Steven Reid Williams, Leo Sayer / Paul Young / The Overtones

Steven Reid Williams is a British keyboardist, pianist, and songwriter who currently plays for UK and Australian pop legend Leo Sayer and 80s icon Paul Young, while also contributing as a session musician to artists such as Melanie C, Rebecca Ferguson, Lulu, and Nadine Coyle. Add to that his solo creative output and his work...

The post Steven Reid Williams, Leo Sayer / Paul Young / The Overtones appeared first on The Keyboard Chronicles.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
If you're that good, you could be an absolute dick and still get employment.
you
Hello and welcome to the Keyboard Chronicles podcast for keyboard players.
I'm your host, David Holloway.
And I'm thrilled as always to be here with you.

(00:20):
It's an absolute pleasure to introduce to you Mr.
Stephen Reed-Williams.
As you'll hear in our chat with Stephen, he's had an amazing career already to date,playing with a whole gamut of artists from the overtones through to Paul Young, Leo Sayer,
and a lot, lot more.
He's had a great solo career as well.

(00:41):
done some production, you name it.
He's got some wonderful stories about some of his early gigs and some of the learningcurves.
Yeah, a lot to enjoy in this one.
So I'll let you jump in and I'll talk to you after the show.

(01:04):
It's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show.
How are you this fine?
Well, it's just early autumn.
No, you've got a couple of days of summer left
Yeah, well, it's beautiful here again.
I'm not really suited to the hot weather to be honest.
So I keep telling people I don't want to hear a single word of complaint about the summerthis year.
Once it gets cold again, I don't want to hear a word.

(01:27):
It's been everlasting.
Yep, that's what we like to see.
In fact, perfect summer, not like 76 when apparently it was summer all along and no rainat all till whatever it was, November, and everyone went out in the streets when it
finally rained.
We've had a bit of rain, we've had a bit of cool.
There was a chance to cool down and it goes sunny again.
So yeah, it's beautiful over here.

(01:48):
Yeah, nice.
Pleased to hear it.
It doesn't happen often enough.
um, and across that time, I can imagine the last few months, Stephen had been probablybusy for you to just tell us probably to kick off what your last 12 months have been like
before we dig down a little bit deeper.
happy to do that.
Yeah, my last 12 months, it's been pretty typical to be honest.

(02:08):
I've had, usually my year consists of one, maybe two tours and then a bunch of privatework, a little bit of studio stuff.
So this year has been no different really.
We've just finished a tour with Leo Sayer.
So that's kind of a mop up tour already from last year.
The venues we didn't get to play last year.
And so we've been all over the country again and Ireland.

(02:32):
Just filling in the dates we couldn't do last year with Mr.
Sayer and it's been a lot of fun.
Before that and after that, I just sort of go back to my regular life as a piano playingsinger and that takes loads of different forms.
So I do everything from private events like birthdays and parties and weddings and thingslike that to piano bars to anything I can lay my hands on or anything I still enjoy.

(03:02):
To be honest, it's pretty much how I would put it.
I don't do all the work I used to do, but I pick the bits that I like and I still keep myhand in doing all of that kind of stuff as well as the touring.
That's excellent.
And just, I hadn't thought of asking this, but the private work, Stephen, as far as yousaid, private events and that, how do people get in touch with you?
Is it just via your website or word of mouth from previous events or?

(03:25):
Yeah, it's both really.
I'm very honored actually that a lot of my events lead on from another event.
So a lot of word of mouth going on.
So yeah, that's obviously a good sign.
But yeah, if people define me through my website, I've got a little bit of agencyrepresentation as well.
Sometimes it comes in that way.

(03:45):
uh But again, I'm really lucky.
I don't go out looking for too much.
work it tends to come in and I know that could stop at any time, any day now.
I could be unemployed.
I think we all sort of have that over our heads as self-employed people, not justphysicians, suppose, but anyone self-employed, you know?

(04:05):
So, but so far, yeah, it just keeps coming in.
And, and definitely not expecting you to list names here.
So talking more from an anonymous viewpoint, are there some really iconic private eventsyou've played where you've thought, wow, this is something totally different.
Again, understanding you can't drop names, just broadly.
Yes, absolutely.

(04:26):
And one of the things I love about my job actually is that I can find myself in theseridiculous places and ridiculous parts of the world playing for people.
I've signed confidentiality agreements and all that kind of stuff.
uh And yeah, so you get to see a flavour of life that's very different to my flavour oflife.

(04:47):
But the other end of that, play birthday parties here back home or
you know, like I say, like a piano bar, which is the most, it's the lowliest of the low,isn't it?
I suppose in a way, but I don't see it that way.
love it.
I love all, I love the breadth and I love the variety.
It keeps it interesting for me.
And often actually, as much as I love doing those crazy events, the sort of the highprofile ones, if you like, they're often not as fun as the less high profile ones.

(05:18):
Yeah, high pressure.
again, just talking at the broadest level, confidentiality agreements aren't uncommonobviously.
And I assume that's a combination of you're playing high profile events where, you know,people may want to be able to party without fear of it going to the media and stuff like
that, I assume is the main reason for that.
Yeah, it's things like that.
weren't, know, it doesn't matter how, you know, obvious your profile is or how big a nameyou are, you still want to have fun.

(05:45):
So people, I mean, often it involves, you know, you don't always have to have pay, itmight just be no phones, you know, please put your phone away.
No social media, nothing like that.
So, you know, it could just be that.
But, you know, there are lots of my friends doing this kind of work as well.
We've all got crazy stories.

(06:06):
of some of these parties and they could be wonderful, amazing events as you can imagine ona scale that most people don't get to do.
On the other hand, I can do tiny events too and I love them all.
Yeah, no, that's amazing.
So let's go back to how, what got you to that point of being able to play amazing umparties and other events like that.

(06:30):
So your musical upbringing, Stephen, what got you into music in the first place and led tothis passion that you're still exploring today?
Yeah, it's, that's the question, isn't it?
For all of us, everyone's path is different.
mean, mine was uh kind of through my parents, I suppose, that they, when we were very,very young, one Christmas arrived and I think my parents bought my brother a keyboard.

(06:56):
And in fact, it kind of might have been this one.
Oh, well, is that one of the Casio's?
It is, yes, the Casio is the...
It's the PT-20.
I didn't leave it there by the way, it just happens to be there anyway.
Yeah, and I think I just took to it better, think.

(07:19):
I don't know, it might have been a Bon Tempu we had, but he wasn't interested in it asmuch as I was and I took it on.
He actually started playing guitar a little bit after that.
But from then on really, it was a case of you couldn't really stop me.
So asking for the next...
best keyboard, know, next Christmas.
And then I have to really give it out to my music teacher from school.

(07:41):
ah I'm a huge advocate for music education.
He was an amazing, and still a good friend of mine.
He was an amazing teacher and he sort of spotted something in me and made sure that itdidn't go to waste.
But not only did it, you know, he obviously recognized I was getting a bit handy on thekeyboards, but he said, well, you know, need to be in the choir as well, Steve.

(08:04):
And he was absolutely right, communal singing and doing all of that and make sure I gotinvolved in all kinds of other music that maybe I wasn't as comfortable with.
So he stretched me and made sure that my sort of formative musical years were strong.
But it was every break time, every lunchtime after school, there was a whole community.

(08:25):
And I think a lot of people who have grown up as musicians will say the same thing.
That was their community.
It's often their friendship group.
You probably heard this a thousand times from everyone you've interviewed.
Music's a special thing.
It brings people together and my friendships were no exception.
We formed bands and I've still got some of those friendships now.

(08:46):
Yeah, that was my musical upbringing.
After I left school, I took a bit of a route through music.
I did an A-level in music, which I nearly failed.
I got an E at A-level music.
So yeah, I was lucky to scrape through.
I feel like I should defend myself at that point.
I'm not even bothered.

(09:06):
I'm just going to leave it out there.
But you probably, I'd like to jump in there because you raised a really good point.
You called out your music teacher that was such an influence.
So what did he do that works so well versus what maybe wasn't done so well for your, foryour A levels that you didn't do as well as you would have thought.
Well, it's, I mean, it's not just the individual teaching skills that he was, he wasunbound by the curriculum in a way that sixth form, I don't know what it's like over in

(09:38):
Australia, but back in whatever year that was 92, when I, when I went to sixth form, thinkit it would have been probably the London board of examination.
can't remember now, but, and that, you know, there was no modern music sort of course.
We did one module maybe.
think as far as we got up into modern music was Eleanor Rigby.

(10:00):
uh And it was a lot of Bach harmony and reading music.
don't get me wrong, those skills I wish I had ah in greater abundance.
I just don't.
And I didn't then.
And composing was something I loved to do, but doing it within the strictures of thatcourse, ah I was not the strongest student.

(10:21):
It was interesting though, because even our sort of genius uh
student who was there, know, the guy, he could play anything at any time to anyone fromany source.
I think even he only got a C or something like that.
It was just a very, very strict, you know, course and it didn't suit my musical nature atall.
at school before that, yeah, there was, we had pop music studies and we had classical aswell.

(10:47):
And we had, you know, a whole breadth and everything in between.
I think they're allowed to play to the strengths of the individual student skills a bitmore.
So I don't blame my sixth form teacher too much.
yeah, it was a different experience altogether.
Yeah, it sounds like it.
so, I mean, for you to maybe not have the optimal experience in sixth form or your lastyear of school, what then led you to continue going after school and ending up in a

(11:16):
career?
So what were those early couple of years like that led to you going professional?
Well, again, I didn't go straight to there.
I came from a, so was quite good at school, if you like.
I worked hard in all my subjects and got pretty good grades and all that.
So I was, I was expected to sort of go on and, know, I think I'm to boast about that thismany years later on.

(11:37):
was out signing like, it, GCSEs do not matter at all.
No, I shouldn't say that.
There's a bunch of kids out there just got results.
It does matter.
um But yes, it was.
It was expected for me to go to uni, so I did.
So I started off doing straight music and again, I quickly realised this was Sixth Form2.0.

(11:59):
So I played the system and I decided to do a joint honours with English, which is my otherpassion.
And because of that, I got to choose the modules in music that I really wanted to do.
And that played to my strengths when off we went.
So I had a good time at uni, much better time.
I got a good grade at the end of it.

(12:19):
And then I left uni and that's when I started.
Did I start?
I I think the first thing I did when I left uni was I became an assistant manager of arecord shop.
So that's sort of the music industry, isn't it?
Yeah.

(12:40):
But it wasn't the dizzy heights.
But yeah, and then I actually became a teacher.
So my degree actually was really useful.
It got me my job as a teacher.
So I became a college lecturer for a while.
Taught music there.
And that's when I met some people who kind of changed things ongoing.

(13:02):
That's where I sort of formed a few connections that then really put me on the path, Isuppose, to do music proper.
Yeah, amazing.
so that, mean, those connections, what was the first gig where you went, okay, I'm doingthis fairly regularly now.
I probably won't just be doing teaching and I'm going to be doing a lot more performanceproduction and so on.

(13:24):
Yeah, I remember we had a um mature student, I don't know if you know her over there, butshe came and did a course with us and she ended up being quite successful over here.
name was Beth Rowley, UK singer.
She kind of came around at the same time as early Duffy and probably very early Adele,right back then I think.

(13:50):
um
I might have got my dates slightly wrong, but she had a career and I played piano for herjust for a little bit, just a couple of gigs in London.
And it was just at a little place called the Bedford, that was it, the Bedford in Ballum,which is a music venue.
I can open my things sometimes, but they also have these great little bands that come onand they do almost like a showcase thing.

(14:17):
So I think she asked me if I could do it and I did.
I think I agreed to 50 quid.
for Fuel.
And it was at that gig that I saw another band playing, and I realized that there wasgreat music out there being made by undiscovered bands and undiscovered artists.
I was in my little world down in the West Country and I hadn't really seen this.

(14:40):
And I went to the big lights of London and I thought, wow, these guys are amazing.
And we spoke and we met and we exchanged numbers and they really liked the way I playedand I really loved the way they played.
So that from that gig became a connection to some guys who I'm still very much friendswith now.
And, you know, we still work together all these years later, but it was, it was those guysthat this is a very long convoluted story to get me to the say that they ended up playing,

(15:08):
uh being the backing band for an artist called Jamelia, who was pretty big over here, sortof R &B artist.
And uh long story short, I ended up on keys for Jamelia.
So that's when I decided and it wasn't like we were doing gigs every week.
It wasn't that busy, but I just thought that the teaching had run its course and that Iwas enjoying music now and I was going to take the plunge.

(15:33):
So really with, with very little financial support from these sort of new gigs, I just, Itook the plunge and it worked and it worked out.
It certainly did.
Yeah, it did.
But yeah, there was not much to go to, although it's that early point.
I was still just doing pubs and bars.

(15:53):
And then this one kind of, if you like, you know, pro pro gig, but yeah, that's it.
And what led on from Jamelia?
What was the next step after that?
The music industry is a funny little place, isn't it?
You end up with your crew.
So these people that you meet, that's sort of your core group, if you like.

(16:14):
And so we're still like a core group, although we haven't actually played together in asort of a band like that, a lineup like that for a while.
But those guys know other guys and those other guys will be looking for a keyboard playerat some point and those guys will need a keyboard player.
And so your network just expands.
Yeah, I was enjoying it and I was playing great music with great guys, having fun, hangingout, and ah that just kept moving to other places and other bands.

(16:49):
And we got the overtones job, I think, through the same guys.
And that led on to Rebecca Ferguson and people like that.
And that leads on to another one.
And actually,
So the people I play with in Paul Young, they're four or five steps removed from where Istarted.
But now those guys know all the guys I originally played with.

(17:11):
And so it's just a big web of great musicians, you know, I've had the honor to play with.
And I think if you do your job well and you're not a dick, ah work will come your way, youknow?
And that's how it's been.
Just one thing kind of leads to the other.

(17:33):
And before we move on to some of those amazing artists, from your time as both an educatorand getting an education in music, whether it was Jamelia or those subsequent few gigs,
what was the learning curve for you both musically and non-musically about how to be aprofessional musician?
Hmm.
Yeah.

(17:55):
That's a good question.
Um, well, it's, it's something that it's almost retrospective, isn't it?
I'm thinking looking back now over my career, I can see, I could see why it worked, Ithink.
But at the time, I don't know if I knew.
Uh, so I could think I can say now that looking back, there are certain core fundamentalthings that have to be in place.

(18:21):
So reliability.
You know, it has to be somewhere up there.
You know, being musically reliable, obviously.
So being dependable musically so that people know that when they hire you for a job,you're going to be able to play the stuff that they want you to play consistently night
after night.
But that's probably not enough.
know, some creativity as well to go with it.

(18:42):
The ability to expand, to add an identity to what you're doing.
I think that's one of my uh
skills, I think is to turn something a little bit into my own.
I love, obviously we all learn from other people and other musicians.

(19:04):
We pick up tricks and, you know, and add sort of styles and generally learn how to playwithin styles.
adding your own flavor is something I think that's been important to me, whatever genreit's been, so that people know, hopefully it sounds a bit like me.
And then
you know, yeah, being on time, being that those sort of things, having having good gear,up to date gear that's not going to break down, you know.

(19:32):
ah So you come as a package, I think, and probably more important almost than any of thatis, is just to be a nice person.
ah To be someone who's nice to hang around with, you know, and that because as you know,most of the music business is hanging around.
Yes.
It's waiting.

(19:53):
You play one and a half hours a night if you're on tour.
That's it.
You know, you might have a soundcheck time, but the rest of the time, I mean, you know,we, I do get away as well, spend some time on my own, but you're spending time with these
guys a lot of time.
So if you're a, if you're an asshole, then work's not going to come your way.

(20:15):
Although I say that some assholes do get work.
Don't they?
I've never understood that.
How does that work?
Yeah, look, cause you're absolutely right.
Every artist I ever speak to says it's about the hang and that's a key selection criteria,but you're right.
are still some dicks out there.
um
They must be so good, so good at playing music that it doesn't matter anymore.

(20:36):
So I'm obviously not that good, but you could be, if you're that good, you could be anabsolute dick and still get employment.
That's right.
And what I've failed to mention too, to our listeners and viewers is obviously aside frombeing an amazing keyboard player, you've developed huge skills in both singing and some
guitar playing as well.
um How did that evolve?

(20:59):
know you even back to school, you did choral stuff and so on and your voice is amazing.
How did you integrate that with what else you did in those early years as well?
Well, firstly, thank you for the kind words.
And I always appreciate them, especially when it comes to singing, because I've never seenmyself as a singer.
I've always been a piano player first who happens to sing.

(21:20):
But I've noticed the longer time goes on is people notice the piano playing less.
Obviously in work where I'm singing, mean, obviously.
they say, you you've got a lovely voice, whatever.
So that's, I always really appreciate those compliments um because I never saw myself as asinger.
And it was, that's a deep end thing as well, really.
uh
I used to be in a duo and I would play piano and the other chap would sing, play guitar.

(21:46):
He did pretty much all the songs I did one or two.
uh And just one night for reasons I still don't understand, he just didn't make it to thegig and I was left on my own to do a gig.
So I thought, well, I know eight songs maybe.
So I stretched them out and I tried a couple of things.

(22:06):
I bust them.
It was just a pub gig.
Uh, and I got through the night and no one complained and no one said anything.
I still got paid.
Uh, I don't know if I got half or I took double, but anyway, the lesson was learned.
thought I can do this on my own.
So I did.
So I've been singing and playing piano on my own ever since.
And I have to say, you know, despite all of the great work I've done, you know, with,with, with wonderful artists and, know, it's sort of high profile stuff.

(22:36):
It's really that work.
that's kept me afloat and given me a proper living because it's consistent.
I can work every week.
So that gives me, yeah, I'm in a privileged position actually of being able to work almostall the time because there are venues that will always have me.
I actually run a couple of venues.

(22:58):
I run the music at a couple of venues so I can always sort of give myself work as well.
So that's a really lucky thing.
um But that's because of the singing.
the ability to be autonomous and go out on my own.
But yes, since I started singing, I have to assume I'm much better at it than when Istarted doing it.

(23:19):
It's just another skill that you learn.
I'm not a natural singer.
There are people out there and I get to work with them, incredible singers, just anotherscale.
They just came out of the womb sounding that way.
I did not.
I came out of the womb.
with, I suppose, a rough ear for music, you know, and I could sing and tune.

(23:40):
And the choir stuff we did at school, was that sort of, that helps you with the kind ofcommunal singing thing and learning to sing and tune all those kinds of things.
But as becoming a singer with a voice and an identity and something that people want tolisten to, that's taken time and effort and dedication, a lot of singing in my car.

(24:01):
Yeah and lessons as well, Steven?
Or just self-taught?
No, no, no lessons.
Yeah.
yeah, it's, um, it's a difficult thing to teach singing, which I used to do.
Uh, because, because again, it's, I sort of don't want to discourage anyone who's havingsinging lessons because I, I, are important.

(24:21):
They can be incredibly important and useful, but I often find that people who can singreally, really well, just do it.
And it's annoying.
It's frustrating, but
You know, they're just, that's just the way they were made, you know?
And I don't consider it a gift thing or anything like that.
I think it's, you know, genetics and physiology and biology, but you can improve yourvoice with lessons, obviously, because a lot of people don't know singing technique.

(24:53):
So they might just be hindering themselves just by using bad technique, but that quality,that tonal thing, the...
the voice that we recognise, you're going, oh, I love that person's voice, that identity.
Think about Freddie Mercury's voice or for instance, you know, that like, that's a singer,isn't it?
You know, that's not a, that's not a singing lesson thing, is it?
That's a Freddie Mercury thing.

(25:15):
And so, yeah, being that kind of singer with an identity and a voice that people go, oh,that's, that's a great voice.
I think that just happens to you.
Is that controversial?
Yeah, no, I don't think so at all.
No, I think you're right.
And Freddie's the perfect example.
And, um, and, and I mean, obviously that stood you in good stead alongside your playing.

(25:35):
I mean, we've talked, mentioned the overtones in passing and I look, I plead ignorance onthe overtones until doing research for this article.
And funnily enough on Spotify, you look at their picture and I'm thinking punk or indie oralternative.
And then I listened to them and went, wow, what an amazing vocally driven.
band.
what was that?
You know, what, tell us a little bit about your experience back then.

(25:58):
Well, um the overtones have been confused more than once with the undertones.
Two musically different identities you could not get.
That's right.
Yeah, working with the boys, I worked with them for, oh gosh, it must have been nearly adecade.
And that gig was with those original guys I told you about, who I met at that gig inBallon.

(26:26):
Just a four piece, although the bass player, Chappie, came along later.
He's also a beautiful friend of mine.
But the four of us, we backed these five guys.
And yeah, it's just massive vocal harmonies, dancing.
That's a whole different thing.
So they were choreography as well as singing, as well as putting on a show, sharp suits.

(26:51):
I think it was probably the closest I'll ever get to doing
those kind of soul and Motown gigs, you know, from the 60s, 70s, where everything is supersmart and, you know, it's a very presented gig, you know, in that way.
And we used to do some really challenging stuff musically.
was the swing and elements of jazz in there, pop, Motown, blues.

(27:16):
um Yeah.
And we took it very, very seriously.
And we used to...
uh
put together these fantastic arrangements because it had to be quite Shazam.
It was such a visual thing that the music had to kind of keep up with that.
And so we do these really huge intros and massive convoluted atros as well with monsterhits and gospel chops and all kinds of stuff.

(27:44):
it was, and that's, that's again, largely down to my friend Ricky, Ricky Riccardi, who's awonderful musician and musical director.
And yeah, so because of him uh and his ideas largely, that was a very successfulenterprise.
For years and years, we played shows almost every year.

(28:05):
So that was a reliable tour every year for a long time, which we don't do anymore, whichis sad in a way, but these things have their time.
Yeah, they do.
a show like that, as you said, being so diverse, you need a musical director.
so um what did you learn from that stint as a player?

(28:25):
Because covering so many genres alone can be challenging.
But yeah, what were some key takeaways for you from that period of time?
So, I mean, working with those guys generally in any context, which I've done over theyears, has always had these elements in it.
But I suppose that was very geared towards playing the same thing every night.

(28:47):
So there were maybe one or two little spots for soloing, but even those were quite uhorchestrated generally.
So, you know, like when you hear an Eagles guitar solo.
you know what you're going to get.
It's part of the song.
And so that was how that band went as well.
so yeah, we'd have these moments where there might be a little bit of variation in those,but not really much.

(29:12):
for the rest of the show, you were playing exactly the same thing with precision, youknow, and for me on two or three keyboards, sound swapping and splits and things like that
and all that, managing the side of, you know, that side of playing as well.
Um, not, not as much.
mean, it was a more organic gig than say something like Paul, Paul Young, um, which isvery keys and, you know, splits and, um, lots of stuff going on with sounds.

(29:38):
It was more, it was more piano than that, but there was a lot of keyboard work going on,uh, you know, managing your setup and, yeah.
And just being precision every night.
I suppose a bit like an orchestra pit, you know, a West End show.
where it's got to be replicated every night.
Again, I've not done the West End thing, but I suppose it's there, there are crossoverelements there.

(30:01):
So that learning that, being tight every night, getting those endings and starts and stopseven tighter, and getting the feel just where it's supposed to be, all those kinds of
things, just learning those skills and really honing that cohesion side of music isprobably what came from that the most.

(30:23):
Um, lot of comradery in that as well on stage, between the band, obviously the boys aswell singing.
Um, yeah, learning to be just a part of something much, much bigger, you know, being,being a part of that and doing a job in nailing it.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, it's about nailing it for sure.
And probably another unplanned question, Stephen, is there an artist you've played withthat is the absolute polar opposite as far as so very loose, huge opportunity to

(30:51):
improvise, go your own way within reason?
Have you played for one of those artists?
Well, I think that perfectly describes Leo.
So when I talk about that gig, one of the things, it's a real flex actually to be able tosay to other musicians, look, I'm on this gig.
It's four of us.
There's no track.

(31:11):
There's no click and it can go anywhere.
and often does.
So whilst obviously we have songs to play, we rehearse, we, you know, we're not turning upbusking.
We know exactly what we're supposed to do.
And should the arrangement go the way it's supposed to, it will be the same pretty much,but every solo is different.

(31:31):
Um, the ending of a song could change.
Leo may well decide to do another verse, another chorus.
Uh, the, might throw in a reggae section, you know, something like that might happen.
He'll hit, and he's such a comedian on stage that the music's got to go with the comedy.
So he might drop down to, you get these ridiculous fades on stage where, know, we'replaying to a,

(31:55):
almost pin drop level and then it'll go huge again and you just got to watch him for thatand he's basically orchestrating, he's a conductor.
So that is the polar opposite to almost every modern gig where you're on track, you're onears and I love that too.
That's a totally different discipline.
It's not that I don't enjoy that, but there is a bit of, uh I think it's a case now wherethose gigs, the Leo type gigs are becoming

(32:24):
you know, far fewer.
as artists use more track and I understand it, you know, that when they put these songstogether in the studio, there's loads of stuff going on.
and it's tempting to use all of that and fill in the gaps.
And often a lot of that is, you know, can be the keyboard work, uh, because you've onlygot, you know, two hands.

(32:47):
so, yeah, that ends up on track.
But I think Leo just took a different road and said, yeah,
Well, mean, Leo, Leo, what do you say?
Roots.
Roots.
We like a root in Australia.
Yeah, took a different route basically.

(33:11):
I think it's better for it in that particular scenario, it's better for it because theaudience just love it.
That's right.
think, and, um I don't feel like Leo say needs an introduction to our listeners andviewers either.
Obviously not in the UK, definitely not in Australia.
And I feel that Leo actually had, well, you've just done a US tour.
had a lot of success in the US.

(33:31):
So I don't feel he needs a lot of introduction, but I'm interested just how you joined andlike how you got working for him.
And then, yeah.
And I'll follow up with a couple of questions after that.
Yeah, sure.
um Again, it's all about the connections always.
So the bass player who was with the Overtones, as I said, he's a really good friend ofmine, Dave Troke, let me call him out.

(33:56):
He's the most amazing bass player.
uh Please look him up.
He's fantastic.
And he was playing with Leo and uh the keyboard player at that time went off to play, Ithink with Rick Astley.
So he got that job.
And so the space was open and so my friend Dave recommended me for the gig and I didn'teven audition.

(34:19):
I think, I think I've got a little bit of a web presence.
So I think Leo looked me up from what I remember.
I think the rest of the band did as well just to see that it was the right vibe.
Um, and honestly, I don't think they were sure at the time, but they got me in anyway.
Uh, and that was it.
I ended up in rehearsals on day one and yeah, no one, no one sacked me.

(34:42):
Yes.
And I'm still there.
You are.
Because how many years has it been now, Stephen with Leo?
Yeah.
Uh, let's do the math.
So I think it was 2017 I joined.
Oh, okay.
Eight years now.
Um, I have to say, just, remember the first rehearsal and it was, it was one, it was, itwas a really big moment for my, in my career.

(35:06):
Now I love all of his songs, but, uh, he's got so many hits to choose from, hasn't he?
Uh, but it was when we started rehearsing one man band, which is not even a particularlypiano song, but
I just, I nearly like forgot to play.
was sort of listening because this is my upbringing, you know, my, dad playing these songsand I just, yeah, that was a real special moment for me.

(35:30):
I said I'm in the band of the guy who sings this song and he's still here doing it.
And yeah, that was a special moment.
And I still, I still feel that way actually.
I get a smile on stage with those songs.
They're, they're, they're classics and, and there's so many in the set that
It's a smile fest.
Yes.

(35:51):
All the way.
Absolutely.
so tell us a little bit about, we're not a hugely technical podcast, but how do you coverthe stuff you need to as a keyboard player with Leo?
So, what's your keyboard rig for that show?
Uh, so because it's, an organic type show, like I said, I try and keep the keyboards thatway as well.

(36:12):
I was actually, I was using a laptop for a little while with Leo, which is totally wrong.
Um, I was using it with Paul Young, which is totally right.
Um, that's so many little sands going on and actually Leo is a huge fan of technology.
So he's, he's not anti that stuff at all.
I think he almost encouraged me to use it, but I, I used that for a few years.

(36:32):
Um, so some of my Hammond sounds were coming from, from the laptop.
And in the end, thought this gig can go anywhere.
I've got time to play the keyboards like they're supposed to be played.
So I'll, I'll get myself a Hammond.
So not a real one.
they wouldn't, they wouldn't allow that, but, I bought myself a crewman mojo 61.

(36:52):
So it's an Italian made Hammond, same, which I think is the best one.
So yeah.
And there's no presets on it.
You can't, you can't save.
thunder in my heart, you know, or anything, you just have to play it like a properHammond.
you saw you pulling the drawbars out, you've got the pedals and you're using it like aproper instrument.

(37:12):
And on the bottom, I've got anything that's piano related.
So that's the RD 2000.
So my trusty Roland had Roland since I started my career.
This is the latest iteration that I've got from their sort of stage piano lineup.
I love it.
It does all things pianos.
Some of the Rhodes add strings and pads.
I do a lot of that behind the pianos to fill out the space because I'm on my own.

(37:34):
There's no one else.
I try and do that in a subtle way, not a cheesy way.
And on my left for this last two tours, which is a new edition I've got, I just brought myNord stage two out of retirement.
And I use that for, there's a little bit of L shaped work going on, which always looks abit funny, but I've got some strings and things going on for feel like, make it feel like

(37:59):
dancing.
And then we switched to the end of that, we do like a funk section at the end of thatsong, which can go on indefinitely.
So I've got a clave at the top end on that.
And so the Nord's really good for like those sorts of things.
um And then I also use it, I switch over to the Nord for a couple of the Whirly sounds,which the Roland and Karp do as well.

(38:22):
uh I just said that, didn't I?
Sorry, Roland.
Yeah, so.
Yeah, it's brilliant for that sort of thing.
So I literally swip around and I play for something like stormy weather, which is justthat whirly sound.
it's, yeah.
So it's a really organic, simple setup.
It involves a lot of work and a lot of playing.

(38:43):
For those of you, I don't know how technical you want to go, but there are presumablykeyboard players listening to this.
So there is a compromise I have to make, but it's something that I make use of for thisgig is that I midi the bottom keyboard, the piano to the
Hammond so that I can bring in the Hammond as a bed underneath the piano.

(39:03):
And of course that's not the way you play a Hammond.
So it's, it's not quite right, but underneath sitting in there, just, it's the, it's theeffect of having a second person playing Hammond.
And then other times I switch exclusively to it, or I might do a left hand on the pianoand right line on the, on the Hammond.
So that's when it's more authentic, but I'm using it as much as I possibly can to give asmuch sound as I possibly can because we don't have track and because we don't have click.

(39:27):
I know I like it that way.
I'm assuming because you're the mojo that when you are touring places like the US and UKyou're cutting your own gear, you're not backlining?
So if in the US we hired in, but at that point, the US tour actually is a little whileago.
So we didn't have, didn't have the Mojo for that.
So I my laptop.
That's where the laptop comes in handy actually.

(39:49):
hiring in gear and then anyone watching this who's a musician will know, especially ifthey're a keyboard player, that hiring in gear abroad is a fraught with, honestly, the
number of times I get the right gear is fewer than the times I don't.
Uh, so you end up reprogramming everyone else is having a beer and you spend all afternoonbefore the show reprogramming a keyboard.

(40:11):
So that's where the laptop comes in handy.
Cause if you've got the sort of complex sounds going on there, uh, then you can carry itaround with you and doesn't, almost doesn't matter what they present you with.
Um, yeah.
I mean, that reminds me of my, my very first gig with Jamelia.
Uh, I don't know don't mind, I went off a tangent then.

(40:31):
My very first gig with Jamelia, I remember.
particularly because one, was my first gig, but two, uh because it was in Kazakhstan.
wow.
Yeah.
We played for the president, I believe, of Kazakhstan.
uh So you imagine my first sort of pro gig was a bit of a strange one.
And they asked me the day before the gig as well.

(40:53):
So that came in really last minute that the other keyboard player was unwell, I think.
So I stepped in and I had to learn the stuff at home.
And then I drove to Heathrow.
that night didn't get any sleep.
And then on the flight over I was chatting with Louis, my friend who's still like a friendof mine in Qatar.
We learnt all the songs over there.
We were sort of running through our heads.

(41:15):
then when we got there, not only did I have this to contend with all these new songs thatI never played before, this artist I hadn't met until we got to the airport, but they
presented me with the Hired in Gear was a horrendous Casio.
one behind you.
Only slightly better than this one.

(41:37):
Seriously.
It was terrible.
I was only saved because it had MIDI out.
Yeah.
And I brought at that time my sound module.
There weren't laptops at that point, but we had, well, we probably were laptops.
Gosh, I don't know.
It doesn't matter.
But anyway, I didn't have one.
And I had a JV 1080, the Roland JV 1080, the classic module.
that, I was saved by that.
But otherwise, and we had a power cut halfway through.

(42:00):
So everything reset.
as well.
It a terrible gig really.
I still got the job somehow.
But yeah, so that's what happens when you hire in gear sometimes in funny places.
And this many years later, how many years it is, that hasn't really changed.
I'll still turn up to a gig, uh you know, in Germany or Italy and it will be the wrongkeyboard.

(42:24):
yeah, so for that reason, the laptop's quite handy.
oh And look, you can't beat a JV 1080.
I've literally got one sitting 37 metres away from me.
I still have mine and love it.
Yeah.
Yeah, do know what?
I sold mine.
I shouldn't have sold it.
Don't ever sell it.
No, there's lots of them around still, but yes, I agree.

(42:47):
It's just amazing.
um and so let's jump back over the uh fence again, Stephen, to the more regimented.
And as you said, this is not a negative thing.
It's a positive thing.
So Paul Young is an obvious example again, um, in the UK and Australian sense, Paul Youngis incredibly well known again.
I'm not sure what the U S I assume he had some big success over there with some of hisamazing songs as well.

(43:08):
Yeah.
Um, tell us about, about that gig because yeah, it's such a.
Well, you can probably describe it better what his sound palette's like, cause it is quitedifferent.
Yes, we, um, I suppose that most of us know the big hits.
So wherever I my hat was obviously a huge hit.

(43:28):
Um, come back and stay.
And those really sort of belay what's going on with, with his back catalog.
if you check out, the, so the big album, uh, one, we did a 25 year tour for a couple ofyears ago and that was No Parlay.
Uh, which is an incredible album.

(43:49):
But it's weird as well.
he wouldn't mind me saying that at all.
are some really strange elements to it.
Some of the keyboard sounds, he was very experimental.
Uh, and his thing was kind of to take almost like a soul sound, a soul Motown thing and,and eighties it up, you know, at that point and use modern technology and make it sound

(44:11):
fresh and different and new.
And because of that, there's, there's a lot going on in keyboard world.
The classic example of that is a song called Iron Out the Rough Spots, which is on thatalbum.
And it involves, again, I'll try not to be too technical, but it involves four splits onthe bottom keyboard and three on the top.

(44:39):
And none of them really makes sense in terms of the pitch of where they are on thekeyboard versus what they sound like.
Cause obviously if you're doing a split down the bottom of the keyboard,
You've obviously octave it up, know, one, two, three octaves, whatever.
so, but also some of them need sustaining and others don't and you're swapping aroundconstantly.
So I'm holding one sustaining here, but then moving to the bottom keyboard and thenplaying a line on the right.

(45:04):
And it's, it's super complicated.
Paul didn't realize I was doing it until he noticed one day he went, I thought that was onthe tracks.
No, no Paul, I'm doing all this.
um
But that's tricky.
That's really like keyboard science work.
It's almost not playing keyboards.

(45:26):
I don't know what it is.
It's something else.
It's almost more physical than anything else than creative say.
Obviously I've got to play it right.
But it's parts, it's bits.
And that's what a lot of his stuff is like.
And then our other...
poets, know, every time you go somewhere, we've got that beautiful piano riff, which is ajoy to play.

(45:50):
um But it's not just a piano.
It would sound wrong just as a piano.
It's a piano with a very tight delay on it to get that particular sound with a layer aswell underneath.
um So it's very put together in a way that the sort of Leo gig, I suppose, isn't.
And did you have a role as the player, Stephen, as far as, you said, quite rightly, Pauluses some tracks because some of the stuff, particularly this, I know it's amazing vocal.

(46:18):
Is it song for the common people?
Like I love the common people, like amazing, amazing vote.
There's all sorts of stuff I can see where you would actually need tracks.
How do you decide what the balance is of keeping your interest as a player versus needingto replicate some of that more complex stuff?
Yeah, it's, I think it comes down to at least for me, I want it to come down to what isthe most obvious thing that people can hear on the keyboards.

(46:46):
If I'm not playing it, then there's a discord there, isn't there, between the visuals.
And I'll say, often it doesn't matter.
People can't, you know, often see my fingers, but if you're on a festival or somethinglike that, where there's cameras on you maybe, um or smaller gigs or people, know, people
can see down.
Um, maybe it doesn't matter to others, but it matters to me that I'm doing the thingthat's like either iconic or the most obvious.

(47:12):
So there'd be no point putting that on a track because it's the thing that stands out themost people can hear it.
So I play it, you know, it makes perfect sense to even though it would sound exactly rightif we had it on track, you know, cause we could take it from the original record and of
it, but I get it closest as I can and I play it.

(47:33):
because it's the thing that's obvious.
So other than that, it then comes down to what needs to be in there, what absolutely hasto be heard to make the track sound the way it should.
And then the other stuff will go.
I'm pretty sure he hasn't got everything from these records on the track.
We make decisions, we lose things, elements that aren't required, and it's done that way.

(47:58):
But from my point of view, yeah, it's got to be about what's the most standout thing.
I think, yeah, across the board is pretty much how it works, think.
Yeah, no, thank you.
That's, that's amazing.
And I do want you to pick out so, and I'm aware that I've talked about Leo and Paul andwe're talking 70s, 80s, and that you've worked with a whole bunch of artists through the
90s and 2000s.

(48:19):
there some other sessions or live performances you've done with other artists that havestood out to you as highlights or stretched you or were new learning for you?
That's a good question.
Yeah, I think in terms of being stretched, I think, well, I mean, in a way the pool gig isa bit of a stretch because there's so much keyboard work going on.

(48:42):
Other than that, I think it's more environment based and music based.
I think playing radio is a stretch.
when you end up on radio too, and you're doing one of those sessions with Sir Terry, blesshim.
or something like that.
That's a stretch, I think, because you're in a funny environment.
You can't really hear what's going on properly.
It's your cramped space and uh you're going out to millions of people.

(49:06):
And that's a bit of a stress.
I don't get nervous much these days, but those kinds of events, think, that's a bit ofpressure actually.
ah So I consider those kinds of things a stretch.
Anything that involves, I suppose for me, jazz is a stretch.
I'm not a jazz pianist.

(49:26):
But that's a funny, you know, that's a huge statement.
What does that mean to be a jazz pianist?
I used to run a jazz club, so I know what jazz piano players sound like.
You know, I've heard some of the best.
Dave Newton is one of my heroes.
An incredible jazz pianist.
He used to come play at my club.
So there's that level, but I can't do anything like that.

(49:48):
But then at the other end, there's, you know, people who don't have any, I suppose, jazzsensibilities and that's fine too.
And I'm probably...
somewhere in the middle.
So sometimes I end up on a gig where we go, yeah, there's some jazz in this.
I go, okay, what kind of jazz are we talking about?
And so I find myself in positions where sometimes I might be being pushed, you know,within my sort of skill set within jazz.

(50:10):
And other times I find myself being ahead of, you know, where I need to be on the jazzscale, if that makes sense.
You know, there was a gig with Nell Brydon that we did.
yeah, that was, that was quite sort of
jazz bass, but I had enough jazz for that gig.
Uh, but then other gigs that come up and go, this is, this is a stretch.

(50:31):
I've got to really reach, and you know, pull something out because this is not my natural,natural area.
um, yeah, anything that involves, you know, the jazz world is something that I, I respectand revere and I approach with a great deal of humility because it's not, it's not my

(50:55):
It's not my zone.
But I think naturally for that reason, you know, that the work that tends to come my wayis, the work that I am comfortable with.
Yeah.
Which is pop and soul and blues and country and, know, and all those kinds of things.
So there's that.
mean, there are surprise gigs.

(51:15):
Uh, let me, let me mention, let me call out Sam Outlaw.
Yeah.
So Sam Outlaw is a country artist.
Okay.
um
And I worked with him a couple of times and he's eh got some really special songs.
I didn't notice at the time.
I was busy and he said, he just got my number from somebody.

(51:36):
said, can you come and do this session?
And we did this little gig and it was only afterwards I thought, wow, I actually reallyloved those songs.
And I started listening to them.
And eh yeah, if that gig came up again, I would, yeah.
it would be the most beautiful experience because I know the song's backwards now with allthe backing vocals and everything and it hasn't really come up.

(51:59):
We only did it twice.
So sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone musically.
So yeah, I didn't appreciate that enough at the time, but looking back, yeah, those gigswere special as well.
He's a really amazing artist.
Highly recommend people go listen to him as well.
We'll check him out and just going back to your radio comment, Steven, look, um, Iapologize to our non-UK non-Australian listeners, but I can't let the Sir Terry comment

(52:26):
goes.
I assume we're talking to Sir Terry Wogan here.
So do you obviously had the opportunity to meet him for the sake of our non-UKnon-Australian visit?
Terry is an absolute icon as a radio and TV personality.
Um, yeah, w w was that a bit of a moment even just getting to lay eyes on him?
Yeah, yeah.
It's funny because people ask me, you know, you've worked with so many famous people andwho's the most amazing person that you've met?

(52:56):
ah And yeah, mean, Terry has to be up there because for us growing up in the UK, ah yeah,like you say, he was an absolute icon legend.
He was the presenter for a show called Blankety Blank.
uh
a sort TV quiz show thing.
But he also, was the voice of Eurovision for years and years and years.

(53:19):
us Australians know him, Stephen.
That's how we know him.
Okay, gotcha.
he, yeah, but anyone who's listened to that then will know his sort of dry wit, but he wasthe loveliest, friendliest guy.
And I remember, because I met him a couple of times, but I think the first time he camearound the studio with flapjacks that Mrs.

(53:40):
Walton had made.
oh So he just gave us flapjacks that his wife had made.
And so for the sake of our non-UK listeners, flapjacks essentially are pancakes.
Well, sorry, I apologize.
Australia, we tend to think, so explain a flapjack just
hell of it.
I love where this is going.
Let me tell you what a flapjack is.

(54:01):
So a flapjack is, uh, it's usually about this thick, but this line, okay.
That'd be any sort of, can get, you can make them in trays and you cut them into pieces.
Uh, and they are made up of, uh, oats mixed with, uh, syrup and you put, uh, raisins andthings in them and you can add other things too, but essentially it's like, it's like a

(54:22):
gooey sort of chewy, sweet.
OT's snack thing.
There you go, I stand corrected.
Thank you, Steve, you've educated me.
there you go.
No, obviously not.
Wow.
So you lose some-
could top them with icing or you could top them with, you know, cherry bacoit flavour orwhatever.

(54:43):
And yeah, you don't have these in Australia.
Well, I thought we did and they were like pancakes, so I now totally stand corrected.
No, we mustn't have.
No.
Well, that's ruled out me emigrating then.
No chance.
Sorry.
If it's good enough for Leo, it's good enough for you.
David.
You lost me there.
A world without flapjacks.

(55:05):
I don't want to know.
I'll be doing some research after the show now.
Yeah, no, thank you.
A bit of a segue, but I just couldn't resist asking about Terry.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
ah Now here's a hard, hard question, Stephen, because no one has a crystal ball and you'vegot many, many years left in your career, but what, what do the next 20 years of your
career look like as best you can tell?

(55:26):
Well, it's a timely question because I think I'm sort of aware of, this sounds very deep,but I'm very aware of my mortality in recent years.
mean, I just want to think about getting older, isn't it?
We do all think about it a bit more.
And inevitably that makes you think about your career.

(55:47):
music can't stay the same, whatever for me.
There's no way I can still be doing
some of the work I suppose.
I mean, I already don't play for young pop stars anymore, which is fine.
Why would I?
Why would they want me to do that?
That's not the kind of work that's going to come my way.

(56:09):
um So elements of your career change and move on.
Legacy artists like Leo and Paul, obviously, that's fine.
doesn't matter.
I can be any age as long as I can still do it.
those things I hope will continue.
hope there'll be other artists that I've...
not worked with yet.
you know, a new artist will come up almost every year.
I may only work with them once.
I might be filling in with someone else, for someone else.

(56:30):
m But I hope that continues too, because I love meeting new people.
I love working in new scenarios and new musical situations.
So I hope that continues.
um As for me, the other stuff will, again, I mean, it's probably not unreasonable that Ican keep doing the private work.

(56:52):
parties and the piano bars and all that.
I do have an interest now in photography.
it was a hobby for a long time.
It was a way of letting my hair down, um just doing something non-musical.
But I can see myself doing more of that, hopefully.
mean, my brother's an amazing photographer, so I've got a way to go before I'm at hislevel.

(57:16):
But it's something I really enjoy doing.
I've got a creative eye, I think.
for it and so I want to sort of explore that more.
That seems to be quite age friendly as well I suppose.
Other than that I don't know I should have had a better answer.
oh
Well, I think you've been modest, Steve, because you also neglected to mention, or I wasgoing to raise it anyway, is your own solo album output.

(57:39):
And you've released a number of albums, Hearts and Stones being the most recent one.
I love ah the covers album you did, um the Black and White Interpretations.
uh For those, again, because we are predominantly keyboard players that listen to thisshow or watch this show.
Definitely check out all of the albums, but the black and white interpretations, there aresome beautiful versions of things like a lot of songs that us keyboard players like to do

(58:07):
like walking in Memphis, the way it is good golly, Miss Molly.
Like they're just all amazing.
I particularly love your take on the way it is.
It, to me, that's an Everest because I'm a bit of a hack cover band player, but yeah, Imean, I know it's not necessarily that complex, but did you find you had to do a little
bit of prep for that one?
So you've highlighted a song there for which, ah if I was going to be famous for anything,it might be playing that song.

(58:34):
So my friends, ah that's the song they get me to play.
If they want me to hear me, you know, if there's a backstage jam or something or, youknow, be like, the way it is.
And I think it's because despite the fact that it's an iconic keyboard song and BruceHornsby is a massive influence for me, ah not many people do it.

(58:57):
well at least maybe, maybe they do over in Australia, but I don't hear it covered verymuch over here and people ask for it.
And, uh, yeah, I absolutely love playing it.
It's, the most joyful thing to play.
And I often had to do it on my own, obviously like I'm on the album.
That's why I did it on my own because I was doing all these songs in piano bars andthings.
And I thought, I'm not going to add a band now.

(59:18):
I'm just going to do it as I do it.
and it is a challenge, especially when you launch into the solo part.
And you've still got to accompany yourself doing that solo part because obviously in theoriginal song, there's a band behind you and everything.
yeah, I had to change things up to interpret it in a way that I could handle.
But it's such an amazing song to play.
yeah, I didn't really prep for it.

(59:41):
I mean, 20 years of playing it was probably my prep.
um I just loved that song so much.
I love a lot of his songs.
ah Shall I let you on on a secret though?
Please.
I'm playing it wrong.
So, um, so basically this, we're going into, into proper keyboard world now, that riff,now the, I, it's actually an A minor that it's not, it's not a C.

(01:00:14):
So I should have switched the G to an A, the note and, that's, and that's a completelydifferent sound.
um And, I could probably, I could probably demonstrate it, but,
But yeah, it's so it's on the album now immortalized as completely wrong.
Now it's subtle.
Don't get me wrong.
But it's annoying now when I listen to it and go, oh yeah.

(01:00:36):
It is an interpretation.
But now when the once I don't know why it took me so long to realize that it was notplayed that way.
So now when I play it, I play it the correct way.
But it's on the album is wrong.
But yeah, I love that tune.
Absolutely.
Big Bruce Honsby fans here.
so let's speaking of iconic artists, let's get you to choose your five desert Islanddiscs.

(01:00:56):
Even if, if possible, what are five albums that really have had an impact on your life?
Yeah.
uh So I knew the question was coming, so I've had to think.
The number one album, obviously picking any album is really hard, but I'm going to pick analbum called Sleepwalking by Jerry Rafferty.
ah So Jerry Rafferty is a huge uh deal for me and for my family and for my late dad.

(01:01:27):
And he was a huge fan.
And we all grew up having to listen to Jay Rafferty, which is a blessing.
He's the most amazing songwriter.
I think he's a definition of the word underrated.
Everyone knows Baker Street and then loses it after that.
But he did album after album of absolute songwriting classics.

(01:01:50):
And sleepwalking is, I suppose, probably not considered to be one of those, but it's acrossover period between...
uh
full live band, live musicians, and then going into synth territory.
And it's a beautiful mix of the two.
And there's a song on there called, um as wise as a serpent.
It's actually a quote from the Bible, I think.

(01:02:11):
And I covered that on hearts and stones.
So that's the only cover on the album is that song.
So yeah, that's my number one album.
It's got so many memories from me growing up.
It just hit me at the right point at the right time.
And I know it won't be anyone else's favorite.
Um, unlikely to be anyway, uh, cause it's such a obscure choice, but yeah, I love that.
Um, then after that, I'm going to go into, uh, usual territory.

(01:02:36):
think probably something like, um, rumors has to be there, uh, which is a bit like pickingShawshank redemption is your favorite movie, isn't it?
So I'll come and make it gets from imagination, but you know, it's, it's favorite for areason.
Uh, yeah.
Yeah, I see.
I think it's got to be in there for me.

(01:02:58):
Then it gets tricky.
I think the first Rage Against the Machine album might be somewhere up there, whichobviously has no keyboards in it whatsoever.
um But it's just a uh brilliant piece of work.
And funnily enough, Stephen, you're the second guest and I apologise, I can't remember whothe other guest was.

(01:03:19):
You're the second guest to pick that one.
Well, that's good.
You know, think keyboard players, well, whatever musician you are, whatever you play, youhave to have a wide taste in music.
And a lot of my favorite artists are guitar players.
know, a lot of my favorite bands and songs don't have much keyboard going on in them atall.

(01:03:40):
And I think that's one of the things that makes me appreciate, you know, any kind ofmusical genre I end up in, you know.
So yeah, other than that, let me pick something more recent.
I really love Hummingbird by Carly Pearce.
That's a beautiful album.
I went to see her live last year.
She's incredible.

(01:04:00):
The songwriting on that.
I'm a real country fan.
That's country done right for me.
And then I'd probably also, I'm probably out of numbers now, but I've got to I've got topick Back Home Again by John Denver.
Because that's an album again that my dad used to play.
when we were growing up and yeah, I know every word of every song, including all the wordsto grandma's feather bed.

(01:04:27):
um know.
Again, not a keyboard player's first choice you'd imagine, yeah, something like that.
There's a thousand others that I could have picked and I'm sorry.
Let's hope I don't get on a desert island because I'd be, yeah, there's no way I couldchoose just five.
I think grandma's feather better chew you up on a desert Island.

(01:04:50):
and just because I'm obsessed with, um, trivia, it was Andy Ross from okay.
Go we had on, the show who picked rage against the machine.
Yeah.
So, um, you both got great taste.
Can you imagine seeing Raging 8's Machine?
to interrupt you, can I just, I always think about this.
Imagine seeing those guys on their first pub gigs.

(01:05:10):
They were playing that album before it became obviously a big deal.
They were doing the same songs they were doing Killing in the Name of in those pubs up in,were they Seattle?
I can't remember where they're from, but just incredible.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
um And now, Steve, we have our last question, which is what we call the quick fire 10.
So it's a 10 part, but very short and sharp um answers to 10 short and sharp things.

(01:05:35):
So due to you committing some serious crime, you're sentenced to six months in a tributeband.
What tribute are you choosing?
Stevie Wonder
yeah, now you're talking.
Yeah, great.
uh Most important pre-gig ritual.
So what do you need to do to feel settled before you start a gig?
Drink a diet coke.
Yep.
Nothing wrong with that.

(01:05:57):
if you hadn't been a musician, what do you think your career choice would have been?
And I know you mentioned English and I did want to actually, I wouldn't mind expanding onthis actually rather than just being short.
English, I assume your love for English and I assume literature and so on has influencedyour career as well.
So would that have been an alternative career for you?
Sorry, English teaching.
Just, well, whether it be just appreciation of English literature, whatever.

(01:06:21):
um Yeah.
yes, I think so.
I think I would have, I would have, would have enjoyed that.
We've all got a book, haven't we, inside us?
Uh, I did start to write something once.
So maybe, maybe that should have been in my future career options, but yeah, I'd love, I'dlove to write.
mean, obviously poetry and writing lyrics for songs is, is a huge element of, of what I doin music.

(01:06:43):
So yeah, language is really important to me.
F-favorite tour you've ever done if that's possible.
Uh, favorite tour, favorite tour.
I'm going to say, I'm going to put two together.
I'm going to say Paul Young and Leo Sayer intertwined.
Don't ask me how I made it work, but I had to cover a few of the Paul Young gigs with, alovely keyboard player friend of mine.

(01:07:06):
Uh, and I just went back and forward between these two tours.
it just, it never works out that way.
it dates never, but just, it was like that.
They interlaced beautifully and I just went back and forward.
had the best summer.
playing for these two amazing artists.
that's quite a years ago now, but yeah, I'm going to pick that.
Fair enough.
And is there one favourite gig if you had to pick it out that you've ever done?

(01:07:28):
I the Kazakhstan president is have to be up there.
I mean, it's a, it's a favorite in the sense that it started my career and it was bizarre,but, probably not.
My favorite gigs are usually always with my, my, my band.
So I've got a little band, we have a blues band and we rarely do it, but we'll play forvery little money and we'll go and play an appreciative blues crowd or pub.

(01:07:56):
So, um, the venue's not there anymore.
don't think there's a, there's a place in Bristol.
called the Coronation Tap and it's a pub, it's tiny and it used to have the most amazingmusic an artist on every week and playing there was a joy so whilst I can't pick one I'm
gonna pick that that place as my favorite gig.

(01:08:17):
Yeah, great.
And is there a favourite CD you've ever played?
Oh, favourite city.
um favourite city.
You can have to wait at this pause because I've been all over the world.
I'm very lucky to have been all over the world.
I'm just thinking a favourite city.
mean, Berlin possibly.
It's got to be up there because when you're not getting in Berlin, you're in Berlin andit's an amazing.

(01:08:42):
Have you ever been?
Yes I have once, yeah it's amazing city, yeah.
isn't it?
Right?
And the history and I'm very big into history.
um So yeah.
So I think I'll pick, I'll pick Berlin, but that's really hard.
I mean, I've been to Sydney, ah you know, and I've been to America, obviously New York'san incredible city.

(01:09:03):
I played in Nashville.
That's pretty impressive.
um So yeah, hard to pick one, but I'll go with Berlin.
Let's love to the Germans.
Love to the Germans.
Name a song that you used to love, but you perhaps played it to death now, either in yourband or in any of the other acts.
You know, just a song you go, Oh God, there may not be one.

(01:09:25):
We have some guests that just don't have one.
No, a song that I used to love that, that's a really, that's a really good question aswell.
mean, uptime funk or something like that.
I'm glad I don't have to play it very much because, but I've, you know, I've been infunction bands and let's be honest, when that first came out, was like, my goodness, that

(01:09:47):
is, that's a banger.
oh Cause it was old school and it sounded like music used to sound, you know, it's like,that's great.
Didn't take very long though.
uh
Every function band on the planet was playing it.
Usually it's their opening number.
So I'll pick that and that comes with a lot of love and respect for Bruno Mars.
was incredible.
Oh God, um Favorite music documentary or movie?

(01:10:11):
Oh, nice.
Yeah, does it.
Cause is it Ry Kuda that did the soundtrack for that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because it's formative.
mean, pivotal moment of, of again, my upbringing was, was watching that movie.
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
Another legend.
Great pick.
Name one thing you'd like to see invented that would make your life as a keyboard playereasy.

(01:10:33):
A wireless keyboard.
So wireless connections.
Yeah.
they're there, but they've got a long way to go.
You're right.
Reliable wireless keyboard connections.
Yeah, you can do it for guitar, obviously, it's not there for keyboards yet, but thatwould be great because then you could literally never have, you know, could leave them
permanently, whatever it would be, the little transmitter, leave it permanently in allyour keyboards, turn on.

(01:10:56):
Off you go.
Come on.
Science.
Uh, last but not least your favorite non musical activity or hobbies.
So what keeps you sane outside of music?
Oh, nice.
So am I.
All right.
So yeah.
So what's your favorite?
What do you go to games?
So I am a PS5 owner.

(01:11:18):
It's fine.
Great.
So yeah, overarching explanation is that gaming chills my brain out in the way thatnothing else can.
Interactive relaxation with no consequence essentially is what it is.
I don't know why I feel like I have to justify it.
I should just be able to say I'm a gamer, but you can't, can you?
So games, I'm generally go for these.

(01:11:39):
I'm not onlineing, so I'm a single player gamer, adventure.
And so sort of RPG style things, I suppose.
uh I could pick some favorite games for you.
Give you a clue of where I'm.
So my favorite game of all time is called Control.
saves from the same people who made Alan Wake.

(01:12:01):
Those guys, incredible creativity.
um Yeah, just phenomenal gameplay as well as the story side of things.
Silent Hill 2, the remake.
uh You know, something like that.
immersive, quite like the Resident Evil stuff.
I like the Horizon series as well.
Horizon Zero Dawn, Forbidden West.

(01:12:22):
uh Big adventures where you can get lost for quite some time.
I play one game at a time.
Are you one game at a time or are multi?
Yeah, no, tend to be one at a time and go through phases, go off games and go to otherones and come back.
Yeah, yeah.
So I like, personally like to start a game and as long as I'm enjoying it, I stick with ituntil it's finished and then might go round again.

(01:12:44):
So yeah, gaming.
Gaming, love it.
And look, I think it's fair to say you've not treated your career as a game.
You've treated it incredibly serious and it's paid off with the amazing career you've hadto date with lots more to come.
can't thank you enough, Stephen.
was disappointed for the sake of our listeners and viewers.
I was going to, after the show, offer to buy Stephen a beer because Leo Sayers playingliterally 10 kilometres away from me.

(01:13:08):
in a couple of months, as we discovered Leo takes quite rightly has an Australian bandbecause Leo is now based in Australia.
I understand he would have an Australian band.
So no beer for you, Stephen.
I'm sorry, but.
That would have been really lovely my friend.
would have been nice to meet you in real life.
Yes, but maybe another time, who knows.
Yes, but I can't thank you enough for your time.

(01:13:29):
It's been absolutely amazing speaking with you.
My pleasure.
Thanks for having me.
It's been an honor.
Cheers.
Thank you.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that interview with Stephen.
What a great guy.
yeah, look so much to cover across a career of that breadth.

(01:13:52):
And it was wonderful of Stephen to spend the time with us covering it.
So yeah, we look forward to seeing what comes next as well.
um A huge thanks to you as always for listening and massive thanks to our gold and silversupporters.
If you'd like to join them by supporting us on Patreon, if you go to patreon.com forwardslash keyboard Chronicles.
It literally does help us keep this little boat afloat.

(01:14:14):
It does make a huge difference.
If you're a private sort of person and don't want a shout out, we're happy not to give youthe shout out.
We're happy to go either way, but we do love giving shout outs to the supporters that arehappy to do so.
And they do include the wonderful Dewey Evans from the Sunnylander Wales.
Thank you as always Dewey.
The brilliant Tammy Katcher from Tammy's Musical Stew.

(01:14:34):
Thank you as always Tammy.
Dave Bryce and the team at the musicplayer.com forums and specifically the keyboard.
Horn Art forums.
Love that place to be so much fun to hang there and talk everything keyboards.
And last but most definitely not least, Mike at midnightmastering.com who does a stellarjob of bringing the best out of your creation.

(01:14:56):
So again, thank you to Mike.
Once again, thank you to your good self for tuning in and listening.
We do hugely appreciate it.
And we'll be back in a week or two and until then keep on playing.