1.Introduce yourself and your band and tell us why we should listen to
you. My name is guitarist Chris Steberl from Columbus Ohio and my band is
Project Alcazar. I played guitar and bass on the new CD. Caleb Hutslar
handled all of the keyboard parts and ex Fates Warning drummer Mark
Zonder took care of all the drum duties for us. The music is very melodic and
uses different dynamics to appeal to prog music lovers who necessarily aren’t
musicians but just love this style of music

2.What do you classify your sound as, Who do you tell people you sound
like? The band is an instrumental progressive rock/metal band and we have
been compared a lot to Dream Theater, Kansas, Malmsteen, Satriani and
Macapline to name a few from past review of our albums
3.With digital music in today’s world would you vote to keep or eliminate physical
media? I am come from the old school listening experience of buying the physical album/CD
and sitting back and listening to the music while reading the liner notes and looking at the
artwork etc. That TRULY was always an experience when I was exposed to new music or
my favorite new bands albums. My vote would be case to keep the physical media for sure
4.What is the reason you decided to be a musician and has that reason paid
off? I never cared for the guitar until my parents made me take lessons and was
exposed to the first Van Halen album. Since that day it changed something inside
me. Music became an huge emotional part of me. The satisfaction of learning new
things that were challenging gave me a sense of accomplishment. Being able to
write songs to express myself and my playing was another thing that helped develop
who I became as a person. Being a musician is a way of life to me – I wouldn’t know
what to do without that part of me. Was it worth it? Yes as far as me developing into
the person I am today – was it worth it financially? No comment hahaha
5.How do you feel about females in metal getting special attention? Do you feel it is
fair? Its an open market so it is what it is. Yes I have seen some females get a lot more
attention than lets say a male player of their caliber would get mostly because they are
extremely good looking and carry that “rock star” persona too them. But there are also some
really good female players who have worked their asses off to get where they are too and
have the chops to back it up.
6.In the world climate with hatred being at an all time high and metal being an “ angry”
music Do you think your music contributes to anger and hatred? For some people sure –
music can trigger your emotions from being happy to sad, to depressed to angry. It’s the ones
who seem to use the music as an excuse to go out and act on their feelings of anger and hatred
that give the music a bad name. Just like back in the day when a teenager committed suicide
and was listening to Ozzy or Judas Priest – you cant pin the blame on these bands for that
individual taking his own life. Sure the music may have emotionally touched him or made his
mind dwell on the lyrics deeper than some other fans. If you get behind the wheel of a car that is
made to look and go fast your tendency would be to drive fast. If you wreck the car or have an
accident you cant blame the manufacturer that the car was looking and had the ability to go fast
was the reason for the accident
7.Are you opposed to religious beliefs or politics being used in
music? No its freedom of speech. You should be able to write and sing
about whatever you want to. People are influenced all over the world by
books, movies, television commercials, etc – music is no different – if
you don’t like what they are singing about – don’t listen to it – problem
solved
8.We have dive into some pretty deep issues here do you think your music sends a
message and if so what is it? The music was never written with a message to relay of any sort.
It was just sharing my feelings and musical ideas to people who appreciate the prog style of
music – now that could change once a vocalist steps in but right now there is no message
9.The market has changed and many bands believe that record labels are a thing of the past,
with many labels now charging bands to “sign” how do you think a band can make it in
todays scene? I think the definition of “Record label” has changed over the years. Now days it
really doesn’t seem like having a record label makes that much difference. I mean to your normal
listener or fan it gives some “credibility” to the band than a band that isn’t signed. Not too many
labels are shelling out big advances to make records and tour like the old days. A label these days
is more a “social media promotion company” that you hire to promote you. You are paying them to
1) give you that credibility so others see “you’re a signed band” and more people will take you
seriously 2) they should be the ones out there promoting you stuff to no end especially if you paid
them a fee up front. Any review, interview, advertisement you get from your music is going to include
the name of YOUR record label in it. That helps promote and add to their credibility as more people
see ABC RECORDS more and more popping up in print and on social media. You can buy likes
on FB and YouTube, you can buy fans and views for your page – you can even buy comments on
your stuff – all of this is to make people think you are bigger and more popular than the band playing
across town from you. All I think you can do is put your stuff out there to as many places as possible
– do music videos to put on YouTube – play as many places as you can even if its for free – you
have to realize that even if you sell 1 CD to a person at that show and take time to sign it or get a
picture or even simply talk to them for a` few minutes, chances are he is going to go share that
experience with someone else and on and on – those people add up and sometimes it doesn’t
show right away but it’s a much better feeling of accomplishment that bragging about having 40k
views of your new video that really never got more than 100 real ones
10.Why with the thousands of options including netflix, sporting events everything on
demand Why do you think people should take the time to listen to what you have to say in
your music? As a music fan you owe it to yourself to try and give other bands a chance and at
least listen. If you don’t like it then don’t buy it or turn it off but so many bands just never get the
chance to be heard.
11.How do you feel about pay to play? Do you think it is fair for a band to have to pay money
to play? Its kinda always been that way from I have heard even back in the 80s metal days – look
if you are a serious band who is trying to really make a go at this then it shouldn’t be that hard to go
sell 50 tickets to your friends to come see you especially if you are playing with a national act that
has a name and helps add to your credibility. The club needs people in there drinking and buying
food, merchandise etc. If your band cant draw more than 10 people to come see them then maybe
you should be playing some more smaller venues or putting on small shows where you practice to
help build a fanbase. You never know who is in the audience at a show so you sell 50 tickets and
have your fan base their cheering you on and have a kickass show maybe a promoter or another
club owner will approach you with an opportunity
12.It is fact that you are the talent and the entertainment explain what you think is the
most important key to success? Its kinda is fact as the mainstream music crowd are there
for their love of your songs but they also want to walk away after the show being entertained
and wowed. In the style of music I do the fans aren’t going to judge your performance by did
they open the show driving mopeds onstage with tophats hahaha Too mainstream fans of
course they are going to talk about that for months or years how cool that was – with
progressive music they are there because your talent IS the entertainment to them as well.
You can still involve off the wall things, lighting etc but its not going to make or break your fans
opinions of your show that night in my opinion.
13.In country music and even in some cases rock music is written and performed by
different people would your band perform a song written by someone else? We have
remade some songs by other bands – it seems to be a big thing. Unless the song to me was
really just moving me to no end I would probably pass though. I take a pride in writing and
performing my own songs – Im not trying to be the next Britney Spears where the label hires
people to write hit songs for you and you are just the person everyone thinks did it. I also don’t
think there is nothing wrong with staff writers who write music for other artists to make a living.
14.If you are pro female in music are you pro using sex to sell your
music? In progressive rock/metal I don’t think sex is going to give your
material any advantage over anyone else. Sex is for more mainstream pop,
country and rap music these days.
15.What is your view on the lawsuits against people saying lewd or unprofessional
things to women or men and how does that affect an art described as sex drugs and
rock n roll ? The country in my opinion has became way too sensitive to just about everything
these days. There are always going to be people in the world who are racist, sexist,
homophobic, abusers of women and children, the world has been this way since the beginning
of time. All guys know what kind of trash talk happens in locker rooms or at partys etc – there
are some lewd and crude things said about all sorts of subjects. It doesn’t necessarily make
any of those people the worst of the worst in the world. No one is perfect and we all have said
or jokingly made a comment that could be misconstrued. Things have really just gotten way out
of hand and not sure if things will ever go back to the way they were before all of this happened

16. Ok lets lighten up a bit. What is your favorite band of all time and why?
    Van Halen hands down – went and saw them every tour – it wasn’t a concert
    it was a PARTY – the atmosphere was like a high school keg party with a
    band playing on someone back porch or garage. Add the amazing talents of
    EVH and the personality of DLR and they came out and changed the game
    completely for live shows
    17.What would you be doing if you were not in a
    band? Hard to fathom – I guess spending more time with
    my son and helping him find his way on what he wants to
    do with his life, That and spend more time with people
    that I consider really true friends. As you get older you
    realize over your lifetime you have met and know a ton of
    people but only a handful are the ones you could really
    depend on to be there and care about your well being
    and if they can help
17. Do you have a favorite sports
    team? I was a Bengals fan – I was a
    Michigan Wolverine fan – I was a
    Cincinnati Reds fan – I am 0 for 3 as a
    sports fan hahaha
    19.If you could get on stage with anyone dead or alive who would it
    be? Eddie Van Halen
    20.This is your shot to let loose, Throw down your biggest complaint about the music
    biz Guess it would how truly being talented at what you do is at the bottom of the list of
    requirements to be successful in the music industry. You truly used to have to be someone
    who could play, write songs and sing. You listen to the stories of these legendary artists like
    say the Eagles – how they would write these amazing hit songs in the studio together or at
    someone’s house – that’s pure magic and that magic is why people still today consider
    those songs great and still get played on the radio and movie soundtracks etc. You know
    whats great? Is that any single person in this world can pickup a guitar and write a song –
    put it on Itunes and Amazon. There are no guidelines or criteria that will stop anyone from
    doing that. You know what sucks though? Is that any single person in this world can pickup
    a guitar and write a song – put it on Itunes and Amazon. There are no guidelines or criteria
    that will stop anyone from doing that.