"Speaking From The Heart"
(John Lawton, Viridian Times)
With only a home studio, a handful of songs, and a lot of passion, Stephen Speaks has been shattering barriers in independent music since 1999. For example, Speaks was the first garage band in the history of the world to break international borders and become the number one band in another country. In 2003 Stephen Speaks' song, Passenger Seat, took the number 1 spot on the radio in Asia, which was held by Christina Aguilerra at the time. Passenger Seat held it's throne for twelve weeks, and was finally knocked down to number 2 by their second single, Out Of My League, giving them the number 1 and number 2 song in the country. At the year end countdown, both songs were atop the charts.
"I've no idea how it happened," says Rockwell Ryan, front man and producer of Stephen Speaks. "Some college exchange students stuck it on the radio all and it just took off. Thats our whole career; we just make music and our fans take care of everything for us. Who needs a record label with fans like that? (laughs)"
With a dominant college-based grassroots following back in the US, Stephen Speaks continues to plow ground as one of the pioneers of the indie movement. The band has managed to sell over 40,000 albums, played for tens of thousands of people, topped radio charts, had the number 1 video on MTV Asia and MYX for weeks, and had literally millions of MP3s downloaded from their Web-site. Thats not unheard of, but doing it in a home studio with no manager, no lawyer, no record label and no booking agent, is very impressive indeed.
"I've had labels show interest - many," states Rockwell, who shunned a record deal with Sony in 2004, "But I've never heard a sales pitch that beats what we have; the American dream. What makes this country great is the freedom to live the way you want, when you want. There are no executives with dollar-sign-eyes pushing us around. No doubt, I plan on being a millionaire (chuckles), but there's no price you can put on freedom. I want to promote living for what your heart tells you, not other people. Thats what our music is all about."
While the band hasn't ruled out signing a record deal, doing things on their own, or anything in between, one thing is for sure - the bands passion for living each day to the fullest will always run their lives.... and inspire ours.
Watch out for Stephen Speaks' new album dropping in the fall of 2006. |
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