 episode of the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection. I am your host, Wendell and Harris. My guest today is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer who has heard every day of the contemporary and smooth jazz charts around the world. His music career spans over 25 years and he has produced multi-number one hits on Billboard charts. He has been a touring member of Accused Alchemy and has played numerous club dates and head live festivals worldwide. He has also written and produced tracks with Grammy Award-winning pianist Omar Afram and many other smooth jazz millibles to include Vincent and Gala, Brian Simpson, and Paul Taylor. I am so happy to have him on the show today. Let's welcome Mr. Steve Oliver to this show. Aloha Steve. Welcome to the show. Aloha. Thanks for having me. It's great. Thank you so much for being here to my audience. I just saw him this past weekend. Steve Oliver, Michael Palo, and Marion Meadows put on an amazing show here in Huntersville, Hawaii, and I had a blast. I think the whole audience had a blast. All of them are just high energy. But Steve, you are something else. Oh, well, thank you. It was great to see you and feeling the love in Hawaii and Honolulu and, oh my gosh, what a joy fest that was. Now, how did you get your start in the music industry? Well, I knew what I wanted to do from birth. It was always music. I was always attracted to listening to music as a baby. My mom remembers me rocking in the crib. I just always love music. My parents weren't really musicians. It wasn't like they brought it to me. It was just something I wanted to do. I started very young, wrote my first songs in fourth grade, performed them for my fourth grade class. So I always sang and played guitar. That's what I wanted to do. Wow. And is the guitar the only instrument that you play, or do you play other instruments? I know you sing, but do you play any other instruments? Yeah, I play keyboards. I write a lot in my studio. I'm in my studio here. I have keyboards, and I play bass, and I play drums, and do a lot of programming. So yeah, I'm very diverse and different things. I've even played violin on a couple of my songs. Oh, wow. Yeah, I just love playing different instruments, too, because it inspires to write differently. Right. Now, who are your musical influences growing up? Oh, man. I mean, I'm a geek of music. I listen to everything, I mean, all styles. I mean, every genre I was into, you know, and so I grew up listening to, you know, I was into the rock thing, and then R&B, and, you know, just following everyone from Earth, Wind and Fire to, you know, Stevie Wonder to, you know, the rock stuff, and then the jazz guys, you know, Lee Rittenauer, Larry Carlton, Pat Matheny, and a lot of European bands like D-Sound and, you know, very, you know, electronic music. I love Vangelis. I love soundtrack composers. I really like songwriters. I've always followed, you know, people that write, you know, really good music. Now, are you writing music? Oh, yeah. What is your process for writing songs when creating a project? Oh, it's, you know, I could write a song right now if I wanted to. I mean, it's really simple. I could make something up, make a groove, you know, I do it with the voice first, and sing, and then get it going, oh, and then I'll pick up the guitar and then start all this hear stuff right away. Oh, wow. It comes really fast. So there was no process. I just, as long as I put the energy to start writing and it just starts flowing. Now, what there is, and I love asking this question, because I want to know what you are to say. There are other extraordinary guitarists out there, right? Roya. What sets you apart from them? Oh, gosh. Well, I do do, with my guitar, I do a lot of sounds, triggering keyboard sounds from the guitar, and nobody's really doing that, you know, anymore. I mean, I'm always trying to find guitar players that do multiple sounds with the instrument. So I really dove into guitar synth technology, and, you know, trying to play an orchestra sound or flute, or any instrument, you know, any instrument, a keyboard, you know, player can trigger on a synthesizer I could do from the guitar. It's kind of what I do. And I do it in the shows. In fact, I did it in Hawaii, you know, doing the orchestra sounds, and then I'm doing, you know, so every song I'm playing a sound. And you amazed me with the flute sound that you did. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's fun, you know, and I like to be musical with it. It's not like a gimmick. Right. Really, you know, think of the instrument like a flute and play it that way. I'm not playing chords with a, it's a monophonic instrument playing one note at a time. You're not going to play a chord on on a guitar and get a, you know, it just doesn't work right. So I think of the instrument that I'm triggering on the guitar. So it's a different thinking process that, you know, it's funny. And I do a lot of, you know, talking with other players and stuff. And they're always like, what do you, you know, it's like they've never seen this before. And it's like, well, the technology's out there. But just not a lot of people are doing that, you know, they're not playing synth guitar, or, you know, dived into that world like I have. And I've been doing it for a long time. And you do a great job at it as well. Oh, thank you. I love it. You have been very busy. You just came off of a month long cruise with Dave Cause, right? Yeah. And you just came off of that cruise and then turn around and came to Hawaii. Like you just got off one day and it came to Hawaii. Yeah. Oh, the cause, we were in Spain. And we told, you know, Marorca, we, you know, I mean, Malaga, you know, just, you know, all these ports. And it was three, it was a three week thing. And then we had rehearsals, you know, you know, before we got on the cruise. So yeah, it was a solid month of being on the ship. And, and just with all the artists, you know, we're, we're like family, we're just, you know, captive on that ship with, with, you know, 2000 people each cruise, you know, and we did three separate sailings and, and we did a lot of shows. There was like, there was like over 200 shows, you know, put on, you know, over the time. And it was absolutely stunning and amazing. What was the highlight? What was the highlight for you on the cruise? Oh man, there's so many highlights. I mean, you know, it's funny because, you know, they're, you know, Peter White, Rick Braun, I mean, you know, Mindy Abert, you know, of course, Dave and I mean, a lot of new artists, Marcus Anderson and I mean, just, just artists after artists. So we're doing a lot of playing together. Like last minute asked, like Peter White came up to me and goes, Steve, can you sing with me? You know, and they're, oh, there's Peter. Yeah, there he is. That's on the cruise. He had his own Peter White's pub. And so Peter invited me to sing with him on his show. And you know, hey, do you know these songs? I'm like, well, I've heard them. I've never sang them, but I'll sing it. Sure. So, you know, a lot of that kind of spontaneous stuff that you never see anywhere else, but on the Dave Cross cruise. Wow. Yeah, it was so much fun. And just being around the fans, you know, one on one, we did a lot of clinics, you know, we did guitar clinics and with Adam Hawley and Jonathan Butler and Norman Brown and me and Peter White, Mark Antoine. And then we'd all talk, you know, guitar and then how we do what we do. And so it's, you know, it's things on the cruise that, you know, most people don't get to see us do. And especially all together, you know. Right. Now, now you've collaborated already with a lot of people. You're a big time like that, right? Oh, love it. Yeah. Who would be your dream collaboration? Anybody who haven't done it yet? Who would be your dream collaboration? Peter Gabriel. Oh, he's creative. He's always been creative and he's world music. He's jazz. He's electronic. He's pop. He's rock. He's R&B. He just is so diverse. And I love, you know, the percussion stuff, you know, that he, you know, with the world music. He's one of them. And then, you know, of course, Pat Matheny would be another one. And love to do something with Phillip Bailey. I have so many, you know, bucket lists, you know, artists, you know. It's like I tell the artist, you know, you speak that into existence, right? Oh, yeah. It'll happen. It'll happen. It's something you really want and it'll happen. Oh, yeah. I believe in that. That's a good point. Yeah. Now, the music industry has changed so much, especially with smooth jazz. Where do you see smooth jazz going in the future? Well, I think, you know, what it's doing, you know, it's a, it's very diverse, you know, the genre. So, you know, you could do R&B and pop and jazz and Brazilian music and Latin music. And it's still diverse. And that's what I love about it. So I keep seeing it doing that more and electronic, you know, a lot of electronic sounds and, you know, adding different colors and ambient creative, you know, it's a very creative genre. So I think it's going to go more that way, you know, and more creative and, you know, and diverse. Yes, for sure. I know, you mentioned Latin because I love Latin music as well. And I love your chips and salsa. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, it's a fun. I was so glad you played that, too. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's a party. That's a party. Yes. Now, let's get into your, your, your discog, you have a total of eight albums out? Yeah, there's, you know, almost 10, you know, now it's a 10 or 11. It might be, you know, yeah, it might be more. But your, your latest album that came out, well, first of all, your, your latest single, which just came out, Skyway is making the charts like crazy. Yeah, it's a great song. It's, it's, I'm very proud of the writing of this song. And I got to work with a great producer, along with me, I produced it with Michael Barone, Michael B. And he's wonderful. He does all a lot of the trippin and rhythm artists, Cindy Bradley, and he did Nick Colione's last album before he passed. And so, you know, he's a great guy. And I've known him for 20 years. And so it was great working with him on this new album that's going to come out in September, which is called A New Light, actually. So, yeah. And so Skyway is on the new album, too. And I just really love this song. Can't wait to play it live. Oh, and I can't wait either. But you have your album that came out in 2022, Sojourn. Number one, this is a two-part question. Okay. First of all, how did you come up with the name of that album? And what sets this album apart from all of your other albums? Yeah, well, you know, Sojourn came about because it's, you know, a journey. And, you know, music, when I'm writing, it's, I'm gone, you know, it's like a journey in itself, just writing music. So I always, and I like the name Sojourn. It's just, it's, you know, it's very broad, scoped title. And what makes this album different from my other ones is it's a solo guitar album. And it's just me on guitar here. I recorded the whole thing here in my studio. And what I'm doing, I'm triggering synthesizer sounds and the guitar at the same time. So I played all those songs live. So they went down like a live performance. But I was triggering orchestras and stuff. You'll hear those other colors. You're thinking I overdubbed it, but no, I didn't. I just did it, you know, live. So it's a complete solo guitar album. It's an album you put on and just vibe out, vibe out on always, because I write music as a solo guitar piece. It was a natural forward thing for me to make an album of solo guitar playing, because that's how I write my music on solo guitar. First, and then make it, you know, on my other albums, then make it band sounding production and, you know, add musicians, you know, Vinnie Carluda or, you know, different players and get Leland Scalar. And I've had a lot of famous people play on my albums and great musicians who are just the same. But this was just the beauty of the guitar and my guitar synthesis playing. Oh, nice. Nice. Now, would you be able to just play a little bit of something just to give the audience assistance for those of you that missed this weekend here in Hawaii? Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, absolutely. I just so happen to have a guitar right here. Let's see if it's even in tune. But this is my Kiesel guitars and they're just wonderful. And I endorse them. I've been with them for, God, since 2003. And this is kind of the new, the new model with the hollowed out, you know, section here and it's just, yeah. So I'll just, I'll just play something, you know, I'll play. Just a little solo guitar piece, you know, that's how I write. I write so I could hear the melody like Skyway. I wrote it as a, you know, where I play the melody in the chords. I write it so it sounds like two people playing, you know, kind of at the same time. This is a question that I asked all of the artists, because I think that when new artists come into the industry, they should hear what you, what your professionals do, right? So the question is, what advice would you give to an up and coming independent artist concerning the business or music infrastructure? So basically, what news, what advice did you give a new artist coming into the industry? Well, you know, I produce a lot of artists. And I have this conversation with every new artist that I work with. And, you know, because, you know, it's all about education. And that's real important to me as a producer with a new artist. And, and I always tell them, you know, just, you know, if you love it, and you feel it, and you're passionate, it's, you know, there's the answer. It's kind of, you know, real simple to me because that's all I did. I just followed my passion. And then things come, you know, things start happening because, because of that. But if you, you know, if you're trying to chase it, instead of listening internally, I don't know. So it depends on, you know, the artist, but I always try to just encourage, you know, and give optimistic, you know, I mean, sure, that it's a music business. And there's always going to be issues, you know, with any job or any business, you know, who whatever you decide to do in life. But, but when you're an artist, you just have to live and breathe it. And, and by doing that, other things start happening because people see that you're living and breathing it. And they want to work with you because they see your love for it. Right. Well, that's excellent advice. Yes. Yeah. And, you know, because that's all I did. So I'm kind of going by, you know, how I do things, you know, how I do things right. And that's great. Where is your favorite place before? Oh my gosh. I mean, I just got back from Spain. So it was pretty magical, you know, there, but it was on the ship and, you know, we're going to ports. But, you know, I actually played the Playboy Jazz Festival one year and that was pretty amazing. It was at the Rose Bowl. Oh, wow. Yeah. That year they had it there and got to go to Hugh Hefner's mansion at the Playboy Mansion, you know, for press. And so that was pretty amazing. So it's interesting how certain, you know, shows that you do bring you to other ventures, you know, like other, I never thought I'd go to the Playboy Mansion, you know, you know, but the, you know, doing that. So that was pretty amazing. And the Catalina Jazz Fest, there's so many festivals and shows, you know, I love, you know. But we need to get you back here to Hawaii. How about that? Invite me. I'm right here. Do projects. And you talked a little bit about something. But what do projects, Andy, are you working on? And what shows should we be watching for on the calendar? Like, what shows am I going to come to California for or follow you? All my tour dates, you know, are on the website, stevoloramusic.com. And I'm doing a lot of touring. I'm actually this whole year, I've been on the road, you know, pretty much, you know, the whole year, it's, you know, I'm all over the place. So yeah, there's lots of dates. And October, I'm really going to be gone the whole month of October. Me and Brian Simpson, because I did an album with Brian Simpson. Yes, you did. It came out in 2020. And he's a dear friend. Yeah, unified. And it came out during COVID, you know, so and the COVID album, you know, but it went to number one on sales on Billboard chart. And it did really well on radio. And yeah, and I would love working with Brian, because I write with Brian for his solo albums and it helped produce. So I do, you know, his solo albums before we did our album together. And so he asked me to do that album. So, you know, me and Brian are going to be doing some dates this year. We have done some already, but we're going to be doing more with Joaquin Joiner joining in with us. So yeah. And then maybe, you know, me and Marion and and Will Donato and, you know, you know, it's just a great tag team of artists that we're all, you know, get to play with on certain dates. I'm Jeff Koshwell. I'm going to Yoshi's in Oakland. I saw that. If I could fly over there, I would. Yeah. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that because that's kind of my hometown where I grew up. I'm from the Bay Area originally. So I'm really looking forward to, you know, heading to the back to the Bay Area. My brother still lives up there. So. Well, unfortunately, I told you the time was going to go quick, right? Unfortunately, I did come to an end, but I thank you so much. I enjoyed seeing you this past weekend. I enjoyed interviewing you today. I am just blessed to do that today. Thank you, Glen. You're awesome. And it was so great to see you in Hawaii and your passion and your love. It's awesome. So thank you. I love it. Love it. Love it. And I definitely love you and your music. And I'm definitely going to be following you. You never know. You might see me, I guess, either following you somewhere. You never know. Perfect. I'll put you on the guest list. Okay. Well, thank you so much for being with me today. And to my guests, thank you so much for tuning in, listening to my cold and everything. But thank you for tuning in. And until next week or in two weeks, I don't know how. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and donate to us at thinktecawaii.com. Mahalo.