Steinski is THE MAN!!!!

Steve Stein, better known as Steinski, is a gentleman and a scholar! He was kind enough to answer some questions I e-mailed him and gave me permission to share the tracks you'll find below. Make sure you drop by his personal website and check him out. He's always posting new stuff and when he goes on tour that'll be the place to get the scoop. What more can I say? HE'S F*&KING STEINSKI!


Me: Can you share some information about your other collaborators like DJ ET, Alan Friedman and such? A lot of people aren't terribly familiar with those individuals, and to be honest only Friedman's name immediately jumped out at me because of his work with C+C Music Factory and other nineties dance music producers.

Steve: DJ ET was a really talented producer/rapper (state name Earl Kerlew) who I met at the Roxy right after Douglas and I did The Payoff Mix. We stayed in touch, and when I started doing my own records, he was in the studio as scratch DJ and support. In the late 80's or early 90's, he was driving a taxi and was killed in a holdup, may he rest in peace.

Alan Friedman is a studio whiz and multi-talented musician I met before he blew up with C + C; we've worked together on many projects. We're still in touch. He's great.


Me: Regarding Reckless Spenders, are there tapes of those parties live sets in your archives? Is there a chance of any of them eventually seeing release?

Steve: None of the Reckless Spenders parties were recorded, I don't think. Those were hot events.


Me: During the Solid Steel interview you mentioned your working on a Steinski album, presumably of new material. Did anything come of this? Is the track you were working on with Prince Paul the one that appeared on his Itstrumental album?

Steve: The Prince Paul track was independent of anything else I was doing; I was flattered to be asked. The idea of working on new stuff has been floating around in my procrastinating brain for years, and I'm finally getting down to it.


Me: There were a lot of tracks that were left off the What Does It All Mean? compilation. Is there a chance of recordings like the Sinatra tribute, the Tony Touch remix, the Dimitri From Paris remix and others eventually seeing a reissue, physically or digitally? Could there be a What Does It All Mean? Volume 2?

Steve: Doubtful. Everything left off was left off because of possible major label entanglements.


Me: Can you discuss any of the reasons the Lessons and Motorcade were able to be given an official, physical release after all these years? I had heard stories for years regarding the impossibility of their clearance for any sort of release beyond that of a promotional issue.

Steve: The situation hasn't changed. Illegal Art decided to run with it, luckily for me.


Me: Regarding your recorded invitations for parties and Ralphie's Bop City recordings, will more of those eventually get posted? I really enjoy the Bop City tapes.

Steve: Glad you like them. I doubt the invitation will ever be "released" as such. They're interesting little artifacts, that's all. As far as the Bop City tapes are concerned, I'm still mulling over a possible release, or at least a public presentation of some sort.

NOTE: Several compilations of Bop City recordings are available to be listened to on Steinski's music page.


Me: How did your work on The Simpsons remixes come together?

Steve: The Simpsons remixes came to me from Rhino, which was doing something - I don't recall what - with the Songs In The Key Of Springfield CD. I think the only one of my mixes that came out (promo) was the Theme Park mix.


Me: Regarding the This Jazz Is Hot compilation you curated, you didn't add any production to the recordings, correct? I've seen a lot of people looking for it though I've never seen nor heard it myself and don't know anyone that has.

Steve: It's an import from Switzerland, done by Vibrations, an excellent French-language music magazine published in Switzerland.


Me: It was brought to my attention that a record named The Invitation, credited to yourself and Sugar Kane, is listed on Discogs. No one seems to have heard this before or has a copy, so can you clarify whether this is a track you two composed or an invitation track like the ones you recorded for Reckless Spenders?

Steve: This was a short piece serving as an audio invitation for the opening a club in Vienna called Kennedy's. I don't have a copy of it myself. I'm not sure how they distributed it. If anyone has a copy, I'd love to hear it.


Me: There are a bunch of other rare tracks that I've been asked to ask you about, like your work on the Akabu 12", your contributions to Coldcut's My Telephone, the edited version you and Douglas mentioned of the Tony Touch remix, the DJ Spooky remix, etc. Any thoughts on these or other assorted rarities? Will a finished version of Lesson 4 ever be heard?

Steve: Most of these pieces have fallen into obscurity for a good reason - they're not all fabulous.

Lesson 4 will likely remain as the partially finished collection of loops it's always been; both Douglas and I are on to other things at this point.


Me: Are you going to continue doing live sets or speaking to musicians and students?

Steve: Playing live is on temporary hiatus while I work out a different method (I hope) of playing dance music in clubs. As far as speaking goes, it's hard to shut me up, so I'll speak to anyone as long as they ask nicely. The talks and classes I did for the Red Bull Music Academy were among the most satisfying experiences I've had.


Me: Can you give information about the works you did for your Mass Media company? In the Solid Steel interview you mentioned industrial films, video only works, audio only works and other assorted media productions. Are there any of those works that could be seen with relative ease? Any that stand out? Award winners?

Steve: I won a few awards for radio commercials I produced in the 90's, but ad industry awards are highly subjective; they exist mainly to give clients reassurance that they don't have to trust their own judgement. I still work on soundtracks for industrial films and commercials. I think the only commercial I've worked on that's relatively easy to find is a UK tv advert for Pretty Polly Bras that I wrote and produced, based on I'm Wild About That Thing. I believe it's on YouTube, featuring a number of scantily clad women.





Here are the rare cuts mentioned above. I haven't bothered putting these in any particular order so go have some fun with them. Big thanks to Irish Craig and DJ Pigg for hooking me up with the Sinatra tribute and Dimitri remix! As a bonus, you'll find a non-Steinski track in the download that you may find interesting. It's File 13 which is Douglas, aka Double Dee, and his only officially released track without Steve (as far as I know), the extremely dirty Taste So Good! You'll also find another link below for a download of the Solid Steel show dedicated to DD+S, Now We Come To The Payoff. I'm happy to acknowledge that I got it from BosBos as it's not on the Solid Steel site, but it's split into two files there that you have to get from a certain file sharing service that makes you wait between downloads, so I thought it might be easier for some people to grab here as a single file. Props to the awesome BosBos which you should visit it IMMEDIATELY to get the scoop on the Now We Come To The Payoff program as there is a lot of information there you may not be aware of. And most of all, a gargantuan thank you to Steve Stein for being such a cool guy and making incredible music! Keep doing what you're doing and we'll keep listening!

UPDATE: The links are now working. It must have been an error on my part. Sorry guys.

Steinski - Rarities

Akabu - Watch Yourself (edited by Double Dee & Steinski)
Amon Tobin & Steinski - Ten Piece Metric Wrench Set
Coldcut - My Telephone (feat. Ralphie's Bop City)
Dimitri From Paris - Une Very Stylish Fille (Double Dee & Steinski's Memphis Mann Remix)
DJ Spooky - Invasion (Bifocal Remix)
Double Dee & Steinski - Lesson 4 (Solid Steel Edit)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (Steinski & Ill Chemist Relax)
Steinski - The Xen To One Ratio
Steinski - What Was Raymond Doing With His Hands?
Steinski & Mass Media - It's Up To You (The War Mix)
Steinski & Mass Media - Let's Play It Cool (Club Edit)
Steinski & Mass Media - The Motorcade Sped On (Alternate Version)
Steinski & Mass Media - We'll Be Right Back (Club Edit)
The Simpsons (Steinski's Overture Remix)
The Simpsons (Steinski's Rap Remix)
The Simpsons (Steinski's Theme Park Remix)

Bonus Track: File 13 - Taste So Good


Solid Steel Presents: Now We Come To The Payoff...