Mike Beverley: "roadblank"
Click Here For
"Live Behind Road Island"
“Interview
With Steve - Part 2”
Steve Lehman
W/
Patrick Rossi
Patrick Rossi
|
This leads me too another little incident that to this day still embarrasses me......
The show was fantastic, one of the things I remember the most was that Daniel Kobialka was in the audience ( Daniel played violin on the “Life Beyond L.A.” album ) and it was his daughters birthday, the guys had the audience sing “Happy Birthday” to her, I still remember the look on her face! After the show I headed backstage and was ushered to the greeting area, this was all fine and good except I was the only one allowed back, my friends could not join due to the size of the crowd already back there…..I had to do some quick thinking!…I still had’nt run into Steve yet, so that was one odd in my favor…then it “hit me”…I went to the entrance where security was letting the guests in and out and proceeded to exit and reenter a few time’s till I was sure security recognized me…after that it was simple…I would remove my stage pass put it in my right hand walk out to a friend shake his or her hand and walk back in….a few minutes later the person with the pass would enter and give it back to me and the process would start again….roughly seven people later my mission was accomplished and I could go on enjoying the evening……so I thought. About ten minutes later I look to my right and there is Steve…I figure what better time to say hello.. I walk over to him and extend my right hand to shake his…, he looks me square in the eye’s and takes my hand and states…” What no pass for me?”….not only does Steve have a distinctive voice, but he has eye’s where most people don’t! ……………. |
Questions
Q.)
Are the elements on the road as accessible as everyone thinks they are?, is
there one "groupie"
(professional fan ) story you can share with the readers..."no names"
of course... I know there is a
road ethics clause to this interview!
A.)
You know, some of them are memorable (if we can remember!) and probably most
of them we would just like to forget, but all of them, the stories really
cannot be told. I think in our younger days we probably all had our tit ta
tats (I think that is right), but I can't really remember any memorable thing
that might have been really special or weird. I will say that most of the
ladys that followed the band were quite good looking. Ambrosia never really
had " Groupies that were like the ones that would follow around Def Leapord,
or Motley Crue, etc.
Steve Lehman,
Bob Hughes &
Joe Puerta
Q.)
In your mind what is the most memorable moment with the
the band and the time you spent with them on the road?
A.)
I think the most exciting thing that happened to the band was our tour of
Japan. No one had been on tour out the country and we all ate Japanese food
as much as we could. There was something about the Japanese culture that
intriged all of us. We all brought back gifts for our familys; Kimonos, Tea
Sets, Sake Sets,etc. We just had a great time there.
Japan 1980-Tako,
Gail Pack, Dave, Steve Lehman, Burleigh, Fan & Cliff Wooley
Q.)
How does a band call it quits after years together ( at least that line up
at the time)....
After "Road Island" was it "Dont call me, I'll call you, then
we'll call him" or was everything just
left up in the air?...it seems like a marriage disolving after so many years...sometimes
its easy,
sometimes there's alot of hurt feelings ?
A.)
I don't that the band really called it quits. David really wanted to do a
solo project and Road Island didn't really do that great so I think everyone
thought it would be better just to take a break and let every one in the band
do their thing. Dave did a solo record but it took a long time to make. After
that I think is when Joe joined Bruce Hornsby and the Range, Burleigh
started putting Tin Drum Together, David Lewis Joined Shadowfax and Chris
and
Royce went off on their own projects.
I Started co-managing Jaco Pastorius with my friend Mike Knuckles and after
that ended (sadly I might add) I went to work for Mister Mister and after
that Jose Feliciano. After Jose I joined up at L.A.
Sound Company where I
currently am.
Jaco Pastorius
Shadowfax
Jose Feliciano Mister Mister
Q.)
What is your opinion on David leaving the band, does it seem for good?
A.) All I can say is that Dave was a great asset to the band and I
wish him the very best of luck in anything that he does.
Q.) Christopher North has always seemed to be a bit of a "recluse",
can you shed some light on this hard to get to know person?
A.) Chris is not really a recluse, he just keeps to himself, but if he hears
something he doesn't like he will certatinly tell you. Chris is a lot
of fun
once you get to know him. Chris and I have had wild times out on
the road.
Q.)
In between tours and recording did you all still
hang together,Holidays...Family gatherings Etc.?
A.) We usually got together for birthdays and small partys.
At New Years we usually had a party at Davids house. Dave and I
would put it together. We would setup some instruments and people might
jam. We did that for about five years and thenI think Dave and I had had
enough. It is hard to have fun at your own party when you and your family
have to do the work.
Q.)How would you decide the guest list for the
evening..you had told me at times it was a zoo..and
that problems started to happen?
A.) Generally Guests lists were reserved for record company people, radio
personallities (they play your records) and record store employees (they
sold your records) The rest of the list was friends of the band or someone
at a music store,
hotel, rental car. Sometimes fans but they had to be over 18 years of age.
I stopped the dressing room thing after some of the bands personal
belongings were stolen at one show.
After that
I always picked a room that could be turned into a "GreenRoom".
That kept unwanted posers out of the dressing room. YOU know people that ask
the band for
home addresses!!! (got ya).
Q.)Was there one other band you guys toured with that
was a disaster...bands not getting along...other
members of a band making it tough?
A.) Not really. I think the only band we had aproblem with was Styx. And it
wasn't the Band. They just had some roadies that seemed to have a problem.
If I recall one of their guys tripped one of Ambrosias roadies carrying an
amplifier and I think when he fell the amp landed on his arms and broke
one them. Not a really cool thing to do to a brother of the touring world.
I
don't think that would happen today.
Q.) After Ambrosia, did you stay on the road or did you call the label and tell them thats it.."I'm done"?
A.)
Yes as I said I was co-managing Jaco Pastorius and worked for Mister Mister
and Jose after that. I also did some work through a friend of mine, Dave
Hill, with the Moody Blues. After Jose I had had enough of the road. It's
sad
because I miss a lot of the people I knew and don't even know where most of
them are today.
I didn't work for a label. I was my own contractor, so I booked what ever
tour I wanted to go on if openings were available. I was a hustler. It seems
I was never without a tour.
Q.) Tell us exactly what you are doing these days?
A.)
I am the General Manager/Production Coordinator for L.A.
Sound Company in
North Hollywood, CA. Our clients consist of various event planners, The LA
Marathon, The Recording Academy, and other organizations. When President
Clinton was in office we were the sound company that White House
Communications called for Clinton and Gore when they came to Los Angeles.
We
do concerts for the WAVE and La Nueva radio stations and Festival Productions.
Q.)
Do you ever wish you would have stayed in the performing end of the trade?..
having your own band?....but then again knowing you..being the leader of a
group of
guys...you'd probably end up like the minstrel on the cover of "Road
Island"...carrying
your own gear and........."well enough said there!"
Steve Lehman
tunes Dave's ax!
A.)
What the hell are you talking about! Minstrel? Come on, I look better than
that. Thanks a lot Rossi. Remember your not much younger than me!
I loved playing in bands, but got frustrated with no one wanting to be as
serious about it as me. I did the work, had some connections and had band
members that thought they had to turn up 12 on their amps.
Once when I was with Jose, we were in Australia and went to a club. The
keyboard player didn't come with us. Someone in the audiance asked Jose if
the band wanted to jam and he said sure. Well the band got up on stage and
Jose ask me to come play keys. I did and it was a gas. Hadn't had that much
fun in years.
Thought about going back and putting a fun band together, but I don't really
have the time. Maybe I should make the time.
You could come and take pictures! haha
Look For More Soon!!