Steve
Cone
Some words that will spring
up one's mind as soon as he/she reads this interview is dedication, passion
and love for what Steve Cone does. Classic heavy metal runs in his blood
and this is why he's here for, not the fortune not the fame. Let's hear
him out!
1. HELLO STEVE! HOW ARE YOU?
I’m doing great and happy to be talking to
you, thanks for asking.
2. HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO DO AN ALBUM ALL BY YOUR
OWN?
I decided to do an album on my own because
I just love writing and recording. It’s a great way to express myself and
without it I don’t know what I would do.
3.HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT “DISTORTION” NOW THAT
YOU LISTEN TO IT?
Like everything that I have recorded I always
over analyze what I’ve done and no matter how much you think you may be
happy with it you can always find something that you might have changed.
Overall I am happy with the final result. Keep in mind that I do everything
myself. Write, record, perform, produce and mix it.
4. FROM WHAT I LISTEN TO ON YOUR MYSPACE BLOG
I CAN SAY THAT YOUR MUSIC IS 100% U.S. HEAVY METAL. DO YOU AGREE?
I think that it has a lot of American metal
in it but my influences come from the NWOBHM bands. I do feel it has more
of a European vibe to it as that’s were all the bands that I listen to
come from.
5. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC, HAVING IN
MIND THAT YOU TALK TO PEOPLE THAT PROBABLY HAVEN’T LISTENED TO YOUR SOUND
YET?
The best way to describe it is straight ahead
heavy metal.
6. AS I SAW FROM THE BIO THAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR
SITE, IT SAYS THAT YOU HAVE A LONG EXPERIENCE IN THE HEAVY METAL SCENE
OF YOUR COUNTRY. CAN YOU TELL US WHERE YOU HAVE PLAYED OR WHAT YOU HAVE
DONE BEFORE FORMING YOUR OWN PROJECT?
I started out in Upstate New York with several
local bands that played covers but always played originals too. I relocated
to New York City and did all originals. The first band was Maniax and after
that was Jett Sett which turned into Pistol Dawn. Pistol Dawn had the most
success and again was all original. When the band went its separate ways
I joined Soul Crunch again all original and was just getting some major
success when I decided to move to Arizona and regroup. I had been getting
burnt out on the scene and needed a change to get myself together. I joined
a band when I moved to Arizona but no one was dedicated and only wanted
to do covers so I quit and decided to start out as a solo artist. I’ve
recorded 11 CDs of all original material but only recently have started
to reach out to the rest of the world and share my music. The last three
CDs can be purchased through www.cdbaby.com
and search for Steve Cone. They are all available as digital downloads
too through sites like itunes, rhapsody, mp3-extensions and a bunch more.
7. DO YOU PLAN IN THE FUTURE TO COOPERATE WITH
OTHER MUSICIANS OR WILL YOU CONTINUE AS A SOLO MUSICIAN?
I do plan on working with other musicians.
A little over a year ago I completed a CD with Dave Shaw that I co-produced
and played guitar on. I am also using a drummer from New York that
I’ve worked with in the past for my next CD. It’s completed but it just
needs the drums. We should be tracking drums in May of this year if all
goes well.
8. DOES THIS MEAN THAT YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED
IN LIVE SHOWS?
I played with Dave Shaw last summer in California
and I also have played acoustically with a friend of mine here in Arizona.
Dave Shaw is trying to put together a small tour this coming summer and
has asked me to play bass or maybe guitar on the tour. There is also talk
of a Pistol Dawn reunion but it’s in the very early stages and we have
just started to talk about it.
9. I THINK THAT YOU ARE ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
DISTRIBUTION AND SELLING OF YOUR CD. HOW DIFFICULT IS A TASK LIKE THIS?
It’s very hard to do it myself but using cdbaby
is a great way to get yourself off the ground and moving forward. They
do everything and also get the digital distribution set up.
10. BASED ON YOUR EXPERIENCE IS THIS WAY MORE
PROFITABLE THAN RELEASING A CD FROM A LABEL?
I don’t know about more profitable because
I have never been with a label. I know I can keep track of everything a
lot easier.
11. HOW MANY CDS HAVE YOU SOLD SO FAR?
Not enough to make a real impact on my life
financial but I never got into this to make money. I do it because I have
a passion for music that will never die.
12. DID YOU HAVE ANY PROPOSALS FROM A LABEL TO
RELEASE YOUR ALBUM UNDER THEIR NAME?
I have had a few but nothing that made any
sense to do yet.
13. WHICH IS THE METHOD THAT YOU FOLLOW IN ORDER
TO CREATE A SONG?
I usually start off by coming up with guitar
riffs which I record with a small cassette deck. After I have about 3 hours
of material, I go back and listen to it all to find the things that stand
out and work those parts into songs.
14. WHAT KIND OF THINGS INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE
MUSIC ABOUT?
My lyrics are from real life experiences and
the world around me. Their is so many screwed up things in this world it’s
easy to find something to write about.
15. WHICH WAS THE WORST AND WHICH THE BEST REVIEW
THAT YOU READ SO FAR FOR YOUR MUSIC AND WHY?
The worst really wasn’t bad but the interviewer
asked me some questions which if he had to ask, it means he could not tell
on his own. In the review he made that point the weakest point on my CD.
Again if he had to ask, he could not tell so I didn’t understand why he
did that. Overall they all have been very good and everyone has their own
likes and dislikes so to get all positive reviews is a good thing and makes
then all the best. You may not like the style or something about my music
or you may like it all. It all comes down to being constructive of the
overall project. I’m sure I’ll see a bad one sooner or later.
16. DO YOU REMEMBER WHICH THE WEIRDEST QUESTION
THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED IN AN INTERVIEW WAS?
I don’t know if it was weird but it caught
me off guard.
17. CAN YOU SHARE IT WITH US?
I did a live interview on The Classic Metal
Show and they asked what the song Sixty Nine was about. I explained it
was about what they thought it was about. Were they went with describing
it was way more graphic than I was expecting so I went with it and got
even more graphic. It was something I didn’t think you could talk about
on the air but we did and we had a good laugh after.
18. DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW COMPOSITIONS READY?
Like I stated before my next CD is just waiting
for drum tracks. I recorded about 25 songs and planned on having enough
material for two CDs. I want to do other projects and this way I’ll have
one in the can waiting so I don’t have any down time between releases.
I’ve also started to put down ideas for am all instrumental CD and an acoustic
CD. I almost always put one instrumental song on my CDs and want to do
a whole release but both of those are down the road. I also may work with
Dave Shaw again.
19. WHEN DO YOU PLAN TO RELEASE YOUR NEXT ALBUM?
The next album should be out in the summer
of 2007.
20. IS THERE A MESSAGE BEHIND YOUR MUSIC THAT
YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH THE LISTENERS?
21. IF YES, CAN YOU TELL US WHICH IT IS?
The only message I hope people get is that
if you have a passion for something don’t ever stop. You can have dreams
but if you never try to achieve those dreams you will never be truly happy
with yourself inside. You may feel sad to fail but it is sadder to have
never tried at all. You can hold your head high knowing that you have tried
your best.
22. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME! THE LAST WORDS BELONG
TO YOU AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR ALBUM…
I hope that people will find something in
my music that they can relate to. To find out more go to www.stevecone.net,
www.myspace.com/stevecone.
Also you can buy my CD’s through www.cdbaby.com
and search for Steve Cone. Don’t forget about all the digital outlets too.
Stay Metal and thank you again. Cheers to you!
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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