Mark: the last time we spoke you had a non-musical project on the go as well, I was wondering how that was going?
Steve: I’m trying to think of which one that was!
Mark: It was the 'Ghost Hunter' thing.
Steve: Oh, yeah, in June I have a ghost hunting show on called “Through the Veil”, and I’m the host of the show, and my team and I go on investigations throughout Louisiana, doing paranormal investigations, and we’re going to film 13 episodes starting in June, and we’re going to air it on a local station here in Louisiana. We are going to try and build a following for it, and then we’ll try and take it to a larger network as we build it. I’ve been working on this for over a year so far, and now it’s coming to fruition.
Mark: You are really busy then, at the moment, does that leave any time for new Lillian Axe material or a tour?
Steve: Yeah, I’ve already started writing the next album, and I’m hoping we can get in to that by the end of the year. I’m also doing some dates with the band called Bad Finger, do you remember them?
Mark: Yeah, “Magic Christian” and all that sort of stuff “Come and Get it”.
Steve: I’m going to be playing guitar with Bad Finger, playing some shows in August. Then I have another project, have you ever heard of a band called Zebra?
Mark: Yeah, saw those guys at Rocklahoma as well.
Steve: They are friends of ours, their drummer Guy Gelso is a monster, he and I are doing a side project called Sledgehammer, and it’s all classic heavy rock from King Crimson to Kansas to Black Sabbath. Then I have Circle of Light, which are the original four Lillian guys before we got signed, we’re also doing a couple of dates in August too. I have about 5 or 6 projects, plus I have a five year old son, so that’s my most important project!
Mark: You obviously don’t like to be idol!
Steve: I don’t. It’s funny because every time I have five minutes where I can sit down and do nothing, I have about thirty projects, even if it’s just cleaning up a room in the house, I have to get up and get moving on, I guess that’s why I’m not able to gain 500 pounds, even though I eat like a horse!!
Mark: Here’s a philosophical question for you. Does music still have the power to change the world in 2014?
Steve: I think it has the power to change individuals, which is the first step in changing the world. I think to be more honest with you, I think it’s more of an individual catharsis that takes place, and the reason I say that is the majority of the people that have come to me and talk about what the music’s meant, it’s all about their own personal demons and fighting inside that they have to deal with. When you get multiple people changing, then you form pockets of resistance and pockets of change, and pockets of new ideas, so I don’t think anybody’s going to write one song, and all of a sudden one country is going to change, I think real true change has got to come from an individual. Reaching individuals, in the way I think our music has, is giving them focus and hope, to be honest with you, in a despair filled, dark society that we live in sometimes. It is what you make of it, but it’s not hard to be taken down and overcome by depression when you see the things that occur in this world. So, it starts off by giving people hope, I can’t tell you the number of comments I’ve got from people who tell me my songs have kept them from taking their own lives and from really going down dark avenues. That in itself is important, and when you have positivity in just one person, that’s when change comes about. When you have depression take over, there’s no room for worrying about the rest of the world, you have to just get through your own daily life. In that aspect, music can change ideas for the good and for the bad. I think that a lot of popular music today is really sending a horrible message, the message is, me, me, me, all about me, I’m only important if I’m dressed the best or have the most money, or the best car, and that’s when kids, of impressionable ages are learning lessons that, that’s the most important thing, you appear rich to everyone else. That’s why we idolise people who have lots of money and fame, and in actuality really smart, important, cool people aren’t the ones that are out flaunting all that stuff. Let me tell you something, man, I don’t care the richest man on the entire planet can be the most miserable, and he can also die in about ten seconds if he takes a step the wrong way, and you don’t take any of that stuff with you! You take yourself and your soul with you whenever you go to wherever you’re going! None of that other stuff means crap!
Mark: I think you’re right; it is worrying, and hard to see how it’s going to change. I think we dreamed that the internet was going to bring us all closer together, but it looks like it’s doing exactly the opposite.
Steve: I agree with that!
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