Q and A with Steve:

Q: If the songs on this album were written into a play, who would be the chief protagonists? Who would play the rest of the cast? What are scenes?

A: George W Bush, Billy Connolly, inmates at the Villawood detention centre, inmates at Guantanamo Bay, your average person seeking to create something of artistic value in their spare time, Tim Ollis (a photographer friend of mine), two quarreling lovers torn apart by beliefs, my beautiful wife, the zapatistas and indigenous movements struggling for rights everywhere, tall supermodels, Aboriginal Australia, the Sydney rail system, the US military, recovering drug addicts from slums in Delhi and the God of creativity and love...

Q: What genre should these songs be labeled under?

A: The vast and eclectic category known as: "Songs not written and performed by Bob Dylan"

Q: Why do you write songs?

A: Because it is a fantastic way of channeling my passion, anger, joy and argumentative sides! I can put across a perspective (at volume!) and I don't have to worry that I might say something I'd regret later! It's all there in the song: it has a definition, a shape, a limit - which an audience can take or leave. It is also a great pleasure to shape words and music into an aesthetic form that is capable of saying something - and of being listen to over and again. In this world of struggle and survival that is a real privilege - and it's a spiritual thing to boot. It's also a craft that you can see developing over time, which is a real satisfaction.

Q: How did this recording get made?

A: On Protools. We tracked drums at Stagedoor Studios in Sydney. The engineer on the sessions, Tamlin Tregonning, took great care with the recording and managed to make a scaled down drum kit, called a Yamaha Hip-Gig, sound remarkably like a BIG kit! Of course, HoBo hitting it as hard as he does also helped! Back at home I splashed guitar tracks around until the songs took shape. I invited John Stuart, another Mountains resident, to lay down some of his sweet pedal steel and his monsterous electric slide. He really is a fun guy, with old school chops and an old school sense of humour - take me back to school! Speaking of school, Dylan, my 16 year old son then casually fired a couple of solos into the mix - unplugged, and went straight back to playing Warcraft! Greg Seiler (aka Comatone) pulled the mix into line and then mastered the project at Blue Mountain Sound - a great little studio owned and operated by Andy Busuttil in Hazelbrook, which is my hometown.

Q: Will we see you gigging this CD?

A: Yes! We'll be out and about. Sometimes HoBo and I will play duo shows with drums and guitars. And for the "big" gigs, Richard Anderson will lay his signature bottom end beneath the songs - and his signature humour over the top of proceedings! And, occasionally, with special guests in tow...

Q: What else is in store for you in 2006?

A: I'm currently finishing off a second CD of quieter, more acoustic material. It still grooves though, and it's definitely got something to say! So I'm really keen for people to get a chance to hear that one too. It should be ready for release by June. And on the far horizon, there is an ep to knock out as well!

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