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¬ Steve Cone (USA) - Time to get THRASHED!!
 Hi
Steve, first of all, can you please introduce yourself to our readers
and let ’em know a bit more about your musical background. What made you
decide to become musicians, at what age did you start to play the guitar,
in what bands did you play in the past, etc?Steve: Hello to all at Metal Coven. The main reason why I decided I wanted to play guitar was the first time I had heard the band KISS. After I saw them on T.V. I said that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a performer and get up on stage. My brother had an electric guitar and when he moved out he left it behind. I would go down and just make noise on it but something about it made me feel free and I could not stop. I believe I was about 16 or 17 years old when I first started and I have never looked back. I played in a many bands over the years with all of them having different levels of success locally. It wasn’t until I moved to New York City when things got bigger and better. That was a crazy time and when I think about it now was probably the best time of my life. It came close to being something bigger but just didn’t get to that next level.  You’re
playing some very old school, straight-in-the-face and no-bullshit type
of Power/Thrash Metal. There are not many experiments or other crazy
stuff in your sound, just good ol’ riff-laden steel that has stood the
test of time. What got you into this kind of music and what bands and
musicians have had the biggest influence on your musical career?Steve: Yes on this disc it is more straight ahead and that was because of the association with the Get Thrashed Documentary that I have music in. I have always been a fan of the N.W.O.B.H.M. I like what I like. Bands like Saxon, Accept, Iron Maiden, UFO to name a few really caught my attention and the fact they are all still at and having success is great. Accept is not around but UDO carries on with great releases all the time. For my influences obviously Kiss made me want to play guitar but Ted Nugent, Bernie Torme and Aerosmith kind of gave me a template of how I wanted to sound. I hope that I have developed my own style of playing now. In the last years you’ve written and recorded a couple of albums under your own name Steve Cone. As far as I know, you’ve done almost everything on these releases yourself from writing and recording the music to releasing and promoting the records. What would you say is the biggest advantage of taking care of all those things yourself and not having a label or anybody else involved? Steve: I would say that the only advantage is I can write and record what I want. That would be it. It is impossible to do this on your own but I somehow find the strength and money to get it done. It’s a constant effort and the hardest part of doing this is the promotion part of it. The song writing and recording is easy. If someone comes along that does not want a bunch of money up front to help promote it than I am in. I get requests all the time and the bottom line is they all want money. I am an independent artist and everything comes out of my pocket. As far as your music is concerned, you’re also playing guitar and bass and delivering the vocals on all your recordings (at least on the latest ones... I’m not yet familiar with your early works). Your only partner-in-crime is drummer Erik Fehrenbach. When did you first meet Erik and what is it like working with him? What importance does his participation have for the sound of Steve Cone? Steve: I have been a one man band for sometime and only on the last two releases had Erik join in. I have known Erik for as long as I can remember. The first time we met was through a mutual friend and he was doing a recoding and needed a singer. They asked and I sang. We kept in contact over the years and when I needed a roommate in New York City he showed up one day at my door and said I’m here to look for a job. I think I had talked to him the day before telling him I needed one but I don’t remember asking him and the next day he was at my door. I was in a band at the time and he found another band to play with. When my band broke up he needed a guitar player so I joined his. I moved to Arizona and we kind of lost track of each other for a few years and then one day he decided he wanted to get back into it. I had new songs and we started to work together again. Living on the opposite side of the country made it difficult at first. I would fly to New York and we would record the drums then I would bring the drum files back to my studio and mix. We had completed another Cd in May/June of 2008 but when Get Thrashed was nearing release, I decided to go do that group of songs. This time Erik did them all on his own and we sent the files over the internet. He did a great job in a very sort time frame and I am happy to have him play on my music. Erik if you are reading this it is time to get to work on the pocket thing.  Your
latest CD is called “Crazy Ei8ths”. Is there any deeper meaning behind
that title?Steve: The title comes from the fact that all of the songs had originally been recorded on a digital 8 track. I took these songs and rerecorded them for this release and thought that it was a fitting title. The songs have been out of print and some released. I wanted to give them a new life and I believe I have accomplished that. The original versions are in the Get Thrashed Documentary so these are a little different. The songs on “Crazy Ei8ths” are all taken from earlier recordings of yours. However, for your new CD, you’ve entered the studio again and re-recorded ‘em all. What would you say are the main differences between the original recordings and the new versions? Steve: The main differences are a live drummer, better sounding guitars and better vocals. Just a better performance overall. My studio between then and now is so much better and I’ve learned so much along the way on how to get better sounds. Sonically it’s better sounding. And why have you chosen to re-record especially those 10 songs and not any other of your old tunes? Is there anything special about these songs that puts ‘em particularly close to your heart or sets ‘em in one way or another apart from your other works? Steve: The first six songs were used in the documentary the remaining came from a release that I never put out. I started to listen to all my old releases and found that I could have two or three CD’s worth of music but stopped at 10 because of time restraints. Maybe someday Ill go back and do this again. The CD Five has a few really good songs that I would have liked to have done over but just didn’t have the time. Six of the ten songs on “Crazy Ei8ths” are featured on the critically acclaimed documentary “Get Thrashed”. What does it mean to you to be part of this DVD? And has the participation in “Get Trashed” also helped you to attract new fans and sell more albums? Steve: It means everything to be a part of this and it’s taken a few years for it to come out. I am very proud to be a part of it and it’s something that will live on forever. When I watch it I remember how much all those bands meant to me. I am hoping that it will help attract new fans and maybe inspire others to do what they love and never give up.  What
about playing live? Do you ever recruit a session bassist every now and
then and hit the stage? Or do you rather focus on recording and don’t
care at all about playing any gigs?Steve: I have done a handful of shows as a fill in guitarist for a band which oddly enough Erik is now a member of. The past month or so I have been trying to put together a live band. I just can’t find a drummer. My good friend Lou Bergeron has been filling in on bass for the auditions and will switch to guitar when we finally find a drummer. Then we will search for a bass player. It’s very much a pain in the ass. Everyone you get in touch with doesn’t reply to e-mails. They post advertisements saying they are looking and never reply. The first thing out of all of them is no flakes. Yet they all turn into one of them. How hard is it to respond to an e-mail? Its simple yes I am in or no I am not interested. It makes me very angry. I think I'll wire a song about it. What are you up to next? Do you already have a follow-up to “Crazy Ei8ths” up your sleeves? If so, can you maybe even name us some advance song titles and give us a few more infos on your next album? Steve: I do have a disc completed and it takes up were In My Bones left off. I just won’t put it out until maybe next summer. I also have tracked the basic tracks for 25 songs and have begun writing lyrics and lying down scratch vocals for those. Some of the song titles for one that’s in the can are Already Gone, Now Or Never, No One Left Behind and Let You Go to name but a few. Well, I guess that’s it. Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer the question. Keep on forging those great hooks and heavy riffs... if there’s anything left you still got on your mind but haven’t said yet, I’ll leave the famous last words to you now. Steve: Let me say thank you for this interview and appreciate everything that you and all the webzines around the world do. I want people to enjoy my music as much as I do making it and hope that they find something they like and get behind it and support it. It’s very hard to do this on my own and I need all the support I can get. All of my recent CD’s are available at www.cdbaby.com. You can also buy them as digital downloads at itunes, Amazon and others. Stop by www.stevecone.net and www.myspace.com/stevecone for all the latest news and info. Become a friend and post your thoughts. Thanks again and Cheers, Steve |
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Homepage:
www.stevecone.net MySpace: www.myspace.com/stevecone Email: dilligafrecords(at)gmail.com |
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Questions: January 2009 by Tobi |