The pic taken on the left was snapped by Eve Lina of Evolution (more about that gig in a bit). The pic on the right was pulled from the Ibanez website (more about that soon too!)

My life seems to be turning around since Memorial Day weekend. Anyone who knows me (all three of you) has seen me hit rock bottom the first half of the year. My blogs are not meant to be downers; I only want to write about the good things. But I will say this: depression is real, people. Anyone who tells you to “shake it off” (sorry Taylor) or “get over it” will never understand the darkness you truly feel.

Enough of that…

Played another gig with Evolution on June 21, first day of summer/longest day of the year, at Westside Tavern in Ridgefield Park. Was great to have James Bruno fill in on drums, so things were hot hot hot (along with the weather). For me personally, if I can lock in with a drummer well, then I feel more confident. Most guitar players only listen to themselves, and it shows in the music. I always grooved to drums, whether it was John Bonham or Neil Peart. While I pride myself on playing flashy licks, it’s the rhythm that people tap their foot or bang their heads to. Otherwise it’s just…mud.

Singer/guitarist Eve Lina took that pic of me before we performed. There was a giant fan on my side of the floor so she said “Turn your head, look right at the fan” and snapped that pic. Goofy, yes. But I got to channel my inner Steve Vai-meets-Fabio vibe. Don’t hate me 🙂

The pic on the right (copied from Ibanez website) is going to my next purchase! I was in Guitar Center the other day and saw this used Ibanez 7-string for stupid cheap, so of course I threw down some money to hold onto it. I can’t pick it up until Tuesday because they use “police holds” on used gear but this guitar basically jumped into my hands. It’s a GRG7221QA in black burst fade with a maple top. BTW: Who names these models at Ibanez?! It’s a mouthful!!

Anyway…I strummed this guitar at the store for all of 10 seconds and that was it. I don’t own many guitars. You’d think someone of my caliber would have a gigantic collection but nope. Last time I bought a guitar was the purple Ibanez Mikro in 2021 on Black Friday. Before that was the shell pink RG 6-string in 2020! So while I love perusing guitars, I don’t necessarily have to scarf down every one I see. If one moves me, I make the purchase.

Having the money and gift cards help too!

Next Steve Bello sighting will be with the cover band Rock Hard at Bardi’s in Pequannock, NJ on Friday June 28! This will be the third time playing there and I want to see a packed house like last time. I like crowds that clap. A lot. It’s always a thrill being on the same stage as Alana, Tom and James. We will have at least 2-3 new songs to debut (one I am SUPER FRIGGIN EXCITED about) along with the mainstays.

Manifestation is beautiful!

First show of my “tour” started last night in Red Bank, NJ with the cover band Evolution. And what better way to kick the summer off than by playing at a cool room with the doors and windows open!

And a kick-ass sunset behind us!!

I hadn’t been to Red Bank in a few years. Last time was to rehearse for the album MARBLEHEAD. Now I was here to play a gig for the first time ever in this town. (I need to get out more often!)

Evolution performed at a place called Five Dimes Brewery and, true to form, they served a lot of beer. I don’t drink…uh-oh. But they had Pepsi WHEW! I am truly the Donny Osmond of heavy metal and proud of it. Anyway, the weather was perfect, the vibes were flowing, set-up was a breeze. Played for almost four hours with two long breaks in between. Think I earned my stripes.

Three sets of music ranging from AC/DC to Weezer, Harry Styles (you read that right) to Metallica…a little something for everyone. The band would extend parts of songs so I could improvise leads and it was cool. Of course, the singer Eve asked me to play “Eruption” by Eddie Van Halen. I honestly feel weird playing that. My take is, Eddie did it, leave it alone. Other guitarists try to play it and just sounds…wrong? I don’t think I play it so great but what the hell, it made the people in the room pull out their phones to take videos 🙂

The drive down was riddled with shore traffic, as to be expected. The drive home was a snap! Smooth sailing, got home 1am (that’s early!) and now here it is, Father’s Day.

Time to do nothing and like it.

Gigs can happen at any time. Especially when I’m not looking.

Story of my life.

Last night I was asked by Eve of the band Evolution if I was available for a show next Saturday June 15. Once I got my schedule under control, I said “I’m in!” So now I have three shows between June 15 and July 27.

Which means time for a string change.

Since it’s almost summer, why not go for yellow strings on my Ibanez Universe? I love these Aurora strings, really. They hold their tune and tone, as well as look cool. Gets people talking too. I like to see the looks on peoples’ faces, and to be seen.

The gigs are listed on the UPCOMING EVENTS page of this site. Two shows will be with Evolution, one with Rock Hard. Evolution does covers ranging from AC/DC to Weezer, as well as Violent Femmes, Cranberries and Alanis. Last gig I did with them back in October, Eve asked if I knew “Man I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Twain.

I learned it on stage!

Rock Hard, as the name implies, does hard rock, heavy metal, grunge by bands including Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Hole, Living Colour, Audioslave, etc. I like that these bands (and Supernova as well…when’s the next gig, guys?) have such a wide repertoire. I never feel bored.

So my wish to perform shows in the summer is happening. I like that.

I hope you do too.

What happened to my website? Was it taken over by aliens? Was it sabotaged by disgruntled ex-band members?

I like the aliens story.

But no, yours truly felt the site needed a new coat of paint, a nip and tuck here, as well as hopefully regaining interest. Yes, I obsess over Google analytics and have seen low numbers. While that doesn’t mean I can’t play guitar anymore, it does mean that people aren’t going here. And I had to change that.

Groove or die.

I wanted to re-do the entire site but five minutes into it, things went all snafu. OH NO! I though to myself “What did I do?!” I retraced some steps and fortunately saved all the pages but the home one. Okay cool, I can make a new front page, make it pop and then take it from there.

Adapt or die.

So while I’m not totally satisfied, at least people are noticing the changes and like them. One friend even said to me about putting a video of me playing for “peoples’ minds to be blown right away!” Duly noted. Now at the bottom of the main page is the sorta-legendary live video from Metalfest 7 at Debonair Music Hall.

I also changed the pages from white to black, to make things jump out a bit more. Changed some colors around, added new pics, whatever I felt was necessary. I do welcome other ideas, so feel free to email me.

Now the site is more metal 🙂

This past Wednesday, I was in the studio with DJ Metal Mistress for her Metal Meltdown show. Unlike previous shows, this one was definitely a bit different.

I didn’t promote anything for once!

We talked on air about music in general, fave bands, took questions from people in the chat room. Aside from talking briefly about the June 28 gig with Rock Hard at Bardi’s, I was not in informercial mode. Felt good to relax and chill out. Any time the Metal Mistress and I get together, it’s very natural and laid-back. Lots of laughs, and I talk enough to power a small country.

We played select tracks from bands I hand-picked, ranging from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple, Sex Pistols to Black Flag, but didn’t get to chuck in heavier stuff like Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse. Next time, right?

But the last 15 minutes of the show was devoted to me talking about TM Stevens. Metal Mistress asked me about how he and I first met, and I felt like my dad talking about “Back in the day…” I guess it’s inevitable that when you hit a certain age, you reminisce. I said on the show that it’s fine to do that but I am all about moving forward. Still was great talking about “those days” and what a ride it was to play in his band.

I refuse to be stuck in the past though. Yes, it’s good to think back, learn from our mistakes, have some laughs, shed some tears. But rivers flow in one direction and that’s exactly what I am doing. I don’t have much going on and that’s okay. When the universe taps me on the shoulder (or bangs me over the head with a 2×4), then I will know what the next move is.

For now, I want the focus to be on surrounding myself with good people.

They are scarce but do exist.

Sorry it took a bit of time to get a video going for the newest single “Spherical Miracle”. But this thing called life kept getting in the way.

It happens!

But here you go, another video created by Metal Maiden Vicki using AI technology. And I discovered cool new effects to make the video a bit more interesting than the previous two. You will be seeing this video at 9am, same time as it premiers on YouTube

While I am digging this little shift in direction musically, I am eventually going back to what I am kinda-sorta known for: progressive funk metal. I know that ruffles some feathers the way I describe it but what else should I call it? Fusion metal? Nah that doesn’t work…PROGRESSIVE FUNK METAL it is!

I hope you enjoy this clip and leave feedback (nice words, please!)

It’s nice to be invited places.

Especially when it’s when the person inviting you is DJ Metal Mistress (pictured above with yours truly).

She asked me to be a guest DJ next Wed May 22 on her Metal Meltdown Show. And of course I obliged. Hadn’t been there in quite some time. Yes it’s been a while, and while I have nothing new to promote, that’s okay. It will be a night of us riffing back and forth with bad jokes. And of course playing songs hand-picked by me, so you never know what will come blaring through the speakers.

You can tune in here from 7-10pm and even jump in the chat room! And I may…hmm…play live shred guitar on the air?

Nah, no pressure…

It’s already May?! How can this be?! I have to be blunt as always, this year has been pretty slow for me personally. Think I’m finally seeing signs of life and feeling better each day.

I sound like a Hallmark card now.

Above you see a nice flyer that the good folks at Caline Technology made for yours truly. I was asked, “You have pics of you with those three pedals together?” and I said “Those pedals are already on their boards, so I only have the single pics.” And they ran with it. Those pedals in the pics are all on my Behemoth Board and am very pleased. I am definitely “on board” (groan) with these pedals. Been getting some people checking them out and they say the same things: “Well-constructed”, “Great for the price”, “Sounds awesome”.

I can be an influencer?

On a slightly more somber note: I attended the service for the late great TM Stevens last Saturday in Fort Lee, NJ. Was nice to see old friends, make new ones, share stories, shed a few tears, but overall this is what TM would have wanted. Unity, togetherness, and LOUD FUNK METAL! Yes, his music has played in between eulogies, so this was definitely a unique experience. TM would not have wanted quiet, droopy, mopey attitudes. And no I won’t “name drop” who was there because that’s not the point of this. The point is, it was cool seeing everyone bond and enjoy (in a strange way) being in the moment.

And now the burning question…

All two of you have asked me if I am performing live anymore. Aside from a fill-in gig here and there with whatever cover band asks (and I am learning that THAT scene is more brutal than the original one), I am no longer performing live with my own music. There is no demand for it, then again there never was. I’m simply not what people want to see and hear. It’s okay. I came to this conclusion a while back but kept my mouth shut until I couldn’t any longer. I will be diplomatic and say that the bands in New Jersey have their own little clique/eco-system and I ain’t in it, to paraphrase the late great George Carlin.

Linus and Lyra like my playing anyway 😉

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1808869176&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true

Steve Bello (Instrumental) · Spherical Miracle

Yes, I have released my third ambient-type single tonight entitled “Spherical Miracle”. I’ve had the title forever and finally got to use it! But I recorded the music on April 3 this year. Originally was not going to have any guitars on it.

HUH?

I figured I would do a synth-only piece (done on my laptop, not a real synth). And then one morning it hit me: why not add backwards guitars?

HUH?

Going off the deep end here. But it was needed and glad it happened. Was not easy getting the delays to line up properly while looping everything backwards. But oh what fun to make more noise!

So here you go, “Spherical Miracle” is waiting for you to give it a listen. It can be purchased on my Bandcamp page and will be streaming on various sites soon.

Enjoy!

Best thing I ever did: Discover Caline pedals

Worst thing I ever did: Become addicted to them.

Actually, it’s a good addiction, but I have to stop ordering pedals!

I was re-arranging the Behemoth Board ala Tetris and came across a dilemma: Nine pedals but only eight plugs in the chain. Quite the conundrum! Fortunately I had the smarts to see if there was a pedal that had both chorus and delay on it. Enter the DEVILFISH pedal.

You gotta love the name!

Of course I saw it on the Caline site and had to check out videos on YouTube. Yes I liked what I heard (but some people CANNOT make a good demo video with a gun to their head!!) so I ordered one and received it this afternoon. Fired it up and immediately felt like a mad scientist, playing with the knobs, finding the sweet spots. The chorus is very rich-sounding, definitely akin to the Boss Chorus, and I can achieve those Police/Fixx tones. With distortion, I can almost nail the 5150-era VH sound. Yet it still sounds like me.

The delay side is analog, warm and punchy. I like to combine analog with digital delay to get a very atmospheric yet dizzying effect. Some people cannot stand delay but screw ’em! I love it. I use the analog to fatten the sound and the digital (Ibanez DE7) to give it more space. I run the Devilfish through the FX loop of my Orange amps so as not to sound muddy.

Below is the demo video I made for it this afternoon. It’s not pretty but it’s honest and unsullied. Big words, I know…

I ran the pedal through the Super Crush 100 head with PPC212OB cabinet. The guitar is plugged directly in the front, so you are hearing natural clean and distortion. No other effects (but that damn swirly sound happens here and there…not sure why!)

At my age, I am still chasing sounds, no matter how nice or ugly. Caline really impresses the hell out of me, which is not easy to do.

Now tie my hands behind my back so I can’t order any more!!!