I caught up with Steve Senes, the winner of Guitar Players Magazines “Guitar SuperStar” competition and he graciously allowed me to interview him again! If you missed the first interview (before the competition), you can read it by CLICKING HERE.
I got the scoop over Guitar Player Magazine – TWICE!
Watch his winning performance here, then read the interview below:
GD: Were you pleased with your performance (before you knew you won?)
“Ya know man, I didn’t know what to think. I was more nervous than I’ve ever been, then when I walked out on that stage, something just clicked in my head, and I thought to myself “I’m gonna melt your faces” – that helped the nerves. So I just rocked out. There was definitely some flubbage, haha. It’s the first time I’ve EVER played the song with a band, gig or otherwise. So, it was a little different. Course I’d like to go back and improve some things but who knows – perhaps some of the charm that the grabbed the judges was in the clams I hit ;-)”
GD: Did you watch the the other nine finalists play?
“I was the last guitarist to play, so I tried not to. Upstairs in the green room, there was a TV with a live feed of the event. I had my Macbook up there with headphones, but with the TV going, I had to occasionally (often) take off the cans and check it out. Seems like every time I did, the judges were ripping someone apart, which made me even more nervous. Also, the guys yet to play were up there warming up and I’m hearing some incredible playing right there! When I had about 15 minutes to go, I went down to the backstage area because there was about a 25 degree temperature difference (hot in the Green Room), I didn’t wanna have my guitar adjusting to temperature and going all outta tune. So I saw the last three guys before me from the wings. Man, that was even worse, cause then I could feel the power of their performances – which only added to the nerves!”
GD: Who did you think was going to win?
“Honestly, all of these guys are top notch players. I honestly believe ANY of ’em could have taken the whole thing. Had it been a different night, judges been on a different vibe, who knows? All the guys brought something unique and individual to the table. I’m still in awe and proud to have shared the stage with such incredible talent!!!!!”
GD: So tell me about the prize package! What did you win?
- My choice of one of 3 Mesa/Boogie amps (I chose the Stiletto)
- BC Rich Exotic Class Mockingbird in Spalted Maple
- D’Addario Prize Package (dunno what’s in there)
- My choice of a Seymour Duncan stompbox and pickup set
- Voyage-Air Acoustic Guitar
- Line 6 Spider IV 75
- Peterson StroboStomp 2
- N-Tune Tuners
- Essential Sound Products – MusicCord PRO Power CordDean Markley Prize Package
- And sometime in the coming months, there will be a feature article about me in Guitar Player Magazine. Dunno when it’ll be but I hope not too terribly long. They run ’em months in advance, though, so I suspect it’ll be the early part of next year. Which is cool – gives me more time to work on getting my CD mastered.
GD: Will this success change your plans for the new CD release?
“Well, I still plan to self-release it once I can get it mastered. Good mastering ain’t cheap, so I’m working towards being able to get it done. Any takers?”
GD: So where do you go from here with your career?
“It’s really hard to say. I plan to continue with my band, Superswamp Heroes and also try to pursue some success with my instrumental stuff. I have a few irons in the fire I’m working out, so who knows what will happen…..”
GD: Tell me the truth… did you sleep much Saturday night?
“That would be a big NO. After the show, most of the finalists, a bunch of the GP Magazine staff and some other people convened to the hotel lounge for some drinks, to decompress, and just hang out. A great friend of mine flew up from LA for the contest, so we did a lot of hanging out, trading war stories, just an all around good time. By the time I got to my room, got everything ready to go for the morning, it was 4:30/5:00am, somewhere in there. At 8:45am my room phone starts ringing, it’s the driver wanting me to get down there so he can haul me to the airport and pick up his next client. So I woke up, shook my head a little, brushed my teeth, grabbed my stuff and headed out. Take off from the West Coast, a bumpy flight home & next thing I know, I’m flying over the Atlantic making the approach into Myrtle Beach. What a whirlwind!!!!!!”
“Also, I GOTTA give some props to the band that backed up all the finalists – they’re called Thud Factor, I believe they’re out of LA. These cats had to learn and chart out 10 songs, all by artists they’ve never heard of before. In as many different styles! All in all, they did an incredible job. I can’t speak to the authenticity of their playing on the other guys’ songs (sounded incredible to me), but their playing on my song was almost 100% right on to what I wrote, with no rehearsal time. I thought they did a magnificent job and are to be hugely commended. It was an honor to have those guys play my song!”
…end of interview…-GD
Guitar Player Magazine has posted videos of all 10 performances. Follow THIS LINK to watch the entire competition.
Keep up with Steve on his NEW Website by CLICKING HERE.
ONE MORE TIME – CONGRATULATIONS STEVE!
Back on August 31st, 
GD) Steve, tell me a little about yourself…
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