STEVE GROCOTT
-LEAD GUITARS-
BIOGRAPHY
I have been playing guitar now for over three decades, pretending at 10 years old by gonking in the mirror with a tennis racket to some of favourite bands (long before "Guitar Hero" came out,). At the age of 12 after my tennis racket needed new strings I managed to scramble a bit of cash together to buy my first electric guitar and practice amp. It was a copy of a "Gibson ES 335" and the amp had an amazing thing called "overdrive" built in much to the annoyance of our neighbours. I didn't actually start to make some headway though until a local guitarist told me that I had to actually press the strings down to get a note (what a brain fart), since then I haven't looked back.<p> I cut my teeth live "so to speak" playing in different bands covering a broad range of musical styles over the years ranging from Tribute, Corporate, Pub/Club to original Rock/AOR bands (Adult Orientated Rock) supporting name artists at prestigious venues up and down the UK.<p> I do also teach guitar plus I also run a repair / setup service when I can actually find the time these days.<p> I studied music theory for a year with a GIT (Guitar Institute) instructor to basically but the music jigsaw together and I also took classically trained singing lessons to add to the mix.<p> It’s a bit of a cliché but I am heavily influenced by "Classical" music and have been for many years but not to the extent of trying to bore people. The fusion between melodic rock with a sprinkling of classical expression is exactly that, class. "Film Score" also has a real added interest for me but one of my mainstay passions is Melodic Rock, be it AOR, Hard, Symphonic or Progressive Metal. This is the arena that I'm most comfortable in and I’d like to think that I have matured a lot not only as a guitarist but as a musician as these days I favour a great song with the added entwined pyrotechnics of soaring melodic lead guitar lines. I used to share lead and rhythm Guitar duties in an AOR band called "Sevendayz" with my good friend and "Brother in Arms" Dave Wasson (a rare talent) which had a good following on the live circuit.<p> In May of 2008 whilst supporting the Frontiers record label melodic rockers "House Of Lords" in Birmingham, we were fortunate enough to be signed to an American record label based in New York who flew us over to the states in November of the same year, just as America was waking up to a new dawn and President. This was a dream come true for us and was a "totally awesome experience" of which I personally will never forget. But sadly some months later as the album was being finished off the band "Imploded" (as many bands do) and the album was never released. So the end of the story is as yet, still to be written...
FILE - FAN FACTS
PLACE OF BIRTH
Stafford, UK
EQUIPMENT
Gibson/Ibanez Guitars
Voodoo Amps
Modded Marshall Gear
FIRST MUSICAL HEROES
The Sex Pistols
The Damned
The Clash
TOP 3 FILMS
The Shawsank Redemption
The Lord Of The Rings
Amadeus
TOP 3 CITIES
Edinburgh
Valletta
York
TOP 3 FOODS
Donna Kebab
Pizza
Curry
(Everything I enjoy is either illegal, immoral or fattening)
DESERT ISLAND TOP 5
Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
Yes - Talk
It Bites - The Tall Ships
Steve Perry - For The Love Of Strange Medicine
Rainbow - Rising
FAVOURITE TEN TRACKS
The Robe
The Name Of The Rose
Glimmer Of Evil
TOP 3 BOOKS
Dont' get the time to read that much!
TOP 3 DRINKS
Any Blonde Ale
Smirnoff Ice
Real Ale
DREAM LIVE VENUE
Madison Square Garden
NYC, USA
FAN Q&A
1) Which are your main musical influences?
This is actually a hard question to answer, there has been so many. I like music that has to contain a lot of emotion so I try not to pigeon hole myself so to speak. I’ve found as I get older Influences have changed a tad, early on as a kid guitar wise I would have to say Randy Rhoads, Gary Moore, Malmsteen, Schenker plus all the eighties shred guys (hate that word) that were about at the time Vinnie Moore, Tony McAlpine ect. A lot of these geezers used classical music as an influence so I checked out a lot of classical stuff and took it from there. I also really like film score music, I like the way a composer can draw you in and capture what is happening on screen and ram it home. These days guitar wise I’d have to say Steve Lukather, Trevor Rabin, John Norum and Eric Johnson. Band wise I like a lot of the Prog metal stuff that’s coming out plus the classic stuff like Toto, Europe ect if it’s a good song… got balls emotion and passion I’m probably going to like it…. this can come in any form of music. I also like Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Billy Joel, Manic Street Preachers, U2, Don Henley and a lot of the late seventies Punk stuff like The Damned, The Sex Pistols, The Skids, Stiff Little Fingers, The Stranglers the list goes on.
2) Which are the most challenging TEN tracks to play live?
I would had have to say any track that I have to play lead guitar on as I try and stay faithful to the original recorded track. I’m deaf in my right ear so if the sound isn’t right and the stage volume is too loud it’s hard to grasp what I’m actually doing.
3) What's your first childhood memory of doing something rock related?
Playing in front of my packed school assembly as a three piece garage band aged 13. I think we were called “Shurikan” and the singer/ bassist suggested that we all have stage names his being “Jimmy Venus” lol….I declined. Actually Jimmy was very good at woodwork so I asked him if he could make my guitar (copy of a Gibson Flying V) a bit bigger as the body looked a little small…didn’t he just. Oh my God the guitar came back with the body extended about 3 feet long, talk about “Spinal Tap”…this was the guitar I used to play in front of the school, any bigger and I would have had to stand on the school playground….rock n roll fuck yeah.
4) Which are your favourite three songs of all time?
Again this is hard one as I don’t really have favorite songs of all time, just songs that I like more whichever mood I’m in for instance… Kate Bush “Man with the child in his eyes”, Don Henley “New York Minute”, Billy Joel “It’s all about Soul”, Journey “Lights”, U2 “Where the streets have no name”, Steve Perry “Sherrie”, Yes “Love will find a way”, Joe Satriani “Flying in a Blue Dream”, Rush “Spirit of Radio”, Toto “Carmen”, Jeff Beck “Where were you”, Pink Floyd “High Hopes”, Albinoni “Adagio for Strings”, Dream Theatre “Pull me Under”, Mr. Big “Green Tinted Sixties Mind” etc etc.
5) Who would play you if a movie about the band was made?
God knows...err Meat Loaf lol
6) What was your first day job?
Printing Press Stores operator aged 16.
7) Which hobbies/interests you have that could surprise people?
God Knows!
8) Which are your favourite sports/teams?
Probably Footy - Liverpool FC, Stoke City and England.
9) Where is your favourite place in the world?
Haven’t seen that much of it yet so don’t really know but I would say anywhere in the world where my wife “Neat” goes with me.
10) Who is your favourite musician?
Too many to list.
11) What is your favourite breakfast cereal?
Weetabix.
12) What is your favourite music guilty pleasure?
ABBA.
13) What is the proudest moment in your musical career so far?
I would have to say the Ten - “Albion” album launch at the hotel over the road from Nottingham Rock City on the day before playing Firefest. We were standing in this foyer in the hotel then we walked into this room and the place erupted, signing autographs and meeting the Ten fans was an absolutely humbling experience….a memory I will never forget.
14) Which would you say have been your role models in life?
Never really had a role model so couldn’t say.
Life Motto:
Treat people the same as you would like to be treated yourself and manners done cost anything
