Tuesday, March 22, 2022

πŸ’  𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 π‡π„π–πˆπ“π“ ππˆπ‘π“π‡πƒπ€π˜! πŸ’ 


Photo credit unknown, edit by Laetitia


Dear Soulmates, Steve Hewitt turns 51 today !

I'd like to share one of the latest French interviews Steve gave in early 2020 before the Coronavirus health crisis and containment, where he speaks about his new album, Detonation Days, social networks, Brexit, the content of his songs, etc. Well, to this day, the new album is not released yet.

It's a very interesting interview where you can dive into Steve's views of the world…

Photo credit: S3bastian Dolidon

π‘΅π’†π’˜ π’•π’“π’‚π’„π’Œπ’” 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’„π’π’Žπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 π‘¨π’Žπ’π’π’ˆπ’”π’• π‘Ήπ’–π’Šπ’ π’˜π’‰π’Šπ’„π’‰ 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 π’ƒπ’š 𝒂 π’‡π’Šπ’“π’”π’• π’•π’“π’‚π’„π’Œ 𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒐𝒏, π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• 𝒄𝒂𝒏 π’šπ’π’– 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’Šπ’• ?
⭐ Seventh Son will be the first track to be released to introduce the third Love Amongst Ruin album. It's different from the Lose Your Way album because it's much more contemporary, it's an attempt to bring rock music to the fore. The way I created this album is very different from my usual way. Rather than writing new songs, it was about enjoying new sounds and textures that inspired the tracks. Seventh Son comes from something old that seems relevant today. It's a place that is sometimes obscure but also a place where people can hide when they want to make themselves invisible in their lives and to the rest of the World and that place exists.


𝑭𝒐𝒓 π’šπ’π’–, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’π’–π’Žπ’ƒπ’†π’“ 7 π’Šπ’” 𝒂 π’”π’šπ’Žπ’ƒπ’π’ 𝒐𝒇 π’π’–π’„π’Œ 𝒂𝒔 π’˜π’†π’π’ 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒅 π’π’–π’„π’Œ, π’˜π’‰π’š π’…π’Šπ’… π’šπ’π’– 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’π’–π’Žπ’ƒπ’†π’“ ?
⭐ In our time, the number 7 is a lucky number that brings fortune and success. But in medieval times it was a dark and evil number. If you were the 7th son then you were an outcast and damned. I thought it was interesting to point out how human society can change over the centuries.


𝒀𝒐𝒖 π’˜π’‚π’π’• 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒂 π’π’†π’˜ π’•π’“π’‚π’„π’Œ π’†π’—π’†π’“π’š π’Žπ’π’π’•π’‰, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 π’šπ’π’– π’‚π’π’“π’†π’‚π’…π’š π’˜π’“π’Šπ’•π’•π’†π’ 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’”π’π’π’ˆπ’”? 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’‰π’π’˜ π’˜π’Šπ’π’ π’šπ’π’– π’Œπ’π’π’˜ π’šπ’π’– 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 π’‚π’π’ƒπ’–π’Ž ?
⭐ The music industry is changing and I'm trying to adapt to that. The change is in the way music is distributed and listened to. I don't think people listen to albums anymore, because there are too many songs coming out every day and it's impossible for anyone to keep up with everything that's going on. I think that rather than releasing a song for an album that will disappear into obscurity, it's better to make each track its own entity. But I've got enough songs to put out an album, no worries about that.

Love Amongst Ruin. Photo credit unknown

π‘Ύπ’‰π’š π’…π’Šπ’… π’šπ’π’– 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 π’Šπ’• "π‘«π’†π’•π’π’π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ π‘«π’‚π’šπ’”" ?
⭐ Well, Denotation Days is a very inspiring title for me because it allows me to write about what's going on in the world right now. And what it's like to live in this World. And I'm afraid it's going to get worse before it gets better.


π‘Ύπ’‰π’š 𝒅𝒐 π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‚π’π’Œ 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂 π’•π’“π’Šπ’π’π’ˆπ’š π’˜π’‰π’†π’ π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‚π’π’Œ 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒔 ?
⭐ I say trilogy because this will be the third Love Amongst Ruins album, nothing more. It could be the last one or not, who knows…


𝒀𝒐𝒖 π’•π’‚π’π’Œ 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’‰π’‚π’—π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒂 π’Žπ’π’…π’†π’“π’ 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 π’Žπ’–π’”π’Šπ’„ π’„π’π’π’”π’–π’Žπ’‘π’•π’Šπ’π’, π’†π’”π’‘π’†π’„π’Šπ’‚π’π’π’š π’”π’•π’“π’†π’‚π’Žπ’Šπ’π’ˆ. 𝑫𝒐 π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’•π’π’…π’‚π’š 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’„π’“π’†π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏 π’‚π’π’ƒπ’–π’Ž π’Šπ’” π’”π’•π’Šπ’π’ 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’…π’Šπ’‡π’‡π’†π’“π’†π’π’„π’†π’” 𝒅𝒐 π’šπ’π’– 𝒔𝒆𝒆 π’ƒπ’†π’•π’˜π’†π’†π’ π’π’π’˜π’‚π’…π’‚π’šπ’” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’˜π’‰π’†π’ π’šπ’π’– 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 π’Šπ’ π’Žπ’–π’”π’Šπ’„ ?
⭐ I think vinyl is a real lever and if the album is good then it will always be a work of art. I pray to God that people will always want to listen to whole albums. The difference is that when I started you would find out about the song on the radio or TV and then go to the record shop and buy the album and that was a lot more, whereas now it's easier. You listen to a track and then you just click. I guess the emotional process of finding a song has been lost a bit.


𝒀𝒐𝒖 π’“π’†π’„π’†π’π’•π’π’š π’†π’™π’‘π’π’‚π’Šπ’π’†π’… 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’šπ’π’– π’Šπ’• π’Šπ’” π’Žπ’π’“π’† 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’Žπ’π’“π’† π’…π’Šπ’‡π’‡π’Šπ’„π’–π’π’• 𝒕𝒐 π’„π’‚π’•π’†π’ˆπ’π’“π’Šπ’›π’† π’Žπ’–π’”π’Šπ’„π’‚π’ π’ˆπ’†π’π’“π’†π’”. 𝑫𝒐 π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’†π’—π’†π’“π’šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 π’Šπ’ π’„π’π’‚π’”π’”π’Šπ’„ π’“π’π’„π’Œ π’Žπ’–π’”π’Šπ’„ π’Šπ’” π’π’π’˜ 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’Šπ’ 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 π’”π’π’Žπ’†π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’π’†π’˜, π’šπ’π’– 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 π’Žπ’Šπ’™ π’Žπ’–π’”π’Šπ’„π’‚π’ π’”π’•π’šπ’π’†π’” ?
⭐ I think we've really reached a point where everything that could be done in music has been done and it's getting harder to be original. That said, the mixing of so-called genres allows for the creation of novelty. It's been going on for a while now, since the beginning of hip hop. The same thing happens in rock music. There are only so many notes you can play and only so many ways to incorporate and mix genres to disguise what you're playing. But nowadays genres don't exist anymore, there's just a big grey area where everything gets mixed up and blended. Everything we listen to today uses past elements that worked.

Photo credit: NOCR 

𝑰𝒏 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, π’Šπ’•'𝒔 π’‰π’Šπ’‘ 𝒉𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔, π’‚π’π’š π’Šπ’…π’†π’‚ π’‰π’π’˜ π’“π’π’„π’Œ 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’”π’‰π’π’˜ ?
⭐ Haha, impossible for me to answer, if I knew, I would open a huge label in France. I don't think rock has ever been the market leader in France, it's cultural. The US and Britain have always been defined by classic rock, where France is more in the modern age with traditional crooners and hit parade singers, there is also a big electro scene that is very strong these days. We just need a new rock act, the new generation to get out the guitars and drums and play rock.


𝑻𝒉𝒆 π’‡π’Šπ’“π’”π’• 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 π‘¨π’Žπ’π’π’ˆπ’”π’• π‘Ήπ’–π’Šπ’ π’‚π’π’ƒπ’–π’Ž π’˜π’‚π’” 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’‘π’‚π’Šπ’ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’‚π’π’ˆπ’†π’“. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 π’˜π’‚π’” π’Žπ’π’“π’† π’‚π’„π’„π’π’Žπ’‘π’π’Šπ’”π’‰π’†π’… 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒅 π’Žπ’π’“π’† π’„π’π’π’‡π’Šπ’…π’†π’π’„π’†. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 π’˜π’† 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’‡π’“π’π’Ž π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’•π’‰π’Šπ’“π’… 𝒂𝒄𝒕 ?
⭐ This third album is taking shape but it's also a time to look at the world and what's going on in it. I don't want to get political though, it's more about where I am in my life at the moment.


𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 π‘¨π’Žπ’π’π’ˆπ’”π’• π‘Ήπ’–π’Šπ’ π’Šπ’” 𝒂 π’—π’†π’“π’š π’”π’•π’“π’π’π’ˆ 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’π’‚π’Žπ’†, π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’˜π’‚π’” π’šπ’π’–π’“ 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 π’Žπ’Šπ’π’… π’˜π’‰π’†π’ π’šπ’π’– 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 π’Šπ’• ? 𝑫𝒐 π’šπ’π’– 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 π’Žπ’π’“π’† π’„π’π’Žπ’‡π’π’“π’•π’‚π’ƒπ’π’† π’π’π’˜ π’ƒπ’†π’‰π’Šπ’π’… 𝒂 π’Žπ’Šπ’„π’“π’π’‘π’‰π’π’π’† 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 π’ˆπ’–π’Šπ’•π’‚π’“ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 π’ƒπ’†π’‰π’Šπ’π’… 𝒂 π’…π’“π’–π’Ž π’Œπ’Šπ’• ?
⭐ I created this band out of a need to express my ideas. I never thought in my life I would become a singer. I've always written and composed so it was quite natural for me. But getting used to singing in a band was a lot of work just to convince myself that I could do it. I'm now more comfortable with singing and playing guitar but I'll always be happy playing drums.

Photo credit: Vincent Lignie

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 π’”π’–π’„π’„π’†π’”π’”π’Šπ’π’ 𝒐𝒇 π’Žπ’–π’”π’Šπ’„π’Šπ’‚π’π’” 𝒐𝒏 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕. 𝑰𝒔 π’Šπ’• π’†π’‚π’”π’š 𝒕𝒐 π’Œπ’†π’†π’‘ 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’Šπ’…π’†π’π’•π’Šπ’•π’š π’…π’†π’”π’‘π’Šπ’•π’† 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 ?
⭐ Love Amongst Ruin is basically me, no matter who plays with me, although there are a few musicians who play regularly with me now. I've worked with Donald Ross Skinner on all the albums, we write together, we play together on the recordings so it only changes live when musicians join in. What can really change things is the producers who decide to co-produce us. It's always good to have a third or fourth opinion. It's easy to retain the identity of a band because it's going to be the same frontman, it's not going to change no matter what band it is.


𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 π’šπ’π’– 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 "π‘«π’“π’†π’‚π’Ž", 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 π’”π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’π’† 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 ?
⭐ Dream should be the second track to be released although it's not set in stone yet. The song is about an artist who has reached a point in his life where he wonders if what he's doing is right and suffers from a lack of direction. It's generally a lack of self-esteem related to the mid-life crisis. He spends his days being too afraid to do anything about it.


π‘³π’Šπ’Œπ’† π’Žπ’‚π’π’š π’Žπ’–π’”π’Šπ’„π’Šπ’‚π’π’” π’šπ’π’– 𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’”π’π’„π’Šπ’‚π’ π’π’†π’•π’˜π’π’“π’Œπ’” 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕. 𝑫𝒐 π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ π’•π’‰π’†π’š 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’ˆπ’π’π’… 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’…π’†π’—π’†π’π’π’‘π’Žπ’†π’π’• 𝒐𝒇 π’‚π’“π’•π’Šπ’”π’•π’” ?
⭐ Modern technology is a good thing, there is nothing wrong with progress and it helps musicians to spread their music. What it means to be a musician has changed completely nowadays and that's not a problem. But when people go to concerts to look at their mobile screens, then I wonder what the fuck is going on? They miss the point of the concert. But in the end social networking is still a good thing for musicians.


𝑻𝒉𝒆 π‘©π’“π’†π’™π’Šπ’• 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π‘¬π’π’ˆπ’π’Šπ’”π’‰ π’‚π’“π’•π’Šπ’”π’•π’” π’˜π’Šπ’π’ π’π’π’˜ 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 π’ˆπ’ π’•π’‰π’“π’π’–π’ˆπ’‰ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’—π’Šπ’”π’‚ 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 π’‚π’ˆπ’‚π’Šπ’ 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’•π’‰π’†π’Šπ’“ 𝑬𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. π‘―π’π’˜ 𝒅𝒐 π’šπ’π’– 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’π’†π’˜π’” 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 π’Žπ’–π’”π’Šπ’„π’Šπ’‚π’ ?
⭐ For me, Brexit was a complete waste of time. I voted to stay in Europe so now I have to deal with someone else's decision. It's a real pain in the arse and an upheaval beyond belief. I don't want to talk about it any more as it's a complete load of crap.

Photo credit: Scarlet Page

𝑨𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’π’“π’π’… 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 π’Šπ’ 𝒐𝒏 π’Šπ’•π’”π’†π’π’‡, 𝒂𝒔 π’†π’™π’•π’“π’†π’Žπ’†π’” π’“π’Šπ’”π’†, 𝒂𝒔 π’‡π’‚π’Œπ’† π’π’†π’˜π’” π’„π’Šπ’“π’„π’–π’π’‚π’•π’†π’”, 𝒅𝒐 π’šπ’π’– π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 π’Žπ’–π’”π’Šπ’„, π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’–π’π’Šπ’—π’†π’“π’”π’‚π’ π’π’‚π’π’ˆπ’–π’‚π’ˆπ’†, 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏 π’‚π’π’”π’˜π’†π’“? 𝑫𝒐 π’“π’π’„π’Œ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’Šπ’•π’” π’“π’†π’—π’π’π’–π’•π’Šπ’π’ π’π’π’π’Œ π’π’Šπ’Œπ’† 𝒂 π’”π’π’π’–π’•π’Šπ’π’ ?
⭐ I'm not sure that the world has become more disparate than ever, everyone has their own opinion, even politicians can't agree in their respective parties. It's because of all this that music is finding it harder and harder to unite people. It's always had the power to move people and make them feel something and I think, but I'm not sure, that rock can be the answer to the problems of this world.


𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 π’•π’π’–π’“π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐, π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’•π’π’–π’“π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑳𝒀𝑺 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 π‘¨π’Žπ’π’π’ˆπ’”π’• π‘Ήπ’–π’Šπ’, π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• 𝒉𝒂𝒔 π’„π’‰π’‚π’π’ˆπ’†π’… 𝒐𝒏 π’”π’•π’‚π’ˆπ’† 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’šπ’π’– ?
⭐ The big difference when people come to see me on stage now is that I'm playing with more people, it's important to try new things and expand your experience as a musician. It's important to stay relevant in music and embrace the future, it's vital. You have to continue to love what you do and love to renew yourself, that's what I've been doing for 30 years and I'm going to continue to do that. I love meeting new people in music who come from different styles. It's fabulous.


π‘ͺ𝒂𝒏 π’˜π’† 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒂 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓 ?
⭐ I hope to be touring in November with the band so keep following us.
βœ”οΈ πš™πš˜πš™πš—πšœπš‘πš˜πš.πšπš›

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