Steve Hill defines himself as a ‘one man blues rock band’ but, in reality, he’s more of a revelation. Over the years there have been many solo artists, but few who have taken the art of playing solo to such heights and, to listen to his latest live recording, you’d be easily forgiven for screaming “overdubs” from the moment the crunchy ‘damned’ detonates with bass guitar and drums all apparently intact but, check out the live show (or the handy video clip in this piece) and you’ll realise that he’s got it all figured out. A remarkable performer, Steve Hill has been nominated for (and won) many awards for the work he’s done over the years, most notably ‘solo recordings’ volumes 2 & 3 and, in just over a week, he returns to the UK to play a string of shows with Danny Bryant and King King. I had the pleasure of catching up with Steve, a relaxed and friendly interviewee, by phone and what follows is the complete discussion.
It’s a real pleasure to have this opportunity to speak to you because obviously you have this new live album out and I was hoping to have a chance to talk about the blues and how you got started.
Sure man, the pleasure’s all mine.
The first thing is to ask about the notion about playing as a one-man band because, as an artist, a lot of what you do in music involves compromise because you have to appease all the different members of the band, so you’ve kind of cut all that away, but how did you first approach making music in this way?
Well, I started with a band. It was called Steve Hill, but I had musicians playing with me and I was the guitar player and the singer – lead guitar and vocals – and I produced records and I was really handy with all that, but you know, the music business has been changing lately in the last eight years, or whatever, and, years ago, I put out this album called ‘whiplash love’ and it was a really good record but the record company that I was with didn’t do anything. No promotion, they didn’t put any money into it, so I didn’t have enough shows and I’ve always been a professional musician. I’ve been making a living out of being a musician since 1993, so I don’t know how to do anything else, basically. I decided to do solo gigs in between gigs, just to fill the time and pay the bills.
So, when I started doing these solo gigs seven years ago, it was just guitar and vocals and I’d foot-stomp and I put a microphone on the floor and then, I eventually got a bass drum and a high-hat and, I’m a studio owner, so I decided to do a record live in the studio – a solo thing… you know, something I could sell at these small gigs. That ended up being ‘solo recordings volume 1’ and that basically outsold everything that I’d done before and it got a Juno nomination, which is the Canadian Grammy, it won best blues album of the year and I did 175 shows with that record and people kept asking me “when are you going to release volume 2?” I didn’t even think I’d do a volume 2 – I called it volume 1 because it sounded good and it was a bit funny… so then I did volume 2 and it did even better. It won the Juno; it won the Maple blues award for blues album of the year. It won about eight awards and people kept asking me when I was going to release volume 3, so I did volume 3. And, you know, all through it… you know on volume 2 there was a snare that was added and, what I do, is I modify my guitars. I add an extra pick up, but it’s offset, so it only catches the three big strings, I’ve got a stereo output and the sound of that pick up goes through an octaver pedal and it goes through a bass amp, so that’s how I do the bass. I’ve also got a drum stick on my guitar’s headstock and I play the cymbal and the high-hat with that drum stick and, two years back, I found a kind of Maraca that I can put on the drum stick, so you can hear that there as well. It’s just a matter of adding stuff and now I’m pretty busy as it is, I don’t know if I can add anything. I learned to play the harmonica… so I can add that. Basically, I had no intention of being a one-man band, but it was kind of decided that I had to become one.
And with that project, the cool thing is I found my sound. The limitations of having to do everything yourself enabled me to find the sound that… I can feel it and I could kinda hear it but I could never get it right. By doing it on my own I found the sound. It’s very basic, it’s very simple, but it’s bad ass at the same time! The foundations… usually when you hear blues rock bands, what you get is usually a blues foundation and they’re playing rock on top. My thing is that the foundations are rock and the rhythm is more like AC/DC but on top of it is Muddy Waters. So, that’s the thing. That’s the difference. It’s very… the rhythm is very square, the bass lines are like AC/DC but on top of that, it’s blues. And that’s just because of the limitations of playing on my own. I came up with this sound and I’m comfortable with it and I really enjoy it. It’s a great work out at the same time – it keeps me in shape!
There’s a certain purity to the recordings and to the live album where there seems to be a lot of spontaneity that comes into the sound as well.
Of course! Of course… Sometimes, I might start a song and then, in the middle of the song, I’ll start improvising something and at the end of the improvisation I’m in another song. I can do whatever I want. If I’m playing a song and I’m not happy with it or if it’s not the type of song that the crowd wants, then I can stop it really quick and start something else. And in-between songs I do a lot of improvising – there’s a bunch of intros on the live album, like the intro to ‘go on’, there’s all these punches and guitar fills and that was all improvised. So, I’m really happy to have captured that, you know. So, yeah, there’s improvisation, but you’ve got to have a certain structure – these are songs. The song is the most important thing. You can be the best guitar player in the world, but if you don’t have a good song, you’ve got nothing. That’s the main thing – the song. To me, the songs on the live record are my personal favourites out of the solo recordings… out of everything that I wrote in the last six years, so these are my favourite songs and the tempos are good. I always talk about the tempo – it’s really important because if you don’t have the right tempo you’ve got no groove. If the song is a bit too fast, the groove is not there and if you don’t have the groove, you don’t have the song. I’ve recorded so many shows… I’ve done nine studio albums and after every studio album I’ve recorded shows because I’ve always wanted to put out a live record, but I would never release anything because I was never happy with it. Until I came up with that show. That was recorded November 30th, 2017. That show was just magic, so that’s why I’m putting it out.
I think you’re absolutely right about the groove. I think one of the fundamental problems of playing live is that, once the adrenalin starts flowing, it’s very easy to lose track of where you are and then you hear it back and it’s like “oh god!” The speed just kills any vibe – but then also there’s also more pressure for you because it’s all on you – there’s no drummer for you to turn around and look daggers at…
Exactly! And I used to do that a lot and I can’t do that anymore and I’ve got to tell you, it’s… it’s probably the hardest part about being a one man band. The tempos – that’s what took the longest. I can honestly say that I’ve been happy with my tempos for the past year, but not before that. I used to jump a lot and when I recorded ‘solo recordings volume 3’, that was the hardest part because I’d do two takes and after three takes it was too fast, always. I would speed up… but from doing all these tours – the Wishbone Ash tour that I did in Europe – that was like thirty-five shows and thirty-six days and then, last fall, I did three weeks in Germany and then five weeks in the UK with Wishbone Ash and, after that, I recorded the album and from playing every night you get it a lot more concentrated and gradually the tempos settle down and now I can finally play the songs at the right tempo, even if I’m stressed, it’s pretty solid. That took… well; I’ve been playing for thirty years… so it took a long time!
One of the great misconceptions about the blues is that it’s depressing, but your music and your live album is so joyful and full of life…
It’s just like any other style, there are clichés. Let’s say some people will say “Oh metal, it’s all the same,” – it’s not all the same! Or people will say “metal’s very negative!” – It’s not all negative! And some people will say “jazz is just a bunch of noise!” – It’s not all a bunch of noise! The blues is not always depressing, you know, I mean I’ve seen a bunch of great blues shows man. I used to open for so many, so many bands. I’ve backed up Hubert Sumlin, I’ve opened for Ray Charles, B.B. King, and I saw Albert Collins back in the day and hung out with him in the dressing room. I’ve got to say, man, an Albert Collins was really not depressing! There’s nothing depressing about an Albert Collins show, it was pure energy! So, the energy part is something that is very important to me – that’s what I want people to feel. It’s high energy what I do. Then there’s the fact that it’s blues, but it’s not necessarily blues. Blues purists may not call what I do blues, you know. That’s why the album’s called the one man blues rock band – I think calling it blues rock is more accurate for what I do. But there’s also a bit of folk and a bit of country –there’s like three acoustic songs on the record and two of them are not blues songs or rock songs, they’re country songs or folk songs. It’s the same three chords man! Whether it’s blues, country or rock ‘n’ roll, it’s the same three chords! But I play those same three chords in different styles and I mix those together. But I stick with the three chords!
Some of the best music comes out of the fact that you step out of genre and it’s really important as a musician to have a wide-range of interests…
You’ll sound like the last thing you listen to! I listen to a lot of different things. One day I can listen to Miles Davis and Wayland Jennings and then Judas Priest and Freddy King. It’s all good music to me. I listen to a lot of music and I try to go to a lot of concerts. The last two concerts I was at were Judas Priest and the Montreal Symphonic Orchestra playing Stravinsky. I actually played with the Montreal Symphonic Orchestra two months ago with Kent Nagano. We did a concerto for electric guitar and orchestra and it was quite a challenge, playing with an 80-piece orchestra and we’re going to do it again in September.
How did that come about, that sounds very cool!
Well, they asked me. Where I’m from, people kinda know me – you mention electric guitar… you know, I’ve been doing it for a while and people kinda know me, so they asked me to do that. I think that I was able to do that, but it was pretty far from what I usually do, so it was like eight months of tense rehearsing. It went really well, but it was so much work just to be able to perform that. I’m not used to reading charts and we’re talking about a twenty-eight minute classical piece. You can’t just wing it; you can’t just improvise on top of that! So, it was a lot of hard work but I’m glad I did it. It was the biggest challenge of my career man.
I’m curious – in that scenario, were you under the charge of the conductor?
Well, you’ve got to follow the conductor and he’s got to follow you because you’re the soloist – it’s a bit of both. But it’s quite something because an orchestra plays a bit behind the beat just because of the size of it. They’re a bit behind the beat, so that took some getting used to, but I was pretty sure it would be a disaster! But next morning Mr Nagano asked me to do it again, so we’re going to do it on Sept 1st and I’m really excited about that.
I’m very aware that you have a lot of interviews to get through, but I wanted to ask you briefly about your covers. One of the important things about doing a great cover is to bring something of yourself to it, so I wanted to ask if there’s anything in particular, when you’re looking at songs, which makes you think you can make it yours.
Well, on the live album there are three covers. There’s ‘hate to see you go’ which is a Little Walter song – that was on ‘volume two’ – and I’ve been playing it every night and it’s kind of a show stopper and it’s usually the last song of the show before the encore. It’s become a big guitar showcase basically. I love the piece, it’s blues, it’s rock ‘n’ roll and it’s not like a regular 12 bar blues. You might not have noticed, but there’s no real 12 bar blues on the album. So, I play that song every night and I really enjoy it. ‘Voodoo Child’ well, I’ve been playing that since I was fourteen and, with every band that I had we’d do it. And sometimes we’d not play it for a few years, but my dad always liked it when I did that track. That was always his favourite song every time I’d play it. So, when I started the one-man band thing I figured it would be nice to do it by myself, so I do it every night – the guitar solo is a great finale. I had to put it on the album because people kept asking me about it and every time I’d finish the show, I always go straight to the merch stand, I meet the people and get pictures with them and, you know, if they want autographs or whatever… there’s always someone who asks on which album ‘Voodoo Child’ is, and I’d say it’s not on an album and they’d always be disappointed, so I didn’t have a choice. I really like the guitar solo that I did that night, because for that, I stop playing drums for three or four minutes to do the guitar solo and, on this recording, I really like the solo I did that night, so that’s why it’s on the album.
Well, you’re hitting the UK in just over a month…
I leave a week form now – the first show is May 3rd!
Yeah! I’ve lost track of time, I can’t believe it’s already May – so yeah, 3rd of May in Hastings I think?
Yeah, Hastings!
So, any final words for your UK fans?
Well, I’m really looking forward to coming back to the UK and I’m really excited about doing shows with Danny Bryant and King King. I can’t wait, it starts next week and I’ll be there for a whole month – I’ll see you guys there!
MAY/JUNE 2018 UK TOUR
TICKETS: STEVEHILLMUSIC.COM
*SUPPORTING KING KING
**SUPPORTING DANNY BRYANT
St. Mary in The Castle, Hastings
Thursday 3rd May 2018
*Supporting King King
Tickets: 01323 841414
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
7 Pelham Crescent, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3AF
http://spyboy.co.uk / http://stmaryinthecastle.co.uk
Muni Arts Centre, Pontypridd
Friday 4th May 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: www.seetickets.com
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Municipal Buildings, Gelliwastad Rd, Pontypridd CF37 2DP
http://muniartscentre.com
The 1865, Southampton
Saturday 5th May 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: www.seetickets.com
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Brunswick Square, Southampton, SO14 3AR
www.the1865.com
The Robin 2, Bilston
Monday 7th May 2018
**Supporting Danny Bryant
Ticket Price: £15.00
Tickets: http://smarturl.it/robinbilston
Facebook / Twitter
20-28 Mount Pleasant, Bilston, Wolverhampton, WV14 7LJ
www.therobin.co.uk
The Junction 2, Cambridge
Tuesday 8th May 2018
**Supporting Danny Bryant
Ticket Price: £15.00 (+ booking fee)
Tickets: http://smarturl.it/junctioncamb
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Clifton Way, Cambridge, CB1 7GX
www.junction.co.uk
Islington O2 Academy 2, London
Wednesday 9th May 2018
**Supporting Danny Bryant
Ticket Price: £18.00
Tickets: http://smarturl.it/o2islington
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16 Parkfield St, London, N1 0PS
https://academymusicgroup.com/o2academyislington
Epstein Theatre, Liverpool
Thursday 10th May 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk/events
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Hanover House, 85 Hanover Street, Liverpool, L1 3DZ
www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk
The Flowerpot, Derby
Friday 11th May 2018
**Supporting Danny Bryant
Ticket Price: £15.00
Tickets: http://smarturl.it/flowerpotderby
Facebook / Twitter
23-25 King St, Derby, DE1 3DZ
www.rawpromo.co.uk
The Citadel, St Helens
Saturday 12th May 2018
**Supporting Danny Bryant
Ticket Price: £15.00
Tickets: http://smarturl.it/citadelehelens
Facebook / Twitter
39 Waterloo St, Saint Helens, WA10 1PX
www.citadel.org.uk
Tithe Barn, Bishops Cleeve
Sunday 13th May 2018
**Supporting Danny Bryant
Ticket Price: £15.00
Tickets: http://smarturl.it/tithebishop
19 Cheltenham Rd, Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham, GL52 8GD
www.cleevetithebarn.org.uk
The Live Rooms, Chester
Thursday 17th May 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: www.thegigcartel.com
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1 Station Rd, Chester CH1 3DR
www.theliverooms.com
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Friday 18th May 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: www.thegigcartel.com
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33 Queen’s Rd, Leeds LS6 1NY
www.brudenellsocialclub.co.uk
The Picturedome, Holmfirth
Saturday 19th May 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: www.thegigcartel.com
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Market Walk, Holmfirth HD9 7DA
www.picturedrome.net
Cheese & Grain, Frome
Saturday 26th May 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: https://cheeseandgrain.ticketsolve.com
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Market Yard, Justice Ln, Frome BA11 1BE
www.cheeseandgrain.com
Phoenix Arts Centre, Exeter
Sunday 27th May 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: www.exeterphoenix.org.uk/events
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Gandy St, Exeter EX4 3LS
www.exeterphoenix.org.uk
Robin 2, Bilston
Thursday 31st May 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: www.thegigcartel.com
Facebook / Twitter
20-28 Mount Pleasant, Bilston WV14 7LJ
www.therobin.co.uk
The Apex, Bury St Edmunds
Friday 1st June 2018
*Supporting King King
Book Online: www.thegigcartel.com
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1 Charter Square, Bury Saint Edmunds IP33 3FD
www.theapex.co.uk
Crossroads Festival, Loreley Germany
Saturday 16th June 2018
Supporting Joe Bonamassa
www.loreley-freilichtbuehne.de
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