Heartthrob Stephen Sanchez has the world captivated with his nostalgic voice. We sat down with the “Until I Found You” sensation and got his thoughts on how he fell in love with the 50s inspired genre, his ‘Angel Face (Club Deluxe)’ album, his reaction to Priscilla Presley’s seal of approval, working on his single for the The Beach Boys movie and more!
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00I just fell in love with it and fell in love with the sound and all the artists attached to that
00:04sound and that time and music just isn't like that anymore. Hey everyone, it's Steven Sanchez
00:10and you're watching Billboard News.
00:20Hey everybody, it's Rania Nipdos with Billboard News and I'm so excited we're here with the
00:24ultimate crooner today, Steven Sanchez. I mean we gotta get to the beginning of it. Of course
00:31people love you for your kind of 1950s style, fresh take on a throwback time that people missed.
00:38Have you always been into that? Oh man, I grew up kind of surrounded by that music a little bit,
00:44but also there was a ton of self-discovery as well. I think more than anything, you know,
00:49the lyricism and the orchestral production of those songs, it makes you feel nostalgic even
00:57more. I mean probably back then that was the norm, right? Like I don't think anyone was feeling
01:01nostalgia. I definitely feel like their love was soundtracked by that music,
01:06but I think now even more so there's this feeling of nostalgia.
01:09Georgia, pulled me in, I asked her.
01:15Well that was super clear until I found you because I think people are yearning for this
01:20old-school type of love, you know, and a lot of people ended up using that song on TikTok to
01:26kind of romanticize the romance. I mean how did it feel when you put a song like that out there,
01:33I guess in your own way, experiencing that type of love and then seeing other people connect with
01:38it? I mean it was exciting really. I mean it's definitely like an out-of-body experience to
01:42hear a song everywhere, you know, and you know it's just the sign of times, you know, you just
01:49you open your phone you're able to kind of connect with the world immediately and that can be a good
01:52thing and a bad thing for sure, but I think it's good when there are moments with songs like that
01:58that feel they're universal and there's a connectivity across, you know, just everybody,
02:05just everybody's individual lives and their stories and they can all come into agreement on
02:09one thing, which I feel like the way the world is right now it's kind of just divided and things
02:13are kind of falling apart in some sort of way and so I feel like people are looking for a hero
02:17in a lot of ways whether that be through music and lyricism and the melodies and how they connect
02:22people to each other or, you know, just art in itself and the visuals of everything, but I feel
02:26like Until I Found You has been really special because it kind of came at a really perfect and
02:31interesting time where like music just isn't like that anymore and lyrics just aren't like that
02:37anymore and yeah it feels like a cool hand raise from that time but that music is still cool and
02:46like it has a life and a breath, you know? Yeah, that's good. You're using, I guess, social media
02:51to spread a beautiful positive message and I think a lot of it, a lot of people have become
02:56kind of jaded to social media and its toxicity. It was cool to see you kind of have this little
03:02beam of light like love exists, look how special this moment is, you know, they should find.
03:07And then, of course, you built on that success with your debut album, Angel Face, and now you
03:12have the deluxe version. Club Deluxe. So tell me about like picking five more songs to go on the
03:19album. What was the thought process behind that? Interesting. It wasn't really tremendously
03:24thought out in the sense that like it was pre-planned. I think these songs kind of
03:29existed in the creation of the record and I think they weren't raising their hands just yet and then
03:35I think when the story was complete, you know, The True Door and Evangeline and Hunter and that whole
03:40triangle of tragedy and that story was told, we were able to kind of add in songs that maybe didn't
03:45make the record the first time around. Songs that still match the sentiments of ones that exist on
03:58the new record. Songs like The Other Side, you know, feel like they go hand-in-hand with High
04:02and This Thing Called Love goes hand-in-hand with Something About Her and, you know, Emotional
04:06Vacation is like, well, that's kind of a black sheep, that one. But, you know, or Fame or Fortune
04:12kind of wraps up and sums up the whole thing, you know. For me, personally, anyway, like, you know,
04:17The True Door wanted to leave behind all the fame and fortune to fall in love and I feel like that's
04:21always been really important to me is like prioritizing what's actually important. Yeah,
04:25so I feel like when it came to picking the songs, I think it was just like what feels true and honest
04:30with myself as an artist but also what feels true and honest with these characters and their stories
04:35and the fictional lens that they're seeing this story through and yeah, it's really sweet to have
04:41it out now. Yeah, and it's so fun and creative with this whole True Door storyline. I mean,
04:46how did you even think to do that? Like, what was the inspiration behind adding like a fictional
04:52element to the whole thing? Not sure. Yeah, there's a lot of 50s and 60s stories. I mean,
05:00there's like Gunslingers and Spaghetti Western stuff, you know, from Marty Robbins who's telling
05:05stories of, you know, Felida and the cowboy that, you know, was gunned down because he shot somebody
05:13over her, you know, and it's just interesting stuff like that that really stuck out to me because
05:18there's not a lot of that showing up either. There's not a lot of storytelling, I think,
05:21happening anymore and I really like looking at records now through the lens of a storyteller,
05:26even if it's, they're true stories but told through like a fictional character, which is
05:30great and so I think there's elements of, you know, my life showing up in this record. Do you
05:35feel pigeonholed at all that you've put yourself kind of in this like retro crooner with a fresh
05:40take? Like, do you feel like maybe moving on to another record that you have to stay in that lane
05:44or do you feel comfortable branching out as well? Or is that just your passion? No, I don't feel
05:51pressure. I think it's, things are cool because they don't last forever, you know, things are
05:55beautiful because they'll last forever and, you know, Angel Face and and this Sal and this record
06:00end here, you know, it's done here because it's going to be forever cool because it
06:05ended, you know, and I always want to look at making records from like a screenplay writer,
06:12like directorial position to write characters and write new stories.
06:23Tell it through a different lens, through a different sound and yeah, it'd be a bummer to
06:27get stuck in like one thing, you know, and there's artists I admire a lot, like like Lourdes
06:32Huron. He goes from, you know, doing the singer songwriter, like adventurous feeling anthematic
06:38record to a, you know, a long lost, you know, cowboy in the desert, you know, trying to find
06:44his way through like strange lands. And I really admire that. And so I think there's a there's
06:50elements of different artistry that, you know, they kind of are daring, which I admire a lot. So
06:57yeah, probably probably just keep making whatever. Yeah, I mean, separately, it seems like movie
07:01making is also on the horizon. Creativity is crazy. I love that. And of course, we have to
07:07talk about the Beach Boys documentary. You were just at the premiere. I mean, Baby Blue bathing
07:13suit. Tell me about when you got the call to make a song for a documentary like this about such an
07:18iconic group. I was in London playing show. And it's funny, prior to that, like weeks before,
07:25John Stamos, months before came to our show in L.A. and John Stamos plays with the Beach Boys.
07:32And and then weeks after that show that we played in L.A., he sends me a video of him in my glove
07:40listening to my record. And crazy. And then we were and then we're in London, you know, and that's
07:48I get that video and I'm watching that. That's crazy. That's a Beach Boy listening to
07:53my song, you know, and he thinks it's good, which is so kind. And then we get this email
07:57while I'm in London and it goes, oh, would you be interested in being a part of the Beach Boys
08:02documentary? Like, sure. Like, yeah. Like, would he be interested in singing a song being written
08:07for the Beach Boys documentary? It's like, yeah, who do we do it with? It's like, oh, Dan Nigro
08:11and Amy Ann. I'm like, great. Let's do that. And so we did. And we got into the studio at Abbey Road,
08:16which is amazing because, you know, the rivalry between the Beach Boys and the Beatles. And it's
08:21felt like a bunch of full circle, beautiful moments. And I felt like I got more connected
08:26and fell more in love with the band, too, because I got to learn so much about who they are as
08:30artists and how they worked. And then working with Dan and Amy, who are such pros, was such
08:37a tremendous honor, too. And I was amazing. It's real cool. And now we're going to be on a seven
08:43inch record with them. Good vibrations on one side and babymoon baby on the other. It's pretty
08:48crazy. The song is so cool because it's so you, but it also fits so well with like a Beach Boys
09:00documentary. How did you, Dan and Amy, kind of blend those two things in the writing sessions?
09:06Yeah, I mean, I think it was just something that kind of felt pretty natural. I think,
09:11you know, they had the idea for the melody and everything. And then we kind of edited lyrics
09:16here and there. But that was really just Dan Agro's incredible producing that enabled that song to
09:22take some flight. And yeah, it was cool. It was cool to just like come in and be a part of it.
09:27Then for it to be, you know, oh, this is all my thing. And I like I'm constructing the song the
09:32way I want it, the way it's cool to be more collaborative and just kind of let somebody
09:36construct it. And then I get to be a part of that. So that was really great. I mean,
09:40speaking of icons too, Priscilla Prince, believe herself, saw a video of you and like gave it her
09:47stamp of approval. It was very cool. Obviously. I mean, I think a lot of people look at you and
09:51you're like, OK, well, great. We have a new Elvis. Finally, we have a new crooner in town.
09:57How did it feel to have Priscilla look at your video, first of all, see your video and also
10:02love it? Man, my buddy, Connor, who shoots, Connor Peterson, who shoots photos for us on tour.
10:09He's like the biggest hype man ever. And so usually when something crazy happens,
10:15he'll be the first one to come be like, did you see that? Like, did you see this? And I remember
10:20I saw it first. I just kind of sat there looking at it. We're on the tour bus.
10:23And he opens the door to the back lounge and he goes,
10:27he just flips around. I'm like, dude, I know like, oh, my gosh. And we also it's just a testament
10:33that we have the best fans in the whole world because, you know, it's because of a fan,
10:37you know, loving our our music that they went, met Priscilla Presley like, yo, you should you
10:42should check out this dude. And not it's amazing. It's like a tremendous gift to to be approved by
10:49so many, so many icons like Elton John and the Beach Boys and Priscilla Presley. And, you know,
10:54it's it's amazing. It really is. Yeah. I mean, you have these like back to back to back moments
11:00that if I were in your position, I'd be like, this isn't real like this. There's no way any
11:04of this is happening to me. I mean, how do you stay present and grounded as you navigate this
11:10just insane year that you've had? Oh, just just faith. I think faith is a really important thing
11:17to me. And I think I just like I just recognize I'm not I'm not the hero. I'm not like the most
11:24important thing. And also it's super unnatural to receive praise at the magnitude in which
11:30artists do and glorification and, you know, accolades for for the things that they accomplish,
11:36because it's like, how do you how do you take credit for something that feels like beyond
11:40what like you're actually capable of doing on your own?
11:47I don't know. It just helps me remind me that, like, there are more important things and like
11:52how how big you can become and how much money you can make and how many numbers you can gain,
11:58and yeah, I don't know. So I think that's that's a really important thing to me.
12:02Yeah, also spoke to me like when you said earlier that everything's temporary, everything passes,
12:07and I feel like that, at least in my experience, allows you to stay present as you navigate these
12:13things, because you're like this, I'm living this right now. I need to enjoy it while it's here.
12:17For sure. There's like an incredible gratitude with that. Definitely, which is nice to feel
12:21as well, like knowing that you've been given something for a short time, you get to do
12:26as much as you can with it. And then it just, it just goes away at some point, which is awesome.
12:32Well, with your trajectory, I don't think it's a short amount of time.
12:36A long career. And moving forward, you have a string of really cool festival dates this
12:42summer by barking on I mean, for someone who hasn't been to Stephen Sanchez show,
12:46what can they expect? Oh, man, it's so funny. I feel like
12:51folks who've listened to our records and stuff, don't expect it to be as big and loud as it is.
12:57But it's just like the new record, but like times 10 adrenaline, adrenaline, like it's just like,
13:04it's a it's a good time. And there's a lot of shaking, lots of moves on stage, lots of moments.
13:08And I think it'll be really exciting. We're gonna fall tour. It's gonna be exciting. And I hope to
13:13see everybody out there. So come get your show. Is there a song that maybe on the deluxe album
13:18that you're excited to see the reaction live? Yeah, the other side has been a fun one that
13:23we've been playing. But also songs like fame or fortune. I mean, it's just amazing that I mean,
13:29there are these moments during shows, where like no one, no one is making a single noise. And it's
13:36usually during fame or fortune. And it's like, I'm excited to just have more moments like that
13:41because I feel like I really have in that moment. And it's, it's exciting. So beautiful.
13:47It's cool that you just have these fans that are so connected to you and your message and
13:52your story that they're willing to go along for the ride. You know, the serious moments are quiet
13:58and the ruckus moments are exciting. You know, they kind of just go along with you. And I think
14:03that's so great. Oh, thanks. And yeah, I mean, thank you so much, Stephen. This is wonderful.
14:08I'm so happy for your success and good luck for the future. Thanks so much.