STEVE OVERLAND OF FM GOES SOUL TO SOUL WITH GROUNDBREAKER
Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by Scott Towns Steve Overland is best known for his tenure in the band FM, whose albums such as Tough It Out and Indiscreet are classics within the melodic rock AOR genre. Even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, Overland found himself busier than ever with FM, his own solo work, as well as collaborations with others. One such meeting of the minds is Groundbreaker, with Steve Overland working with the omnipresent Alessandro Del Vecchio – and their latest magnum opus of sonic intrigue is entitled Soul To Soul – now available via Frontiers Music Srl. In this interview with Steve Overland, we discuss Groundbreaker and the making of Soul To Soul, iconic album anniversaries and other FM news, working with Robbie LaBlanc of Find Me on his own solo effort, and other rocking topics of interest! Read on… 42
What initially made you decide to commit to the Groundbreaker project now that you’re two albums in? I am always open to new things and I knew Alessandro Del Vecchio, the producer keyboard player, and Serafino Perugino from Frontiers Records, put it to me that he’d like me to make a retro 80s all-out AOR melodic rock record. It’s not quite as bluesy as these other things I do, and I quite fancied reaching back into that part of my writing career and having a go at it. That’s how it was born. Groundbreaker was created by Serafino and Alessandro, and it’s grown from there. It’s been a pleasure doing it because they are such easy people to work with, and I’ve loved making the records. What does that title “Soul To Soul” mean to you? It’s one of the tunes on the record and it’s one of the songs that I didn’t have a part in writing. I co-wrote about five of the songs on this record – I co-wrote all the songs on January/February 2022
HIGHWIRE DAZE
