Stage Door went backstage to find Steve Steinman ahead of his one night at Hall for Cornwall with Vampires Rock. The combination of Rock Music and Vampires seemed worthy of discussion!
To start with I observed that the show had a storyline. I asked Steve whether he felt Rock Anthems are a particularly good medium for telling a story - and had he found it easy to find songs to fit the key moments?
"Rock music is very good for telling a story," Steve replied. "We didn't fit music around the story in Vampires Rock - the story came from the songs which flowed naturally from one to the other. When we were picking the set there was a natural progression of songs; you know what should follow each one and a story emerged." Steve was quick to emphasise that Vampires Rock isn't a musical in the traditional sense.
"It's a Concert first, we tie it together with a bit of dialogue and storyline but it's not a musical." He explained that in musicals he'd seen he'd often felt that the dialogue got in the way of the songs. "It's a speeded-up musical in a way. I think of it as a theatrical concert. There isn't really a name for it!" I asked if he felt this was a new concept unique to him. "I suppose it is. There isn't anything else quite like it."
This show is very flamboyant! Is it important to have that type of backdrop to some of these numbers?
"Definitely. Classic Rock needs that; its what it is. Rock is over the top. I think audiences do expect that at a rock concert. The theatrics add to the experience." Steve pointed out as well that since many of the original artists are known for the theatrics in their shows that the pyrotechnics etc are almost part of the music. He remarked that if many of the well-known acts like Alice Cooper "just turned up on stage and strummed away quietly" their audience would be baffled!
You're a well-known singer of Meat Loaf's songs. What makes these songs special for you, and what do you think is their more universal appeal?
"Those songs are how my career started on Stars in their Eyes so they're very important to me for that reason," Steve answered. "It was that show that gave me a taste for performing - before that I had a "normal" job. The show and those songs have got me where I am and allowed me to create a career in music."
With regard to their universal appeal, Steve said "They have great storylines. Songs are a moment in time for people and music takes them back to that moment. Bat out of Hell was a huge seller, for instance, and so the music means something to a lot of people. It takes them back to that moment when they were listening to it for the first time. The music is big, epic - not unlike Queen's stuff." Steve was quick to praise the writing and music as well as Meat Loaf's performance of the material.
"Jim Steinman wrote it and deserves a lot of credit. A lot of the inspiration for Vampires Rock comes from his lyrics." Steve added, "We could easily have done Vampires Rock using just Meat Loaf material. But we decided to use a range of rock classics as it gave us more scope."
I asked if this was Steve's first visit to Hall for Cornwall and if there was anything particular he liked about coming down here.
"I've visited three times now, I think," he replied. "Sure, its a great place to visit; feels like coming down to the end of the world! It's nice to get a good crowd in and filling the venue is important, because of the distance. It's great when you do, though, because you feel very positive about the rest of the tour. If you sell well in Cornwall you feel that the tour will do well elsewhere." he added that he was very pleased with Monday night's audience. "People know the product now of course. I imagine it is harder for new acts. People have to take Vampires Rock for what it is - it's not too serious but it's entertaining. We really do aim to impress and give people ten times more what they're expecting. Beating expectations is important for us."
Going back to the show, do you think Vampires Rock has bought Rock to a new audience via the vampire theme, given how in fashion vampires seem to be at the moment?
"No, I don't think so, " Steve answered. "Our audience has built steadily over the years. The recent films aren't about proper vampires anyway! Twilight, for instance, it's just High School Musical with teeth! It's about kids and non vampires falling in love with vampires - nothing like Rock Vampires!" Steve did acknowledge that it was good that it raised awareness and got people talking and thinking about vampires. "But it's nothing to do with Rock."
He described Rock Vampires as much darker and more edgy. "I'd say Lost Boys is closer to Rock Vampires really - there's that edge to it. Interview with a Vampire is probably the best vampire movie."
Given that vampires are famously immortal, do you think Rock Music will, in fact, live forever?
"Yes!" Steve was pretty positive on this point! "Queen, AC/DC are still going strong, in fact they're bigger than ever! There's lots of bands coming back." The music still has appeal and Steve feels that its become "cool" again with lots of different people listening to it.
Finally I asked him whether he felt anyone new will take the baton from the older groups and continue the Rock story.
"I'm not sure," Steve replied. "People tend to do new stuff so I don't know whether anyone will, or could, take over from the classic groups. Mind you, you do get new groups that do that. Oasis, for instance, they were just The Beatles, weren't they? Maybe a group will do the same with Rock."
We'd like to thank Steve for his time and we very much hope he'll be back again soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment