Another rehearsal with Mike in the books. And yes, a calico buddy stopped by to visit before we began work.
Is there enough coffee?!
Worked on the first song we did and then tore into a new one. And I mean TORE! WOW! This is quite possibly the fastest song I ever wrote! The guitar-only demo that I sent Mike a couple of weeks ago was pretty quick but once we started playing, we left a trail of dust in our wake.
Mike plays in his own band called Attacker; well he started the band back in 1983. They play power/thrash/heavy metal so this tune should be a walk in the park for him, right? Well, he definitely played as if he was channeling his own band but since my music isn’t known for being so normal, there’s a nice twist in the middle that’s an obvious nod to Deep Purple (but the rest of the song is like early Metallica/Loudness…hang on to your hats!) As for me, I wrote the damn song and I couldn’t keep up?!
I ask again…IS THERE ENOUGH COFFEE???
We ripped through this song a few times, took a break, went back, played it some more, and then recorded a reference demo. Holy smokes, this is really fast (for me, at least). I always wanted my own “Fight Fire With Fire” and while that’s a lofty goal, I have to give it the ol’ college try.
I am proud to advance in age. It’s better than the alternative. Yesterday I moved up a notch, closer to reaching the speed limit. And that’s sweet to me.
Here’s the kicker: The older I get, the more ambitious the music gets. You’d think I’d be adventurous when I was younger. I wrote some goofy stuff in my 20s but was never intended to be “Steve Bello: Solo Instrumentalist” but that changed in my 30s. And I wasn’t even trying. Somehow the music became more ‘serious’ yet still was (to quote Killer Keller) “fun guitar music”. Been listening to the two demos to get melodies happening, as well as bass lines. This will be the ninth album but the first with two drummers on it. I wrote about this one blog back, so if you subscribe, you know what referring to.
Next rehearsal with Mike will happen on November 13, work on the first tune we jammed to, and then hopefully another new one. If the planets line up, TC might record his drum parts sooner than later. And if more planets line up, then MAYBE this album will see sunlight early summer 2023. One can only hope.
Oh one more thing: To my surprise, I won the top spot for Instrumental Artist Of The Month with the ISSA! The public deemed me worthy enough to go to #1! I didn’t win Male Album Of The Year back in August, but this is just as awesome.
Your eyes are not playing tricks on you again. But when I said there would be some interesting twists and turns pertaining to my next album, did you think I was kidding?
I hope not!
Yes, that is Plasmatics drummer TC Tolliver in the picture with yours truly. He will be guesting on one new song (don’t worry, Mike Sabatini is still doing the album). I drove down to TC’s place and the memories came flooding back. Last time we played together was back in September 2014, when we were rehearsed for the Germany tour w/bassist TM Stevens. Once I set up shop, we began work on the second song for the new album (Mike and I did the first one last weekend). After six run-throughs, we recorded a demo for reference. TC made a couple of small suggestions and I listened. Thankfully his little ideas worked, made the riffs funkier! Oh and when he said “I want it to be HEAVY”, there was no arm-twisting on my part 🙂
Afterwards, we talked about when he will come up to Bandmother Recording to lay down his tracks. (Oh, Mike is VERY excited to have him come up!!) Since there’s no rush to get things done, whenever our schedules line up, then we will forge ahead.
Yours truly with drummer/engineer Mike Sabatini taken earlier today
Do you know how difficult it is to keep quiet when you’re excited like a kid at Xmas morning? I have learned the art of admirable restraint (thanks to Bill Bruford) over time.
‘Twas not easy though!
But as you can see by the above photo, drummer/engineer Mike Sabatini and I met up at Bandmother Recording in lovely Jersey City, NJ. We didn’t have a coffee clutch but we did start pre-production on the ninth album.
You read that right.
We started with one new song, it will be the title track (that’s all you get out of me). Ran through it maybe six times, just to get the parts together. Mike has a great ear for these things. He doesn’t just spew all over the songs (he will for fun though, just to get a laugh out of me). We locked in really quickly, which was no surprise. As I always say, I write what feels good. The main riff goes from 4/4 to 7/8; the “breakdown” (for all you hardcore kids out there) goes from 3/4 to 7/8. And yet it still has GROOVE and ATTITUDE!
I have more songs of course but won’t send everything to Mike…yet 😉
So almost a week after I surprised people with a new single, this happened…
“Pieces Of Light” debuted at #9 today in Australia.
Don’t ask me how!
I have sent this song to various stations, and while a couple have played it, a few said “It’s WAY different, but doesn’t fit our format.” HUH!? I thought my heavy music wouldn’t but this is definitely a first. One station very nicely said “It’s VERY chill, but we can’t play it.” I am fine with that.
But how it got to Australia is beyond me because I never sent them this song.
So this afternoon, when I saw the post on their Facebook page (which I did a screenshot above), it startled me. That’s not easy to do.
Fear not…when rehearsals start up for my ninth album, it will be HEAVY of course, with tons of groove and attitude.
While I await rehearsals for album number 9, inspiration decided to strike again in a bizarre way
That’s the story of my life.
Saw a post by my good friend Larry Mitchell quoting a friend about “A piece of light”, and figured that would sound like a cool song title. The music came to me this morning, so after a couple of takes, I chose the second one (even with some mistakes) as it had more feel. Added effects in post and then registered it with BMI. Ain’t I professional?
This tune, “Pieces Of Light”, has a lot of ambient delays, chorus, church reverb, and decent compression. I am very pleased with how it came out. And I hope you enjoy what you hear. You can stream it on Spotify, iTunes, etc. as well as here (how novel) and Bandcamp.
Steve Vai has been one of my biggest influences, if not one of the most severe in my life as a guitarist. Granted, I cut my teeth on fantastic players such as Jimi Hendrix (the GOAT), Ritchie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc. But with Vai, his influence was more than the music and the guitar gymnastics. He always seemed to have this awareness that floored me.
I’ll have what he’s having.
He did an Instagram live yesterday with the band Polyphia. He said something (and I’m paraphrasing here) that being a musician is a curse. We are always putting our hearts into our work, and then the world can say yes or no to you. And in this industry, rejection is 99% of it. But the way he talked about how being an artist is a mixed blessing was what astounded me.
I look at a musician like Vai, or even someone like Prince, and see someone who has total freedom with music. No chains, no boundaries, no hang-ups about the big hit single. Just put your blood and sweat into your work, and you will be rewarded.
Yes?
Being unique does not get you accolades and rewards out of the starting gate. So what does one do when people say “You need a singer” or “You need to write normal songs”? You can dumb down real bad and cater to the masses. (BTW: I heard a song by Daryl Hall called “Something In 4/4 Time”…check it out!) Or you can stick your neck out with the risk of being beheaded (shades of Alice Cooper?)
My heroes simply did not care about what was popular. Maybe they did secretly, who knows? In my eyes, it was all about the music, and everything else should be icing on the cake. The dream of a nice record deal way back when was something musicians strived for, there was an incentive at hand. Speaking only for myself, a record deal would have been the worst thing for me. I don’t think I could have handled hearing some guy in a suit telling me “This is what the kids like!” Sorry, but I prefer King’s X to Kings Of Leon (no offense!)
Vai also talked about musical expression, how to tap into sources and channel them. I interpreted that as go beyond the surface. Dick Cavett once asked Hendrix about his music, to which Jimi replied (again, paraphrasing because my memory sucks lately) that the music he heard in his head was not being done by anyone else, so he had to do it himself. When you want something done right…
This all ties in nicely with getting ready to head into rehearsals soon to start pre-production on album #9. I can do what I want musically. I’ve had friends tell me “Try writing something like this…” and I think “Why don’t you write it?” I hate being told what to do. I can take direction but not dictation. If that makes me look smug and arrogant, my apologies. A true artist is not swayed by the masses. I write heavy metal, and am damn proud of that. But I can also write funky stuff, jazzy ideas, whatever. No rules, no sword of Damacles over my head about “Write that hit single.”
Apparently, a thing happened this morning. The ISSA have decided to do a new voting poll, this time for Instrumental Artist of the Month. And wouldn’t you know it…I am on the ballot! Not bad for someone who was always told “You need a singer.”
Here’s the link to the polls: Instrumental Artist so VOTE VOTE VOTE! And if elected, I vow to keep making awesome guitar music 🙂
Every year I seem to say the same thing: “Where did the time go?” This was the fastest summer but was the best one for me personally. Now it gets darker earlier, which admittedly bums me out. I love the Fall, don’t get me wrong. Perfect for taking pictures of leaves turning colors (as evident in the photo above). I don’t mind breaking out the hoodie, and then later on the leather jacket. But still my heart yearns for how this year went.
‘Twas a pretty banner year for my cd MOOD SWINGS. Great sales, good reviews, good amount of promo. Oh and it was up for an award with the ISSA. Obviously it didn’t win (I’ll keep my cynicism to a minimum) but it’s a CD that I can be proud of. But as everyone knows, there’s no rest for the handsome. I have a lot of rough demos that hope to turn into real songs. No rush though. For once I don’t feel compelled to get back to work.
Teaching has been eating up a huge part of my life and I love it! Three nights a week at the music store, three nights private lessons. Which leaves Saturday as my day to blend with the furniture.
But I won’t lie to you (yes, the one reading this blog): I am feeling a bit off my game lately. Feel like I’m in a rut with my guitar playing. Been trying to spice things up with learning jazz licks, country riffs, you name it. Also delving into learning some sax lines to help with better phrasing. Even though I have a ton of students, I am still a student myself, constantly searching and digging. Some friends have suggested “You need to reinvent yourself” but I hate being told what to do. I will do what comes naturally, period. Forcing things doesn’t work in my world.
Was hoping for a November gig but no such luck. The July 9 show was one of my best shows ever, and with my luck, if I did a show in November and it sucked, I would hate life. Best that the Metalfest show was a great period at the end of the sentence this year. Don’t want to tarnish that feeling. The saying is true, “You’re only as good as your last show” so my last show (for maybe a little while) was damn good!
Selfie taken yesterday morning after recording new demo
Thursday night after teaching many students, I came home to wolf down some dinner. Leftover pasta to be exact. And what happens during my time of munching?
A song comes to me.
Inspiration is a funny thing, as I always way. But for the muse to come to me during dinner, what do you do? You do what any other musician might do: finish eating and then write the song down on manuscript paper. When I can’t write things down fast enough, then I know it’s going to be a good tune.
But while stuffing my face?! I guess so.
I wanted so bad to record the rough demo but didn’t want to wake up a sleeping house. So when most everyone left for either work or school, I pulled out Pinkie, plugged into an Orange amp (of course!), set up the Tascam recorder and let it rip. And the song poured out of my hands, basically writing itself. I like that feeling. Listened back to it and was pleased. It’s a very cathartic feeling to have something come from nothing, and then lay it down quickly.
After listening, I decided to use a song title from another song I tried working on in 2021. No, I won’t say the title (I learned that lesson years ago) but it fit better with this tune than the other idea I had.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE FOR 7-STRING GUITARIST STEVE BELLO 
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