VMAs 2023: Stephen Sanchez

Rolling Stone

Stephen Sanchez talks with Rolling Stone’s Ilana Woldenberg at the 2023 VMAs

Transcript

00:00 Hello! We are here with Stephen Sanchez. How are you? How are you feeling tonight?

00:04 I'm feeling great. I just met Damiano from Man of Skin and I guess he's a fan so that

00:10 was really cool. He just came up and said hi. That was really nice.

00:14 That's insane. I feel like that's the most exciting part about the VMAs or one of the

00:17 most exciting parts is that you're going to be rubbing elbows with people that you look

00:20 up to. Who is someone you're dying to meet? Besides for Damiano.

00:24 Oh my gosh. Tonight specifically? Oh jeez. I mean I feel like I've gotten to meet all

00:30 my heroes and so at this point it's just exciting to meet anybody because it's just like oh

00:33 cool you love music too. I love music. We should just like talk for ten minutes about

00:38 everything. You know just anything. What did you have for lunch? I don't know. You know

00:43 stuff like that. Shooting the S word. Shit. The S word is shit. Can we say shit? Oh shoot

00:49 the shit. Yeah I just want to be. Alright cool.

00:52 We're Rolling Stone. We're edgy like that. One question for you that I have that's been

00:57 like nagging at me is how did you find that beautiful vocal texture that you have because

01:03 I feel like a lot of people talk about finding their sound on a production side or a songwriting

01:06 side but I feel like choosing how to sing is also a choice and like your vocal storytelling

01:13 so how did you come upon that sound? Who did you listen to growing up?

01:16 Wow. Thank you so much. Honestly Roy Orbison has been a huge one for me. Artists like Ben

01:21 Schneider and even Bear Reinhart from Band E to Breathe. There's been a lot of different

01:26 vocal styles and dictations that I've kind of pulled from over the years but we're making

01:30 this new record that we have coming out in the 22nd, Angel Face. It was a lot of Roy

01:35 Orbison influences and it was a lot of you know Marty Robbins and just the way they sang

01:40 was so like crying. It was very cry like and I just I really love that about those artists.

01:47 And tell me a little bit more about Angel Face. Like what is the concept for the album?

01:51 I mean the concept itself is set back in the years 1958 through 1964 and it's highlighting

01:56 the career of the Troubadour Sanchez, this fictional famous crooner who falls in love

02:00 with Evangeline who is the girlfriend of a mobster and Hunter finds out and sets to kill

02:06 the Troubadour before they leave Los Angeles forever. So that's the whole record and it

02:11 takes you from start to finish track by track through the whole story. I'm so excited. I

02:16 feel like you mentioning the word Troubadour is very apropos because you were recently

02:22 a Troubadour. Wow yeah. That was big for me. It feels like the SATs. You were a Troubadour

02:29 at Sophia Richie Grange's wedding. Yes. Can you tell me what it was like because that

02:34 moment was so beautiful and touching. What was it like getting the call? How did you

02:39 flew to France? Like what was that about? I mean it felt more personal than kind of

02:44 like a self glorifying moment. I think that I mean for me when making the music or releasing

02:51 any of the music it doesn't feel self glorifying. It feels like that music belongs to the people

02:55 in the same way that you know Sophia fell in love with Until I Found You. Like being

02:59 a part of her big day was just me being a part of singing that song and sound tracking

03:05 her story which is the reason why I write and play music is because I just want to have

03:10 it be far less about me and all about the fact that people are creating moments apart

03:15 from me and the music is sound tracking that and that is the only thing that should matter.

03:20 I mean me being there shouldn't matter. Like the song is the only thing that matters. Their

03:24 love is the only thing that matters. So it was a huge blessing to be there. So yeah.

03:29 That's awesome. I wish I could have been there but I was like living vicariously. Well that's

03:33 what tonight's all about. It's like celebrating music, celebrating you. So enjoy it. Thank

03:36 you so much for talking to us. It was good to meet you. You too. Have the best time.

03:40 See ya.

03:41 I'm going to go to the bathroom.

03:42 [SNAP]

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