Kim: I read in an old interview that you did some time ago that you once played tuba and accordion. Do you play those two instruments anymore?
Steve: (laughs) No, I sure don't.
Kim: What gauge pick do you use?
Steve: It's a heavy. You know, you can get light, medium or heavy. If you're anal, like me, you get all these in betweens. Then there's these gauges and I'm not exactly sure what the gauge is, but it's on the heavy side.
Kim: Why do you prefer the heavy picks?
Steve: Well, you know, the heavy picks don't give. When you hit the note, the note comes out. I don't like sloppy picks. When I'm playing hard, the pick needs to be a constant. If the string makes the flop it throws off my ability to control the amount of picks I'm picking, or the strikes I'm picking I guess.
Kim: I know that you have been playing for many years. What would you say is the most memorable show that you've ever done?
Steve: My most memorable show? Maybe the first one when I was a kid. I was playing at the high school gym and I was so nervous, like for a week before, that I was throwing up and passing out from nervous exhaustion. I was only 13. I just couldn't believe that I was going to get in front of people and play. It was funny because during the sound check I was standing there and my strap broke on the guitar and I just thought that the world was over. I remember that time stood still. Everything went into slow motion. All I could hear was myself saying "help me, help me, help me". So somebody helped me and fixed my strap. The funny thing is that what I remember most of all was thinking "I'm never gonna do this. I hate this. I'm gonna go home and play my guitar in my bedroom and I'm never gonna play for anybody. I can't stand this pressure." As soon as the lights went out and we started playing the most amazing thing happened. I felt completely in control. I completely felt at home and confident. And I thought "Wow ... this is amazing! I want to be a musician Mr. Wizard!" There were a lot of memorable gigs after that. Some of them I remember for not so good reasons. I've seen kids get trampled to death right in front of me and I've seen kids get shot. It's not a good thing. Obviously there's some very euphoric moments in performing. I remember playing at Castle Vonington for 80,000 people in Palermo, Sicily; in Rome with Frank Zappa for 150,000 people and even just little clubs and stuff. If the energy is there it's just like the gods of inspiration march to the beat of their own drum. They give it to you when they want and every now and then they just flood you with inspiration. Those gigs are very memorable.
Kim: Speaking of inspiration, my favorite song of yours is "For the Love of God".
Steve: Well thank you.
Kim: What was your inspiration when you wrote that song?
Steve: Well, it's very personal, but since you asked ... I've always felt that the most important thing for me, in my life, was finding spiritual balance and grounding myself spiritually. I think the only way to do that is to beg for it. You know? There was a period in my life where I was just constantly begging for truth. Basically, for that song, I sat down and I was in one of those frames of mind. Just a very devotional state of mind and that melody came out. I sang the melody and started playing the chords and I thought well, you know, I don't know if anybody will ever hear it or like it, but it means a lot to me. Little did I know that it would turn out to be one of the most revered instrumental guitar ballads in history, as far as I've read.
Kim: It reaches out to you on levels that go well beyond the enjoyment of the music.
Steve: That's because that's where it came from.
