Review Fix chats with musician Shane Stein, who tells us all about his awesome new single.
Review Fix: What inspired this track?
Shane Stein: This piece, I must admit, was a conscious attempt to try and better my previous classical composition “Intercontinental Wedding Theme”, which I released as a single in 2024. Did I succeed? I hope so. But it’s of course up to listeners to decide.
Review Fix: How was the creative process different from your other work?
Stein: My musical background is in pop and rock, not classical. I’m also largely self-taught and can’t read music in a formal sense. So, composing “Jumping Back Brass” (as well as “Intercontinental Wedding Theme”) was a very different process compared to almost everything I’d ever written previously. Typically, I write on the guitar and include lyrics, whereas these tracks began as piano instrumentals where I had to think through the arrangements in a very different way, both structurally and instrumentally. With “Jumping Back Brass”, I decided early on that I wanted it to be a horn-driven piece (hence the title), including trumpet and saxophone, but also to include strings and lead guitar in various sections. To create the individual parts for the musicians to play in the studio, I collaborated with an amazing co-arranger, Lisa Bloom, who I originally met when my wife hired her to teach our youngest daughter piano lessons. Prior to recording the live instruments, Lisa and I mocked up the entire track using synthesizers, and from there were able to specify and print out the appropriate instrumental charts.
Review Fix: What makes this one a special one for you?
Stein: This is certainly the most complex musical setup I’ve ever devised for a track. Most of the songs I’ve written over the years have been for vocals, guitar, bass and drums, and even if they have overdubbed strings and/or keyboards, they’re still pop songs at heart. Even “Intercontinental Wedding Theme”, while classically structured into four mini-movements, still employs only keyboards and a string quartet (two violins, a viola and a cello). But “Jumping Back Brass” includes guitar, bass, drums, piano, keyboards, violin, trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, and a full synth orchestra. (I would have loved an actual orchestra, but that wasn’t logistically or financially realistic.)
Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?
Stein: Hopefully everyone, but perhaps in particular, fans of similarly styled instrumental crossover songs such as Mason Williams’ “Classical Gas”, John Tesh’s “Roundball Rock”, Sam Spence’s “The Pony Soldiers” and Mort Stevens’ “Hawaii 5-0 Theme”. At least that’s the audience I’m aiming for.
Review Fix: What are some things you want to accomplish with this track?
Stein: I’d love to place “Jumping Back Brass” in a movie, TV show, video game or advertisement, ideally as some sort of featured or background action or sports theme. More broadly speaking, though, I just want people to hear it and be entertained by it. It’s only four minutes long, but if those four minutes can become someone’s pure listening enjoyment, I feel like I’ve succeeded as a producer and composer.
Review Fix: You’ve been busy the last few years, writing, recording, producing. What’s the end goal for you?
Stein: As much as I love making music, it is still a side project; my primary profession is finance and wealth management. (I know, those things don’t sound like they go together whatsoever, but music has always been a passionate outlet for me.) So, you probably won’t see me out on tour performing “Jumping Back Brass” anytime soon. But I do hope to continue creating and recording new material for a long time to come.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Stein: I’m currently executive producing a forthcoming EP for Texas singer-songwriter Barton Stanley David, whose 2022 album Crest I also worked on. We’re additionally planning to reissue Crest later this year, on vinyl with revised cover artwork. Other upcoming projects include an album by The Lullaby Brothers, which is another songwriting vehicle of mine, featuring Barton as primary lead vocalist. I’ve already written and demoed the album, and now it’s just a matter of finding the time to record it. The Lullaby Brothers’ debut single “Sleepytime” made the semifinals of the 2024 International Songwriting Competition, so hopefully we’ve stumbled onto an appealing sound here. (The goal is lushly produced 70’s-style yacht rock with some modern twists.) I’m also writing and producing a contemporary country song for another artist which I’m very excited about.
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Stein: Yes, that’s me playing a cornet on the cover of “Jumping Back Brass”, but it’s all for show – I’m not one of the horn players on the recording. Meanwhile, the cover photo of “Intercontinental Wedding Theme” is indeed from my actual wedding back in the day!
Review Fix: Where can people find out more?
Stein: These tracks are all available on the major music services including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube and more. Barton and I have published everything through our independent label, Kenshire Records, which you can visit at www.kenshirerecords.com.
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