Well here we are, the end of the year. Yes, it’s early December but I say this every thing: “Where did the year go?” We all say that, right?

Anyway…

This has been one hell of a year for me. Started off with doing some shows with the cover band Naked Glory, and while those were fun, my heart obviously belongs to doing quirky instrumental music. So with that in mind, my trio played two killer shows this year. First one back in March for a benefit show, second one in July for Metalfest 7. Safe to say that my return to the stage (after saying ‘screw it’ in 2019) was a triumphant one. And when you have the rhythm section from Attacker next to you, there’s no such thing as mediocrity. I won’t allow it, and neither will Mike and Brian.

I didn’t win Male Album Of The Year with the ISSA but I walked away with an award for Instrumental Artist Of The Month back in October! So that was sweet vindication. Those who kept/keep saying “You need a singer”, I just proved that one is not needed. And I noticed some people got very quiet when I won…hmmm…

Also made a move to a new guitar cable company called Ampturco, based out of Scranton PA. People asked me “What happened with Spectraflex?” and the answer is simple: the owner retired, and I felt it was time to move on. I have nothing against him or the company at all. We had a great eight-year relationship but when I saw ads for Ampturco, I reached out to Anthony Turco and said “Hey I want to try your cables.” And soon after, he signed me up as an artist endorser in July. I am super pleased with the cables and have since helped other artists try them too.

Oh and I am working on album #9 with Mike Sabatini once again, as you know. And while this will be the ninth opus, it will be the first with TWO drummers on it. No, not like .38 Special or Grateful Dead, but rather one guest drummer in TC Tolliver (Plasmatics/TM Stevens). I was hoping to snag a bassist for the album but looks like I am taking one for the team 🙂 Mike and I have a couple of songs happening with obviously more coming soon. And like last time, we will rehearse (almost) every Sunday starting next year until we both agree it’s time to record. Mike is definitely stoked for the new songs, says they are more uptempo but still funky and metal. And that’s the name of the game: progressive funk metal.

Think I need to start a new trend: NWOPFM (New Wave Of Progressive Funk Metal). What do you think?

Thank you all for the tremendous support this year, as well as years prior. Let’s make 2023 a HUGE one, shall we?

I am ready!

Had yet another rollicking rehearsal today w/Mike at his studio (Bandmother Recording) and while we didn’t work on any more new songs (yet!), the two we went over are really coming together nicely.

Nicely? In metal?!

Despite today being rainy and blah, once we played the first tune, we got lost in the music. And isn’t that what it’s all about? We may be in our 50s but we’re still pounding away like teenagers. Our bodies don’t feel like that afterwards though!

We are ramping things up for sure though. Mike said “Send the next time and we’ll get to work on that.” I sent a third demo for him to check out, and am confident he will enjoy putting drums to it. He told me today that “Your last cd had cool slow grooves, this one has more uptempo stuff.” And he is right! There’s still groove, but because of his playing style, I am coming up with faster material (the other song we went over…wow! It’s 200bpm!) and my guess is that the passion is stronger than ever before.

This third song is definitely in vein of King’s X but also has some touches of maybe…I don’t know what! It’s a quick tune, was afraid it was too commercial but screw it! If it makes my arm hairs stand at attention, it goes on the album.

So we will most likely have two more rehearsals since Christmas and New Years fall on Sundays. If things go well, and they seem to be, we may start recording in May again like last time. Whatever happens, happens. No rushing, no pushing things. The music has to be organic, the vibes have to perfect.

In metal?

You bet!

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.

My hair hurts!

Welcome to 53. Holy crap…

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.

Now to find my walker…

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.

Never underestimate Steve Bello, okay? 😉

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.

And maybe a chill song 😉

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.

Don’t worry, the next album will be heavy 😉

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.”

But I almost won an award 😉

What did I say about nothing happening?

OOPS! I spoke too soon…

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 🙂

Get clickin’!!!