motel void

MOTEL VOID: You currently live in Nashville, Tennessee. How would you describe the music scene there? Do you feel that you’re part of it?

STEVE STOUT: The music scene in Nashville is really cool because it’s so diverse. There’s obviously a ton of country at the forefront but there’s also a lot indie artists, especially on the east side of town. I feel a little bit less of a part of the music scene here than I did in LA just because I moved here a bit more established than when I showed up in LA fresh out of college. When I was in Los Angeles I played guitar in a bunch of bands and was out and about a lot more meeting people etc. I’m just at a different point in my life now, making my own records and records with other artists, focusing a bit less on the live aspect although everytime I do venture out and do a show or an event in town I’ve met some really really incredible people here who definitely dig the same kind of music as I do. The pace of life here feels a bit more laid back which is nice.

MOTEL VOID: You’re originally from Los Angeles . Why did you move to Nashville?

STEVE STOUT: I lived in Los Angeles for about 7 years and in 2018 my buddy Jason (Lifehouse, ØZWALD) moved out to Nashville right after we started our side project together (ØZWALD). We wrote and recorded our first record in two weeks and then I actually crashed at his studio in LA for a few months after an ex relationship ended and I was kind of at a crossroads. I have a ton of friends still in LA that I miss dearly but Jason and I had just started really working in the studio together and this new project felt so natural that it only made sense to follow him out here. I was ready for a change of pace as well for sure. I met my wife out here a few months after moving and we got married a few years later, we’ve got a kiddo now, a dog, three cats. Pretty stoked on my decision.

MOTEL VOID: I really love your new track ‘Not Havin Fun’. Could you tell us more about the recording and writing process of the song?

STEVE STOUT: Glad you’re digging it! I think this may have been the first track I wrote for my second solo record ‘Sunday Stars.’ I remember I was watching the show ‘Flaked’ with Will Arnett and the theme song blew my mind everytime I heard it. It was a tune made for the show I believe by Stephen Malkmus and just oozed the coolest tones to me. Those blown out direct sounding guitars felt like his world and Wilco, Jeff Tweedy’s solo stuff. It reminded me of a lot of the indie stuff from the 2000s which I kind of missed out on until recently – obviously his band Pavement, Wilco’s AM record, The Shins, all that stuff. I had just bought my first actual outboard analog preamp, which to be different (eye roll) I bought this Altec Lansing 1592A solid state mixer which is 5 inputs that sum down to 1.

For a while I was just recording everything thru that including drums. I would record three mics and just have them show up as a single track in my session. It had a super cool sound when it worked (ØZWALD’s ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ cover). Sometimes it left a bit more to be desired since it was so mono. The demo I released of this song has the original drums that were recorded that way, and the fuzzy guitars are all slammed thru that preamp with no real amplifier to emulate that Stephen Malkmus / Wilco vibe. I ended up keeping those guitars and eventually retracked drums with way more microphones as I figured tracks from that early 2000’s indie era were definitely more of that sound. Was a bit of a journey but stoked where it ended up. It was kind of a no brainer that it should be the first single since it just starts off so aggressive with all of those parts.

MOTEL VOID: Steve Stout is not your only music project right now…

STEVE STOUT: I work on my solo tunes in between working a few days a week with my best buddy Jason Wade. We met in the band Lifehouse where he’s the main singer/songwriter/guitarist and I was hired to play lead guitar about 8 years ago. We’ve done some tours together and about 5 years ago he and I started working in the studio together too. We have a band together called ØZWALD where we both sing/write/play everything. We just put out our 7th record called ‘Garden of the Sun.’ We built a new studio here in Nashville that’s pretty crazy, it was just a house that we converted and now has 2 completely mic’d up drumsets in very different acoustic environments, a few pianos, tons of guitars and synths. We also work on recording his solo music in that space as well, singles from his new record ‘A Likely Story’ are coming out about one every month currently. In between all of those projects I also do a lot of freelance producing with artists locally and a few remotely. That has been a super super fun thing for me and I love working on such a range of different vibes with folks. I really dig the studio aspect these days of music and I’m super grateful to all of the new friends that have trusted me with their beautiful tunes.

MOTEL VOID: Your plans and goals for the rest of the year?

STEVE STOUT: I’ve got this demos record coming out Sept 29th which will also feature a song that I didn’t fully finish/didn’t make the record. I was going through the demos and found it and thought it would be a fun thing to include. ØZWALD has an acoustic version of ‘Garden of the Sun’ coming in September as well, and we’ve got an EP of ELO covers we’ll be releasing after that. Lot’s more producing as well and work on Jason’s solo record will be happening so stay tuned for those and I’ll even try to fit in a few more solo singles throughout the fall as I finish them!