Sevenstring.org Interview: Steve Bello

<div align="right"><img border="0" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/bello/bello_xlogo2.gif" alt="Steve Bello">
<b>Interview: Steve Bello</b>
<font size="1"><i>By: Jerich</i></font>
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<img style="padding:20px;" align="left" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/bello/1.jpg" alt="Steve Bello" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">Jerich</span>: Name, rank and serial number, and who are your influences?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">Steve Bello</span>: Steve Bello, Steve Bello Band, Westwood, New Jersey. As far as influences, Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Uli Jon Roth, Prince, Led Zeppelin, Living Colour, Rush, tons of heavy metal bands.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: How long have you been playing, and What is your practice routine like?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I started on guitar at age 9; I'm 35 now. I don't really have a routine, per se. Sometimes I just throw on a cd and play along to it and pretend I'm 16 again. [laughs]

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What's your main guitar and string setup?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: An Ibanez Universe 7-string U777PBK. For strings, I use DR Strings Tite-fit .009-.052; Dunlop Jazz picks, medium or heavy, depends on my mood. he vibe of the guitar just suits me perfectly. I've owned Strats, Kramers, and various other models, but the Ibanez's have always worked the best for me.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Tell us about your rig.
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I use an Ibanez TB100 half-stack; my effects are Ibanez Weeping Demon wah, Ibanez FL9 flanger, Digitech Whammy and a Voodoo MicroVibe.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Who do you think is pushing the envelope in the 7 string guitar community?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I totally dig Jeff Loomis of Nevermore, Chris Broderick of Jag Panzer, the guys in Meshuggah, the guys in Unearth.. I wish Steve Vai would do more with the 7-string but for some reason he chooses not to. Ah well.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Who are you endorsed by?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I'm endorsed by Ibanez and DR Strings.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: In the studio, do you prefer Micing or direct recording? What about live?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I definitely mic for studio; sometimes I use a Line6 Pod for more tight signal path. For live use, I use a Sennheiser E609.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: At what Point in your career did/do you feel at ease with your guitar playing?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: Lately, I've been the most comfortable I've ever been with my playing. I think I found my niche with the 7-string guitar. I'm still learning new things everyday.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Do you consider yourself more of a technicial or a feel player?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I used to be purely technique-for-technique-sake; you know, typical "he-man "shredder! [laughs] But I needed certain techniques to achieve certain "feels" in the music, so, yeah I think I'm a decent balance of style and speed.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What's your music education background?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I am purely self-taught. I went to Bergen Community College and received and Associate's degree in Music in 1991.

<img style="padding:20px;" align="right" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/bello/2.jpg" alt="Steve Bello" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: How would your other band members describe you?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: Well, right now it's just my bassist Courtenay; our drummer Darren quit and we're auditioning a couple of people. How would Courtenay describe me? Probably "intense". You'd have to ask her; I can't speak for her.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What makes you crazy in the music world?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: God, there's so many things I can pin-point! [laughs] But you know what? Instead of wasting my energy on what drives me nuts, I'd rather channel that energy into something positive, like the new music I'm writing.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What would be your dream gig?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: My dream gig? Play in front of 100,000 people. Just one time.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: How do you warm up for a gig?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I warm up by doing slow repetitive scale runs and playing jazz chord changes to help me limber my fingers up. Sometimes I may even grab a pair of drumsticks and tap out beats to loosen my wrists.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What song or riff or lick that you've written are you most proud of?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I'm proud of the All Wired Up CD, but I cannot wait to lay down the tracks for the new songs! My fave tune is "Schizotherapy", from AWU. It's just so slammin'!

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What is your favorite guitar technique, and what guitar technique do you feel you need the most work on?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I love sweep-picking! My legato isn't as smooth as I want it to be; I was always better at speed-picking, ala Al DiMeloa/John McLaughlin. One day my legato will be where I want it to be.

<img style="padding:20px;" align="left" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/bello/3.jpg" alt="Steve Bello" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What does the future hold for Steve Bello?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I don't know. I leave it up to God and just go about my business.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What do you think the general public's view of 7 string guitars is?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I think people are afraid of a 7-string initially; I should know because I was one of those people. But once I tried it, I never looked back. I sold all my 6-string guitars as a result! [laughs] The people that say comments like "Oh 7 strings is just plain stupid!" are just afraid, that's all. A lot of guitarists have this 'purist' mentality, I think. Bass players seem to be more experimental than guitarists. But I'm glad I tried the 7-string.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What would people find strange that Influences you?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I love Living Colour, Prince, James Brown...I used to play in a funk-metal band back in 1990, and that experience forced me to work on my rhythms and chord voicings more than my soloing techniques. Once I learned how important groove is, I couldn't stop! But of course it doesn't hurt to write a Slayer-type riff at 320bpm once in a while.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Your Solos are they written beforehand, or improvised?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I completely wing my solos. I hate planning solos out. I always got off on improvisation.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: To you, who has the best guitar tone?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: Best guitar tone? Brian May definitely, followed by Ty Tabor of King's X.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What cd's would I find on you if your were on a desert island?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I listen to a lot of stuff, depending on my mood. Some days I will put on Elliot Fisk (classical guitarist) and other times I feel like Led Zeppelin. Whatever works...

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Steve Vai has a new cd comming out (is out now) what do you think about it?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: Gotta be honest, I wish Vai would put away the show-tunes crap and put out an album that flat-out ROCKED! He hasn't done that in a long time.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Guitar related Magazines or MTV for your source of Info?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: Guitar World definitely is my source of information. MTV used to be when I was 13.

<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Any last words?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">SB</span>: I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak my mind. For some reason, I enjoy doing interviews! I also want to thank anyone who took the time to read this! Cheers!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.myspace.com/stevebello"><span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none">Steve Bello on MySpace</span></a>
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Agreed! Welcome back Steve!