Steve Drizos releases debut solo album "Axiom"
We are SO excited to tell Hollywood about what is new in Portland OR.
Steve Drizos has been an integral part of the music scene in Oregon for many years.
He has pulled together an all-star team to release his debut album "Axiom"
"Currently the drummer for Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons, when not on the road Drizos helms the board at his studio, The Panther, where he puts on his engineer and producer hat and has worked with countless artists, including Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Jerry Joseph, Chris Funk (The Decembrists), and Scott McCaughey (R.E.M., Minus 5, The Young Fresh Fellows). Originally creating The Panther to record his own music, with Axiom he set out to play as many instruments as he could on the record, and sing, though Drizos did enlist the help of a few friends, and his wife (The Decembrists’ Jenny Conlee-Drizos). However, Drizos manned the project by writing, recording, producing, and mixing it all himself at The Panther."
The music video for the first single is called "Static". The video feels like it is right out of 2021, but the music hints at the 90's in the classiest way.
Have a look and tell us what you think of the video!
Check out the rest of the information that we have:
"Portland, Oregon-based musician/engineer/producer Steve Drizos is celebrating the release of his debut, full-length solo album Axiom via Cavity Search Records. An eight-track collection of melodic rock, Axiom delivers guitar-fueled moments alongside tender, lyrically-driven pop warmth, offering up a hook-filled ride of open and honest soul-searching rock that both recalls the glory days of the 90s while feeling contemporary and fresh.
“I have been watching from the sidelines for twenty-five years, taking notes on what and what not to do. I'm using all those observations now in my own music,” says Drizos, who has been a professional touring musician for more than twenty five years.
Currently the drummer for Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons, when not on the road Drizos helms the board at his studio, The Panther, where he puts on his engineer and producer hat and has worked with countless artists, including Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Jerry Joseph, Chris Funk (The Decembrists), and Scott McCaughey (R.E.M., Minus 5, The Young Fresh Fellows).
Originally creating The Panther to record his own music, Drizos comments, “I have been wanting to make a record of my own music for a long time. In my old band Dexter Grove I wrote a fair amount of the material that the band performed. Then, when I joined Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons, my songwriting became more of a past time and something I just did for my own pleasure. Jerry is such an amazing and prolific songwriter, and its his band and vision. But I love writing songs and thought I have enough good material to put out a decent record. Then I went and built a studio in my basement, mainly so I could have a space to record myself. The studio has grown into something much larger than that, but that's how it got started.”
Setting out to play as many instruments as he could on the record, and sing, Drizos did enlist the help of a few friends, and his wife (The Decembrists’ Jenny Conlee-Drizos), but manned the project by writing, recording, producing, and mixing it all himself at The Panther.
“This is the first time I have wrote, produced, recorded, and mixed a project myself,” he admits. “In past bands and projects I have been involved in, I have had input in most of the aspects of the recording process, but only partly. Besides some guests musicians helping out on the tracking process, my friend Dave Jones helping out with some vocal coaching, and Kyleen King doing string and vocal arrangements, this record differs from anything else that I've been involved in because it was all me, for the most part, from beginning to end.”
A record that took Drizos out of his comfort zone for more reasons than just being him from beginning to end, Axiom is the sound of a man coming to terms with certain aspects of his life, dealing with depression and anxiety, and working hard to keep his sobriety.
Opening with the dreamy title track, which only features vocals from a sample, the album then moves to the folk-pop of “Juggling Fire,” the first song Drizos wrote when he got sober. This song would help set the tone for the lyrics on the album, and help form the message that runs throughout.
“The message that runs through the record is being honest yet gentle on yourself. Although some of the songs have been kicking around for years, the motivation to make the record came a few months after I got sober. I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to find any creative inspiration without the old crutches that I used to believe made me more creative. ‘Juggling Fire’ was the first song I wrote as a sober person, and it was really emotional to finish the song and feel that clarity in the creative process. From that point on, I found my motivation and a new sense of creativity I had never experienced before. I wanted to write about the experience in an honest way, but not in a ‘I finally put the booze down, baby’ kind of way. I wanted to write more about the reasons I used drugs and alcohol, the anxiety and depression, and that it’s not too late to turn things around. I never wanted to say it’s all going to be ok, because that's a promise nobody can make. But it can be better. “
The result is something he is very happy with. From the guitar-rock of “Static,” the keyboard-driven “You Don’t See That Now,” a crunchy rocker in “Softer, Please,” and the mid-tempo “Take You Home,” Axiom never gets stale or trapped in one sound or style, able to navigate the world of rock with heart and warmth, but keeping the pulse and pressure on, ensuring the songs can be melodic when needed and rock out when the song calls for it.
Having finished his biggest goal for this record - to finish the record - his next goal is to have people hear it. He hopes that listeners can take something from it, or relate to it and him. “if someone can find something relatable in the lyrics, especially someone who might be struggling with some of the things I sing about on the record, and not feel so alone and isolated, that's the biggest goal,” he says."
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT ALEX STEININGER AT IN MUSIC WE TRUST PR: 503-557-9661 or alex@inmusicwetrust.com
“I have been watching from the sidelines for twenty-five years, taking notes on what and what not to do. I'm using all those observations now in my own music,” says Drizos, who has been a professional touring musician for more than twenty five years.
Currently the drummer for Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons, when not on the road Drizos helms the board at his studio, The Panther, where he puts on his engineer and producer hat and has worked with countless artists, including Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Jerry Joseph, Chris Funk (The Decembrists), and Scott McCaughey (R.E.M., Minus 5, The Young Fresh Fellows).
Originally creating The Panther to record his own music, Drizos comments, “I have been wanting to make a record of my own music for a long time. In my old band Dexter Grove I wrote a fair amount of the material that the band performed. Then, when I joined Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons, my songwriting became more of a past time and something I just did for my own pleasure. Jerry is such an amazing and prolific songwriter, and its his band and vision. But I love writing songs and thought I have enough good material to put out a decent record. Then I went and built a studio in my basement, mainly so I could have a space to record myself. The studio has grown into something much larger than that, but that's how it got started.”
Setting out to play as many instruments as he could on the record, and sing, Drizos did enlist the help of a few friends, and his wife (The Decembrists’ Jenny Conlee-Drizos), but manned the project by writing, recording, producing, and mixing it all himself at The Panther.
“This is the first time I have wrote, produced, recorded, and mixed a project myself,” he admits. “In past bands and projects I have been involved in, I have had input in most of the aspects of the recording process, but only partly. Besides some guests musicians helping out on the tracking process, my friend Dave Jones helping out with some vocal coaching, and Kyleen King doing string and vocal arrangements, this record differs from anything else that I've been involved in because it was all me, for the most part, from beginning to end.”
A record that took Drizos out of his comfort zone for more reasons than just being him from beginning to end, Axiom is the sound of a man coming to terms with certain aspects of his life, dealing with depression and anxiety, and working hard to keep his sobriety.
Opening with the dreamy title track, which only features vocals from a sample, the album then moves to the folk-pop of “Juggling Fire,” the first song Drizos wrote when he got sober. This song would help set the tone for the lyrics on the album, and help form the message that runs throughout.
“The message that runs through the record is being honest yet gentle on yourself. Although some of the songs have been kicking around for years, the motivation to make the record came a few months after I got sober. I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to find any creative inspiration without the old crutches that I used to believe made me more creative. ‘Juggling Fire’ was the first song I wrote as a sober person, and it was really emotional to finish the song and feel that clarity in the creative process. From that point on, I found my motivation and a new sense of creativity I had never experienced before. I wanted to write about the experience in an honest way, but not in a ‘I finally put the booze down, baby’ kind of way. I wanted to write more about the reasons I used drugs and alcohol, the anxiety and depression, and that it’s not too late to turn things around. I never wanted to say it’s all going to be ok, because that's a promise nobody can make. But it can be better. “
The result is something he is very happy with. From the guitar-rock of “Static,” the keyboard-driven “You Don’t See That Now,” a crunchy rocker in “Softer, Please,” and the mid-tempo “Take You Home,” Axiom never gets stale or trapped in one sound or style, able to navigate the world of rock with heart and warmth, but keeping the pulse and pressure on, ensuring the songs can be melodic when needed and rock out when the song calls for it.
Having finished his biggest goal for this record - to finish the record - his next goal is to have people hear it. He hopes that listeners can take something from it, or relate to it and him. “if someone can find something relatable in the lyrics, especially someone who might be struggling with some of the things I sing about on the record, and not feel so alone and isolated, that's the biggest goal,” he says."
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT ALEX STEININGER AT IN MUSIC WE TRUST PR: 503-557-9661 or alex@inmusicwetrust.com
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