Lately I’ve been doing a lot of introspection (meanwhile my car passed inspection back in April…is that the same thing?) This happens when self-doubt creeps in from time to time.

The plight of being a musician!

I am usually alone with my thoughts and ideas. True artists tend to work best alone. I was never good at collaborating, which unfortunately makes others paint me in a negative light. When riffs and melodies come to me, I have to act quickly. Waiting for others doesn’t appeal to me. Once I get everything collected, then I can make my move.

But then another feeling hit me upside the head recently. Will I ever write “that song” that will catapult me? Jon Lord (RIP) said that Deep Purple’s IN ROCK album was their calling card. Every band/artist wants one. But it can also mean an albatross around one’s neck for eternity. So therein lies the conundrum: Do I want a signature song or a bunch of tunes that people can enjoy? I asked myself if there will ever be my “Cult Of Personality”, my “Ice 9”, or maybe my “Tom Sawyer”. Bold thinking but someone has to do it. I really hoped “Turn To Rust” (from MARBLEHEAD) was going to be THE ONE to skyrocket. Sadly that did not happen. I’m still proud of that song; in fact, I still say it’s my personal best piece.

And it was played on WRAT a few times. All seven minutes of it.

I have a bunch of new demos, and cannot wait to hear them turn into real songs. I may never have “Free Bird” (that could be a blessing) but will always write the best songs possible. If the public deems the songs worthy of such high praise, then awesome.

No “Stairway” either.

Did you feel your house shake from where you are sitting? Oh, that was us rehearsing for the first time since February.

Sorry not sorry.

Last rehearsal was late February before the March 4 gig. So today Mike, Brian, and myself convened at Bandmother Recording to peel the paint off the walls. As you can see in the above photos, the pictures didn’t budge.

We are obviously gearing up for the July 9 show at Debonair Music Hall (Teaneck, NJ) for NJ Metalfest 7. Tickets are still on sale, so be sure to go to the UPCOMING EVENTS page and click on the link to order. We only get 30 minutes, so we left out two songs from the previous set list. Six songs, wham bam thank you ma’am!

I can’t believe I just said that.

Inspiration is a funny thing. It either hits you in one fell swoop, or it ignores you for months. Sometimes you get so many ideas attacking you, that there aren’t enough hours in the day to jot them all down. Or you sit there hearing paint dry.

Fortunately I fall into the former camp.

With the nicer weather (I can wear shorts!), my mood elevates and therefore, the muse pays a visit. Riffs are tumbling out of my head and onto the guitar, which begs the question: “Where are they coming from?!” It’s not something that can easily be answered. It’s one of those “You have to be there” moments.

I have about 8-10 rough guitar-only demos. Thankfully, my Tascam DR-05 hand-held recorder is a savior. I also write things down on manuscript paper. True, I could easily get a program like Sibelius but I prefer to sketch things out. To me, writing music is art. Call me old-fashioned but I get a kick out of seeing all those notes zooming around the page, with funny little notations (thank you, Steve Vai) to keep myself amused.

The interesting thing about writing music is that you’re basically living in a vacuum. You isolate yourself from the world, get into this head space and forget life for a while. And then once you are done, you expect the rest of the world to like what you’ve created. I sit here in my corner of the basement, and whenever an idea hits me, I reach over and grab a guitar. Can’t ask for anything more convenient than that. (I wish I had a bigger space to work in but I guess that’s part of the “vacuum” vibe.)

Also, I dropped off some gear at Mike Sabatini’s studio because we will be gearing up for the July 9 show in Teaneck! The cover band is on a small hiatus so that affords me time to hammer the set list with Mike and Brian. Mike even opined that “we work well together” and expressed interest in doing the next album. That works for me! While I am in no rush at all to do any recording, it’s good to know that things are lining up. I won’t predict anything but if a new album can be squeaked out in 2023, it will be the first time in a LONG time that there won’t be such a long gap in between albums. You can’t/don’t rush art, so whenever the songs are ready to be recorded, they will present themselves.

That was, like, deep, man.

Recently, I had to have a long sit-down with myself and assess some things in my life. As some of you know, music has always been a constant (well, I still enjoy old school video games). And like anything else, you get frustrated dealing with something you’re so passionate about. Doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor, fireman, painter, dog-walker…you get down on yourself about trivial things.

That happened to me a while back.

I’ve been a guitarist longer than I care to admit. Have had amazing opportunities, and giant disappointments as well. Musicians by and large want to be seen more than heard sometimes. This is why most are in 34 bands, just for the sole purpose of “If I look really busy, people will think I’m awesome!” I was guilty of that too. When I walked away from everything in 2019, I swore off live shows. And well, when you have a hit album in 2021, suddenly there’s interest in you again, albeit with mixed feelings.

When you hone your craft as much as I did and still do, you hope people will come around and say “You’re a legend” and “You’re a guitar god”. I became obsessed with wanting to hear these things, and honestly they rarely happened, if at all. The same people who praise me are the same ones who think a wanna-be Pantera band are “killing it”. Are people genuine with me, or are they talking out of their asses?

I’m thinking 20/80 for this one.

Trying to be a guitar god was too time-consuming for me. It was becoming more of a heart break than anything else. As a kid, I would see pics and videos of Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Ritchie Blackmore…and think “I can be like that!” When you’re a scrawny kid from North Arlington that gets bullied all the time, you have lofty goals. I wanted to go from Clark Kent to Superman overnight.

I came damn close, didn’t I?

I sit here typing my fingers off and have to give something up. That something is wanting to be a guitar god. It’s just not in the cards. Being a teacher has always been my niche, and my students love me. They can’t wait to see what I have up my sleeve for their next lesson. Can’t say the same for guys who stand in the room with folded arms wishing I would poorly cover Metallica. And once I told myself, “Self, you can let go now”, I felt a giant weight lifted off of my back. I still love playing the guitar, still want to perform (not as much as in the past), and am working on rough demos for a 9th album.

I think being a creative musician is more fulfilling than trying to be someone that I was not meant to be.

But it was fun trying!

I couldn’t win Class Clown in 8th grade, lost that to Luis Rivera (who was very funny actually…)

But now my album MOOD SWINGS is in the finalist round for Male Album Of The Year! For an album that I didn’t think would ever see sunlight, this is really huge. If it wasn’t for Mike Sabatini telling me to “Send the f–n songs” back in Feb 2021, I wouldn’t be typing this blog. Also with the added help of Jon Hanemann and Joe Lambert Mastering, this album came out way better than expected.

That’s a good problem to have.

Now it’s up to the judges at the ISSA to see if this album wins big or not. If it does, then obviously HELL YEAH! If not, that’s fine too. Getting this far is a big step. I make music, and once it’s released, it’s up to the public to smash it or trash it. It took eight albums to get it right.

Looks like a trip to Atlanta is in my future…

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…