Interview with Adam Stewart

by Sara McDowell

Adam Stewart's first musical venture was an LP titled "So Close to Love" which he made during his senior year of high school over a weekend at Artist Underground in Muskego, WI. The album cost him $500. Two years later Stewart created a state of the art studio in his home and re-recorded some of those songs for his latest release "You Were Mine" which he also produced. The end result is 14 passion-filled tracks about a lost love and life after a relationship ends.

Although Stewart is happy being an independent artist, he has been contacted by Elektra Records, Lyric Street Records, and recently by RCA. Currently Stewart is gearing up to play with New York artist Ari Hest.

Recently Dreams Awake was able to chat with Stewart on his songwriting process, fame, and exactly what is wrong with "American Idol."

Dreams Awake: How would you describe your sound?

Adam Stewart: Stripped down acoustic alt-rock.

DA: Please describe your current CD in one sentence.

AS: "You Were Mine" is an emotion rich album of mellow, melodic songs, sometimes catchy, sometimes poetic, but always honest.

DA: At what point do you feel confident that a song or album is complete?

AS: I think a song is finished when I've completely emptied my heart into it, I've said everything that I've been feeling and the thought is complete.

DA: Please tell me about your songwriting process.

AS: I write whenever there's something intense going on in my life. Typically, it happens really late at night -- after midnight -- I'll be awake with all this stuff spinning around my head. I'll go to the guitar and just let my fingers go, never with the intention of writing a song. Any musician will tell you if you're trying to write something it doesn't work. Usually I'll end up playing something by accident that hits me and just go with that ... listening in my head and getting a feel for what the song will be. The music is always first. After I have the guitar part, then I just let the words come out of me. I don't think, I just sing what I'm feeling and keep whatever is good. Usually I write down the song once and if I don't remember it all the next day then I toss it, because if the song doesn't stick with me why would it stick with anyone else? Lately, I've been beginning to write on the piano as well which has a completely different feel to it. In some ways it's easier than on the guitar but I'm still figuring out the rules. Always though, the intensity of the feeling dictates and shapes what I'm writing.

DA: Are there any major themes you find yourself writing on? AS: I write mostly about relationships. Girls have a way of making me both incredibly happy and heartbreakingly sad, and intense emotions are the easiest to write about. However, the spiritual side of me also finds its way into my songs. DA: What was the first song you wrote and what was it about? AS: (Laughs) Wow ... first songs are always embarrassing to think back upon ... hmm ... I was 15 and it was called "Searching for Myself." I wrote it because, before music became a part of me, I kind of didn't know my place ... it felt like something was missing. I wasn't really sure what it was until I started writing ... it completed me in a way.

DA: How did you get started playing and writing and how old were you when you began?

AS: I grew up on the gray streets of Rochester, NY doing everything but music, taking in harsh winters and fleeting summers. A year before the crazy sweet time that is high school, I moved to the Milwaukee area, still trying to figure out who I was. The summer after my freshman year it hit me (I was 15).

On a lake, in the serene, wooded and mostly untouched areas of central Maine ... on one of those nights where you just feel lucky to be alive ... I was on a canoe with my dad, on the way back from visiting family on the other side of the lake. I paddled, while he played guitar and sang songs into the night, and the moment arrived when I just knew. I felt the music in me ... just waiting to come out. Weeks later I got my first guitar ... and began immersing myself in the instrument ... learning everything I could ... mostly the timeless songs of the Beatles and Dave Matthews.

I started writing not too long after -- about anything that moved something in me, always letting what I was feeling become the song. Listening to the radio, I could tell just by listening that many of these songs were just lies, the writer hadn't experienced any of the emotions he was talking about it and people were just accepting it. If the person who wrote the song was even singing ... there just seemed to be something fake about all of this. I resolved to write true songs and bare my soul and if people connect with it, then great. If not, then at least I'm being honest.

DA: What made you decide to venture into the music business?

AS: I wanted people to hear my songs. I don't care about being famous. In fact I consider that a big drawback of the music industry. If I ever was successful to the degree of a John Mayer or a Norah Jones, I think it would make life very hard. I really want to stay humble and focused on what matters, and fame makes that much harder. I think I'd be able to do it, but it would be a challenge. People see fame and glamour as something to be desired, but if you look at the people who have the money and the exposure ... their personal lives are for the most part really messed up. I'm playing because I love doing it, and I want to move people.

DA: Seeing how reality-based TV shows are growing in popularity, what do you think of "American Idol" and the concept behind it? AS: I think it's an interesting concept, but they aren't really looking for any new or interesting kinds of music -- just people to fill a mold that they already have. My take of "American Idol," is that they're just looking for a really good looking person who can dance, and sing (in the style that they're looking for). They aren't being judged on how unique they are, or how well they can write a song; they're just being rated on a commercial level. Ninety percent of the best musicians alive today wouldn't have passed the first round of the show. If you take a Kurt Cobain or a Dave Matthews, their voices are definitely not what people traditionally look for but as musicians and songwriters they're brilliant and their voices are really good, but not in the standard way. A show featuring singer/songwriters or bands from different areas would be far more interesting to me -- people putting their hearts on the line, writing their own songs -- that would be a show I'd watch. DA: What instruments can you play? AS: Guitar, piano, bass somewhat. DA: Have you ever taken any lessons? AS: No.

DA: At a young age you have already made a large move with relocating to Austin, TX. Why did you choose to move to Austin over New York or other large musically known cities?

AS: I have family here. My parent's split up when I was seven-years-old and I never really got the chance to get to know my dad. His living here combined with the incredibly rich music scene made Austin the perfect place. After moving here though, I found that it wasn't really the best place to be as singer/songwriter -- Austin is absolutely saturated with them so the competition is fierce. Right now, I'm planning to move to California, not too far from the LA area.

DA: What has been in your CD player lately?

AS: Dashboard Confessional -- "The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most," Ari Hest -- "Come Home" and "Story After Story," Ben Folds -- "Whatever and Ever Amen," John Mayer -- "Inside Wants Out," John Coltrane -- "A Love Supreme," Beatles -- "Rubber Soul".

DA: What musicians do you admire and for what reasons?

AS: Lennon and McCartney for their unparalleled musical sense and songwriting ability, Joni Mitchell for her incredible vocal control, Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional) for the honesty and the passion in his songs, and Ben Folds for his brilliant lyrics and feel for music.

DA: Is there any music out there that you truly despise?

AS: (Laughs) Wow ... I used to hate country ... but living in Texas has made me at least tolerant of it. I don't listen to much rap, R&B, or metal, but in those genres there are definitely songs and artists that I connect with. The only music I would say I despise is anything that has an "80's vibe" ... the synthesizers and the guys with the long hair and neon hot pants (laughs) ... definitely a bad decade of music. There were good songs written in the 80's ... but the style that was popular ruined them ... for me at least. I do enjoy some of the songs though when they're covered by more newer artists. Besides those few exceptions, I like most music. I listen to jazz, classical, punk rock, alternative, ska, singer/songwriters, jam bands, emo, and classic rock all pretty regularly.

DA: Do you play live very often? How long have you been playing shows? AS: I started playing shows in the Milwaukee area during my junior year in high school. Since graduating and moving to Austin I haven't been playing out as much. I was really focusing all my energy on writing and recording. Lately though, I'm beginning again. Last Wednesday, I played a show @ Concordia University ... next Thursday I'm opening up for Ari Hest at the University of Dallas. Then one week later ... Carroll College in Waukesha, WI is flying me out to play a show May 1st. So, I'm starting up again ... I should be playing a bunch of shows this summer as well. DA: Which do you prefer -- performing live or recording? AS: Definitely performing live. Recording is almost like work because you have to get things more or less perfect and it's just you, staring back at the mic. Playing live has so many more levels. Looking out you can see the expressions on people's faces, what they're connecting with, maybe even what they're thinking.

DA: What do you think about when performing in front of an audience?

AS: I try to lose myself in the song but also I try to read the audience and look as many people in the eye as I can so they feel like I'm singing to them personally.

DA: Where is your favorite place to play?

AS: This club in Milwaukee, Thai Joe's Bangkok Orchid used to be my favorite. The atmosphere was really chill, warm lighting, great people, and lots of couches. They recently remodeled it though and the atmosphere is completely different -- much more commercial.

DA: Where would you most like to play?

AS: I think the audience matters more than the venue. Any place where people are listening to the songs and interacting with me. That being said I think Schuba's Tavern in Chicago is one place I'd really like to play at. The stage is set up really nicely and the mood lighting is great.

DA: You mother is a composer with a master's degree in music and your father is a singer/guitarist. How does this affect you as a musician?

AS: I don't think my parent's occupations had much influence on me going into music. As people, they're both extremely gifted musically in different ways. My mom has a master's degree in music from Valparaiso and composes classical and spiritual music and my dad's a really good singer and guitarist although he doesn't write (he makes his living as an acupuncturist). They've both really encouraged me in what I've been doing, but I think the choice was largely my own.

DA: Where would you like to see yourself in three years?

AS: Ideally ... signed by a major record label, touring around the country, happily married ... all the good stuff.

DA: What's the most valuable lesson you've ever learned?

AS: Nothing that's worthwhile comes easy. You have to work at it.

DA: What are your strengths and weaknesses as a musician?

AS: I think my greatest strength is my voice. I've really been blessed with a mellow listenable voice that people seem to connect with. Hmm ... my greatest weakness is probably my piano playing. I've only been playing a year and a half ... and only recently my fingers are figuring out where to go.

DA: Describe yourself in three words.

AS: Warm, loyal, focused.

DA: What do you think is the secret of success?

AS: Putting your heart and soul into what you're doing, being unique, talented and honest, and knowing the right people. The rest is being in the right place at the right time. I think success is a really relative term though. For me, I see success as just being able to do what you love ... staying true to yourself ... and creating something that matters to people. Even if I never get a big record deal, or sell out an amphitheater ... I see success in moving one person. I'll never forget ... ages ago I was playing a show ... and after I finished I had a girl come up to me in tears ... because she'd connected with one of my songs on a really deep level. To me that meant more than anything ... that in some small way I'd done something in her life. That's the amazing thing about music ... it really does have power ... and that's why I'm putting my heart, time, and energy into it today.

For more information on Adam Stewart, visit his website at www.adammstewart.com.