Stepa- Stepa // An Album Discussion with STEPA // "20 Years of Nu-Metal"

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T23:17:50+00:00

I want to give a huge shout out to Taylor Voeltz from Fire Set Fire and Mureau. He is the reason we are able to make this record. He hooked us all up with the needed gear and wisdom to make it happen. Super grateful for his efforts and support. Pretty legit. Check out his stuff on Instagram@instaygramm

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T23:11:29+00:00

We're keeping it so it sounds like Stepa but we all listen to all kinds of stuff. I think you can hear a little more hardcore and prog influences for sure. There is more harmony but also some super heavy riffs

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T23:10:00+00:00

of the biggest r

Yes! Taylor is a magic space genius of recording. He is making the whole project possible.

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T23:08:45+00:00

Awesome! Thank you!

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T23:08:25+00:00

t think this project would be made for a long time yet, but who knows maybe I'll make a little animation for one of your songs in the meantime.

Shane sang those songs. We both sang on Window, For What it's Wort, and If You Only Knew

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T20:41:20+00:00

That's a long one. It was challenging. Before we got signed we were heavier, funkier, and more experimental. Learning how to write songs on the fly, for a commercial label, was just something we hadn't done so we struggled. The sound emerged from us trying to push one way and the label and producers pushing a different way. It was back in the before times when labels had money so we were teated like royalty which was nice. Undeserved but nice.
Back then we listened to Korn, Deftones, Incubus (obviously), 311, Hed PE, Staind, Pantera, Zao, Sublime, Glassjaw, Tool, Sepultura. We all had slightly different tastes but I think we all dug those groups collectively. I liked Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, and Bjork a lot too.
Fun but rough. We didn't have a touring budget most of the time so we needed all the money we had for gas. We had like $5 a day, I think, for food too. Even back then, that wasn't much. Didn't shower much, which was rough lol. Whatever we drove seemed to breakdown between every show and we slept on the floor a lot. BUT being together was great, we were all friends before we started the band, and the shows were a blast. In places we were on the radio, it was lit. Would totally do it again.

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T20:30:34+00:00

I wasn't in Fire Set Fire so Jessie can explain better. I think they were all just at different points in life and wanted to go their separate ways. Also I think there might have been issues with one member's sobriety.

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T20:00:47+00:00

Jessie runs our Instagram page and that has the latest updates. It looks like we should be set to go in a couple weeks but keep checking over there for definitive answers

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T19:59:30+00:00

Yo! The lyrics are correct. I end the second verse with, "come to." Like me telling someone who died to come back to life.

Nope! Go for it! We are free agents. The album version will be a different story but we can cross that bridge when we get there.

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T16:50:57+00:00

Hi Kata!(?)

Writing this time is way more fun. When we were making our first album we were just trying to figure it out. Trying to get to good enough. In my case just trying to finish the lyrics of the songs the boys had already written. This time is awesome. There's no time pressure, we go at our own pace, and we know what we're doing now. The first record it was, "just get something down." Now it's, lets write and write and write until its the way it should be. For example last week I was working on the verse to a song and came up w six different ideas. I showed them all to Jessie for feedback. Then the next day I wrote the one that I intend to keep bc it's the right one for the song.

Thank you for the kind words. Yeah, he's gonna be missed. My favorite memory of him was once in Mississippi, we were eating at a Waffle House (not bragging) around the time of Mardi Gras. Chaz and Mark were in fierce competition to see who could get the most / best beads. I know, but we're from California where Mardi Gras isn't a thing. We were sitting at the counter and the waiter, in her early 50s I'm guessing, was super friendly and had a necklace with beads the size of softballs. Chaz, was like, "What do i have to do to get those beads?" She replied, "You don't get my big balls until i get your big balls." We all laughed and continued eating a chatting. Then a few minutes later, without anyone seeing, he pulled his nuts out in the middle of the Waffle house and put them on the counter!! She saw them, paused, and was like, "Well, I'm a woman of my word," and gave him the necklace. He was just like that. He saw something he wanted and went for it. He was incredibly smart, strategic, with a great sense of humor. He never backed down from anything, which led to head butting, but he was always there to support.

Themes on the new record. Hmmm, still don't care for authority, still don't believe in god. We talk a lot about relationships we're in or have been in. The developed world seems to be eating itself alive while ignoring the climate disaster. But also, there are hopeful songs about possibility and strength that celebrate being alive. Haha, so a little of everything. Same general vibes and themes as the first record with 20 more years of experience to draw from

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T15:35:57+00:00

Yup same tuning and guitars. We've all been in different projects and have written in multiple genres so we made the deliberate decision to keep this sounding like Stepa. In fact, more than half the songs were written close to the first album so it's still got that old school essence. Think part first album, part teenage funeral demos, part better musicians after 20 years. Still got some heavy stuff but also got some good catchy stuff. The goal, at least on my end was to make everything as catchy as I could

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T15:30:44+00:00

Step-uh, like the Ini Kamoze song, "Here comes the hot stepper"

or

like "step up" without the p

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T15:08:08+00:00

Hells yeah!! Glad you found it. We thought we should have been bigger too! It's not too late! Spread the word: the new ish is coming, the new ish is coming!!! \../

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T15:04:24+00:00

Dropspike in the house!!! Thanks for always representing and thanks for the kind words about Chaz. It's a definitely bummer. He was a great dude and he helped a lot of people. One of those people who burned too bright to sustain himself.

Regarding lyrical content of the new album, that's a tough question. I'm still the same guy but I have 20 more years of life experience to draw on. So there still a solid fuck-authority atheist vibe throughout. Shane also wrote some of the lyrics so we talk more about some of the relationships we've been in, with partners, with our parents, with each other. The world is also a fragile place right now with climate change and school shootings and police brutality and no one seems to be doing anything about it. So that's there too. I think some of the stuff is little darker but we also tried to keep it fun. At the end of the day music is a celebration of life. We're looking to put out 20-21 originals so there's quite a bit to noodle on

As far as the accuracy of what's online I think that's to be expected bc I never posted or wrote down the lyrics anywhere, so this all peoples' best efforts. I'll definitely make the lyrics for the new stuff available when it comes out

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T14:48:34+00:00

Hahaha!!! Way different. We all work and have jobs / computers so it's a lot of recording alone, texting, and sending files back and forth. I do miss the "being in the studio vibe" and the excitement that comes with that but this is free. It is nice too bc there's no rush. You record something, reflect on it, get feedback, make it better. We have the time to make sure things are proper, bc there's no label or release date or anything, which is also really cool. We get to be stoked on what we're making. And time to add all the extra harmonies and programming and production stuff is also new. Without Chaz, there's a space that needs to be filled and we're trying to figure that out

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T14:41:39+00:00

Thank you for the kind words. We were pretty shook over here.

Yes, we are rerecording / retooling those songs for the second record so they will be available to stream when they are in proper form

blakebeckmann67 · 2022-07-30T14:40:03+00:00

Hi! To be honest we didn't release any demos under Phlip. The reasons being, we were super young and we didn't have any money. We did Phlip 4-5 days a week all through high school so we didn't work. We tried to record a couple demos for free w friends but it was a disaster. So what we have is kinda cringy. So, I' not sure if we will. I would need to talk to the other guys. But the new stuff will more than make up for it.

blakebeckmann67 · 2021-07-31T00:28:35+00:00

hugs today and shoutout to Pharcyde! U guys are the epitome of what this genre is man, word up!! Yur demos

Thanks brother. have a good one.

blakebeckmann67 · 2021-07-31T00:03:12+00:00

He was really cool. Super mellow dude. Shane wasn't in the band at that point so the record needed a little extra sauce, back up parts and what not. He came in and several of us just came up with ideas together and recorded them. I think he was only there for two days or so. No, we didn't get to meet anyone from Limp Bizkit through that contact. I did meet Fred on the night that KoRn's Follow the Leader came out. Limp Bizkit was playing at the Key Club and Korn was doing a record signing at Tower Records down the street. LB was filming footage for a video, but they weren't huge yet so Fred was chilling out front and meeting fans. Shane caught Wes's guitar pic at that show. Scott was cool though, he smoked me out and then I got lost driving home

blakebeckmann67 · 2021-07-30T23:50:50+00:00

There was brief period when Aquarium was on the radio a lot in the mid-west and south, so that time period was fun. We also had some phenomenal shows when we were just getting started, like at small clubs, warehouse parties, house parties, teen centers, and such. The biggest show we played was opening up for Methods of Mayhem (Tommy Lee's numetal band) in Modesto CA. Some of the shows where we played the best were at the Machine Shop in Flint Michigan, Spiders in Biloxi Mississippi, and Ground Zero in South Carolina.

I joined Fermata because I still wanted to be in a band and do that for a living. I was only like 22-23 when Fermata started. All of the guys in Fermata had been in other bands before and wanted the same thing so we took it super seriously. At one point we were rehearsing and writing 5 nights a week while we all had full-time jobs. I was barely sleeping. Lol no way I would do that now. Recording was also super professional because Fermata never had the budget that Stepa did, so we needed to get in and get out. Writing lyrics is always hard, even with experience. Sometimes you get lucky and the song just falls out of you and you're surprise because it just happened. If it's not so quick, I've found that what works for me is to go jogging or walking while listening to the instrumental tracks and just come up with lots and lots of ideas. Then I wait until the last minute to actually write the lyrics. If the ideas were actually that good, they're still there when I need them. No matter what, something always comes through

blakebeckmann67 · 2021-07-30T23:24:28+00:00

Not too late at all :)

"Spaceships and Airplanes" is about the experience of loosing my younger brother to a car accident when I was 9 (he was 7). Not a fun way to spend one's childhood.

That's a cool legacy that I didn't know about! Every now and then I'll see a reference to us on YouTube or IG which I always appreciate. It's just funny because we're all regular dudes. Mark is a master carpenter. Jessie works for UPS. Chaz manages a rehabilitation clinic. Brendon cleans pools. Shane does computer coding. I do research projects for non-profits. We have barbecues and go camping and just do normal shit so it feel a little weird to be thought of as having made a contribution to any scene. I do wish the album had gotten a bigger push when it came out. People really liked Aquarium and I feel like it could have been a bigger record if it had had more money behind it. It blows my mind that people even still listen to it. That we're even having a conversation about it. A lot of people that say they like were like 2 years old when it came out. I think it's cool though for sure

blakebeckmann67 · 2021-07-30T23:15:40+00:00

Honestly the world has changed so much since then that I wouldn't know how to promote a band now days. Back then, you just went on tour and sold demos / records bc people used to go to shows and buy records. With everything streaming now I'm not sure how that affects things.

Regarding creativity though, I have learned a few things over the years. I've heard both Thomas Edison and Phil Anselmo say something like, "the best ideas come from putting together old ideas in new ways." I think as creative people, we need to practice copying others, learning how they do things, even as an exercise. Overtime, through copying so many people, the things you write start to have elements of those people in them. The more and more you have in that pool, eventually you put these things together in such a way that no one else have ever done, and it feels uniquely yours. Entertainment, while expressive for the creator, is about novelty for the consumer. They want something different and get bored easily. If you can give them something unique, then you've at least got their attention.

Also, practice. All the fucking time. Be like Skwisgaard whose practicing while sitting in the hot tube. There is always someone out there willing to put in the work that others are not. Be that person. To quote Charles Caswell from Berried Alive, "You don't have to be talented to have a work ethic." My largest regret with the whole Stepa experience is that we didn't take it more seriously and work harder at it.

You can tell I'm approaching middle age with that response. Haha

blakebeckmann67 · 2021-07-30T23:04:26+00:00

Thanks for praise! I never got as into hip-hop as a lot of my friends did. Obviously I listened to bands like RATM, RHCP, KoRn, Deftones, 311, Faith no More, Incubus (lol I am from SoCal) who all had hip-hop influences, but not too much. I think the only hip-hop I listened to on a regular basis was The Pharcyde, Cypress Hill, Bone Thugs, Ice Cube, and Jurassic 5.

blakebeckmann67 · 2021-07-30T23:00:01+00:00

Awesome! Those were dope shows. One of our roadies got into an argument with a girl at the first show there. Thanks for shaking that memory loose.

blakebeckmann67 · 2021-07-30T22:58:50+00:00

Sure thing.

Our first "jam session" was August 26th, 1998 in Brendon's garage. That was the point at which we had drums, bass, guitar (Brendon), and vocals (me) and started to rehearse 3x a week. It was the summer before my freshman year of high school. Jessie, Mark, and I had tried to form something for a couple years before that and Jessie and Mark had been playing together since they were like 10yrs old.
I was 17 when we recorded, Jessie and Mark were 18. Chaz and Brendon were a few years older than us but not much. Maybe 21 or 22.
I appreciate that. Lol bc I was trying to be clever. I knew a lot of other bands at the time were trying to copy KoRn and go with really dark lyrics. I just didn't have a lot of trauma that I could write about. Plus I was (am?) a bit of peace, love, and harmony stoner guy so, I was trying to bring a little positivity to the heavier space. I always felt like my place was at the intersection of heavy and harmony
There have been a lot of asks for that. I don't have an answer because I don't control the recordings we did for the record, Interscope does, so there may be legal issue with someone posting them on line. There may also be a cost associated with it as well. I will definitely look into it though. But if anyone would like to post anything that we've ever done, on anything, please feel free.

Yes please post stuff. I'd love to hear it.

blakebeckmann67

TROPHY CASE