Steve Conte NYC

Renowned musician Steve Conte, known for his work with New York Dolls, Michael Monroe, Willy DeVille and many more has a new album out on Wicked Cool Records; The Concrete Jangle, half of which was co-written by his songwriting hero, Andy Partridge of XTC. The album was recorded at Little Steven Van Zandt’s studio in NYC and features Conte on vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion (and arrangement/production), drummers Prairie Prince (XTC, The Tubes), Thommy Price (Billy Idol, Joan Jett) & Brian Delaney (New York Dolls), brother John Conte (Ian Hunter, David Bowie) on bass and many others who helped to shape Conte’s vision for a Brit Pop/Psych ‘60s/Post-Punk ‘80s sound with trashy NYC guitars.

“It’s like smashing The Beatles, Kinks & Who into The Replacements, Pretenders & XTC. And I dunno how I fit into all of that - I’m more like a soul-singer-guitar-slinger in tight pants, scarves & eyeliner.”

Since the album’s release Steve’s got himself a genuine rock ’n’ roll band from NYC; drummer Rob Youngberg (Lotion), bassman Ben Toro (The Everyothers) & John Deley (Darlene Love) on keys.

The band recently sold out The Bowery Electric in NYC, hot on the heels of winning the Best Music Video award at the Golden Door International Film Festival for Conte’s non-partisan political song, “We Like It” - https://youtu.be/k4Kjq_0b2l8?si=ybnF8vDXtCtiwA8m

The album serves as the successor to his 2021 opus 'Bronx Cheer.'
Launched on Record Store Day (April 20th, 2024), this 10-track album features collaborations with XTC's Andy Partridge, who co-wrote five of the songs with Conte. To learn more about the vinyl release of 'The Concrete Jangle' for Record Store Day, visit: https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/17473

Of the upcoming album Conte shares, “"The Concrete Jangle" is the best album I’ve done to date. Not just because all the songs on Side A were co-written with songwriting genius, Andy Partridge (from my favorite band, XTC) - but because working with him made me rise to the occasion and become a better writer/artist myself. You can’t be a slouch and be writing with one of the greatest songwriters since Lennon & McCartney!
I cannot stress how much Andy Partridge contributed to this record - it would not exist without him and his input. I’ve given him a co-production credit for helping with the arrangements of the demos, which were ultimately followed when making the final record. To my earlier point, it is the listeners who have have proven to me that I’ve become better on this record because they’ve thought that some of my lyric and melody lines were Andy’s - which is the highest compliment.

When tasked with which songs were going to exist on Side B, I knew they’d have to stand up next to the Partridge co-writes so I pulled out some the more psychedelic, adventurous soulful songs from the Beatles/XTC/Motown side of my musical brain. I think I picked the right ones because people have mentioned some of those songs as their favorites - and even Andy himself perked up when he heard “I’m Decomposing A Song For You”.

In keeping with the aesthetic of 60s-meets-80 power pop, the record had a limitation on what I could use. I played a multitude of guitars; both acoustic & electric, mandolin, Mellotron, strings, piano & organ (all sampled), tambourine & maracas. I had my other co-producer, Andrew Hollander play real piano & Mellotron while keyboard whiz Rob Schwimmer added an authentic 1960s Ondioline as well as Theremin & synthesizer sounds. Real trumpets by Chris Anderson, cello by Mark Stewart, bass by brother John Conte and drums by Prairie Prince (The Tubes, XTC, Todd Rundgren), Thommy Price (Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Mink DeVille) and Brian Delaney (New York Dolls). My sons Zia Conte & Baz Conte sang backing vocals.

Some of the lyrical themes on the record are truth vs. misinformation, entitlement, boredom, heartache, fidelity, addiction and loss - and of course, love and lust."

His album, International Cover-Up is a collection of songs written by some of his favorite writers; Tom Waits, John Lennon, Willy DeVille, Jagger/Richards and more. ICU has been described as “high energy and tough” by Elmore Magazine and has spawned for Conte, a second “Coolest Song Of The Year” on Little Steven’s Underground Garage Radio. Richard Marcus of BlogCritics writes: “It takes a special calibre of rock and roll musician to pull off an album of cover tunes – somebody whose love of the material and love of the music allows that person to throw his or her body and soul into the songs. Steve Conte is one of those rare musicians who can do this.”

Besides a rich solo-career, Conte has recently been instrumental in helping some legendary artists get their groove back. After 6 years, 4 albums and a never-ending World Tour with the infamous New York Dolls, he joined up with former Hanoi Rocks front man Michael Monroe as guitarist, songwriter and backing vocalist to release 4 albums, most recently, the critically acclaimed Blackout States. On the Horns And Halos album (2013 Spinefarm) he wrote the lion’s share of the songs and it was nominated for both “Album Of The Year” by the Finnish Grammys and The Nordic Music Prize. In the summer of 2011, in between touring with Monroe he began work on what was to be his first official solo album, naming the project “Steve Conte NYC”.

“I was ready to make a move, to have a life change…and since Monroe lives in Finland, when he asked me to join him in 2010 it seemed like a good time to base myself in Europe. So I went back and forth between NYC and The Netherlands for the next 3 years. Although I loved the culture and history of Europe, I realized just how much New York was a part of my DNA. I was born and raised in New York State and was pining for it whenever I was in EU for long stretches of time. That is why, besides the fact that I recorded most of the album in New York City, I decided to call the new record, ‘The Steve Conte NYC Album’, to keep focus on who I am and where I’m from.”

While spending time in the EU, Conte toured extensively in UK, Holland, Belgium and France with a Dutch version of his NYC based band The Crazy Truth, calling it “Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth International”. In 2012 the band recorded 6 songs in The Netherlands at Labtones Studio, Dordrecht. The final product of those sessions, “Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth: International Cover EP” was a collection of covers that the band played nightly on it’s European tours.

In 2014, after years of making records with others, NYC guitarist/singer/songwriter Steve Conte stepped out on his own to release The Steve Conte NYC Album. His first official solo record delivers all the guitar, vocal and songwriting skills you know from his previous bands; Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth, Crown Jewels, The Contes and Company Of Wolves.

The ten song album features some of Steve’s finest writing to date. Songs that hold up in a solo acoustic performance – but recorded with a totally rockin’ band.

“Up until now I’ve always had some sort of core band to collaborate with but this time out I wanted to do something as a solo artist…with a bunch of friends!” And that “bunch of friends” includes some serious talent. Joining Steve are members of Foo Fighters, The Wildhearts, New York Dolls, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Hanoi Rocks, Georgia Satellites, Alice Cooper, Mink DeVille, Hellacopters, The Urban Voodoo Machine, Mott The Hoople, Backyard Babies, The Wallflowers, Company Of Wolves, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, and players from the bands of Ian Hunter, John Mellencamp, Roseanne Cash and Bruce Springsteen.

In the fall of 2013 Conte announced a PledgeMusic campaign to fund the release of his forthcoming solo project. It was a great success, bringing in 352% of his original funding goal and making fans all over the globe happy with extras like custom recorded songs, handwritten lyric sheets, phone calls and with his weekly postings of video updates from the recording sessions.

The SCNYC album was mixed and mastered by Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Keith Richards) and Richard Dodd (Tom Petty, Counting Crows), respectively – the same team who did the 2009 release, Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth. Initially, The Steve Conte NYC Album was released only to supporters of Steve’s PledgeMusic campaign but is now available worldwide via CDbaby, iTunes, Amazon.com and all the usual online retailers.