Elana Lisa- Vocals
Rod Hyner- Percussion, Vocals
Jason Newcomb- Guitar
Alan McCleaf- Bass, Vocals
Brett Alexander- Piano, Organ, Vocals
Describe how SteppinStone began.
I started the band with a guitarist named
Ron in 1998. We found a bass player
Out of the group that’s currently here, how many are from the original band?
That would be one, (laughs) me. We’ve had many, many personnel changes in this band.
I would say about half the musicians in town have played with us at one point of another.
Yeah that seems to be a problem with bands. Do you find that
interesting, meaning do you like change? Or do you find that as a
distraction?
Nope, I do not like it. When we have to switch band members it
kind of puts you in pause mode. You have to get reconnected with
the new person and teach them all the new material and that
makes it hard to move forward.
Teach them, yes you have to teach them. You have to do auditions
for people, than you have to make the serious decision. Then,
somebody has to take his or her pho
tograph and put it on the website.
It does create some interesting opportunities though because
when I was first in the band back in 2000, 2001, that season, I
was playing rhythm guitar. I had to drop out for personal reasons,
but I came back about 2 years ago and now I’m the bass player. I
feel more comfortable there anyway.
Yes, actually besides Brett and myself, since I’m the first member I
never quit or got booted. But everyone here has literally been in
and out and back in again.
Literally I’ve been in on trying to kick Rod out of the band and he has kicked me out. We are back together, so it’s all-good.
Now I have a special question for the member who has been in the band the second longest, which would be Rod. Tell me
if Elana was no longer a part of the band, what would you say would be missing from SteppinStone?
Well, what would be missing is the thing that thing that distinguishes us from four guys in a garage band to sounding like
any other four guys in a garage band. So, Elana, not only with her voice, but with her personality and everything else is
the thing that distinguishes the band as far as I’m concerned. It’s just special.
He’s saying that because I’m his wife.
No honey, I’m not.
(Alan)
We would also be missing the New York contingent of the whole band.
You know, that whole attitude. That’s part of what Elana brings… plus
there’s the whip! (snicker)
Jason, why don’t you answer that baby?
I’m good. I think we’d be missing the soul without Elana. We’re kind of "funky" and "bluesy" but with Elana, we are
definitely a lot more soulful.
How did you come up with the name SteppinStone?
The guitar player I used to jam with, he actually said let’s name our band SteppinStone. When he went his separate way I
took the name along with me.
What would you say if someone has never been to a SteppinStone show or concert, what would they expect to see or
what would the experience of seeing SteppinStone be like?
I’d say get ready to rock n’ roll and shake your booty
because we play very danceable rock n’ roll and wide
variety of material.
I’d like to add that we all have style and we definitely
have a lot of blues. We’re funky, soulful. We’re kind of
country, bluegrass. We’re definitely playing from an
old school mentality, but we’re not snobby. We love
newer music too. It’s definitely potpourri of stuff.
Definitely we have to mention that you can expect to hear some original material because all of us write music. It’s funny
because we bring a song to the band and usually it’s a pretty well developed song and then we sort of “SteppinStonize” it.
It almost always comes out better.
(Elana Lisa)
Yeah, and I think live is where we perform best. We have CD’s and I think that anyone that has seen us will say that live is
an experience. We put a lot of heart and soul into our music and into our performance. Being on stage is a form of
release; it allows us to vent and at the same time be creative. We have these really odd ways of communicating with each
other when we are on stage and I think the audience sometimes picks up on it. We bring, to our live performance, energy,
raw talent and a bit of humor.
Brett arrives ( band pokes at him for being late )
Seeing Steppin Stone live is an experience. Everyone that comes to a Steppin
Stone show always end up dancing. Even people that don’t dance end up
dancing. We’ve seen college students jump on tables and hang from rafters.
Sometimes they jump on me. We don’t like that so much though. We like it
more when they jump on things that don’t involve the band. I’ve had my
keyboard knocked off and I’ve had to catch it, which was a lot of fun. But,
Steppin Stone shows in one word are just energy, and that’s what most people
say. It’s energy for us and for the crowd. For example, we were playing in a
thunderstorm last Friday. We didn’t stop playing. It was about a 3 hour long
show and out of 100 or so people that were there we kept about 50 people. It
was outdoors, in the middle of a thunderstorm! People just don’t leave our
Are you done?
What motivates you as an artist?
I think what keeps us together is the love of music and that we’re like family. This isn’t just a band. We love each other, we
hang out with each other, we barbecue with each other, we go on vacations with each other, we argue with each other
like crazy. What keeps it going is constantly writing new things. We all get such a thrill and a kick out of it. It feels great,
all of our hearts are beating and we’re all feeling the music. We’re all feeling it, really. Music is the glue.
Plus the HUGE sums of money…
Yes, we are rich (laughs).
It’s really nice to write a song and bring it into a band and it
would be better than what it was on your own, you know.
I’ve been in bands and it’s just like, “God, I wish they could
do the song like I hear it in my head.” In this band you don’
t know where it’s going but you know it’s going to be better.
You’re writing the song and it’s going to go to another level.
Everyone in this band writes, so we all get to do what we
want to do. That’s what’s great for me.
Another thing that keeps us going is being a part of the Richmond music scene, which is really hoppin’. That’s kind of how
we got to be really good friends with 59H20. We played a gig with them and then we just clicked. We go to their shows,
they come to ours. We have lots of other Richmond bands that come to our shows and we go to theirs. It gets us really
inspired and keeps us moving forward.
Speaking of writing, what’s your creative process like? I know that you all write, but I’m sure it’s probably different each
time you write. In general what s the process?
I think it’s one of three ways. Either somebody will bring something to the table already written and we use what they had
already written, but make it our own. Or they’ll bring an idea to the table and we’ll all embellish on the idea. Or we’ll all
sit in a room and we’ll all just start jamming on something, tape it, and create it.
Whether it’s someone famous or someone personal, who do you think really influenced you the most?
That’s a big question, I have a lot of influences. I would have to say that one of my main influences
that I have the most respect for is Paul Stanley from KISS. He’s an awesome front man and
guitarist. He’s been in KISS throughout their entire history. He’s never given up on the band and he
just is always is looking for something new and something different and giving something back to
the crowd. I can really get behind that sentiment.
My personal influences are my father, who’s a singer and my uncle who was a guitarist, songwriter,
and singer. My uncle traveled around the world in the late 60’s playing music on the streets and in
local bars. They were influences on me as a child. As far as giving me the influence as an adult I
would have to say I’m a big fan of Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks, Etta James, Mahalia Jackson, Nina
Simone and SO many more.
I had a couple of influences. In terms of interest in music, I’d have to say that my mom and my brother influenced me. My
mother because even as a proper mom she could play a mean boogie piano and she kind of taught me that when you’re
playing music you can just cut loose and be a different person altogether. But, you can also express your individuality.
My brother was in bands and gave me an idea of what it’s like to be in a band. I guess as a drummer though I’d have to
say Keith Moon influenced me because as the original drummer from The Who, he was an outrageous individual and went
out of his way to look goofy, but than he played like a devil. He had his own style and it’s never been repeated. You have
to admire that and be a little bit like that in your own way.
My parents had a lot of 50’s rock n’ roll playing when I was growing up and I
was getting into their records and listening to ‘em. That was the music I loved
until I accidentally flicked the switch on the radio that went from AM to FM. So
I discovered all my music on my own organically. I than realized that the guys
next door were having these parties and I saw a bunch of interesting people
and pretty girls going down to the basement. Hearing all this great music. I
was just kind of peeking out my window or hiding behind the bushes because
I was too young. The music was the sound track to all of that and I liked the
music more than anything, so I got caught up in the other stuff. From 12 years
old I was attracted to the music, shakin’ my foot. Jimmy Hendrix just blows my
mind. I just love the music, it’s great.
DEVO! No, I was just kidding. What’s wrong with me? This may sound cliche, but Rush and Led Zeppelin. Those were
influences and I was thinking, “out of all the songs that I write what’s in them? What do people hear? What kind of
styles? What kinds of things?” Well, you know one style of my writing takes me into 13-8, 12-8, 7-8, 6-4, 9-4. Okay:
Rush. Enough said. Led Zeppelin is everything. It’s absolutely everything. It’s blues, it’s funk, it’s rock, it’s jazz, it’s
everything. A lot of my music was influenced by Led Zeppelin. I’m sorry to be cliche, but you know, Rush and Led Zeppelin
kind of got my back.
You know, Jason, When you were talking about your mom, I was only thinking about the musicians in my life, but my
mom would sing, what we call, God awful opera (laughs) She wasn’t a singer. She was beautiful and from the time I can
remember, during the vocal changes and during the off key stuff that came out of my mouth and all the screaming, heavy
metal stuff, my mother always supporting me through everything. She taught me that you don’t have to have all the talent
in the world to be a musician, if you have the heart and soul… you can sing anything you want and it will touch at least
one person… hehe!!
In general, is there a lot of support coming out of the Richmond community? Like coming out to your shows and other
things of that nature.
Richmond is an incredible music scene. There is so much talent in this town.
I’m from New York and what’s so wonderful about Richmond that New
York doesn’t have, and I love New York but I have to say this, is the
community. Anytime we go to a festival we always run into local musicians
and it seems as though we (musicians) all know each other, in this town. I’
ve noticed a heck of a lot more people coming out to support the local music
scene, as opposed to five years ago. I’ve noticed a tremendous amount of
support. I love Richmond.
And you know it’s even more incredible that there’s kind of a shrinking amount of venues. There’s just not as many as
there used to be, although some new ones are opening up. A lot of bands come out and support each other and it’s getting
easier to get your music heard, so that helps a lot.
Would any of you like to comment on websites such as MySpace? Do you think they helped you in any way as far as
marketing your band and getting your music out there to people?
Yeah, I’m the MySpace member of the band here. Because I have a teenage daughter, I found out about it. MySpace as
far as music goes is an incredible tool. You can hear music all over the country. You hook up with bands from
everywhere. We got a gig in New York off MySpace. I really, really appreciate MySpace for music and bands. I don’t now
about the kid thing but for music and bands, it’s frickin great.
There are a lot of websites in Richmond that publicize and promote the local music scene. We also have the Richmond
Roots Revival and other concert series that focus on local artists. All of those things in addition to MySpace help us. Please
feel free to visit our website. www.steppinstoneband.com and it does have a link to our MySpace. To get back to your
original question, MySpace has been a very useful tool. It actually works. It’s another way for people to mix and mingle
with each other and book gigs and find out about gigs.
Tell me about a favorite song that you play, whether it’s one you’re playing or one you just think rocks?
I really enjoy a song that Elana wrote called "Fickle". I think it was the first song I auditioned with to get in the band, and
we play it just about every show. We play it over and over and over and over and I NEVER get tired of it. It’s part ballad,
it’s part just rock and punk. We’re playing it tonight. There’s a lot of keyboards in it. She actually wrote it with a lot of
keyboards. No, I’m just kidding. I’m the first keyboardist ever in the band because we won’t mention the other ones. It’s
my favorite song. It can be slow and really sweet, but then it just rocks out. People request it and I never get tired of
playing it... "Fickle".
I like "Pinky Ring". Alan was in the band when he wrote it and then he left. When we first started doing it, it was a crowd
favorite. So now that he came back we’re doing it again. It’s one of my favorites, but I love ‘em all.
I to love them all, but there’s one in particular that I really enjoy playing a lot. It’s
called "The Bowery". For a lot of different reasons. It’s kind of an odd time
signature and everything, which makes it more fun to play and it’s got a
danceable beat to it. The subject matter is that it’s about a section of New York
that’s sometimes overlooked and maybe even misunderstood. It’s the home of
CBGB’s, which is maybe not even there anymore. It’s a great song, it’s fun to play,
fun to listen to. It’s called "The Bowery".
I would have to say I have two. Sorry, I can’t choose. "The Bowery", I love to
perform it because it’s got that funk. It starts off with this drum roll and it goes
into this staccato thing and than it goes into this funky jam and I just love it. The
other would be our cover of "Summertime", which is a little different. We started
off with a jazz feel. I really like singing jazz, so this was my one opportunity to
really get some jazz into our set. It goes into this really funky thing and it’s just fun.
I would say my favorite is one we haven’t played in a while. It’s a song Elana wrote and we were doing just as I got back
in the band a couple of years ago. It’s called "I Know Everything" because she really does know everything and it’s a very
moving song. It’s kind of long, it’s dreamy. It’s really got a great sound; great harmony. It’s a crowd pleaser. When we
practice it we always turn down the lights, cause that’s the kind of song it is.
Where would you like to see the band go in the next 3-5 years? Are you happy doing what you’re doing or do you guys
have something you’re looking for?
Hollywood!
For me, I think being a musician; I always wanted to be on top. I have this overwhelming want to have everybody in the
world hear my band and me. I want to see everybody's expressions and I want to touch everybody’s life. As I get older I’
m a lot more satisfied in playing locally and I learned, more or less, to enjoy playing for me and to be satisfied with playing
on the level we are playing, but I’d still like to hit the top baby, hehe! That’ll never go away.
For me, it’s just not about how big you make it in the business. I would like to
see us in the next 3-5 years get to be a really tight unit where we can groove
on stage, get to know what each other is thinking and write some really great
songs. It doesn’t matter to me if there’s one person in the room or a thousand
people in the room. I play just as well because I’m looking at the rest of the
band and that’s what does it for me.
I’d like to see some commercial success, but you know I don’t think about it or
need it. I’m happy where we are right now. There’s no bad vibes that you’re
not getting to another level because the people around us love us.
Commercial success would be great if something took off with a song or a
movie or a record deal. We’d love to have it, but we’re not thinking about it
day to day. We’re just doing our thing, but we’d all love for something like
This is the fishbowl question, An anonymous fan would like to know….
Describe each member of the band and what you feel each member brings to the band. We’ve already talked about Elana,
so if you’d kind of want to talk about the other members.
Jason is the guitar player. I would describe Jason as the kind of person that puts the wild in wildflower. He grows on you.
Jason is a fabulous guitarist and a great guy to know. He has a very organic feel and an understanding for music;
especially with stuff that needs to groove and bring out the best in a song. Then there’s Brett, our keyboard player. Brett, I
would describe as being Mr. Party. The cool thing about Brett is he’s a very knowledgeable individual when it comes to
music. He’s a terrific keyboard player. He’s got a free spirit and a fun spirit. At the same time he can be a very serious
musician and a great songwriter. There’s Alan, our bass player. He’s Mr. Solid, Mr. Reliable, which seems to make sense
for a bass player because you want to be able to depend on someone that holds up the bottom, so they say. The other thing
about Alan is he’s also reliable as an individual. You can always rely on him to be there as a friend and as a person who
will tell it like it is and be straight with you. That’s the great thing about him.
In terms of Elana, what’s something that not too many people know about her that’s not private?
She picks her nose a lot, but she always picks a winner. I’m just kidding, but really I don’t think people see how much effort
she puts into her singing, her performance, how much she cares about her audience and wanting to make sure that they’re
having just as much of a great time as we are while we’re on stage. She puts out every ounce of energy to make sure that
happens. That’s a pretty cool thing.
I think you mentioned that you have a CD available that you can purchase on MySpace, is
that correct?
You can hear some of our older stuff at CDbaby.com or come to our show. You can get
through on our website, www.steppinstoneband.com. MySpace has some of our newer
demo material. We’ll be recording another CD soon.
Here’s one more thing I’d like to promote. I heard about this website that’s about things
going on in the Richmond area and I think it’s called The Richmond Buzz. I’d just like to say
that I’ve been to this website and I’d just like to say that we’re anticipating great things from
The Richmond Buzz.
CATCH THE BUZZ!
Go To www.steppinstoneband.com
Scott E Vision Studios 2006©
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