All These Great Answers... with Shaun Stein
What’re your highlights of the year so far?
The release of my third album Dark Heart Cavalcade…Oh and anytime I get cheesecake!
What are your goals for the rest of the year?
Working on the next album. I’ve written the songs. Just need to sort the arrangements, make some demos and then head to the studio.
Which new bands/artists are you into right now?
Anything by Geoff Tyson, Treana Morris and Neil Hibbs. Shinedown, Prime Circle and Lifehouse are bands I repeatedly listen to. To be honest, no new bands are grabbing my attention right now.
What was the band or artist that got you into music or inspired you to be a musician?
Seeing early AC/DC with Bon Scott and Van Halen with David Lee Roth live was massive. Their albums were hugely inspirational in the sense of making me want to do something with or in music.
AI has become a bone of contention among creators. What’s your view of it?
It may be a cop out, but I’m not sure yet…I heard an AI version of Bon Scott singing the song ‘Back In Black’ and while it was intriguing to listen to, because we’d all asked ourselves that question about what would the album have sounded like with Bon, it also felt wrong on a number of levels. There will always be something that takes music on a new path, for better or worse. Tastes will change but a good song is a good song, however it’s made, which is why The Beatles original music will probably continue to outlive it all.
How best do you write; in a jam room or a studio?
Definitely in a studio, me and my guitar with a phone to record ideas as they come and a note pad for any initial lyrics.
What was your wildest show so far, and why?
Much as I don’t like to do covers these days, I do remember our band playing a beer festival in the 1990s with a few thousand in attendance. We did Billy Idol’s ‘Rebel Yell’ with me conducting the crowd to shout ‘More, more, more’ during the chorus and we followed it with ‘Delilah’ which was epic for that moment in time.
What inspired the lyrical themes behind your new record?
At an unintended risk of sounding pretentious, Dark Heart Cavalcade’s theme is a soundtrack for life aspects. The songs explore and question how we deal with loneliness, fear, hope, desire, opportunity. Each song reflects the journey taken through it all. Despite the dark-sounding lyrical approach, the songs are chorus-driven, giving an uplifting, ‘happy’ vibe in a tongue-in-cheek ‘Hey, the world may be in crisis but at least the sun is shining’ way.” I don’t take myself too seriously, so the tongue-in-cheek bit needs emphasising! Ha ha. I pick up a lot from chatting to people about this type of stuff, of course all the names have been changed to protect the innocent/guilty etc.
What’s the story behind the artwork?
I like to try and reflect the album title track with the artwork. The original picture for Dark Heart Cavalcade was taken in Northumberland by David Lewins, a fabulous photographer. He had to wait for an extremely low tide and then clamber down a cliff face to capture the image, so it’s not one where you can just rock up to the beach and snap it. My good friend Joel Collins, who is an exceptional graphic designer, then rendered the picture to create the moody vibe of the final artwork. David’s comment when he saw the artwork was “Well that cavalcade isn’t travelling very far” which, to me, sums it up nicely.
Where is the furthest across the globe you’ve played so far?
Only UK so far, but who knows where in future!