Meet Steve Maggiora | Songwriter, Session and Touring Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve Maggiora and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steve, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have always been very much a creative. I’ve been living and breathing music from a young age, and there was never anything else for me. Though I had worked for people early in my career, it became apparent in my 20s that I wanted to move faster, do more, and be more prolific than some of those avenues were allowing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Playing live music is an experience like no other. The energy that’s created between people working together, listening and reacting to each other on stage and a receptive audience is unparalleled in my opinion. There is so much positivity that arises from that type of environment, it’s amazing. And when it’s your song that everyone is vibing on, it’s the best feeling in the world. The songwriting process for me has always been diverse in its execution. Sometimes I start with a phrase or a melody, sometimes it’s a groove or rhythm that sparks inspiration. Sometimes I’m hired to write lyrics and melody over an existing instrumental, and sometimes it’s my job as a collaborator to help someone tell their story. Songwriting to me is one of the most intimate and vulnerable exercises that a person can experience. It can bring you to the darkest places in the corners of your mind, as well as bring you the most incredible joy, sometimes in the same moment. You can express things as poetically or crassly as you like, and no subject is off limits. In that regard, it stands as one of the most fulfilling and cathartic activities that I enjoy doing.

It’s not easy to get into. It’s a lot of work. But like anything, it can be treated as a muscle. It’s a learned skill. You just have to be diligent and do it as often as you can. Along the way for me were years of self-doubt, self-consciousness, trying to people please or write things I thought others wanted to hear. Most of it was pretty terrible in the early years, but all that music still holds a special place in my heart because I did not quit. I’m very proud of my younger self for sticking with it. Nowadays, I’m very grateful to have the opportunities to write with musicians and artists that I’ve looked up to, most recently co-writing a song with Warren Huart (The Fray, Aerosmith) for Steve Lukather’s (TOTO, Ringo Starr & His All-Star Band) new solo album, “Bridges”.

Some of the best songwriting that I’ve done is actually coming out July 14th, 2023 as a collaborative album from myself and an amazing breakout artist John Philbrick. I’m really looking forward to this music being out in the world as it contains some of the best songwriting of my career. The record is phenomenal, and features some insanely talented people including drummers Gregg Bissonette (Ringo Starr & His Allstar Band, The David Lee Roth Band), Randy Cooke (Smash Mouth, Alanis Morissette), and Dylan Howard (Unwritten Law, Dorothy); bassists Tim Landers (Steve Smith, Billy Cobham), Gregg Cash (Josh Todd and the Conflict, Dorothy), and Travis Carlton (Larry Calton, Sara Bareilles); Dave Eggar (Coldplay, Evanescence) on cello and string production; and background vocalists Adryon DeLeon (Orgōne, Idina Menzel), Dedrick Bonner (BTS), and Kenna Ramsey (John Mayer, Vintage Trouble). Recorded at TreeHaus Recording in Woodland Hills, produced by Heartbeats’ Justin Gariano and Dusty Schaller (Evanescence, Foreigner), mixed by 3-time Grammy award winner Ross Hogarth (Edgar Winter, Van Halen, Doobie Brothers), and mastered by 5-time Grammy award winner Richard Dodd (The Black Keys, Larkin Poe, Tom Petty, Boz Scaggs). This record has soul, it rocks hard, it digs deep and it grooves like a mother*****! Hope y’all dig it!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d take them on a music tour of SoCal. Nightlife venues would include some of my favorites – The Mint in LA, Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, The Ordinarie in Long Beach, Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach, The Wayfarer in Costa Mesa, The Cliff Restaurant in Laguna Beach. Late night hangs at Club Tee Gee in Atwater Village, The Auld Dubliner in Long Beach, and Residuals Tavern in Studio City. Daylight trips to Griffith Park and Observatory, sessions at Sunset Sound and The Village Studios, and grabbing some new vinyl records south of the 10 at Creme Tangerine Records in Costa Mesa.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to give a shoutout to my parents. They’ve been supportive of my endeavors in music since day one, and I’ll always be eternally grateful to them for their encouragement and support. I remember talking with my mom shortly into college about the difference between being a professional and being a hobbyist that has stuck with me for 20 years. Music is something that can be very difficult to turn into a successful career, and there’s a lot of give and take when it comes to what you do for work and what you do for fun or experience within the trade. My dad is a professional musician, and I learned a lot from him on proper interaction with clients, administrative ins and outs of coordinating personnel, and the inner dynamics of being in a band both with its joys and pitfalls.

Website: http://www.stevemaggiora.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/stevemaggioraofficial

Twitter: http://twitter.com/stevemaggiora

Facebook: http://facebook.com/stevemaggioraofficial

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@stevemaggioraofficial

Other: www.patreon.com/stevemaggioraofficial linktr.ee/stevemaggioraofficial https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6xqbjBA3Hwegj9fObrizrM?si=4ca327bae03646fa

Image Credits
Eric Lombart, Sam Westre, Allison Morgan, Steve Maggiora, Kim Melville, Dusty Schaller, Dominique Xavier