By: Rob Cavuoto
XI: The Days Before Tomorrow is the eleventh release from Louisiana Music Hall of Fame members Lillian Axe, and marks the debut of new lead vocalist Brian Jones. Lillian Axe has recorded an impressive amount of songs, earned the loyalty of a devout fan base worldwide and amassed an extensive amount of effusive critical acclaim from their peers.
The songs on the new CD reflect Steve Blaze’s passionate beliefs in the power of music. Steve’s compositions are as emotional as they are infectious. They are in your face songs of truth, war, neglect, Mother Nature, the innocent victim, the state of the world, current issues and spirituality. Personally charged rock ‘n’ roll is what makes Steve’s songwriting so melodic and drenched with deep lyrical insight.
I had the chance to speak with Steve Blaze about the new CD and the importance of staying relevant.
Steve Blaze Photo Credit: Trent Spann
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Robert Cavuoto: Congrats on the new CD, XI: The Days Before Tomorrow. It’s filled with a lot of great hooks and vocal melodies reminiscent of your early CDs in the ‘80s.
Steve Blaze: That was a great decade for music. Actually, that was the template for what’s going on right now for us. It is about the song. It’s about the chemistry. It’s about the brand name. It’s about the legacy of a band. It’s all about the song at the end of the day. You won’t see an eight minute guitar solo from me on records because it’s about the band Lillian Axe, not about Steve Blaze.
Robert: I felt this one was a little more commercial sounding than Deep Red Shadows. How you feel about it?
Steve Blaze: It’s actually a little funny that you said that, because I’ve had a few people tell me that they thought this was a darker album and less commercial. But I agree with you. This album is really very cohesive. There was one bit of real cognizant thought on this – not to freak people like we did with Sad Day on Planet Earth. I think that’s probably the most misunderstood record we’ve ever done. To me, I thought that record was great.
I’m trying to portray emotions and to have them transcend through music. It’s hard to do it in a three and a half minute song. I don’t buy that whole thing that it’s got to be under four minutes or radio won’t play it. I just don’t think it’s fair so I don’t really heed to that. This is a very accessible record.
Robert: A lot of your ‘80s peers have stopped recording studio CDs, yet you’re out there continuing to write. What makes you continue to create versus relying on your past and being a nostalgia act?
Steve Blaze: The one thing about us is, we had decent commercial success, but we never had massive commercial success. We’ve been called the most underrated and underappreciated band in rock. If 10 million people tell you you’re underrated, then that’s not translating over to being appreciated. So we’re able to fly under the radar a little bit and still be able to grow.
Poison, for example: they can never go out on tour and not play “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn,” but look what that song did for them. That was a huge song for them and that’s a beautiful thing, because those guys have had such a huge career. I would like to see a band of that genre come out with new music and screw if it’s popular or not. Just do it because it’s real to your band and because you have fans that want to hear from you.
Let me tell you something it’s no secret that no matter whatever do, Lillian Axe is going to have fans that are gonna say Love and War and Poetic Justice were our best records. I could write the next The Wall album, and they would say that it will never compare. People look at music in different ways. A lot of people look at it nostalgically where they don’t want to let go and if it varies at all from what they want it to be, they have difficulty accepting it.
I love to do this. It’s my calling and it’s been great so far. I’m gonna continue to do my best, to write better songs, be a better player and a human being all the way around forever.
Robert: What does success look like Lillian Axe when you’re putting out a CD? What is it that drives your passion?
Steve: We have different levels. On the commercial success, we’ve had a few times where we’ve really thought, “This album’s gonna go gold.” We have this momentum going and all of a sudden the label shuts down, or they want you to go do the next record, or don’t do a video for your hit, let’s do it for another single. Those kind of business moves have kept us from breaking a couple of times. That’s hindsight.
Success has been the fact that there are so many people all across the planet that have been deeply moved by our songs. I’ve heard so many stories of people saying how our songs have inspired them and helped them. I’ve met fans that were on their deathbed and told me what the music meant to them.
One guy told me how one of our songs kept him from killing himself when his fiancée passed away. You hear that for twenty-something years over and over and you start realizing, if you help one person out, that’s success. When you hear that you made someone’s life that much easier for five minutes, that’s success!
On the financial aspect, we actually haven’t even hit our peak. We’re not even coming close. We’re just on that journey. If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, then that’s why we’re all smart enough to be entrepreneurs in other areas so we can do what we have to do to survive, but it’s been very successful.
We were inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame last year, which that was to me a huge honor and indication of all that we’ve been through. It’s been a lot of success, but I’m not even remotely satisfied yet.
Robert: What’s the difference between performing now compared to when you were in your 20s and 30s?
Steve Blaze: I more concerned now with all of the mechanical elements: making sure everything is set, in place, and that the crew is ready. I’m kind of like the quarterback. I get there early and I leave late. I do the business aspect of it, too. The worrisome part of it has increased more. In the early days you didn’t really worry about stuff like that. You would just pile in the back of the van and drive around and have fun.
I told somebody the other day; I’m really trying to be a little bit more relaxed and sit back and enjoy things more. To not let the business aspect of it eat me up.
Lillian Axe
Robert: How did your record release party go in New Orleans for XI: The Days Before Tomorrow?
Steve Blaze: It was really good. A lot of people came from all over the place. We played a bunch of the new songs and an acoustic medley right in the middle of the set. When you have 11 records, it’s hard to cover as many songs as you want to. The acoustic medley allowed us to do about eight of our ballads all together. The response was phenomenal. We did a meet-and-greet after the show for about an hour and we sat there until the last person was satisfied.
Robert: I read that you were doing a possible CD or DVD for it, too?
Steve Blaze: Yeah, we recorded the whole show live for DVD and a possible live album. I haven’t gotten a chance to look at the footage. I was told that it was really good.
Robert: Tell me about your new singer, Brian Jones.
Steve Blaze: Brian had been a fan of ours since he was a teenager. He and I had become friends over the years. Every couple of months he’d call me and we’d chat. I knew he was a really good guitarist, but I didn’t know he sang. Two different people called me and said, “Man, you need to try Brian.” Then I get a call from Brian, and he says, “Hey, Steve. I’m mainly a vocalist,” so I said, “Send me some stuff,” and he did. I started studying him because there was a bug in the back of my head that kept telling me no matter who auditioned, that Brian was the guy.
We spent about five or six months trying to learn every possible scenario about him. We rehearsed, we demoed, we listened to him do the old stuff, and hung out together. We wanted to see what type of person he was and at the end of the day, he was perfect for us.
Robert: He sounds great on the CD. I like his vocal style.
Steve Blaze: I do, too, and he’s very emotional, passionate, and it really is a good fit. You can just feel it.
