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Delicate Steve is the band name of musician Steve Marion, a multi instrumentalist from New Jersey. He is part of a collective called Smallboypants, most of whom play in his live band, as well as signed to David Byrne’s (from Talking Heads) label, Luaka Bop. We met the talented musician during a performance at one of our spaces, an abandoned church and talked about his process, inspiration, collaborations and how space fits in all of it. We also got a glimpse of his performance on video. Check it out below!

SPLACER: Hey Steve, so tell us a little bit about yourself, how did you get into music?

STEVE MARION: I grew up out in the countryside of rural northwestern New Jersey and I got into music thanks to my grandma who bought me a toy guitar when I was younger. From then on, I would mess around at home and eventually joining the bands in my town and record them in my bedroom.

SPLACER: And what brought you to NYC?

STEVE MARION: I moved here for a girl, but it didn’t work out. I eventually stayed for the music, and the other girls [laughs].

SPLACER: Why the name Delicate Steve?

STEVE MARION: Delicate Steve was conceived because I wanted to give my two favorite bands at the time music that I made that was directly inspired by them. Those bands were Dirty Projectors and Ponytail, and along with Deerhoof, Stevie Wonder and Alice Coltrane, they inspired my first album, Wondervisions. The following album, Positive Force was a continuation on that thread but sonically it exists in a different world.

SPLACER: What’s your recording process like?

STEVE MARION: For Delicate Steve I create the music as quickly as possible. I try to tap into my subconscious, which is hard when you are self-recording and self-producing. So generally I try to do what I think is uncool so I can break new ground. I like to use equipment that I have since declared as lame, because it puts my brain to work trying to find ways to make it sound good. For the first album and the album I just recorded, I finished them each in about two weeks. 11 days for the last one. I work best when I work fast before my internal filters start getting in the way. For the album I just recorded, if I didn’t get a song done in 3 or 4 hours I would scrap it.

SPLACER: What do you mean by “equipment that I have since declared as lame”? Any Examples?

STEVE MARION: The whammy pedal I have became the sound of the Delicate Steve albums, it’s the high-pitched octave-up guitar sound. I stopped using it when I was 19 or 20 years old before picking it back up to experiment with. Also my friend built me this custom guitar that I didn’t use for two years because it felt weird to play, looked weird, and I didn’t like the sound of it at the time and now it’s all I play.

SPLACER: You’ve worked with some incredible artists, Dirty Projectors, Zach Hill, Ra Ra Riot – what has been the best or most fortuitous experience? Any new or dream collaborations?

STEVE MARION: Right now I am in Hudson working with Amen Dunes on their new album. I am playing guitar on the record. I learn something from every collaboration. From Paul Simon I learned the advantage of limiting myself to fewer takes when recording. My dream collaboration would be to work with Cass McCombs or Jimmy Page.

SPLACER: Tell me a little bit about the spaces you’ve performed, your favorite spaces, and why.

STEVE MARION: I like to play on boats and ships. It seems like I’ve played 10 or more shows on a boat. The best time was in Austin during SXSW. It was a little houseboat, we took off and everyone on the boat had to stay for all of the bands. We played as the sun was setting on top of the boat as it we were cruising down the Colorado River. Doesn’t get better.

SPLACER: What’s important to you in a space when you perform?

STEVE MARION: How it sounds to me, how it feels to the audience and how it looks. The stage sound has to be good so I feel inspired sonically on stage to create. I always feel inspired on stage to make a great show happen for the audience, but when it sounds great and you feel like you can really play around musically it takes it to another level. I would say that a great sounding venue is important to the audience, but not as important as how it makes them feel. Vibe is a word that gets tossed around to describe the intangible thing that makes a space feel like it has some special energy.

SPLACER: What was like it playing in a space such as this church?

STEVE MARION: I liked moving around the church throughout the day and playing in different areas. I got to hear spots that sounded special while I was playing.