The Brotherhood of the Guitar: Steve Costello

By: Rick Landers 

Steve Costello – photo credit: Robert M. Knight

The Brotherhood of the Guitar is an idea that has become a reality and was developed by rock photographer, Robert Knight, and artist co-founder, Jim Evans.

The working concept for The Brotherhood entails searching for and discovering young exceptional guitar talent to help nurture a new generation of guitar heroes.

It has been a labor of love of Knight and Evans for several years now, and a cadre of young guitarists has been gathered, mentored, supported and nurtured by The Brotherhood and their families.

Robert Knight has been searching the globe for young men and women who are technically talented, have performance chops and have the right positive attitude to do the work to become milestone guitar players. And, from what we’ve seen, he’s making progress and hitting the mark each time he adds a new young artist to The Brotherhood roster.

Ernie Ball, Inc., and Guitar Center have encouraged the growth and maturation of The Brotherhood through financial and other support.  And Brian Ball, president, Ernic Ball, Inc., is incrementally building The Ernie Ball Music Man Brotherhood of the young artists, who are both promising young guitarists, but also have an affinity for his company’s gear.

Steve Costello met Robert Knight and they formed a friendship and appreciation of their, respective, talents and in time, Steve joined The Brotherhood of the Guitar.  At 13, Steve joined the club circuit in his native Northern Ontario, Canada, and ten years later, he’s become a hard driving guitar master and entertainer.

Hard-hitting original rock songs driven by classic guitar licks and heavy riffs are what Steve Costello has always strived for. And in the years since playing the Northern Ontario club circuit at the age of 13, he has more than adequately proven his ability to rock with the best of them. Now 23, has been doing what he loves best: entertaining.

In 2013, Steve released his debut solo album, Steve Costello – Vol. 1, that features some hard rockin’ tracks, influenced by his love of rock, grunge and his own signature licks. A look at some of his videos makes it all self-evident that Costello is on the rise and we’ll be hearing more of him in the future.

Two years ago, Steve won the 2013 LCBO Whiskey Rocks Competition and then opened for Theory of a Deadman a few months later. His talent has been recognized with him invited to play on the first “Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea [2014) and a sea blues festival aboard the Norwegian Pearl, that also included feature artists, Joe Bonamassa, Robben Ford and Robert Randolph.

As Guitar International works to help support The Brotherhood of the Guitar, we latched onto Steve Costello, once we viewed one of his videos – this guy definitely rocks!

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Rick Landers: Immediately on watching one of your videos, it was apparent why Robert Knight asked you to become part of The Brotherhood of the Guitar. Hard driving in your face rock. But, what was the audition like as far as showing your depth and breadth of musicianship and what’s it been like being part of the group?

Steve Costello: Well, thank you, for the kind words Rick! There was no real audition process, I had known who Robert was for some time and ended up meeting him through another artist.

We’d kept in touch and I would send him new ideas I’d been working on, until we later became closer friends. Being part of the Brotherhood is an amazing privilege. It’s such a great way to connect young musicians, not just guitar players.

Steve Costello – photo credit: Robert M. Knight

Rick: How have your influences changed over time and do you seek out strange or unusual music to get out of the “box”, so you can throw in something different into your playing to give it a different twist?

Steve Costello: Well, I grew up listening to my dad’s music; Zeppelin, Hendrix, Cream, all the hippie greats. I started with that early British blues/rock style and tried to work my way forward in time from there.

I found Joe Bonamassa’s music when I was about 14 and studied his style, because I really like how he can take influences from so many great guitarists and turn it into his own style.

More recently, I gravitated towards bands like Them Crooked Vultures and Queens of the Stone Age. I really like the unpredictability and the vibe of that style. It makes me think about the guitar and music in general in a new light.

I like things that throw the listener off just enough to be interesting, but still holds the groove. 

Rick: Has working with The Brotherhood and Ernie Ball given you opportunities to meet and play with some of your guitar heroes? What were they like?

Steve Costello: In February of this year I was chosen to be one of the artists on the “Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea” cruise with artists like Joe Bonamassa, Robert Randolph, Rock Candy Funk Party, Bernie Marsden and many more. It was such a privilege to be involved in the first year of this event and to meet my heroes. They are all amazing people and such amazing musicians.

Rick: What are some of the highlights of your career that have taken place since you first joined The Brotherhood?

Steve Costello: Being able to travel the world and do what I love has been such a privilege, I’m so thankful to Robert and the Brotherhood for helping me to do what I love.

I’ve seen places I thought I’d never see from L.A. and New York to Poland and England. I’ve been able to meet my heroes like Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa, Bernard Purdie, Steve Jordan and I even shared a stage with Alex Lifeson. It’s a great honor to be a part of this group.

Rick: Tell us about your gear – guitars; amps; effects – and what’s on your “want” list?

Steve Costello: I’m using the Ernie Ball Music Man Armada and Luke III.

The Armada is my main guitar and I use the Luke for some more effects driven parts and dropped tuned songs. I love these guitars and I’m so grateful to be involved with Ernie Ball Music Man.

I’ve always used Ernie Ball strings, I used to be a crazy person and play Not Even Slinkys (12-56) but have settled comfortably with the Slinky Top Heavy Bottom (10-52).

I’m also endorsed by Orange Amps, I play the Dual Dark 100, the Dark Terror, and Tiny Terror. I love these amps, they can handle all of the styles of music I play, from Heavy Rock to Old School Blues.

I use a lot of different effects and I like to vary what I have in my board. But, I really like Dunlop pedals because they are well built and there are so many to different and unique options.

I like obscure pedals or really wonky effects that I may only use for one specific part of a song. At the moment I’m using:

• TC Electronic Polytune
• Way Huge Pork Loin
• Pigtronix Philosopher’s Rock
• Fulltone Octafuzz
• Boss Super Octave
• Dunlop Joe Bonamassa Wah
• Boss DD-3 Delay
• Strymon Flint (Reverb/Tremolo)
• Orange FS-2 Channel Switcher

I would really like to get an Albert Lee HH by Music Man and an Orange Thunderverb 200. As for pedals, I’d really like to get a Foxx Tone Machine, they are such a cool and unique fuzz. 

Rick: Your performances are high energy and driven…not too subtle. But, does that reflect your day-to-day personality or does getting on stage bring out the beast?

Steve Costello: I’m pretty mild mannered in my day to day, I’ve always been really shy. I’ve been much better at talking to people and speaking my mind and I think I have performing to thank for that.

I’ve never been scared of playing in front of people and I think I was able to pull that skill into the rest of my life.

Rick: How have you evolved as far as recording and production? Are you a hands-on kind of guy and do you see yourself working in that area in the future too?

Steve Costello: I really like being in the studio. I’ve gotten to the point where I can demo my ideas from home in Protools and when they are ready I can bring the sessions into a real studio to replace the parts with professional recordings.

I owe a lot to my friend Dajaun Martineau, he’s an amazing producer and engineer. He has helped me better understand the studio world and the etiquette that goes with it.

I really like being involved through the whole process, but also letting people who know more than me take the reins when it comes time. I really like the production and could definitely see myself doing it more in the future.

Steve Costello – photo credit: Robert M. Knight

Rick: So far, what’s been the most challenging aspect of learning the guitar? Something that has just been hard work, until you got it right.

Steve Costello: Proper picking technique, I still lack in that area. I don’t have the speed that many players have. But, I never really wanted to be a shredder, I really admire players with great vibrato and intricate bends more than super speedy licks.

Rick: Are you more of a vintage guitar guy, or are you always scouting out new guitars coming out…anything that’s caught your interest lately?

Steve Costello: I love vintage guitars, but my bank account doesn’t feel the same way.

I just love really well built guitars, no matter when they were made. I also really like when guitar manufactures reissue a guitar and do it really well. I’m hoping Music Man will do something like that in the future. I’m a bit of a guitar nerd, but I’m more just a sucker for anything unique and well built.

Rick: What projects do you have going now and if you could put together a dream tour, whom would it include and where would you go?

Steve Costello: Right now I’m writing for my solo project with my friend Carmine Rojas and we are trying to take it in a new and unique direction.

I’d like to do something a little out there, but that still grooves with some cool guitar work. I’d love to make this record then tour the U.S. and Europe with Carmine on bass and Elijah Wood on drums, that would be a dream come true.

I’m also working with pop/rock artist Lyric Dubee from Canada and his new band. The band is made up of Lyric, a great young guitar player and vocalist, Hunter Craig, an amazing bass player, Bobby Rosson, a killer drummer, and myself – all of us in the Brotherhood.

Rick: Besides guitar and performing, do you have any other hobbies or interests that keep you find fascinating? 

Steve Costello: I’m pretty focused on music all the time, but I do like sciences and I’m infatuated with really good stand-up comics. But, I mostly stick with music, listening, playing, studying, recoding…

Rick: Of all the performances you’ve done so far, is there one that stands out the most as the most fun or the most bizarre?

Steve Costello: Shortly after my first record came out, my band and I entered a province-wide battle of the bands with a video submission. We didn’t think much of it and had no idea we’d be chosen as one of the top three bands to play for judges in London, Ontario.

But, we got a call four days before the event saying we needed to be in London to play a short set for the finals. We scrambled and rehearsed nonstop, as I had never played the material on my record live, and this would be my first show singing in front of a live audience.

It was pretty wild, but we had a blast and ended up winning the contest!