Mr. Tape Deck - when he came on the scene - could it have been '71? - Mr. Tape Deck was the doorway to wonderment. He enabled one to be many. It was with sadness that he passed out of the picture. If only his motor had kept running. But, to be honest, he wasn't used as much during his waning years. He sat, unused, for years, even before the arrival of Mr. Sequencer. Life has odd detours. There just wasn't time for him, it seems.
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Regal Guitar - it may not look like much, but it's a real trooper. It cost only $20 at the flea market, but it's become a vital member of the band.
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The Siamese twins of Mr. Mega Atari and Cubase Sequencer, who lives inside him, arrived on the scene in '92. What a conceptual revolution! A dream come true - being able to microscopically disect and rearrange music, change instruments on the fly, change key signature and tempo with the push of a button. I knew at that point I was living in the future. A close companion to Mr. Cubase is Mr. Soundcanvas. Like a lyricist and a musician combining to write songs, Mr. Cubase and Mr. Soundcanvas, together, produced bizarre tune after bizarre tune. Some still live in Mr. Atari. But most have been introduced to Mr. Paris.
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Paris Audio Workstation - this guy lives inside a used G3 mac. It had a previous existence inside a Mac 9600, where is lived happily until the motherboard died. It's been great fun to have it around, since it first appeared back in '98. Many of the things Mr.Cubase could do with midi data could be done with audio by Paris.
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At this point it became evident that the dumbest part of the band was steve himself.
Influences
Virtually any music experienced can be seen as an influence, either positive or negative.
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Experiencing the 1950s with parents who loved big band music and a brother playing the accordion, a good musical foundation formed, nurtured by accordion lessons and the magic of the circle of fifths hidden in the bass buttons.
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Then the discovery of Top 40 radio. Motown! Doo Wop! Surf Music! the British Invasion! even Brubeck! Music would never seem the same.
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Favorites: Smokey Robinson, Coasters, Dave Clark Five, Supremes, Beatles, Lovin' Spoonful, Cream, Hendrix, Martha and the Vandellas, Phil Spector, Beach Boys, Weather Report, Joe Pass, Yes, Barney Kessel, Stevie Wonder. Jeff Beck. Randy Newman. Martin Mull. Neil Young, Dan Hicks, Buffalo Springfield, Santo and Johnny, Ray Charles, Todd Rundgren, the Tubes, Frank Zappa, Bobby Hutcherson, George Duke, Return to Forever, Thelonious Monk, Brian Auger, Weird Al, Dizzy Gillespie, John Lewis, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Ray Stevens, Take Five, Charlie Christian, Dr. John, the Who, the Kinks, Captain Beefheart, Tom Lehrer, Don Ellis, the Bobs, Taj Mahal, Buddy Holly, James Taylor, Eddie Cochran, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Michael Franks, the Cheap Suit Serenaders, Lambert Hendricks and Ross, John Prine, Charles Mingus, David Lindley, Wayne Shorter, Joni Mitchell, Gerry Marsden, Steely Dan, Spike Jones, Sidney Bechet, Clyde McCoy, Louis Armstrong, Traffic, Doors, Firesign Theater, Jimmy Smith, Cannonball Adderley, the Mates, Procol Harum, Rolling Stones, Tomita
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can't forget the wonderful guys who run Guitar Player Magazine (I still have a few boxes of those magazines) and Keyboard Magazine (I have them all.) Can't tell how much these have influenced me. The reviews. The interviews. Now TapeOp Mag. Same thing.
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Bands and people, first hand experience: Bill Fiege, Browness, Chuck Welch, Jerry Benedetti, California Zephyr, Billy Browning, Madeline Duran, Your Mama, Cedrick Curtis, Daryll Borges, Michael Johnson, Hamilton Camp, O California, Eddy Ceballos, Dallon Santos, Gil Doyle, Tom Overton, David Wallace, Mary Jenson, Gordon Lustig, Gary Grubb, Chris Samson, Larry Potts, Jessel Miller, Shauna Marshall, Gale Mead, Kevin Dillon, Kevin Madden, Kevin Frazier, Jay Gottlieb, Jim Brumm, Steve Stanton, all the folks at the Paris Digital Audio Workstation Newsgroup
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Sounds Like
a whole bunch of weird, totally dissimilar bands. Familiar, yet unique. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Hopefully the not so good will remain unheard.
Steve got his start in his parents' shop, out back. He taught himself to play the guitar and various other objects that made noise when manipulated — Some pleasant, some not ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previously, he had carried around a chromatic harmonica, pretending it was a spy camera, as well as playing it. You should try it sometimes. Hold it sideways and click the slide that changes the scale. It even makes a little click like a camera.
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Before that, he played accordion, sometimes with an accordion band, sometimes with his brother (another accordionist), sometimes alone. Usually none at all.
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Acquiring a Hohner Pianet and a Sony reel-to-reel tape deck with sound on sound (and shortly thereafter an old bass guitar), and inspired by the likes of Les Paul, Paul McCartney, and Todd Rundgren, he began a decades-long search into the world of self-made music.
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Later on a Dokoder 4 track machine appeared. Much later, a Paris Digital Audio Workstation setup appeared. Jobs playing as a side man with various musical groups appeared.
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All these things were shaken together and what came out was the music of Steve the Artguy. Sometimes he sent little tapes to friends. Now he sends little CDs to friends.
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He does art things, too. Check it out: www.stevedellamaggiora.com
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Steve, Thanks for your help at Craftaluma today. I hope somebody had the tape rolling for our "Across the Universe." You did sound a bit like Yoko on that one. In a good way. -- Jeff
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