It never fails…

Every time I write/rehearse/record/release a new album, I tell myself “You don’t have to write anything new for a long while.” But the muse has other plans.

Not long after MOOD SWINGS came out last August, my hands decided to run up and down my guitars with new ideas. There was nobody around to tie my hands behind my back, so there you have it. I am still promoting MOOD of course, in the form of doing more interviews, getting more airplay (hello France!) and the upcoming July 9 show in Teaneck.

Jon Hanemann, who helped produce the new cd, asked me recently “So where’s the new Steve Bello album, dude?” Funny he should ask! No I am nowhere close to recording, not going to put a timetable on it like normal. I have been jotting ideas down since September, but only recently did I buy manuscript paper and began fleshing things out. As you can see in the above photo, I write music. I could use software on my laptop but prefer pen and paper. Feels more human to me. I have eight songs pretty much worked out, sans melodies for now. Not sure when these will be fully realized but am not rushing things. I don’t want it to be a case of “too much too soon”. Did three albums in a row between 2003-2005, and then noticed they were being spaced apart more and more. I guess that happens. So whenever this new music sees the light of day, fine with me.

For now, keep supporting MOOD SWINGS. Tell your friends to order through this link: Mood Swings and also don’t forget my signature glow-in-the-dark picks by Pick Guy!

Now to nurse this coffee…

After four months since I registered, my membership card from the ISSA has arrived. And on Good Friday? I didn’t think there was mail.

I like being wrong once in a while.

There’s still time to vote for MOOD SWINGS and the single “Never Be The Sane” on this link: Vote For Bello You can vote once a day, every day, until April 30th. The best part? You can vote on different devices since IP addresses are different. So get voting!

The cover band Naked Glory will be quite busy as we hit various stops in NJ and PA. But after July 3, we are taking a short hiatus and then back in the groove come September. New singer Deb Tote Harvey and bassist Tom Tsilionis are great additions, and we had our first show together last Saturday in Wayne, NJ. Despite the crowd being a bit sedate, we played well and hit hard. Some shows will have fill-in keyboardist Jason Hallenbake.

As for my own band, we will rehearse sometime in June for the July 9th show at Debonair Music Hall (Teaneck, NJ). Here is the link to order your tickets: Metalfest 7 While we support all the bands, and am not into competition, be sure to hit the drop-down menu on the cartel site, and hit “Bello” so we can get credit. This is going to be one of the heaviest shows ever.

Yes, I weighed it.

One more thing: I am receiving more airplay in Germany through Radio Jack Online, and in France for the very first time through Eternal Web Radio. The songs are touring more than I am.

But I would love to go back to Europe.

Anyone can help with that?

I love surprises. Sometimes. I hate when someone jumps out of a dark alley to scare me. But this kind of surprise, as you see above, is very welcome.

Over the weekend, I received news that the ISSA Songwriters committee nominated my album MOOD SWINGS for Male Album Of The Year, and the single “Never Be The Sane” as Male Single Of The Year. They made this nice poster for me to share all over, and of course it wouldn’t be complete without me asking this…

Will you vote for these? Pretty please? 🙂

If you click on this link, it will take you to the voting page. Yes, you have to scroll down but it’s worth it. You can vote once a day, every day, until April 30th. Even if I don’t win, being nominated is still a win (I said the same thing about the One World Music nomination, and those results won’t be shown until May 30.)

Not bad for an album that I didn’t think would ever get off the ground, huh? If it wasn’t for Mike Sabatini, Jon Hanemann and Joe Lambert, I wouldn’t be typing this blog.

You can thank or blame them 😉

My schedule has me being pulled in a hundred directions. And I also remember my dad telling me “For the millionth time, stop exaggerating!”

Anyway I made this egregious poster so you can all make plans to see me in action, either with my metal trio or with Naked Glory.. I will be chilling this weekend, with the exception of changing guitar strings. I know how to party!

Outside of this, I have close to 34 students (between the two music stores, as well as private lessons) which is pretty staggering. To my memory, this is the most number of students I’ve ever had. Keeps me busy for sure, but also need to learn to breathe at times.

Tickets for NJ Metalfest 7 went on sale yesterday so go to this link to order yours: The Metallicave

Now I need a coffee…

MOOD SWINGS is seven months old today. I remember when it was born. They grow up so fast…

Soon it will want the keys to my car.

This album almost didn’t happen for various reasons. Had it not been for Mike Sabatini saying “Send me the songs” last February, the rough demos would have been collecting dust. I was definitely in a bad place mentally, and working on these songs was the best therapy. Before we knew it, an album was born. When we laid down the first drum track on May 21 last year, the 18-year-old in me was resurrected. “I’m doing another album!” was all that my mind could focus on. Next thing you know, it’s recorded, mixed, mastered, printed up and selling.

Yep, it sold real fast. Fastest-selling cd in my catalog. Ever.

The trio featuring Mike, bassist Brian Smith, and myself got to play four songs from this opus on March 4, and it was pure bliss. Bliss?! In metal?! Got that right. Felt great to be back on stage after a couple of years of not wanting to do it. I am more relaxed now about things. The fire is still burning, but I’m not as manic as I used to be. The world has enough guitar gods. I tried my best to be one. Now I’m happy to still be playing as best as I personally can.

Next show with my trio of merry metal men will be July 9 at Debonair Music Hall (Teaneck, NJ) for NJ Metalfest 7! If memory serves me correctly, this is the first time an instrumental act was added to the bill. And if right, history is being made.

Now to get in Guitar World…

Well this is more news than I expected to share but here goes…

My song “Never Be The Sane” has been nominated for Best Rock Single Award by One World Music Radio! I did not expect this one at all!! Opened my email yesterday morning and there it was: the certificate that you see above. My head was spinning and still is. Even if the song doesn’t win, at least being nominated is enough of a win for me.

The other big news I originally wanted to share…

My trio will be performing at NJ METALFEST 7!! I had been trying for a couple of years to get on the bill but this time, the gods smiled down. The announcement was made last night on Jerry Declet’s Metallicave show, so this was very exciting. (Obviously I knew anyway but promised not to say a word until he made the announcement first.) Once again, the Attacker rhythm section of drummer Mike Sabatini and bassist Brian Smith will be joining me.

And speaking of Attacker, they are headlining this event, so this is way cool!! This will be the second time I share a bill with them. First time was back in 2017 at Dingbatz but that was with a different drummer and bassist. Now Mike and Brian will be performing double duty so I hope they eat their Wheaties! Also on the bill will be such bands as Everdawn, Thanatonic Desire, Corvid Corpus, and the like. Total of 11 bands and the best part? Tickets are $15!! They will be on sale April 1st (no foolin’!) $20 day of show.

My life went from zero to 100mph but I am not complaining!

I just need stronger coffee.

What the hell was I doing in Manhattan alone on a Saturday night?

Well, I wasn’t totally alone. My daughter Emma needed a ride to an EDM (electronic dance music) concert last night at Terminal 5. She asked me a few days ago “You think you can take me, since my friend can’t?” I admit to feeling a bit apprehensive as I had the gig on Friday (which killed!) and now this? But I put my daddy hat on and said “Yes, I will take you.”

Dropped her off at 8, and had a lot of downtime. So after I parked the car at a garage, I walked around Manhattan and Times Square alone until midnight. Yep, just me. And it was very energizing. The streets were not as busy as usual but were still pretty hoppin’. Of course I had to take photos on my trek around town. I posted them on the PHOTOS page.

Near 10pm, my stomach was grumbling so I ate at a really cool place called The Flame Diner. Ate light, just soup, but it did its job. Went back out, did more walking, sat on a bench here and there. Got to the club at midnight, waited for my daughter to come out. She did…at 12:45! But hey, she had the best time, and that’s all that mattered.

And I had a great time too.

But, boy am I beat!

“Welcome back, Steve!”

I heard that over and over last night, and it was very pleasing to my ears.

First show back as Steve Bello at Dingbatz for the F–k Cancer benefit gig to support our friend Irene DeMeo. And let me tell you, it was a blast!!

Hit the stage at 8:30, banged out a 45-minute set and it was the most relaxed I ever felt. I even caught myself during some songs thinking “I am actually enjoying this again?!” Strange how that works out. Mike Sabatini and Brian Smith totally crushed it while I wailed away. Everyone in attendance were genuinely wide-eyed about our set. It was great to see such an amazing turnout for Irene.

This was the set list:

Time To Fly (from MARBLEHEAD)/Quicker Than The Devil/Burn The Sky (from JUPITER RETURN)/Stranded On Pluto (from MOOD SWINGS)/Throwing Away My Skin (from GO BERZERK!)/Blame The Moon (MS)/Force Quit (MS)/Never Be The Sane (MS)

It felt SO great to say “Here’s one from my new album!”

Never thought I would utter those words ever again.

We had our final rehearsal today, played eight songs so fierce like they owed us money. And now to put almost 7 months of rehearsals to the test.

I feel like I am tied to a rocket.

Amazing how things take off (hence the title of the blog) once people see results. My friend Jon told me that recently, that people only respond well if they see results. They don’t see the grunt work that goes behind the scenes. They only care about the icing on the cake. I get that. But people have been noticing the hard work that we’ve been putting into these rehearsals, as evident by the short clips posted from a while at Bandmother Recording. Now it’s time to showcase four songs from MOOD SWINGS, a song from GO BERZERK! (it’s been a while), a song from JUPITER RETURN (guess which one), one from LAYERS OF TIME, and a non-album single. The song from GB! was picked by Brian; he said he loved how trippy it sounded. And I’d not touched that song since 2015.

Tempus fugit indeed!

But there’s MORE Naked Glory news and shows. We auditioned two new members: bassist Tom Tsilionis and (fill-in) keyboardist Jason Hallenbake. They learned over 20 songs in a few days, and we jammed with them ON STAGE at a bar in Budd Lake. No tiny studio for this one! Busted out all the songs on the list, and both Tom and Jason said they were happy with us. So they are in the band. Can’t wait to do shows with these guys soon!

Right now my sights are set on March 4.

But first, sleep.

I didn’t expect to be this busy, especially in the winter time, but it has been moving rather nicely. I learn to catch my breath in between all the running around.

I can’t wait for Spring though.

Naked Glory played last Saturday at Garvey’s in Monroe, NJ, as part two of the tribute trifecta for Steve Ferrigno. We were one of eight bands, and the weather was perfect, the vibes were flowing, much positive energy all around. We only managed to get one rehearsal in because the weather had been so bad lately. Still sounded great, some hiccups here and there, but that’s to be expected. Second time using my Orange Super Crush head and it got rave reviews from everyone. Oh, we got an encore too! Guess the crowd liked us!

My own trio of merry men will have two more rehearsals before the gig at Dingbatz on March 4th. My last gig as “Steve Bello” was back in May 2019, and to think I’m back at it again even surprises me. Mike, Brian and I have been rehearsing since September 2021, and when this cancer benefit show came up for my friend Irene, I had to act fast. Thankfully, Michelle at Dingbatz saved us a spot. Been promoting it like mad, did an interview with Brian Aberback (see the PRESS page) and I will be interviewed soon by Alison Keslow for her podcast. I told you, I don’t stop for donuts.

Okay one chocolate donut.

As for the set list, I can tell you that four songs from the new cd MOOD SWINGS will be on it, as well as a non-album single and three songs from past albums. It’s interesting to hear Mike and Brian put their own spin on songs I’d written years ago and played with various musicians over the years. I have been saying that this is the most muscular-sounding rhythm section I’ve ever had to date, and it still holds true. I cannot wait for people to hear how pummeling this will be, and the best part is that it’s for Irene.

Oh and there are more Naked Glory shows coming up in April, so you can go to the UPCOMING EVENTS page for that. Heather (drummer) has been on a mission to secure some cool gigs, so kudos to her. Two shows will be back-to-back, so we better be in top shape!

I may need more coffee.