LINKS:

stevestevens.net

Although knighthood is unlikely for Billy Idol, he has definitely achieved rock royalty status. His trademark sneer and shadow boxing punch, in conjunction with a killer musical catalogue that includes mega-hits such as ‘White Wedding”, “Rebel Yell”, and “Dancing With Myself,” has all but ensured his place among icons such as Ozzy, Mick Jagger, and Steven Tyler.

ERIC V. WHITE: Hello Mr. Stevens, how are you doing today?

STEVE STEVENS: Hey Eric, I’m doing well man. Doing well. Can’t complain.

EVW: So, you’ve been on break now for a while. How’s it feel to take a load off from touring for a bit?

SS: Well, yeah. We’ve been on break for about two weeks, and I took a little vacation in Hawaii for a few days. Just got back in today, actually.

EVW: Oh, cool. It’s been a number of years, but I’ve visited the Hawaiian Islands. Beautiful, aren’t they?

SS: Yeah, we went to Kaui, which is absolutely stunning. Just breathtakingly gorgeous, man.

EVW: I know, it’s really one of the more remote islands. You get a real sense of the natural beauty of the chain.

SS: One thing we wanted to avoid was using things like keyboards and drum-machines and all that stuff. I think time and again that format has come back to bite Billy in the ass. It definitely was one of the reasons I left in the late 1980s, during Rebel Yell. I was sitting in front of this massive drum-machine and I was like ‘this is not what I want to be doing’. So, I think there were definite conscious efforts to make a guitar record, to kind of strip it down a bit and not going for over-embellishing things for the sake of over-embellishing them. I think if we were a bit raw and sparse that was going to be okay. Obviously, there are things on the record that are more productionally souped up, but I think the overall approach was to keep it real.

EVW: A while ago you mentioned all the bullshit you had to go through to make this album. Was Devil’s Playground an easy album to make?

SS: The actual album, yeah! Billy was originally signed to Chrysalis Records, when I came out here to work with him nine years ago. We went over to Capitol after Chrysalis folded. We attempted to do an album with them and their idea of what Billy Idol should be was definitely not what our idea was so that was shelved and rightfully so we thought. And just all the usual crap that goes along with people having their own agendas. And to be honest, it wasn’t until Sanctuary contacted us that we were like ‘hey, someone gets us’.

EVW: And of course you left soon after the Capitol thing didn’t work out. Other than creative differences what do you think lead to your parting ways with Billy Idol?

SS: Basically everything you’ve ever seen on a VH1 Behind the Music installment. Drugs and alcohol, huge egos, conflicting managers and conflicting record labels at the time. I had gained recognition from working with Billy Idol on Rebel Yell and then I signed to Warner Brothers. Realistically, looking back on it I could have done both things at the same time – stuff with Billy and solo record. You start listening to your own bullshit, though. You have to go through all that stuff really. I don’t know if I would be appreciating the fact that 23 years later we are still friends and we are still making music together. I don’t think I would have been appreciative of that had I not have gone through what I’ve gone through. Valuable lessons.

EVW: Well, I’ve read that your lifestyle has changed dramatically since the 80s.

SS: Oh, it’s changed considerably. I think more than anything else it was moving out to L.A. The big difference is that in New York people don’t even begin to get ready to go out until two in the morning. In Los Angeles everything closes at two in the morning. When I came out to L.A. the first musicians I hooked up with were all sober. I came to realize that if you want to continue to make music and be excited about making music at 46, the age I’m at now, the drugs and drinking, they just sap all your energy. It’s great when your 26, you know. I don’t like to be all preachy about. What works for me doesn’t necessarily work for everyone else. I’ve found that the excitement is out of music and not out of some other substance. That said it ain’t that easy to do. It takes a bit of maturity.

EVW: And Billy Idol.

SS: Yeah, I’m not here to speak for him, but he’s changed. There definitely was a conversation where we discussed that if we wanted to do this right, we really have to avoid a lot of the pitfalls that we fell into when we were younger.

EVW: It’s good to hear that. And as you said earlier that there was an equally serious push to make the same kind of music, especially with you. There was a time that you had gotten bored with rock music…

SS: Yeah, flamenco guitar. I started playing guitar when I was around 7 ½. I didn’t get an electric guitar until I was 13. I have an older brother and we were really into folk music. Then I had also went away to music camp out in Long Island. There was this teacher there who played flamenco guitar. Up until that point, all the music teachers, I couldn’t really relate to, because they were all trying to teach me to play classical or some shit. This guy was actually a Romanian gypsy from the second world war. He relayed that back then it was just him and his guitar going through the Romanian Alps. He was so passionate about what he was doing and I was really enamored by the style he was playing. Later on I learned that it had been flamenco guitar. When I went to high school, I went to the “Fame School”, the High School of Performing Arts and at that time me and all my rock buddies were trying to figure out Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, but it was also at this time that I was listening to flamenco and kept thinking how this is all new, exciting and so fresh. I’ve followed it ever since.

What happened for me was that after doing a record I went on tour supporting Van Halen. Where do you go after that? I mean, talk about being humbled, playing with Eddie Van Halen. After that experience, I felt it was really a time that I had to use to find myself and get back to the style of guitar that I played when I first picked up the guitar.

EVW: And you actually came out with a flamenco record a few years ago.

SS: I mean yeah, but any flamenco purist is going to tell you that what I do isn’t really flamenco.

EVW: Why is that?

SS: Well, to be a true flamenco guitarist means to have trained in Spain and really be immersed in that whole world from young. What I do is mainly flamenco influenced. At the same time, when Billy said ‘hey, you should do a guitar solo, I think the last thing I wanted to do was stand up there and do “Red House”. Jimi Hendrix did that 30 years ago. What I can do that is unique to my playing style, is to do what I did on my flamenco record. I haven’t seen anyone yawn yet.

EVW: That’s always a good thing.

SS: Yeah, I’m always really aware of what’s going on. Some days the solos are a bit longer depending on whether I think the audiences are going to tolerate it or not.

EVW: Did you suggest adding any flamenco on Devil’s Playground?

SS: No, not really. Had I thought there was anything appropriate, then yeah. There is a considerable amount of acoustic guitar on the album, especially on the last track, but I think the last thing Billy Idol needed after a 20-year absence was to put a liberal dose of flamenco guitar on his album.

EVW: I understand that. Do you plan on making another flamenco guitar album?

SS: Well, I plan on making another solo album. I don’t know if it’ll be purely acoustic, maybe half and half. One of the problems I ran into supporting an album like that was that by the end of the night, I was dying to play electric guitar. I think if I do another album it’ll most definitely be half acoustic, half electric.

EVW: You’ve done a number of solo projects throughout the years: Atomic Playboys and BLS to name two. Would you ever consider revisiting any of those projects?

SS: Um, I certainly wouldn’t revisit Atomic Playboys. There was a time and place for that. That was at the height of the era of excess, where you had super-expensive outfits and outrageous album costs. I couldn’t afford to do another album like that. As far as something like the Bozzio, Levin, Stevens thing the initial idea…when I picked up the guitar to begin with it was to communicate with other musicians. When you get a call for someone like Terry Bozzio you definitely hope to walk away from the experience having learned something and I did. So, those kinds of projects I think as long as I’ll learn something from it, then sure.

EVW: As far as influences, I know you just mentioned Terry Bozzio and earlier you mentioned Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix. Who else?

SS: I respect all those guys as guitars and songwriters, especially Hendrix. [With] Hendrix you have someone who was heavily influenced by Curtis Mayfield and Bob Dylan and you just put all of that into this psychedelic mix. He was just the total package, as far as a writer, musician, showman. To me that’s what being a musician, and dare I say, a rock star is all about.

I love all kinds of music. There is very little music that I have not gone through a phase of listening to. I don’t listen to a whole lot of “guitar music”, in large part because that’s what I do. I find it almost like cannibalism, you know. If that’s all that I’m consuming that’s all that I am, so I like to listen to a lot of music outside of what I do, because the different influences enhance what I do.

As a kid, I definitely loved people like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. I just think I’m a fan of music. There’s very little music that I don’t find beauty in.

EVW: You’ve also gotten to work with some heavyweights: Robert Palmer, Michael Jackson, Pink. Who’s been your favorite artist to work with and why?

SS: Obviously working with Billy Idol has now taken on a whole new life form, because when you have a relationship that’s lasted this long there’s a certain emotional aspect of it that you just can’t beat. I would have to say working with Robert Palmer was a pretty incredible experience. Robert was the first rock star that I ever met. Before I was with Billy I was with this band called the Flying Malibus and we recorded a record which was, unfortunately, never released and Robert was across the street from the studio and came over a few times. We wound up becoming friends and then invited me to come work with him when he was living in Milan, Italy. You can just imagine, but with Robert you just don’t have an incredible musician, but he was just an incredible, classy guy with incredible taste and impeccable style. Not only was the studio experience great, but it was just a great friendship. Here’s a guy who played with Jimi Hendrix. I just love working with people who came from that era. They’re a great reference point. The first producer I ever worked with was Jimmy Miller who was the Rolling Stones’ producer. I just love hearing stories from that era, when bands like the Stones were first starting to get big. Obviously, that whole era from the early sixties to the mid-70s is still considered the pinnacle of rock.

EVW: So, what do you think happened?

SS: Consumerism. I think music has become too accessible. The only way I could say my favorite guitar player growing up was to go buy a concert ticket and go watch them play live. Once you don’t need to do that anymore you take the mystique out of it. Everything is just too accessible. Another thing is that the image has become more important than the music. It’s all shortened peoples’ attention spans. Fans don’t have to work to figure it out. And now kids can buy songs, instead of records. They can select what part of the experience they want rather than challenge themselves to try and understand something entirely.

EVW: Is there anyone dead or alive you would want to work with?

SS: Yeah, probably Curtis Mayfield. At the time of his accident we tried to put together this series at the Limelight club, which would have paired younger musicians with more established musicians and I was trying to get something going that would’ve paired younger musicians up with Curtis Mayfield. Unfortunately that never came to be.

Just to sit down and talk with him would’ve been…he was just such a big influence on me. Another person that comes to mind is John Bonham.

EVW: So, what’s next after the tour?

SS: Well, I know through November we’ll be in Europe. Earlier part of next year, I’m not sure yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we go through March of next year. After that a new record.

EVW: With Billy Idol?

SS: Yeah, with Billy.

EVW: Anything in the works with Camp Freddy?

SS: Yeah, Billy Morrison is a friend of mine who is in Camp Freddy. He and Dave Navarro formed that band when Jane’s Addiction took a break again. I still play with them on occasion. All those guys are my buddies. I actually haven’t played with them in a while, but they’re certainly a bunch of guys who have helped me out in a lot in more ways than…not just as musicians, but as friends.

EVW: It’s certainly great to have real friends in that business.

SS: Oh yeah, you have no idea.

EVW: I’m sure. You’ve been in the music business for over 20 years. What piece of advice would you give to young musicians that you would’ve liked to have gotten when you were starting out?

SS: That’s a really tough question, because you have to experience. You know, everyone will tell you to get a good lawyer, get a good business manager. That’s all good, but that’s all stuff you’re going to have to figure out on your own. I think the most important thing is never loose the passion, never lose the focus of why you’re doing this in the first place. If you’re doing this to get fame, or to get loaded or laid or anything like that that’s the wrong reason. A lot of musicians, some of my contemporaries have stopped performing and have become producers. End up working at record labels. And you know what? I respect them for that.

I don’t wanna be some guy who’s slogging it out on some revival tour. Every time we’ve been asked to do one of these 80s revival tours we’ve turned them down. I cringe over that kinda shit. It’s like ‘whoa, man’…it freaks me out.

What was that Britney Spears…”hit me baby one more time”?! How they continuously redid it?! I mean, Jesus Christ, put a fork it in already. I really hate to say it, but you will never see me doing that kinda shit. I will work as a studio musician or I’ll do the odd soundtrack, or something current, but not that man. Naw, I understand that people have to make money, but it’s embarrassing. If I’m ever up there doing something like that, someone please pull me off.

EVW: So, as far as your aspirations outside of playing…

SS: Yeah, I mean a) you have to make sure you’re working with musicians that you like and respect, b) that you are selfless, because you as the producer your job is to bring out the best in people, not to put your ego out there. At the same time, you’ve gotta have a lot of fun. Believe me, if I went out to a club tonight and I saw an absolutely amazing unsigned band, would I produce them? Absolutely. Have I seen that band? No.

EVW: What’s the likelihood that you find a band like that, when so many bands are afraid to be original?

SS: I probably look at it the same way when I was a teenager. When I was young we had a lot of bubble gum music. That was what was permeating radio at the time. Even as a kid I knew that shit sucked. Fortunately I had a brother who was five years older who was buy Cream and Hendrix records…and even Grateful Dead. I quickly understood then that what’s on the radio isn’t necessarily what’s going to be hot or not even that, but what is art.

EVW: In your own recording do you even care if ‘this album’ will be the one? The one that gets the Grammy and generates the No.1 hits and yadda, yadda, yadda?

SS: I’m aware of sales, but not really. I mean, I’ve already won a Grammy. It’s nice and all, but again that’s not why I do this. I record music because I love it.

EVW: As it should be. Well, listen, I want to thank you for your time. I’ve really enjoyed this conversation.

SS: Thanks man. Any time.