Usually it takes a little while for us to get transcribed interviews up, but I wanted to make sure this one got up quickly because this gentleman has a show in San Francisco THIS SATURDAY that you should all head out to. Steven Roth is gradually becoming a name that you're going to remember in the music industry. He has a unique brand of rock that you really have to listen to yourself. It's harder to explain, but experimentation is present, while feelings reminiscent of rock 60s rock ring through the tracks on his record, Let It In, and on his newest track "Good Times Go So Fast". Check out the interview below, where we talk about Steven's newest single, what it was like to open up for The Who at BOTH the Staples Center in L.A. and Madison Square Garden in NYC, and be sure to catch him perform this Saturday at Neck of the Woods in San Francisco! (visit www.facebook.com/stevenrothmusic for more info)
Let’s talk about “Good Times Go So Fast”. I listened to it and I loved it. When did the song first come into play for you, and about how long did it take for it to come to fruition and turn into the final product that we hear today?
Well I think that it’s been a minute! I wrote it with my buddy Cooper over a year ago, to be honest with you. I had it floating around in my arsenal. I linked up with Sean Hurley, and we kind of built it up. We brought on Wayne Jobson as well to do some additional production on it. Not with continuous work, but it came together with touring and some other stuff that I had on my calendar, over the course of a few months, I would say. I had other shows and stuff I was doing, so it wasn’t straight studio time, you know? There was a lot of experimentation and stuff like that, so it came together slower than my last record.
Do you think is going to be just a standalone single, or do you think that it could end up as a track on the next album or EP release?
Yeah, the plan for this now is to be part of an upcoming EP. We definitely want it to lead with this single. I hadn’t put something out in a little while. I think everything pretty single-driven these days, especially for up and coming artists, so we’re leading with this. But it will be part of an EP that’s gonna be following up with that. We might even be releasing a second single, but yeah, it will be part of an EP.
In your opinion, what would you say was the biggest difference with working on this single in comparison to any of the material on Let It In? Do you feel like your songwriting capabilities have grown since that time?
Well, I would like to think that the songwriting has developed, because I’m always trying to push that. The biggest difference would be the style in which this one was recorded. For Let Me In, all of those songs were recorded pretty quickly. All the musicians were in the same room, playing the basic tracks and then overdubbing guitar, vocals, keys, and all that stuff. This time, we kind of built it in a slightly more contemporary manner, insofar as we kind of built up the track based on the groove first, then the ukulele and the piano, and trying different instrumentation and stuff along the way, as opposed to getting everyone into a room, pressing “record”, and then bangin’ it out, you know?
There are things I love about both approaches, but that was definitely something I was a little bit less used to. Because my old band’s EP that I did with the same producer as Let It In, as well, so most of my recording experience was with him and that was his style. But when I decided to work with Sean, he had a different kind of workflow, and that was what it was with “Good Times Go So Fast”.
One thing I’ve gotta say that I’m really curious about is in regards to your opening gigs for The Who. This is probably a really self-explanatory answer, but what was going through your head when you found out that they personally requested you open up for them both at Staples Center AND Madison Square Garden?
Well, it’s sort of tough to describe. You work your whole life for something, and then it happens, and it’s just like… I remember being in my living room with my drummer, whose one of my roommates. It was like out of a movie. We both were jumping up and down screaming and super stoked. You know, all the years of touring, and writing, and busting your butt, it all just comes to a head when you get that news. Needless to say, it was pretty damn exciting. I was totally honored, and I appreciated it so much. It was a blast when it finally happened, for sure.
They’re such an iconic band. One of greatest, most successful, long-standing acts of all time. To be asked to open up for them was quite a thrill, to say the least. It’s hard to describe it. It’s like skydiving, you know? It’s like how do you describe jumping out of a plane and falling towards the Earth? Pure adrenaline and joy. (laughs)
These last two questions I ask to every artist that I interview, asa way to close out the interview. First, what kind of message, if any, would you like fans to walk away with after listening to your music?
In general, as an artist, I try to be someone who…I want people to at least think and remember to smile, and enjoy when they’re hearing my stuff, you know? The general message is a positive one, I’ll put it that way.
What does music mean to you?
It means everything to me, really. I guess to put it most simply. It’s sort of like my religion. It’s the best way to connect with people, and bring people together. It’s my everyday religion, you know? It means everything.
This has been another Shameless Promotion.