Five questions for Stephen Ladek
October 13, 2009
Stephen Ladek is a Budapest-based singer/songwriter originally from Colorado, USA. His music is influenced by the Indigo Girls, Pink Floyd, Nickel Creek, Rush, David Wilcox, Lyle Lovett and many others with lyrics that are generally reflections of life-as-it-should-be. Stephen was the former lead singer and guitarist for ‘The Flow.’ He has also performed as a back up guitarist and vocalist for ‘Big Orange Pop.’ Most recently Stephen performed as a member of ‘The LMNOPs’ in Washington, DC. Samples of his solo work and ‘The Flow’ can be found at: http://www.graberladek.com/songs/sladeksongs.htm.
1. Are you currently working on anything, and why’s it taking so long?
“I’ve been working on a solo album for literally ten years. After leaving the last band I played with, life took over and all the spaces that used to be filled with music were stuffed with travel, work and now… my son!”
2. Do you actually have moments of inspiration or is writing just a process of slogging day in and day out?
“I personally have moments of inspiration that provide me with a small riff, a bass line, a lyric or some other snippet that just feels right. I usually build a song by combining one or two of these snippits somehow. The music almost always comes first though. Sometimes a song takes ten minutes, sometimes years.”
3. Did you ever get laid because something you wrote?
“My wife continues to tell me that my music is a key reason she ever bothered to show up and meet me at the first party where we were set up. I’m going with yes.”
4. Name a writer who you’d be most psyched to see show up at your Bardroom gig and how would you return the compliment if he/she liked your set?
“Hands down, the Indigo Girls (Amy Ray and Emily Sailers). They’re the only group in the world whose entire collection I own. My homage to/for them? I can trace my decision to pursue song writing to their first (Grammy Award Winning) self-titled release and I like to think that Amy taught me to sing.”
5. Does music matter anymore?
“Music will always matter. We vibrate as living beings and music connects with that. The better question is do we really need a sound track to our lives? With so many of my and future generations stuck with iPod earbuds in all the time, we’re losing the authentic experience of being in the world while at the same time diminishing our ability to commercials from works of genius.”
