Behind the Song: Steal Your Heart

Happy Quarantined Monday, peeps! You bored? I wish I could say the same but I’m probably at work, saving some lives as you read this today. So, next up is Steal Your Heart. This tune is pretty interesting because it came together unlike any song I’ve ever written. Honestly, it’s probably one of my proudest moments as a songwriter. How, you ask? Well…

For months, I’d been walking around with the idea of this cool bridge/guitar solo in my head. As a guitarist who usually thinks of the solo dead last (shocker!), this felt really crazy. I opened Logic X and systematically placed the drums, bass, rhythm, and then solos down for this bridge. Listening to it on playback, it really gave me a Europe “Out Of This World” feeling and while it was kind of fiery, it felt...romantic. That being said, this was the emotion to go for on this song. As such, I took a look back into my songbooks and used a song from 1990, “Steal Your Heart.” I’d written this as a more “Adult Contemporary” tune. I knew that vibe wasn’t going to work, so in came the very Stryper guitar verse and a pre-chorus/chorus section that just, well...built itself up to that bridge!

Musically, the guys really killed it on this song. Tony changed the heavy opening keys to that “Stranger Things” feel that you hear and brought in that really cool EQ sweep. It truly lends itself to the keys throughout the rest of the song. The guitar intro was really meant to give a feeling of ascension, hope, and (duh!) romance. The bass on this song really plants itself and just oozes groove in the verse. The drums? Stellar. BJ made some adjustments at the outset of the bridge that lend character to help build the whole solo. I can’t say enough about his playing. Roy’s voice? Wow. There are spots on this song where I could swear I’m listening to Geoff Tate and then BOOM…”Brad Delp” steps in with those crazy high notes and just carries you to a different place! And while the backing vocals remain true to demo form, Erik Johnson just helps to give us that extra push to make them sound ultra lush and unreal. Honestly, the man has immeasurable talent and it deserves mentioning-no ghost tracks here! Some of the things Ty Sims did in the mix were subtle, adding some accent points, post solo. Overall, just a killer job.

This is one of those songs that, when I listen to it, I honestly take a step back and think, “Wow, I can’t believe this is us. I can’t believe it’s SteelCity.” And even though I love every tune on this album, this one is “up there” for me, personally.

We really hope you dig the album and the vibe it brings. On behalf of the band, we’re truly humbled and blessed to be able to bring this to you. THANK YOU so much for supporting us. www.shopsteelcityband.com