Premiere: The Step Release New Single “Human Machines”

Consisting of Stefano Donato and Oliviero Fella, London’s alternative indie rock duo, The Step, have been making waves since 2015. With their latest album, No War To Win released this past June, the duo have now announced the release of their newest single “Human Machines”. Having already made an impact in Italy, the track is now slated to drop October 27th but we are thrilled to bring an early premiere of “Human Machines” as well as dive more into the the people behind The Step.

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We’d like to start off getting to know a little about The Step. I understand you guys formed together as a band in 2013 after meeting in Abbey Road Studios. What really brought the two of you together?

[Ste] I was doing one of those famous zebra crossing visit to Abbey Road and I saw that guy with a mod-style / Pizzorno-esque hair cut, and gearing that he was talking in Italian I had to “knock the door”.

[Oli] Yeah, as soon I’ve arrived in London I said to myself. “Mate you need to go in AR, where everything can happen”. Like a wonderland. That place is surrounded by a mystical aura. I’ve been called by this guy and I said: F**k! What is Sheldon doing here in AR? (hahahahahaha). Let’s talk serious now. We’ve been to AbbeyRoad because we believe in music, we grew up with those musical ideas and it was the only way to say thank you to our Mecca. And that’s all.

Tell us about some of your major influences that got you interested in becoming a musician.

[Ste] I loved Madonna and Beatles since I was 6yo thanks to my older brothers, and I started playing piano and guitar at that age, then big british bands like Oasis and Coldplay or American bands like Greenday and Goo Goo Dolls really pushed me to say something and try to write some good melodies, something I could enjoy playing in my room.

[Oli] I personally grew up listening to different kind of music but if I can tell all the Brit underground was part of the music I was listening to. As a guitarist I loved listening to killer guitar solos. Can you Imagine the feeling you have when you are 13yrs old and you listen for the first time to Slash, Don’t Cry solo? Damn! What I’m trying to say is that, music can give a lot if you let the music give you something. A personal advice for the new generation. Fall in love, Feel the passion for the artists you like. Listen to a whole record when you’re lying on your bed and close your eyes. That’s how it should be.

Can you tell us a little bit about what your stage performance is like? What’s something we could expect from one of your shows?

[Oli] Me  jumping on a table doing a Solo.

[Ste] That’s actually true, he did it once at the Alley Cat in London. I think you could expect powerful rock but with a melodic edge to it.

Check out The Steps newest single “Human Machines” below.

The Step – Human Machines (Radio Edit) by The Step

Written, Produced and Mixed by The Step Recorded at Wax Recording Studio, London and at Mess Painter Studio, London Mastered by Andy “Hippy” Baldwin at Metropolis Studio, London The Step 2017

What do you feel are some pros and cons of working in the music industry?

[Ste] It’s just cons until you don’t get paid for your music, the only pro I see, and I mean in pushing it to be more than just a hobby, is that you really bound with your bandmates and the people that surrounds you, cause you know it’s one of the hardest thing to do to be in the music industry as an artist.

Moving onto your music, we’d like to know a little more about your single “Human Machine.” You stated that “Human Machine is inspired by the idea that society is blind, we pride ourselves with a purpose when in reality we are all acting against each other.” Can you give us an example of what you feel causes us to act against each other?

[Ste] A good example is walking inside Waterloo Station, seeing people that don’t even try to change their line to not hit you, we’ve all become really egoists and egocentric, social media is just feeding it, and while we are at it our time is stolen by corporations that are making money on it. What causes us to act against each other is the distance, we think the other one is just passing by in our lives but it’s not like that, there is a consequence on every act we do, if we chose a product rather then another one for example, all our choices are literally taken ignoring of the consequences, and when we just ignore people that’s the worst thing, we ignore people and their true needs, the next day they are on a van slaughtering everyone and we blame others but our society is not listening, or seeing.

What’s one solution that you feel we as a society should work on, and how do you propose we get others to join in?

[Ste] I saw you turn your face away, I noticed cause I did the same. That’s a line from our song Human Machines, so we recognize we’re ALL doing it wrong, but one solution is to take care of the people in need a lot more than we do now, you see how many people are doing charities to help others, but higher organizations (like the governments) should organize the system with the human being at the center and not the business.

Tell us a little bit about your newest album, No War To Win. What was the writing process like? Were there any other major influences behind the lyrics? 

[Ste] Lyricwise we love to talk about relationships, and we try to feed the message that there’s no war between us, while sometimes relationships are carried just like there is a master and a slave, it happens both sides I think, in the last years we started seeing obviously that this happens also in our society, I mean  on a bigger picture. The writing process is the old school one, as a songwriter I bring an idea I had and with Oliviero and our drummer Mattia we try to work out what we really want to say and how to say it musically.

What are a few things you’d like to point out about the album to persuade new listeners?

[Ste] Let’s say that we tried to make it energetic but put the songs are the center of it, so a listener will have energy to move around and melody to sing along.

Before we end, we have a couple more questions. What is one of your most memorable experiences of being a musician?

[Oli] There’s so many. What I can say is that being a musician means to give an emotion and let the people catch that. I love being on a stage and really feel that.

I remember one day I was playing and in-between two songs I stopped and stared, I was just stuck thinking. It was only few seconds but for me it lasted more than that. I just stopped, with all the stage lights flashing on my body. I turned, looked at the crowd and said: How addictive is that? How could I live without this?

[Ste] I love the studio work, so every time we write something and then we start recording it, when it comes out better than I’ve imagined it it’s always an amazing moment for me.

Are there any plans for touring soon? Any chance you’ll come visit us in the U.S?

[Ste] I hope so, we’re working on it, we have some followers there since the very beginning

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to do this with us. As we wrap this up, is there anything you’d like to say to anyone who reads this?

[Ste] Yes, enjoy this wonderful life but do something every day to make it better for you AND for someone else

[Oli] And don’t forget to Rock’n’Roll!!! Thank you