working with a
producer now, and while it's nothing that
Stevens can say in public yet, he says that it
is someone that he really respects. Plus he
confirmed that they do have major label
interest. "It
all feels right. It's just a respect that Billy
and I have for each other that was always there.
He's a really bright guy, and so many people are
like e-mailing me and writing me after seeing
Billy on the storytellers that are just now
discovering how bright he is. There's a certain
thing that happens in my heart when I play this
music with him and it doesn't happen with any
other artist that I've worked with." That
mutual respect is also extended through their
other bandmates,
Brian Tichy (Foreigner, Slash’s Snakepit,
Pride & Glory), Steve McGrath (One of
Idol’s riding buddies), and Joe Simon
(Fiona Apple).
According to Stevens, “There’s just a
vibe on stage, because we’re all friends.
There’s nobody in this band that
doesn’t want to do it for the right
reasons.” Flamenco Stevens
says, "That's a style of guitar that I've
been playing, since, I don't know, I first got a
guitar when I was seven and a half and didn't
get an electric guitar until I was thirteen, so
I grew up listening to all of that. And when all
my friends were growing up trying to learn how
to play 'Stairway to Heaven' and stuff, I went
to high school with Mario Escidaro, Jr., whose
dad was a flamenco guitarist with the Jose Greco
Dance Company, so I was always aware that there
was this other side of guitar playing... these
amazing guys in Spain that didn't play with
picks and were blindingly fast." Around
the same time that he got the offer to do the
album, Stevens says that he had just put in a
home studio. "I started to experiment with
pro tools and digital editing and recording, so
although the album is recorded with nylon string
guitar, at certain points it sounds electric,
because of the way I'm utilizing plug-ins and
processing and things." His
involvement with that side of music has
introduced a flamenco version of the song
“Don't Need a Gun” from Whiplash Smile into
Billy Idol’s live set, but Stevens was more
moved about the doors that the album opened for
him in other countries and cultures and he says
that is why there will definitely be another
flamenco-style record . “There’s
some things you do, because they’re just based
on album sales, and there’s some things you do
because you have to do them, they’re in your
heart. And
I did that record, and that record took me
around the world.”
Bozzio
Levin Stevens The
Bozzio Levin Stevens ensemble, which was
compiled by drummer Terry Bozzio, first joined
forces to release their debut Black Light
Syndrome several years ago. As Stevens recalls
"When Terry first approached me and we
started talking about other players, I said
might as well shoot for the top. I said, 'we'll
probably never get him, but let's see if Tony
Levin will do it.' Surprisingly enough, he made
the time to do it." The
trio later regrouped for another the rock/jazz
fusion project of the same name with a release
called Situation Dangerous (Magna Carta).
And while the new album still featured Terry
Bozzio (drums), Tony Levin (bass) and Steve
Stevens (guitar), it offered up a more
interesting twist, since the timing allowed for
Stevens to bring more than improvisation to the
table. However, he says that he still found it
to be a stressful situation. "It
was fun to do. They're very nerve-racking,
because there is not much of a budget. They put
you into the studio for five days, and what ever
happens goes on record. That's the way those
records work, they're totally
improvisational," he recalls. Even
with him bringing compositions in for their most
recent release, he says it's still a lot
of work. In his own words,
"it's nail biting time." And
though Stevens admits that it isn't likely that
fans will see another release of this nature,
the material is certainly something to talk
about. As with any rare grouping of
complex and revered musicians, the results are
often very deep and very passionate. While
some clear influences such as the familiar Led
Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, and Chick Corea come to
mind, other elements uniquely captured from each
player's personal experience make their albums
difficult to compare to any other. Vince
Neil Band "I
enjoyed doing the record a lot because it was
the first time someone had actually said to me
'play as much as you can' (laughs). You know, in
most cases usually leave room for the singer. It
was fun doing the record. I enjoyed working with
Ron Nevison. And I loved being out
on the road with Van Halen. I learned so much
and to watch those guys play every night." However,
Stevens says that once their jaunt with Van
Halen had ended, it became pretty apparent that
Vince Neil had another agenda. "I enjoy
working with people that really think music
comes first. The chick and whatever ever else
you're into - midgets or whatever - that's all
fine but for me it's all about the music." More
to Come http://www.tprs.com/interviews/stevestevens.htm
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