Interview with Steve Blaze of Near Life Experience and Lillian Axe
By Neon Blonde
July 10, 2003

  NB:  I love Day of Silver Sun.  Very musically solid.  My fav song on that album is Cradle By The Sea.  How did this song come about?

  SB:  It’s kind of a follow up song to a Lillian Axe song called Moonlight In Your Blood.  I’ve always had this soft spot for the underdog, loners, people that seem like they’re melancholy.  I can be walking through the mall and I can pick somebody out walking by me that I’ve never even met and I can get this really sorrowful feeling about them.  That I can connect with them because they’ve been misunderstood and are sorrowful and melancholy for whatever reasons.  This song I’ve written for the underdog.  And also any particular woman who has been jaded and hurt so many times that she withdraws into her own little shell.  Which would be her cradle by the sea, her escape.  It’s about escapism; which is something I do a lot.  I’ve always felt like I’m very much a loner even though I have a lot of people and friends around me and the fact that I don’t feel like anyone quite understands me like I understand myself.  So I totally sympathize with people who are like that.  And that’s pretty much about Cradle By The Sea.  A lot of my songs are very open to interpretation.  If somebody asks what that song’s about I can pretty much give you the basic outline on every one of my songs and go on forever about them.  I basically chastise the evil in people that do wrong come to the defense of those who try to do right.

  NB:  Well I just really loved the song.  I mean the minute I heard it I was just like ‘wow’.  It really reached out to me.  I love the cd.  It’s a great cd and I practically wore it out in my car.  I would love to see you guys put out more stuff like this. 

  SB:  We will be!

  NB:  You had stated in an earlier interview that you wanted this music to ‘move mountains’.  Do you feel this has been accomplished?

  SB:  Well I think that every thing that we do is a work in progress.  Like right now probably five or six new songs have been written for the next album.  And being that the four of us have been together for about three years now, we’re not on constant tour where we’ve been playing about four or five times a week.  We are constantly growing and finding this band’s niche.  I’m driven by writing passionate music whether it is in ballad form or in a heavy heavy form.  I’m such a seeker of melodies and texture and dramatic contrast.  That’s one thing that we’re growing and learning about.  And on “Day of Silver Sun’ there’s a lot of different stuff.  And that’s one thing that I’ve been accused of forever is all the stuff that I’ve written for Lillian and for Near Life sounds different and you can tell it’s the same band but every single song is like a different album but there’s not a lot of stuff that sounds like something you’ve heard before which I guess is a good thing or it can be bad in that the general public likes simplicity.  Sometimes I’ve been told that I’m a little too deep for the majority of people.  People hear a song on the radio and they go out and buy the record and they basically bought it for the song.  We’re trying to give people something they can relate to a spiritual connection.  Lyrically and musically I think people that connect with it really get it.  You learn something new every time you hear it.  And I feel the same way about it even though I’ve written most of the stuff I still feel the same way every time I hear it. I learn a little bit something more about myself and the other guys in the band. 

  NB:  I find that sometimes people in general are frightened or scared of what they don’t understand and instead of trying to uncover what it is that they don’t get where they might actually figure out  something more about themselves they just shy away from it and go for whatever is easy on the ears. 

  SB:  Well I mean people like what’s artificial stimulus you know.  I know a lot of people out there don’t want to get something deeper than a “I love rock n roll’ song which is a great song and people can escape the every day drudgery of life for about three and a half minutes.   What I would like to do and what I hope I’m doing is giving you something that moves you in your soul instead of giving you that little tingle on the edge of your skin.  I think that’s why I spend so much time writing and writing and throw so much away.  I’m not looking for what’s going to be the next commercial fix.  The people that understand are getting more than just a quick fix. 

  NB:  People just need more to think about and  more to challenge them.

  SB:  Oh absolutely.

NB:  How has the tour been going so far?

  SB:  Well what we’re doing now because of the fact that we are on an indie label and it’s very difficult to be on a full out tour we’re basically playing a couple of shows a week.  Next week we’ll be in Tyler, Texas with Skid Row and then the next night we’re going to Dallas at The Underworld and this weekend we have Lillian Axe shows and the week after.  Then we play with Skid Row in Baton Rouge again and then Lillian is going up to Michigan for a week and then Near Life comes back here.  We’re pretty much on alternating schedules.  Until Lillian goes out on an extensive tour or Near Life gets picked up by a major label we’re gonna have to settle with playing down here and the Dallas area and building the following and work on the next record.  Our main goal for Near Life right now is to find a major label that we can get some support and get the record out there.  The music industry is in a crazy way right now.  We’re just trying to keep building fans and keep writing new records.

  NB:  What’s the response been like?

  SB:  Well you know I’m the guy that’s always looking for the bigger better thing.  The response as far as Near Life has been kind of weird because we lost a legion of Lillian Axe fans worldwide.   They didn’t want to like anything else other than Lillian Axe.  We have some of the most dedicated, staunch, diehard fans you can ever imagine in your life.  For a while people just didn’t want to know about us.  They didn’t want to give it a chance, they didn’t care, and it wasn’t Lillian Axe so they didn’t want to know about it.  And slowly but surely people have been coming around and starting to realize hey Steve didn’t break up the band they’re just taking a break!  And you can like both bands it’s perfectly legal!  But we’re at the point now where people are starting to come around to us.  A lot of kids are liking it and as you know Lillian was a little bit before their time and they can actually get into Near Life cuz it’s newer and in a heavier situation.  A lot of the people that were into Lillian Axe are getting into Near Life and vice versa.  Like I said before the Near Life fans are the people that are really getting it.  People are looking for things in music beyond a good beat and killer riff.  This is coming from somewhere other than just jammin for fifteen minutes on the guitar with a drum beat behind it. 

  NB:  Well I mean I like a crunchy, in-your-face guitar riff as much as the next person but I really get a lot out of something that is melodic and has substance and content to the lyrics. 

  SB:  When I start playing around with a song I hear every substance of that song.  I hear the drums, bass, guitar, the overdubs, the vocals and melodies when they start to form themselves.  I kind of work in the same way that a composer would when he’s hearing an oboe or cello and strings. As soon as I play that riff everything starts to gel.  And most of the time the lyrics are the last thing.  I basically let the music create the mood.

  NB:  What are you wanting to see happen with this upcoming show in Dallas?

  SB:  Well you know we are always trying to build a following in Dallas and we are just hoping that more and more people will start showing up.  We just want people to walk away feeling spiritually rejuvenated and emotionally charged; and all of those different elements of anger, fear, happiness, power, strength, exhilaration that all of those emotions have been touched on; and that people walk away from the show saying that they got something out of it.  That it changed their lives and that they feel different than they did before.

  NB:  Do you see metal returning commercially?

  SB:  No I think it’s always gonna be there I mean it’s out there right now.  It’s got a little bit of a different face to it.  But I mean bands like Tool and Disturbed and Godsmack and bands that are like that are playing heavy music and getting good label support and therefore are commercially successful.  Korn’s doing great one of my favorite bands.  It’s not the style of music so much any more and I’m not into rap or hip-hop or the nu-metal at all, I respect it but I’m not into it.  The problem right now is the labels and the record industry itself is in a big mess right now.  There’s a lot of politics out there.  A million records go out every month and they’re just thrown out there and it’s an over saturated market.  There’s just too much fluff.  It’s a rough industry to be in right now.

  NB:  I’m totally amazed at the talents that we have around here in Dallas in local bands, indie bands and bands like Near Life Experience and do people just not realize what kind of music we have going on out here?  It’s great music.  The bands are great, the musicians are great,  the lyrics are great, everything is great.  And the music is not being played and it’s so frustrating and I can only imagine how you guys must feel. 

  SB:  Oh yeah I mean it’s really tough especially now after being with Lillian Axe and then starting a new project and done it for five years and still haven’t gotten any deals anywhere it befuddles me.  I’m just waiting for the right individual to come along and say hey you know what I know what you’re all about and I’m gonna make it happen.  And good luck to the guy who’s smart enough to figure it out! 

  NB:  You know guys like you who fight tooth and nail for everything that you have and aren’t just sitting there waiting for someone to come along and do what needs to be done for ya’ll.  You have to love what you do otherwise you wouldn’t stick in there and hang with it.

  SB:  You know I’ve had videos on MTV and toured around the world, played in front of crowds as large as 50,000 people, been in every state, 30 something countries, and done things that so many people would die to do and it’s still just as exciting to me and I still love it just as much as I ever have.  I definitely love it and I’ll be doing until the day they put me in the box. 

  NB:  Are you still playing in the side project Angel?

  SB:  Yeah I’m still playing with Angel.  We’re gonna start getting together some time next month and writing.  Angel’s last album was about fifteen years or so ago.  Maybe longer, maybe twenty.  It’s been a long time.  We have a couple of songs written already.  I’m gonna get together with a couple of guys next month and start recording.  When I was a kid I was a huge huge Angel fan so this is a honor to play with them.

  NB:  That’s so awesome!

  NB:  Are you still doing your solo project?

  SB:  Yep as a matter of fact when I get off the phone here with you that’s my next thing tonight.  I have 8 songs recorded and I have about 35 minutes of music but I wanna fill the disc up so people can get their money’s worth.  It’s got all kinds of different stuff and it’s way different than what you’d probably would expect.  Dark ballads, a lot of acoustic guitar, keyboards.

  NB:  Any classical influence?  Because I know you love classical.

  SB:  Oh absolutely.  All the songs are very melodic, piano, strings; a couple of things that are of a Mid-Eastern influence.  And there’s this one thing that’s about two minutes of me doing this distorted flight of the bumblebee.  A lot of people are like man you need to rip out so this is me tearing something up.  For about two minutes.  It’s guitar masturbation!  It’s all dark ballads but it’s beautifully layered.  I’m doing everything myself in my studio in my bedroom.  It’s real mellow and not over produced.  It’s me every single moment of it!  I think people will like it. 

  NB:  Are you still involved in the Black Sabbath tribute band, Black Earth?

  SB:  Yeah we still talk about doing shows all the time but it’s really difficult.  The singer of the band is married to my sister and they just recently had another baby and my brother is playing drums for Black Label Society so he’s gone a lot and the singer’s brother is the bass player, so there’s two sets of brothers.  It’s really hard to get everybody together.  But to be honest with you I’m probably the easiest one to get together.  But we’ll be doing some more stuff in the future.

  NB:  Well cool!  I love a good tribute band especially if they can do it justice. 

  SB:  Well the thing that’s great is all the players in the band are top-notch musicians and we play nothing but old Sabbath. 

  NB:  Like ‘Heaven and Hell/Neon Nights’?

  SB:  Earlier than that.  We do play ‘Heaven and Hell’ and we do the early stuff like ‘Paranoid’, Vol. 4, all the real early stuff.  It goes over really well.  We play like two hours non-stop heavy old Sabbath which we’re all big fans of. 

 NB:  That would definitely be awesome if you guys could get together and do some touring or shows.

  NB:  I hear you recently got a new pet.  Can you tell us about that?

  SB:  Yeah I got a three and a half foot Argentine TEGU, which is a lizard.  And I now have four lizards and two ferrets.  I had a seven-foot Argentine boa that I traded for the lizard.  This lizard is about three years old and he’s big.  He’s incredible.  He’s probably about 14 inches around the fattest part of his stomach.  He’s nice and chunky.  I could probably rent him out for some of the old B Japanese horror movies. 

  NB:  Godzilla vs. Mothra!  (both laughing)

  NB:  Well Steve thank you so much for the interview and before you go if there is anything that you would like to say the floor is yours!

  SB:  Well I would like to first say ‘thanks’ to all the people out there that have supported us and come to see us.  And thank you Neon for doing this interview.

KEEP ROCKIN'!

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