myspace.com/SteveVanTine

twitter.com/stevevantine

Check him out!!

Can you introduce yourself and your music?

Hello. My name is Steve Van Tine.  I’m handsome and available. Oh, and I want to be a singer/songwriter recording artist that tours and makes a living from doing so.  I know I know, who the hell doesn’t? But, I’ve been trying to get off the ground for a while. Probably about 5 years just writing songs in my room while most of my friends did normal things like hang out, go on dates, go to prom, etc.  My music is a very complicated thing, because it’s the only thing I have that I can really be represented by.  Meaning if you talk to me in person I’m awkward, absent-minded, and nervous.  But if you go see me perform, I’m mainly just awkward.  My songs are mainly acoustic songs at their core, even though I do have a band on my albums to make them more full sounding. But I play shows mainly just acoustic, being the focus is more on the core writing and not on how many guitar effects I’m dazzling you with.

What are Tom DeVinko, Nick Stabile, and Anthony Laido’s role in the band?

How did you guys start together?

Tom DeVinko is my drummer and official band member.  Tom joined the band after I was playing an acoustic show and all of a sudden I heard some kid playing drums on the background.  It ended up being Tom who just felt like jumping on stage and ever since we’ve been band members and business partners in my solo-project.  Nick Stabile has been my bass player since 7^th grade, ever since I didn’t even know how to play anything on guitar except for “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard and “Time of Your Life” by Green Day. He has shown up on a lot of my recordings and will be on more recordings but isn’t an “official member” of my band.  Mainly because we have other bassists that you hear on the albums, most recently “Anthony Laido” who played bass on the number of tracks Nick couldn’t play on due to scheduling.

Why did you choose to go by Steve Van Tine instead of making up a band name? 

 Well you see, this is mainly because I’m super self-absorbed and love the attention.  Nah.  Honestly my only “official” band member right now is Tom.  We decided to cut our profits 50/50, but he only joined a few months ago.  By that time I had already developed a decent, not big, but decent fan base and Tom understands it would just mean confusion if we went by another name.  Everyone else you hear on my albums are people I paid off with lunches, dinners, and as much cash as I could scrape together.  They also never gave a crap about working under a solo-artists name.  Which helps.

How would you describe your sound? 

First I’ll give you the long answer to that:  My sound is really always changing.  It’s basically an audio-feed of my personality.  I’m always learning, becoming more observant, and adapting. I write daily, so each song is a more transparent look into who I am.   Most people seem to sit down when they’re feeling an emotion, and write a song and try their best to play out their emotion.  That is extremely hard being most people are so wrapped up in the moment they don’t know what they really feel at their deepest core. My songs aren’t little emotions of the day held captive in a 3 minute track.  My songs are collections of things I’ve learned over my lifetime.  For example, the other day I was feeling a bit depressed, so I sat down and wrote a song about how lately, with every new time I feel depressed, the more comfortable I feel when I’m in that depressed state of mind.  And how that seems to scare me, and yet it is also freeing at the same time.  But if you really wanted the short answer: Acoustic/Indie/Alternative.

When did you begin creating music? 

At the moment I’m 21 years old. I picked up a guitar in 7^th grade, but only about 4 years ago I really started trying to understand why music understands me so freaking much.  And why different songs really hit me more so than others.  And yeah, I sucked badly for most of those years.  My sister still tells me I suck when I play in my room.

Why did you start Steve Van Tine? What were your goals? 

I don’t think anybody really has business goals when they start out with music.  I mean when Blink 182 released “Enema of the State” everybody including myself wanted to make a punk band and rock peoples faces.  So that’s really what I did.  Started a punk band in 7^th grade with my buddies Nick and Dan, and tried to rock faces.  Key word: “tried”. 

What are your goals now as an artist now? 

Now, I still feel that same intention is there, but I understand it a lot better.  I don’t play shows to ‘rock faces’, but to make people feel something that we all feel from time to time.  Whether that be a feeling of joy or sadness or somewhere in between.

Being a talented unsigned artist, are you hoping to get signed any time soon? 

 Yeah, there is a business side that everyone needs to have.  And at the moment my promoting/touring/booking/marketing team is non-existent.  So I’ve been just fighting not to keep my head above water but to get my head above water.  But if my music picks up and it looks like I can manage myself and my business well then I’ll definitely give that a try though without a label.

You

Well I’ve always known what I take in from music by just being a listener.  Like when you listen to a song and it reminds you of a time in your life.  That blog is just my own personal reasoning as to why.   So yeah, they’ve been my feelings for a while whether or not I’ve always known exactly why.  Basically I feel like every songwriter should be thinking about those things though. But I’ll probably have more insight when more people give a shit about my band.

What is your writing process like?

Yikes.  It can take days to months for just one song.  Sometimes old ideas tie in with new ones, and you just have to be on your toes. Sometimes an idea will hit you instantly and it needs to be recorded in the next 30 seconds or else it’s totally gone.  Developing songs is the key.  I never settle for the first thing that comes out and I’m very nit-picky.

What is your biggest inspiration when writing a song? 

Feelings.  As cheesy as it sounds, I get inspired by feeling things that are so strong that as soon as I feel that way I want to try and translate it.  Its why I right songs basically.  It’s the greatest thing in the world to sit down and hash out something that you feel into something people understand and feel too. That process takes a hell of a long time though.  For example: I was watching Titanic the other day, and the only part that gets me is the part at the end with the 4 musicians playing on the boat to keep everyone calm.  That’s such a moving and beautiful emotion that I get I’m still trying to craft a song that conveys what I felt from that.  So yeah, movies contribute.  They contribute a lot actually.  I highly recommend watching movies before writing if you’re a songwriter.  It also helps take the melodies in your head and visualize them reaching out to people in that way… if that makes any sense.  I hate when my songwriter friends go “Hey I was listening to Jack White and I wanted to write a song just like this one and so I tried to do that.  What do you think?”  My answer (in my head) is always: “I think you don’t understand what songs are”.

On another blog, you said that all the money from purchasing“In Seas of Debt and Diamonds” will go to making an even bigger record. Are you already working on this record

Yeah.  I might not make enough to record the next album for a long time, but I’m always working on it.  I’ll always be working on the next album.

Do you plan on playing more shows, whether they be local or out of state?

Not really.  Just open mics.  If I had more help with booking, or a band to bring me along on tour I wouldn’t say no though.  I just need help.

What are your biggest influences and worst influences (in life)?

Art is definitely the biggest influence on me.  It’s always teaching me to think for myself and figure out who I am.  And that really has no answer.  Which is beautiful.  Who I am now wasn’t who I was last year and who I was last year wasn’t who I was the year before. I’m not saying I have a personality disorder, but I’m always meeting new people and seeing different points of views and really digging into what it means to be alive and what my life is.  I adapt and grow just like everyone should.  I might never know who I am honestly.  But I’ll definitely know who I’m not. I feel bad for people who never change, don’t respect everyone else’s point of view, never look at what they don’t like under a better light, or don’t try new things. The only type of people that get to me though are the people who judge me, or worse, judge me for who I was when they were friends with me 6 years ago.  I don’t think those people are necessarily negative influences, but they are if you let them be. That happens a lot actually with music.  My music has grown just like I have. And if you take a jab at my music its like taking a jab at me. Sometimes I’ll see somebody from my high school on the street and they’ll sarcastically say “Oh are you still doing you’re ‘music thing’?”. And I’ll say “yeah… still doing my music thing.” And they laugh as if I’m supposed to be ashamed or embarrassed.  I just want to be like “First of all its music, its not like I’m still running around playing causing meyhem like an asshole like YOU did when you were that age, and secondly I have grown a lot and developed into a musician rather than that kid trying to play guitar like I was… I see you’re still an asshole though”  Yeah.  Whew.  But yeah those people are who I watch out for.

Besides writing and creating music, what do you like to do in your free time?

I paint on occasion.  Sometimes I’ll work on a story I’ve came up with or a crazy website idea.  I get a lot of random ideas for things.

Is there anything else you want to say?

New album ‘In Seas of Debt and Diamonds’ is out now via iTunes. :D