Steven A. Clark is a difficult man to pin down.
The songwriter grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, a military best known as the home for Fort Bragg.
An introverted soul, the singer began to pour his feelings in music from a young age – first snippets, then sculpting these into fully fledged songs.
Digital R&B with an artful soul, Steven A. Clark was snapped up by Secretly Canadian and released his intriguing, perplexing, fascinating debut album 'The Lonely Roller' earlier this year.
A fascinating introduction, it reveals an artist blessed by promise and imbued with real depth. Clash invited the songwriter to reveal a few secrets behind the record.
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'Lonely Roller'
The title track on the album and the main inspiration for the Lonely Roller persona. I made a demo version of beat while on the floor while living at my girlfriend's parent's house about 4 years ago. Sonically I was inspired by Fleetwood Mac specifically 'Dreams' and 'Gipsy'. Took me a while to tap in to how I wanted to write it, but I remember driving home from somewhere when the hook, lyrics and melody hit me. So, I drove around until I had all the lyrics figured out didn't want to lose the moment.
'She's In Love'
The first song I wrote for the album about 4 years ago and probably my personal favourite. I was definitely living the song at the time. It was inspired by my relationship with someone who moved to New York City to chase big dreams. It pretty much wrote itself, the best songs do that. With the production we were trying to make something 80's pop inspired specifically Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes'.
'Time Machine'
This song was also inspired by 80s pop/rock, no specific song but just a vibe. The song feels beautiful, aggressive, and dreamy all at the same time. The lyrics were inspired by a few different experiences with women where we wanted different things and wishing there was a way to erase me from their lives without hurting them. Those situations where you try to be nice at first but you eventually realize being nice about it isn't working and you just gotta be honest.
'Young, Wild, Free'
The sound of this song was inspired by 80's classic pop/rock. No specific song. Kind of similar dreamy vibe to 'Time Machine'. The lyrics serve as a metaphor for some of my experiences in the past but 'The Lonely Roller' character falls for someone he shouldn't but thinks the relationship is worth the risk, worth dying for. I was definitely inspired by the tale of 'Bonnie And Clyde'. It's a romantic tragedy.
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'The Lonely Roller' is out now.
