Brian Stepien Of Soul Chatter

Interview With Brian Stepien Of Soul Chatter

SBS:  Welcome to our pages!  Whether you’ve been here with us in some way before, or you’re brand-new to the site, it’s probably best to get an introduction from you so that we get everyone on the same page to start.  Tell us a little bit about the history of your music, and what’s happening with it lately!?!

Brian Stepien:  Greetings.  Brian Stepien from Soul Chatter.  We have been writing and recording original indie rock since before the term was coined, but this latest iteration of the band has been since 2015.  We are scattered around the US, from Cleveland to Raleigh to Madison, Wisconsin.  It all started in Cleveland, Ohio many moons ago.  The idea was to combine thoughtful lyrics with strong melodies, to craft songs that blended Rock, Folk, Roots, even a little blue-eyed Soul.

This latest version has seen new musicians enter the fold, mostly from the Raleigh area.  The pandemic changed everything (as it did for so many folks).  We started recording long distance.  Guitars and keys from Cleveland, more guitars, bass, and drums from Raliegh, some harmonies from Mobile Alabama.  We found an international community of indie artists like us online, and we did our best to help each other through a few years of isolation.   

SBS:  Let’s talk about the before and after of where you’re currently at.  What’s something about the music that you’re making now that you don’t think you could have done five years ago, and what’s something you think you’ll be able to do with your music five years from now that you can’t do today?  How have you grown as an artist/band, and what steps do you take to continue your artistic evolution?

Brian:  I think the musicians that have joined our project over the last few years have allowed us to stretch, to paint with a broader brush.  Bringing in new influences and styles has afforded us more musical depth.  Our drummer/bassist is classically trained, has toured internationally with Jazz ensembles, teaches Music Production at a North Carolina university.  It brings a new approach to our sound.

I personally have been coming out of a cancer battle.  Our lyrics more and more speak to navigation; getting through whatever life throws at you.  We are talking about aging, community/tribe, the state of the world and how to pile through it with grace, humor, humility.

The hope is that we continue to evolve, from embracing new sounds, genres, but also not being afraid to strip down our recordings, increasing the power of the songs with a ‘less is more’ approach to instrumentation and production.    

SBS:  If you were to assess the overall health of the independent music scene right now, what would you say?  What are the positives and the negatives about the current state of independent music, and what do you feel like artists & bands can do to contribute to the community & help it grow beyond the music being made?  If you’re not actively looking to listen to the music of other independent artists/bands, is it really all that fair to expect anyone would listen to yours?  How do you help the scene around you grow?

Brian:  These are strange times for independent music.  Record companies don’t exist as they once did, it is all DIY.  Anyone can pick up a mic and a recording program, so the internet is filled with content like never before.  There is a lot of questionable quality out there, but some gems that get little or no attention.  AI is knocking at the door.  It is overwhelming.

I hate the sentiment that the best years of music are behind us, that today’s music is crap.  There are amazing artists in every generation, it just takes more effort to sift through the volume these days.  Indie artists need to support each other, share content, actively look for new music to support.  We have about a quarter of a million plays on Spotify alone.  That and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee.  An artist has to decide, is this a fun distraction from my day job, or am I all in?  If the latter, get out there and play live, promote in every way that you can.  Build community and keep the conversation alive.  I have always struggled with this, the marketing and networking components.  It can be exhausting.

SBS:  What do you consider to be the biggest accomplishment or achievement you’ve had with your music to-date?  How do you personally measure your own success – is that something that even can be measured?  Is it awards, accolades, chart position…or is your definition of success based on something entirely different?  Should success, however you define it, be something that artists are continually focused on – or is success something that naturally occurs in the course of doing what you love to do?

Brian:  Success is different for everyone.  Years ago, we were inches from a deal with a major label.  Due mainly to bad timing, it didn’t work out.  Ultimately for us, just having folks hear your music, having an audience is what matters most.  We are on music libraries that promote our music to radio, cafes and restaurants, films.  We get a good amount of traffic/plays and it feels great that folks are hearing what we do.  The money is awful, but we are past that point in our musical journey.  I am genuinely thrilled for any musician or band that finds an audience, finds folks that truly listen.  That is success to us.  

SBS:  When you’re working on something brand-new, and something about it just doesn’t feel like it’s coming together the way that you think it should, how do you know when it’s time to give up on it, or how do you know that it’s time to dig in even harder and find a way to make it work?  Are there distinct red flags you can hear when something’s not working?  What are the signs you look for that tell you to stop forcing the material?  What would actually encourage you to keep going with the process instead?

Brian:  We are picky about what gets released.  Usually 3-4 songs per year.  Not exactly a breakneck pace.  Even then, there are things you wished you had done differently; what you should have added, changed, or left out.  At the same time, you have to know when to stop tinkering.  We put out a song last year that the guitar player fidgeted with for over a year.  In retrospect, he would admit to being far too caught up in minutia, but it is easy to do.

For me, if a lyric feels awkward, if the song doesn’t hit me upon multiple listens, if it feels too complicated, too crowded, if the melody can’t stand on its own.  It is a gut feeling, a lack of enthusiasm from the group.  You can sense it.  Sometimes it gets shelved forever, occasionally it gets dusted off when a new idea comes to light.

SBS:  One of the points of general consensus in the art of making music, is that we all get our sound from somewhere…we hear what we like, then more often than not, we take tiny pieces of what we love to find our own voice & approach to go on and make music in our own way.  Essentially, what I’m saying is that it’s absolutely natural to be inspired by other artists/bands, and almost every artist/band ends up having that inspiration show up in their own work in some way, shape, or form.  What the real key is though, is retaining your own organic perspective – you still wanna be original too, right?  So how do you go about doing that?  Are there artists or bands that you know have been an influence on your style & sound?  How were you able to incorporate that influence without becoming too noticeably derivative and still be yourself?  Should we embrace and celebrate our influences more than we do?  It’s almost like we try not to admit influences exist in the pursuit of being original, but it’s like, bruh…if it’s there, we can hear it.  We all borrow something from those that came before us to some extent, don’t we?

Brian:  I always get a kick out of people telling us who they think we sound like.  Sometimes you can see it right away, sometimes you are taken completely by surprise.  For me, it is more the idea of musical styles and concepts than actual bands regarding influences.  I love music from the late 60s to the early 70s.  Lots of attention to melody, song structure, social consciousness.  Motown, Van Morrison, early Elton John, CCR, so many more.  It can be easy to sound derivative, but that usually happens when you have a specific song stuck in your head.  Music is math, and there are only so many notes, chords, progressions.  You have to keep yourself in check but allow yourself some grace as well.  I often hear a beat, an infectious rhythm that I want to expand upon.   

SBS:  Has there ever been a time where you wrote something inside one of your songs…maybe it’s a lyrical line, or maybe it’s a riff of some kind…something that you did, where you surprised yourself?  I like to think we all have a moment or two where we can stand back and be amazed by something we created, and appreciate the fact that maybe, just maybe, we exceeded our own expectations of what we thought we could accomplish – you know what I mean?  Get as specific as you can so the fans out there know what they should be paying attention to when they hear it – what’s your favorite thing that you’ve written on the inside of one of your songs, and why does this particular piece resonate so much to you?

Brian:  For me there are times when a lyric writes itself, when it feels like something takes over your consciousness and scribes for you.  The lyrics are very important to me, so when someone points them out, notices them, it feels wonderful.

I often get inspiration from some particular moment, in the middle of a film, in the middle of the night.  It is generally a single word or a short concept.  A few years ago, I was thinking about finding your community.  My family was a mess growing up, like many folks, I was looking for a place to belong.  I was reading a book about crows, how intelligent they are, how they form communities.  I thought about writing a song about the search for a community, about building “My Murder of Crows.”  The lyrics flew onto the page, and I believe it became our signature song to this point.  No idea where these lyrics came from, there is a spiritual quality to the lyrics and to the music as well.  A rich chorus of backing vocals pulls you in.  I am very self-critical by nature, but I love how this turned out.

SBS:  I’ve been having a lot of great debates lately about whether or not everybody that’s making music has the right to be heard…and you’d probably be surprised by how different people seem to feel about this issue.  I know where I stand on it, and I think you can all probably get an idea of what my position would be from this free interview we’re doing here & the way we run things at sleepingbagstudios…but regardless, I’m putting this question out there to you, because I’m interested in YOUR perspective.  Just because you’ve made a song, does that mean people should listen?  If your answer is yes, do your best to explain why you feel that way & why we should make a sincere effort to listen to the music of others.  If your answer is no, explain why you feel that way, but also explain why people should still be listening to your music if that’s the case – what would make your music the exception, and not follow the rule?  Is there any value to an idea that’s not finished, or a song in its demo stages, or maybe something that’s not recorded in a top-shelf studio or with good equipment – somebody still took the time to make that song to the best of their ability with the means they had to create it – should that be listened to, or not?

Brian:  I spent my early years being far too opinionated about music, about what was ‘good’ and what wasn’t.  Over the years my perspective has changed dramatically.  There are genres, artists that I love, others that I don’t.  That’s OK.  But what right do I have to criticize what people find appealing, moving?  I love strong lyrics and melody, some folks just want to dance, to scream, to remember or forget.  I think you find what you need, and any other opinion is irrelevant.

Does everyone’s music deserve to be heard?  I think that expectations are a dangerous thing.  They set us up for disappointment.  You create, you share, you hope that someone takes the time to listen.  Perhaps they will, perhaps they won’t.  You have to make to effort to find a platform/platforms, but after that you don’t control what will happen.  It hurts to not find an audience, but there are no guarantees.  Creating any type of art is a risk, you need to know going in that it may or may not get attention.  Go into it with hope and determination, but not with expectation.   

SBS:  There are ups and downs in the dynamics of almost every album we listen to, with very few exceptions.  Even those exceptions, probably still come down to more of a personal preference about what we enjoy about music and how we personally hear it, rather than anything being completely and totally “perfect” – you know what I mean?  Does an album actually need to have some kind of up/down dynamics in terms of what’s appealing to the masses in order for the best of the best songs in a lineup to be fully appreciated?  Wouldn’t every artist & band avoid the ‘down’ side (less accessible/less popular for example) if they could?  Does the ‘down’ side represent something else perhaps, like the story of an album or journey of an artist?  Is the ‘up’ side of a record as potent or noticeable if it doesn’t have a ‘down’ side to go with it?  Would a completely balanced album somehow be boring if it didn’t have the ups/downs that most have?  Do we HAVE to like every single song on a record for it to be considered complete?  Are the dynamics of an album something anyone can really steer in the direction they want to, or are all artists & bands simply going with the strongest material they have created at the time?

Brian:  Great question.  I remember years ago reading an interview with Mick Jagger where he basically said they put out an album with a couple of hits and a lot of filler.  I was disappointed.  I guess my naïve self thought the effort should be there in every song.  Why release something that you were not proud of, that you thought was inferior?  That being said, I think that it is up to the artist to release what they want folks to hear.  A demo, a fragment, a sketch can be just as powerful as fully produced cut, sometimes more so.  You have to go with your gut.  If you like it, if you want it to be heard, considered, put it out there.  What percentage of albums that you have heard can you say you loved every song?  Not many I would guess.  When you do find one, it is amazing, like discovering buried treasure.     

SBS:  I wanna send out a shout-out to YOU from me personally – I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to talk tunes with me throughout the years, and I appreciate the time YOU have taken with this interview too.  Because this one’s a little different in the sense that it’s been sent out to multiple people and is a little more generic in that regard, I have no doubt whatsoever that we probably didn’t get to talk to you about something you wanted to talk about – so let’s fix that!  This final space is what we call the SBS Open Floor – a spot where you can say anything else you want to say to the people out there.  It can be anything at all…your main websites…something else you want them to know about you and/or your music…your favorite bands in the scene right now…the secret 11 herbs and spices to the Colonel’s secret recipe – you get the idea, and it’s probably best you choose something that suits you rather than take any of my suggestions, but feel free to take the SBS Open Floor for a ride.  Whatever it is you want the people to know, now is the prime time for you to tell’em!  Thanks again for everything – keep in touch!

Brian:  A sincere thanks to you for doing what you do.  This is tough stuff.  We put our hearts and souls out there, exposing every vulnerability, hoping to find an audience.  It fails far more often than it succeeds.  Still, we keep writing, playing, creating, doubting ourselves.  Any chance to be heard is a worthwhile one, every play matters.  You are one of the folks that keep the fire going, and it is very appreciated.  Joe Pug sings, “There’s a world out there, I know there is,where they’ll play my songs on their silver harps and their violins.  If you remember one thing, remember this, when the lights came up there was nothing left, I could give.”

Soul Chatter is a murder of crows from the southern shores of Lake Erie and points beyond.  We are an Indie Rock band; a Folk-influenced, blue-eyed Soul, retro music project that would love to borrow your ear for a few minutes.  We take the lyrics pretty-damned seriously (at least the lyricist does) and work to create soul stirring compositions that stay with you, make you want to dig in a little.  Our goal is to create intelligent, melodic, listenable tunes with strong melodies, and music that moves you.

We have weathered cancer, the tragic loss of great friends, and possibly the loss of democracy and tolerance and empathy in the world around us.  You have likely experienced many similar circumstances.  Life is tough, and we never know what cards we will be dealt.  Here is hoping that you take the time to find music, art, love, hope, whatever wonderful distractions you need to make the ride as enjoyable, tolerable as possible.  Put in the effort to find your community, your murder of crows.  Peace.

Find out more at:  www.soulchattermusic.com

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