Well we are into October.

Weren’t we just sweating a bit ago?

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!

And nobody disagrees with me there 😉

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.

I love when a plan works.

A strange feeling washed over me this morning. And we haven’t had much rain this summer either..

I only pick up a guitar when giving lessons or recording little demos. Normally I would be here in the basement (“my corner of the universe”), grabbing one of my guitars and riffing away. But so far, nothing. Am I in a rut? Or am I satisfied/vindicated because of the July 9 show? Been searching for answers and coming up dry. Been scanning YouTube, watching videos of jazz players, hoping to add more licks to my repertoire. Zero.

WTF is going on?

Was hoping for a third gig this year to cap it off but nothing materialized. That’s okay, it gives me time to focus on my ninth album. Maybe I’m better off behind the scenes? Who knows…

One thing’s certain: Seeing footage of Living Colour with Steve Vai as guest really excited me! Two of my all-time fave guitarists, one of my all-time fave bands…it was an early Xmas for me. But it also got me thinking: Why have I never gotten to that level? Maybe I was not supposed to? Granted, I really love teaching, it’s a niche that fits well. However, there’s that part of me that asks “Will I ever play a HUGE show, just one time in my life?”

Maybe it’s time to reclaim my guitar god throne…or did it ever exist in the first place?

Get back to me on that…

Late last July, I did a phone interview with Jason Buice for his podcast called Hear For The Music. Despite battling allergies, it was definitely one of the most interesting Q&A’s that I’ve ever been a part of. Here is the link but I have to alert you all to one thing I talked about (a bit of a spoiler, perhaps):

Steve Bello Aug 24

During the chat, I somehow resurrected something from my past that was never discussed ever until now. I will not give too much away but will mention a bit of it…

I was bullied in middle school for liking Rainbow.

Yes, the band.

I won’t say much else but when you hear the podcast, you will understand why I am the way I am. It was very cathartic to talk about but was also shaking in my chair at the same time. At first I was going to ask Jason to edit that out but then I thought “People need to know how poorly I was treated for being ‘different’.”

Imagine being beat up for liking a fucking rock band?

Yeah it happened to me.

So when you listen to the interview, picture a short-haired zit-face 13-year-old being shoved and punched every day.

Yes, karma caught up to them.

Listen to the interview and get back to me. Thanks.

Has it been a year already?

You know what I’m talking about, right?

On August 21, 2021 the album MOOD SWINGS was released. It is still the fastest-selling cd in my catalog.

Read that again because it’s true.

The cd has received airplay in parts of United States, as well as Canada, Belgium, Italy, Germany, and most recently Australia and South Africa. Still trying to get attention in Japan. BUDOKAN, BABY!

It was up for Male Album Of The Year with the ISSA. No it didn’t win but being nominated…ah you know the rest.

The album almost didn’t come to life had it not been for Mike Sabatini saying “Send me the songs.” And you’d think by now, after releasing music for many years, I’d be all “Yeah well whatever” but I still had butterflies in my stomach (along with a very strong cup of coffee) the morning the cd was released.

And now here it is, one year later, the cd is still being talked about. Sales come and go but the songs still get attention on various stations.

I’m ready for album #9.

Are you?

Had a great conversation with a friend today on the phone (what? no text?) and one thing that she brought up was how heavy metal has/had these rules that you had to adhere to, in order to fit in that tribe.

I never got the memo apparently.

She said “When you do something different, you’re no longer part of the heavy metal tribe.” Well, I wish I knew this person back in middle school. Would have saved me a lot of grief! I struggled for years to fit in. Like any teenager growing up in the 80s, bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Metallica, etc. were part of my musical diet. And like any teenager, I wanted to be in a heavy metal band. I simply wasn’t meant to be in one. So, many years later, I had to make my own “metal band” (basically me with a revolving door, which wasn’t part of the plan).

What went wrong (or right, depending on your angle?)

While I was visualizing myself in a heavy metal band, I heard other bands along the way such as The Police, Squeeze, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Yes, Genesis (pre-soccer mom years), King Crimson, Prince…stuff that was NOWHERE near heavy metal yet still grabbed me in some way. How and why was I drawn to all these artists? Do I dare lose my supposed metal cred? (I already did because my hair wasn’t long in high school and I didn’t drink.) I could pop on an Exodus cassette one minute and then throw in ZZ Top. To me, if it stirred my soul, it was good. I even digested punk/hardcore bands such as Black Flag, Sex Pistols, and Discharge. (Yes, I liked some hair metal for a brief period before I saw the light…)

Then along came three bands that steamrolled me just as I was graduating high school: Living Colour, King’s X, and Jane’s Addiction. These bands were playing “smart metal” (to loosely paraphrase Martin Popoff) so I latched onto them. Could these bands he heavy yet be soulful, funky, and downright WEIRD? Yep! And I lapped it up! (Faith No More wasn’t until two years later but they also inspired me to be as quirky as possible, which was easy.)

So were heavy metal bands embracing these newer bands at the time? Yes and no. There was respect but also “They’re not REAL metal” and all that nonsense. My friend calls it a “Crab in a barrel” mentality, meaning if you step outside the barrel, someone else will pull you back in so you don’t move up another level.

I was already doing that in high school! I just didn’t see it at the time. I was combining metal with some other twists and was told “You can’t do that!” And I started believing it. Wasn’t until I joined up with a band in 1990 where I felt creatively free. I could write something funky, something heavy, there were seemingly no rules. (Well, the drummer and singer didn’t like me being TOO over the top…) Ever since then, I was on a quest to be as different as possible but not too different.

That didn’t quite pan out that way. I would audition for bands and hear “Can you play less like Steve Vai and more like Kurt Cobain?” or “Don’t use that chord, it’s gay” (yes, a bassist said that to me…) Inevitably I would wind up doing instrumental music and being thrown in the role as front man.

I simply was not born to blend in.

So yes, I proved in some strange way that heavy metal could be freed up from the constraints of what belongs. I simply never belonged, and the music reflects it.

I think too much.

The ISSA Awards show happened yesterday. After many months of wondering who will take home the top prizes, the results were announced on their website.

No I did not win Male Album Of The Year.

But that’s okay! As I have been saying, being nominated was a win, and then being a finalist was the cherry on top. I was up against some serious competition and am sure the judges spent many a sleepless night wondering who to pick. Yes, of course I was hoping to see MOOD SWINGS either take gold, but would have been fine with bronze or silver. (Sounds like the Olympics!) Yes I was dismayed that I was not chosen. That only makes me work harder the next album, right?

I am grateful to have been given such an opportunity to be recognized. When the public voted all of April, and the announcement was made on May 4, I was as shocked as anyone when my name was mentioned. Did I hear that right?! Yep, I heard “Steve Bello MOOD SWINGS” and my jaw hit the ground. And I said to myself even then, if I don’t win the award, I still won accolades and decent press.

Of course many congratulations to the winners! We all work hard and it shows. Was nice to see some friends take home the top spots as well.

Would I have liked a trophy in my hands? Definitely. But that doesn’t diminish how proud I am of the album, how much hard work went into it between myself, Mike Sabatini and Jon Hanemann. If I won, they would have as well.

I guess it’s time to do another album, yes?

All of us want to fit somewhere. Some find their tribe early on. Others think they found their cool kid’s table but then they move on (or people move on without them). For years, I grappled with “Where do I belong?” The answer hit me a few years ago yet I still tried to convince myself otherwise.

I belong as a teacher.

One of my students asked me “What made you want to be a teacher?” And my answer was pretty direct: “I always liked inspiring people.” Problem is, when you play a club or bar, nobody goes to figure out if my licks were from a Rush record or a Shawn Lane transcription. They go to, well, get drunk. Nothing wrong with that. But after years of hearing “Play something I like” or “Play a song I know”, it got very draining.

I have been teaching for almost 27 years. I was solely giving private lessons for years while working either in retail (ugh) or in an office (ugh x 2) When I was fired from my last job in 2015, I could breathe again and finally find my bliss (my friend Glenn always said that). But even when I began teaching in the music store, a part of me was still “You need to be a guitar god!” Played more clubs, opened for nationals, but what did I accomplish?

Not much.

But when a student’s eyes light up over learning a G chord, or lately learning “Master Of Puppets” (thank you Eddie Munson), THAT’S where I truly belong. My students want to learn; patrons in a club don’t. But that’s not to say that I don’t enjoy performing again after taking time away. I just don’t feel this pressing need to ALWAYS be playing live. My trio has played only two shows this year, and both were absolutely killer. Even so, when I sit in the studio, or in someone’s home, and start spewing out music theory or how to play a Green Day song, that’s where I truly shine. My students pick up on the enthusiasm and run with it. They can’t wait to learn something. I’ve even had some students say “I wish you were my music teacher in my school, you’re so chill.”

I wish I had a chill music teacher as a kid. So I became the person that I wanted to meet as a teenager.

And I’m still an eternal teenager 😉

Should I be having this much fun at 52 years old?

Yes.

Yesterday’s show at Debonair Music Hall (Teaneck, NJ) for NJ Metalfest 7 was off the rails! Eleven bands, each bringing their own heaviness to the stage. And then there was my trio. Were we going to be accepted by people who worship at the altars of Slayer, Pantera, and the like?

Yes.

We had a 30-minute set, so aside from chit-chat here and there, it was time to cut the brakes and let the car roll down the hill. Drummer Mike Sabatini and bassist Brian Smith definitely make the music tighter and heavier, and my Orange rig (along with new Ampturco cables) delivered. This was the set list:

“Time To Fly”/”Quicker Than The Devil”/”Stranded On Pluto”/”Blame The Moon”/”Force Quit”/”Never Be The Sane”

Most of the set was devoted to the newest cd MOOD SWINGS, while the first song was from MARBLEHEAD, and the second was a non-album single from 2015. And damn it, we slayed!!

Thanks to Jerry Declet at The Metallicave for making it happen. And for making us the first-ever instrumental band to perform at his festival.

My hair hurts.

They say there’s a first for everything. So here’s one for the books:

I played in Pennsylvania for the first time ever.

Why is this such a big deal to me? For one thing, I enjoy getting out of Dodge for a few hours. I am proud to be a New Jersey resident but let’s face it, any musician worth their salt loves playing outside the box.

Naked Glory played its first show ever in PA as well, and everything was great! Perfect weather, nice stage, good crowd, the vibes were right. Blew through two sets of songs with some minor hiccups but that’s to be expected. Outgoing guitarist Bruce Williams did the first set and then passed the baton to incoming guitarist Nick DiStasi, who played the second set. Went very seamless, even with only two rehearsals before the gig. The crowd dug everything, and we took time to chat with the patrons. When someone asks “When are you coming back?”, that’s a good sign. It means you did your job.

I got to use my new Ampturco cable too and it delivered!! Got three more coming (see pics below) so hopefully I will have all four in time for the July 9 gig with my band in Teaneck:

I was given the orange cable recently but soon will have blue w/green plugs, sea foam green w/orange, and red w/yellow. No purple in stock but will get that one soon too. And yes, I hope they make a hot pink one in the future 🙂

Don’t forget that I will be doing two radio interviews this week to promote the NJ Metalfest 7 show:

Wed July 6 w/DJ Metal Mistress

Thurs July 7 w/DJJD on The Metallicave

Both shows will air LIVE on www.craniumradio.com

Even though I am kinda on vacation this week, I will still be busy but all good stuff!!

Nap time.