Marcus Scott's Steph Jones Interview (Nu-Soul Magazine)

Fast Times with Steph Jones By Marcus Scott

Revitalizing, magnetic, and as tranquilly sophisticated and engaging as a coffee table book, this avant-garde face to soul music has honed his skills, polishing radio tunes like Disturbing Tha Peace’s “Celebrity Chick” featuring Ludacris, Chingy, and Small World on the compilation Strength In Numbers. With his raspy, airy and passionate falsetto, Steph Jones, the Mo City Alien, is looking to turn heads with his with studio album Mr. Ordinary. Using his stereo and his records to perform a music séance to inspire him, this former Ford Model called upon the finesse of Old School favorites like Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles and Al Green to create his 2008 studio debut. Using old school jazz, soul, and quiet storm sensibilities with a hip-hop swagger and new jack swing, this certified nu-soul artist and self-classified music raconteur is a musical oddity all of his own.

Nu-Soul: How hard was it transitioning from Ford Model to singer-songwriter?

Steph Jones: It was hard. I was actually trying to sing while I was modeling, but no one would take me seriously. After I got out of jail, I told myself that I would focus on my music and forget about the modeling for now. What I did. And that’s what I’m doing.

Nu-Soul: As a child you were Houston-born and raised in Missouri City, how have both the music cultures in both environments influenced your sound?

Steph Jones: It wasn’t the music in my surroundings, basically it was the music played inside my house. It wasn’t the music induced in an area, because I was grounded and never had to go outside. My mother was a deejay and that was the music that influenced me, whatever she played that’s what influenced me whether I knew it or not because I didn’t grow up wanting to be a singer.

Nu-Soul: You said your mother was a deejay growing up. What was your father?

Steph Jones: My dad was a drug dealer and he was murdered when I was 12.

Nu-Soul: So, what did you want to be growing up?

Steph Jones: What I was doing. I was an athlete. I ran track and I still train right now, and I didn’t know that I wanted to be a singer 100% until I got to college. You know, eventually every time you hear shut up every time you open your mouth, you get a little self-conscious about it.

Nu-Soul: You began singing in college; can you tell me some of the experiences?

Steph Jones: Pretty much, once I got on my own and no one could tell me to shut up, that’s when I started doing karaoke and experimenting with the likes of Joe, 50 Cent, The Beatles and The Dixie Chicks, I didn’t care. It was my way of expressing what’s been inside of me so long, but I didn’t know the feeling until I actually made somebody cry while I was singing karaoke. I was like, “Yeah, this is definitely what I want to do.”

Nu-Soul: What college did you go to?Steph Jones: Barton County Community College in Kansas for a semester, then to Santa Monica College. My major in college was psychology.

Nu-Soul: With spots on the DL Chronicles and other shows, the song “Mr. Ordinary,” it’s been very popular among indie crowds, underground crowds and enjoying much success.

Steph Jones: Definitely.

Nu-Soul: So, Why was the Jay-Z dub added to the song?

Steph Jones: Actually it’s not even on my album. The Jay-Z Part, that’s just the mix tape version that was just, pretty much, to capture the attention of a certain genre that normally wouldn’t listen to my style of music. So, when you put Jay-Z right there, they’ll be like “Oh, what is that?” It’s like “ATTENTION!” And that’s the version that everyone has.

Nu-Soul: On a personal note, I’m an avid fan of “Melody To Snap To.”

Steph Jones: Actually, I wrote that while I was in jail. I spent two years. Twenty-Five months in a French prison. I got out about two years ago. It took me like 7 to 7 ½ months to get a deal, and now I am where I am today.

Nu-Soul: What inspired you to write that song?

Steph Jones: I mean, that the fact that I was in jail, and every day I saw the Iraqi fighting with the Africans, and it’s like the same thing you see on CNN. Its like, “Man, if only the world was all on the same rhythm, on the same page.” That will never happen, but it would be like, “What if?” The world needs a melody to snap to.

Nu-Soul: With that, we haven’t seen this album…Steph Jones: My album is due this spring, and the single is not “Mr. Ordinary.” It’s called “La La it means love,” produced by Tricky Stewart and written by me and Dream. That will be out the second week of January, and nobody has heard it.

Nu-Soul: Why so late? “Mr. Ordinary” and “Melody To Snap To” have been on your page for quite sometime, were there any mishaps or setbacks with the album?

Steph Jones: No, there were no setbacks. Everything’s all about timing. Because I’m a new artist and with my type of music, I’m not the type of artist that you can just throw out there. It’s all about the proper set up and it’s all about the timing but you can just throw out a lot of different sounds, but some people maybe might be confused and won’t get it. When you work underground markets like MySpace, AOL and Yahoo, and prepare people for what’s about to come then they are much more accepting than if you just threw me out there. The last half of the year, I had the “Celebrity Chick” record come out that wasn’t for my talent but for the look coming out next to Chingy, next to Ludacris and my single was going to drop which is frickin’ crazy. I was in Houston on 93.3, and I called Shock and they aired it. He said, “You can play it on the air, but you can’t give it to them.” They played it three times, and so many people called about that song. It was crazy, and they weren’t even telling people to call. They were like, “Yo! What’s that?” They’ve been hitting me up ever since: “You should get La La on your page.” (laughs) My album is an honest album. It’s very, very, very honest. The songs on my page, if you follow the music, the Steph Jones movement because of the songs on my page, those are just teasers. It’s a very solid album, one through twelve.

Nu-Soul: Are you working any jobs until the album drops?

Steph Jones: Yes, I’ve done a few modeling gigs on the side.

Nu-Soul: Did you feel you put your lifeblood in that album?Steph Jones: Of course, anytime I do anything with music, I do that.

Nu-Soul: You had an experience with “Celebrity Chick,” which few new artists get. You can imagine that working with Chingy and working with other southern rappers like Ludacris is a rare opportunity. How was this experience, how has it shaped your craft in music and the record to be released in January?

Steph Jones: Pretty much like what I’ve been doing before I was signed. I never paid attention to the radio, I never played into that because you can lose yourself in all that. When I don’t pay attention to how it’s doing on TRL or 106 & Park, then it’s easier for me to pay attention to my craft because my mind is not elsewhere.

Nu-Soul: Did you ever feel like you had to change your sound to sell to bigger crowds?

Steph Jones: Considered that I’m a new artist, I haven’t put out any records, and the disadvantage of it is that I don’t have a particular sound. My sound, it you were to get specific with it, its feel-good music. If a song comes to me, I’m not gonna be like “What are these people gonna say?” I’m not a very self-contained artist. Steph Jones makes music from his heart and from his soul. At the end of the day, real recognizes real.

Nu-Soul: You draw a lot of comparisons to a lot of neo-soul artists like Maxwell and D’Angelo. Has Neo-soul played a part in your music?

Steph Jones: Oh yeah. The thing is, I love music. I love Hip-Hop, I love Country. I am music. You can put me in a box, that’s why they call me the Mo City Alien because when I grew up I had so many different thoughts. Everybody called me weird, extraterrestrial and alien. As Chaka would say, “You can’t call me Pop because I sell R&B records, you can’t call me R&B because I have Pop.”

Nu-Soul: In interviews, you’ve said that you’ve drawn influences from artists like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Frank Sinatra, and Etta James. How have these artists influenced you to be the artist that you have become and by far who is the most influencial artist?

Steph Jones: That’s a really hard question because when you hear my music you’ll hear pretty much all my influences. One, when you hear my album you’ll be like, “You can definitely tell this dude listens to Prince, and you can definitely tell this man listens to Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Frank Sinatra.” You can hear all of that in my music. The people that I study the most are Stevie Wonder and The Beatles.

Nu-Soul: What is it about these artists that influence your sound?

Steph Jones: Their wordplay, their melodies. I’m really intrigued by colorful melodies. Feel-good songs. Sad songs. I have a song called, “Look what you’ve done.” It’s a sad song, but it feels good in a melancholy-type of feel.

Nu-Soul: Your music has been placed in several categories. Where would you category your music if you had to choose?

Steph Jones: If I had to choose? R&B-Alternative-Soul-Pop. Not today’s R&B, I’m talking about back-in-the-day R&B, like when everyone had their own personalities. Like Marvin Gaye was different than Al Green, or different than Michael Jackson, or different than Frank Sinatra. I’m talking about that type of R&B.

Nu-Soul: On the album, were you going from a different vibe?

Steph Jones: This is why I named the album, “Mr. Ordinary.” Because at the end of the day, I didn’t have to go out of my way to do something. This is my everyday thing, and at the end of the day this is my ordinary. I wasn’t trying to go for a certain sound; I just put the music out. How it comes in, that’s how it comes out.

Nu-Soul: How passionate are you about maintaining your individuality in the music industry that’s more focused on image than beats and wordplay?

Steph Jones: You can’t have one without the other. I feel that if you can find a way to blend the two and make your music relatable. I think you can win, I know you can win.

To See The Original Article, Go to: http://blog.nu-soulmag.com/?p=112

Other highlights of article: http://www.hollywire.com/claudia-jordan/steph-jones-bday-bash-hosted-by-claudia-jordan/

To Learn more about Stph Jones, please visit: www.myspace.com/stephjones2