|
|
 |
 |
| steve conte |
|
| NEW STEVE CONTE INTERVIEW!! | | READ NOW!! | |
| |
http://www.crushermagazine.com/start.htm | |
|
| | JIMI HENDRIX: HIS INFLUENCE ON ME | | I was recently interviewed by a Spanish rock magazine called "This Is Rock" and they asked me about this...so I told them... | |
| |
"Electric Ladyland...that was my favorite Hendrix album growing up. I had heard the hits from the 1st & 2nd albums on the radio but when I was 12 my mother's boyfriend moved in with us and brought a few albums that would change my life...among them were Led Zeppelin II and Electric Ladyland. It was Hendrix's transition album...going toward a jam/improvisational type of music rather than the 3 minute psychedelic pop of the mid 60s. | |
| |
I'd listen with headphones and freak out over the "panning" of instruments from one side to the other. My fave track was - and still is - "1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)" because of the lyrics, the story, the melancholic melody, the sound of that studio and the way the band plays, weaving in & out of the free jam sections. It's absolutely brilliant. To me no one else has ever come close to this achievement in sound - even 40 years after it's release!! | |
| |
If you wanna hear the influence that "1983..." had on me listen to the 1990 debut CD by my band COMPANY OF WOLVES (Mercury) and you'll hear me quote the riff in my song "I Don't Wanna Be Loved" (I was also channeling Jimi in the wah-wah solo on "Hell's Kitchen".) | |
| |
For me, other stand out moments on Ladyland are "Rainy Day Dream Away" and "Still Raining Still Dreaming" ...the bit where he makes the guitar "talk" with the wah-wah. I was obsessed with that. | |
| |
I can hear Jimi influences on my other records too...on "SPITSHINE" the 1st CD from my band CROWN JEWELS - check out the end solo in "Trail Of Tears" and the middle solo in "Revolution In The Air". | |
| |
It may be trite to say but I really felt like he was sent here on a mission - to change the way the world hears, sees & plays music. Up until then nobody dressed, performed or played like Jimi did...and nobody has equaled it since. Just try to name one artist who even comes close - I dare ya!! | |
|
| | (not) playing w/ the robert gordon band via chris spedding... | | |
In the 90s i used to go see Spedding play w/ RG all the time in NYC and after awhile i started hanging out & jamming w/ Chris. when he left town to move to LA he recommended me to replace him in the RG band, which was amazing. i was a Spedding fanatic...i owned every solo record & loved chris' playing - it was like rockabilly-punk-jazz, what i aspired to - so i was totally flattered that he thought of me to fill his shoes. | |
| |
i went to a rehearsal & played for 2 hours w/ RG, rob stoner & bobby chouinard. robert loved it...he said, "great, we got a european tour coming up next month - let's go!" I thought about it for a bit and then decided that with my 1st Crown Jewels record coming out i should stay around NY. | |
|
well, not long after that bobby died, robert started doing gigs w/ pickup bands (and i didn't sell a million copies of my album) so i now i do regret not having that experience with them. Ah well...C'est la vie!
| | more news... |
|
| discography |
the contes - bleed together (thunderdog recordings)
crown jewels - bubble & squeak, bootleg rarities (thunderdog recordings)
crown jewels - linoleum, spitshine (thunderdog music)
new york dolls - morrissey presents: the return of the new york dolls, live from royal festival hall (attack/sanctuary)
new york dolls - one day it will please us to remember even this (roadrunner)
adrienne frantz - anomaly (wrong records)
dr. selflove - deuce bigalow: european gigolo soundtrack, SC - better things (sony)
various artists - altogether now: a beatles children's album featuring SC, the bangles, grandaddy & rachel yamagata (little monster)
maceo parker - funk overload (W.A.R.)
peter wolf - fool's parade (mercury records)
billy squier - tell the truth (capitol records)
yoko kanno - cowboy bebop, wolf's rain, brain powerd, song to fly, ghost in the shell (victor)
company of wolves - company of wolves, rhythm & booze (mercury records), steryl spycase, shakers & tamborines (ryf records)
various artists - bigger than the beatles: a beatles tribute (main man records) SC - working class hero
steve conte - turn, turn, turn-(CNR/arcade)
mr. henry - tremolux, jackhammer, 40 watt fade (mighty hudson music)
jessica owen - ever-so-slightly rearranged (sway gypsy records)
better days - leaving the blue (bd records)
pancho's lament - leaving town alive (as you wish music)
slaves of new brunswick - (westwood entertainment)
paul king - joy (epic records)
alex rozum - lost to the street (warner bros.)
drive she said - (music for nations)
|
|
| video |
new york dolls - morrissey presents: the return of the new york dolls, live from royal festival hall
new york dolls - dance like a monkey
new york dolls - gotta get away from tommy
company of wolves - call of the wild, the distance
glen burtnick - follow you
|
|
| equipment |
| guitars: |
gibson - 59 & 60 les paul juniors, 70 les paul custom, 77 ES-335, early 60s melody makers (6 & 12 string), 2005 white les paul supreme, 2006 non-reverse firebird w/ 3 p-90s
fender - 62 stratocaster, 68 telecaster w/B bender, 63 fender VI (6 string bass)
other - 59 danelectro "jimmy page", MSA pedal steel, lap steel
acoustics - martin D-18, gibson J-160E, guild 12 string
|
| amplifiers: |
67 marshall "plexi" 100 watt head w/ 70s 4x12 cabinet
62 vox AC30 (non-top boost)
65 blackface fender bandmaster head w/ 2x 12 cabinet
60s ampeg reverb rocket
60s brownface fender princeton
60s sano hi-fi lounge amp
|
| effects: |
boss CE-1 chorus ensemble
maestro echoplex
e-bow
colorsound & vox wah-wah pedals
electro harmonix small stone phase shifter
mutron II envelope filter
voodoo lab tremelo pedal
ibanez analog delay pedal
ibanez tube screamer Pedal
boss octaver pedal
boss graphic EQ pedal
sans amp stomp box
jen tonebender pedal
ampeg "scrambler" pedal
seek-wah pedal
digitech "jam man" looping pedal
|
|
| education |
B.A. in jazz guitar performance from rutgers university, NJ (studied with kenny barron, ted dunbar & paul jeffrey)
A.A. in music, brookdale college, NJ
private studies with barry finnerty, dennis sandole, chris spedding, harry leahey and mike santiago
|
|
| other |
| (musical director, televison, touring, recording, songwriting) |
| jill jones (paisley park), glen burtnik (A&M), john waite, chuck berry, the uptown horns, robert gordon, etta James, phoebe snow, dan hartman, charlie midnight, delmar brown & bushrock, jules shear, francesca beghe (SBK), tina arena, bernard "pretty" purdie & the hudson river rats, chynna phillips (EMI), suzi quatro (polydor), blood, sweat & tears, sam moore, taylor dane, david cooper (FNAC), fiona flanagin, shy talk (CBS), the late show with david letterman, late night with conan o'brien, the henry rollins show, the jonathan ross show (UK), the chart show (UK), canal tv (FR), new year's eve 2006 little steven's underground garage, live from hard rock cafe (ESPN), the today show, solid gold, top of the pops, MTV, MTV europe, much music (canada), regis & kathy lee, westwood one radio network and sony worldwide radio network (live) and the uncle floyd show. |
|
|
|
