October 2006
A quick glimpse at Steve Conte's musical resume doesn't give him away as a struggling indie artist. He was signed to Mercury Records with Company of Wolves; he's recorded with Maceo Parker, Billy Squier, and Peter Wolf, among others; he's been Paul Simon's rehearsal body double; he's toured with Willie Nile (among others); and he's currently a member of the resurrected and critically embraced New York Dolls, accented with four writing credits on the Dolls' new album.
Was it really nine years ago that Conte was playing Tramps in New York City with Mr. Henry, ultimately grabbing the Grand Prize in Disc Makers 1997 New York IMWS? Mr. Henry went on to get signed to the indie Deep South Records, at the same time that Conte was making noise with his brother John as The Crown Jewels.
It appears Conte has always had a tendency to fill his dance card with multiple, simultaneous projects that criss-cross and often diametrically oppose one another. It's all part of staying busy as a working musician in New York City.
"I do everything a musician has to do to make a living without having to get a job," maintains Conte. "That includes releasing my own records, getting them placed in TV and film, recording and producing other people's records, touring with other people - that goes from being an indie to being on Roadrunner with the Dolls. Basically I do whatever needs to be done to make the ends meet and have fun."
Conte, who plays guitar and sings with a made-for-rock rasp and tone that hearkens to Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company), has developed a chameleon's ability to morph into his surroundings and fit into a remarkable array of musical situations. This has led to his securing some pretty interesting gigs, not the least of which is his work with pop legend Paul Simon.
"It's the most unusual gig I've ever had, for sure," Conte attests. Basically, Conte would sit in for Simon in rehearsals, playing and singing Simon's parts. Sometimes Simon would sit in the room, arranging parts while Conte performed. Other times, Simon would be off attending to other business.
"Sometimes he'd just be resting his voice or doing an interview," explains Conte. "I'd just be Paul. It's funny, because I'm not really know for having that sort of voice, but I'd just go into the softest part of my voice that I could - he's a really soft singer. But I always welcome a challenge like that. I'd get to work with amazing musicians. Jim Keltner was on drums, Pino Palladino on bass. Steve Gadd was on drums when I was doing Paul's solo thing. Amazing."
The Paul Simon gig came to Conte as many do, through a recommendation from a musician in the band. When Simon asked his trusted guitarist Mark Stewart who he should get to sit in on rehearsals, Stewart recommended Conte. When David Johansen was looking for a guitarist to fill the big shoes of Johnny Thunders, Larry Salzman and Jimmy Vivino both recommended Conte.
"Those two guys told David, 'Don't call anybody else - just call Conte," Conte relates. "So he called me, and we had lunch, and he offered me the gig. We didn't even play a note of music. At first it was going to be one show, a reunion for the Meltdown Festival in London. It ended up being (original Dolls' bassist) Arthur Kane's last gig ever on Earth. He died a month later, which was really tragic, but at least he got to realize his dream of having the Dolls play together again. And it was just so much fun that David said, 'Let's keep this going,' and we've been going ever since.
"After we toured for a year or so, we knew the energy was too good. We knew we should try to do something with it other than just play the old hits. So David said, 'Let's write some tunes, give me some of your music,' and we made a CD of like 15-20 song ideas, and I got for songs on the record."
In the midst of all this Conte is also launching his first original band that doesn't include his brother John on bass. For their entire musical lives the Contes have been side by side, writing and recording, but schedules and current interests have the brothers pursuing different projects. Multiple different projects each, apparently.
Conte admits keeping it all together presents its challenges, including having to cancel two recording dates for his new band due to last minute gigs for the Dolls. The Dolls are spending October touring Europe, and Conte expects a more extensive tour will follow soon after. In the meantime, he's working frantically to get his own project recorded so he can hit the road with his own stuff in hand.
"I welcome playing with the Dolls right now," Conte exclaims. "First, it's the kind of music I love to play. It's raw, it's everything I grew up playing. From Chuck Berry - early rock and roll that swings - to Keith Richards' style - rock and roll with melody. But if you get too far outside the box, then it's not the Dolls.
"With my new project, I'm sort of putting some limits on that as well. In the past, my criteria was record the best songs, regardless of style. Now, if I have a nice ballad, I'm not really doing that right now. My other records have had beautiful ballads. Whatever. I've done that. Let me try something else. I'll come back to that some day, but right now I'm digging the road I'm on and I'm going to stay on it."
"Those two guys told David, 'Don't call anybody else - just call Conte," Conte relates. "So he called me, and we had lunch, and he offered me the gig. We didn't even play a note of music. At first it was going to be one show, a reunion for the Meltdown Festival in London. It ended up being (original Dolls' bassist) Arthur Kane's last gig ever on Earth. He died a month later, which was really tragic, but at least he got to realize his dream of having the Dolls play together again. And it was just so much fun that David said, 'Let's keep this going,' and we've been going ever since.