“I have to tell you," began founding member of The Hollywood Allstars, keyboardist Steve Gaspar. "Years ago, it was a passion project of mine and when I say years, I mean probably about four or five years ago. I've been in the music business my whole life and I had this idea that I wanted to put together a quote unquote; super group. A dream team of people that I respect and people who I enjoy the way they play and that I enjoy hanging out with and I never would have imagined five years later that I'd be on the phone with you telling you about it. I have the horn section that did The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels tour, the bass player from the Johnny and Edgar Winter groups, the lead singer from Tower of Power, a guitar player that has worked with Blood, Sweat & Tears and Talking Heads; I mean, it really is literally like a dream come true. I mean, not to sound like a corny cliche but I'm really, really fortunate to be able to say I'm surrounded with these people let alone have gotten them all to be in a band and to get a record deal, which in itself is cuckoo these days; you know?”
The music industry is an odd and unpredictable business and such is the case whether those who choose to be a part of it are doing so in a part-time role or have chosen it to be a full-time profession; either way it's a "Passion" rife with creative thoughts and most times, very big dreams. So, when those dreams are even close to being fulfilled the sense of accomplishment is only surpassed by the thrill of the moment and the desire to continue the pursuit and in Gaspar's case; he took the negativity of the 2020 lockdowns and turned it into a very big positive result (Pun intended).
“Well, it started out as me; I was doing a lot of different things. I've toured and played with James Brown, B.B. King, the guitar player from The Rascals, Gene Cornish, the drummer from KISS, Peter Criss and I decided that I wanted to do my own thing and when I reached out to all of these people; we had all known each other from different things, doing sessions together or from crisscrossing paths on the road; everyone seemed into it. They asked me; “How much do you think you're gonna work?” I said, it's going to start off very small, just doing local theaters and it might be a dozen dates a year and everybody wanted to jump on board. When we started it, it was basically a glorified cover band and we decided that what we would do was to choose songs by artists that we’ve or that I’ve either toured with or recorded with and put our own little spin on them and that's what it was in the very beginning. Then of course COVID hits and everybody's doing nothing for two years and it was at that point that I decided if I'm going to take this to the next level I have to write for it and that's where this whole album began; during COVID.”
Gaspar assembled his band of "Allstars," took the minor detour through the pandemic and decided on a four song EP until he was contacted by yet another experienced industry insider.
“So, “Field Of Grace” was the first single and it's a breakup song of sorts and to get everyone in the band involved, I put the horn section in there," he continued to explain. "I don't know if you've heard of them, they're called The Uptown Horns and they've worked, as I said with Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Plant, the J. Geils Band they literally have worked with everyone in contemporary music. They said to me, “We have a bunch of songs; can we send you some?” So, they did and one of them; I fell in love with, it's called “Trust Me.” So, that was a second song and then the last two; well, there are actually five but the third and fourth songs were songs that I had written during the lockdown. So, all of this is going on and the four songs are in the works and I'm doing mixes on them and this gentleman finds me on Facebook; his name is Charlie Midnight. Charlie Midnight has written and produced Joe Cocker and a whole bunch of people and he said to me, “Steve, you know there's this song that I wrote in 1985, it was a Grammy award-winning song for James Brown and was in a “Rocky” movie and I want you to listen to it because I think it fits right in with what you're doing. Well, that song was “Living in America” the James Brown single. So, I decided that we were going to include that but that we're going to put our own spin on it and that's the fifth song; which is the only cover on the EP and talk about things being synergistic and just falling into place; come to find that the horn section on that record was The Uptown Horns. They played on the original James Brown version of the song and so all of this was a nice tip of the hat to James Brown and Charlie Midnight and it was also a nice tip of the hat to the horn section. I just felt that with what's going on in the world these days politically and economically and everything else; what better time for us to band together and try to convince everyone that this really still is the greatest country in the world and so “Living in America” was the obvious fifth choice for the EP.”
Band? Check! Songs written? Check! Record label and/or distribution plan? Well, not yet but fortunately for Gaspar; he knew a guy who knew a guy named Charlie Calv who urged him to reach out about what he was doing.
“You know, that in this business and you know as well as I do that it takes a little bit of luck; you have to just step in some stuff the right way sometimes and I'll tell you, I'm very pleased with the way all five songs came out. Then through another stroke of luck, a friend of mine who was familiar with Deko Entertainment says to me; “Why don't you send this stuff to them? They have a very eclectic mix of artists and this might be something they would like” and I sent it to them, they fell in love with it and I found a home for the project. They have been absolutely wonderful and supportive and I'm looking forward to a hopefully very successful release and I would love to be able to bring them a home run. “
Calv and his partner Bruce Pucciarello have created a very artist friendly environment at Deko and this is something that an artist such as Gaspar can appreciate due to past work with various major labels; he is aware however, that there are differences due to their sizes.
“I love Charlie, first of all, we are two keyboard players so I am on board with a keyboard player and so of course we get along but they are; I've been signed to major labels before. I was signed to Epic Records, Columbia Records and that can be a nightmare but Charlie has been the nicest, sweetest, easiest person to do business with and I have nothing but great things to say about him and the whole group; so far, they've been amazing people and they have a very eclectic mix of stuff between Tiffany and the rock stuff that they do; I feel like we’ve found a great home for this project with Deko.”
He went on, "There are pros and cons to both. Obviously, the thing with Charlie is that every move he makes, he will call me for approval; from the CD cover, to artwork, to the shooting of the video and I mean every step of the way I'm getting a text message or an e-mail saying, Steve check this out; what do you think of this? When I do have changes or suggestions, he's 100 percent totally open; it's almost like I'm dealing with a friend rather than the head of a label and it has been a really heartwarming experience. Especially in today's day and age to have something like that; it's silly to try and even get signed to the larger labels because unless you're doing 100,000 streams on Spotify and you're out in a van selling merch every day; they're not even going to touch you. So, the idea that here's this brand-new thing with a relatively small following and they latch onto it and say, we love this, we want it, it's all about the music at that point; you know?”
With the last box checked, Steve can put an eye to the future and is doing so with a series of EP release parties; the next of which is early in 2023 in New York City.
“Here's what's going on, I’m in Trumbull, Connecticut and the band is mostly New York, New England area; from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. So, we decided that for our release party; we have another one scheduled at The City Winery in New York City on January 17, 2023 and tickets for that go on sale next week on November 30; what I'm hoping is that the record will start making noise in markets outside of Connecticut and if we start getting some airplay and a little bit of notoriety in different markets, I would love to be able to see the band take it to Boston and into Pennsylvania or whatever markets where the people are becoming familiar with the songs and that's my dream.”
“I’m working on booking a couple of other things before the end of the year and into the beginning of next year. Charlie just finished the first lyric video for the first single which is the title song “Field Of Grace” and in my imagination I'm picturing that once that runs its course, I have a feeling they're going to want to pull “Living in America” as the second one. I mean, that song already has proven itself to have legs years ago and it seems like the easiest second choice but beyond that there are three other great songs and I'm hoping that we're able to do some more music videos to try to get the bands face out there a little bit more. This formation of the band has been together for about a year and a half and everyone has been very good. Obviously, before COVID, people were touring a lot and it was a little bit sketchier; I might have to find a different bass player or a different drummer because these guys are working as much now as they were before but I've gotten a little bit more of a commitment from everyone. Then beyond that, having Charlie and Bruce in our corner and now that there's a record deal; it makes it a little bit more appetizing for everyone to want to be at the gigs, so, we’ll see what's going to happen.”
To discover more about The Hollywood Allstars, please visit https://www.thehollywoodallstars.net/
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