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A ninetyandnine.com Exclusive Behind the Lyrics: Steven Delopoulos, Burlap to CashmereBy Cara Baker It
was the early 90s. Grunge was in. Nirvana and Pearl Jam ruled the radio waves
and kids everywhere built up their neck muscles by head-banging to Seattle’s
alternative music. Except for at least one: Steven Delopoulos, a short Greek kid
in Brooklyn. He loved folk music and hated rock, especially classic rock like
Led Zeppelin and The Doors. He
began writing songs while a sophomore in high school, influenced by folk artists
like Harry Chapin ("Cat's in the Cradle"), Cat Stevens and Simon and
Garfunkel. Those influences became evident in songs like "Chop Chop"
and "Anybody Out There" on his band's release Anybody
Out There (1998 A&M Records, Squint Entertainment). He began writing the
songs on Anybody Out There
in high school, but three years of playing with the band formed their current
intricate arrangements. And
although Delopoulos' lyrics are poetic and full of imagery, he downplays the
profundity one might sense in the songs. For instance, "Chop Chop"
came out of his high-schoolish desire to impress his peers. "It was like
the second song I wrote," Delopoulos says. "Everyone was really deep
into theater and I was just the stupidest kid. They were all into Edgar Allan
Poe and Robert Frost. [When I wrote] 'Chop Chop' I had a dictionary in front of
me and I just wanted to sound intelligent and tell a story at the same time. I
don't know what it means." He says the same of the dramatic, militant march
"Scenes," which describes war. "It's a spoof. It doesn't really
mean much," he says. Hearing
him casually describe his method of songwriting drastically contrasts the actual
product of his soul-searching lyrics that create powerful visual and atmospheric
imagery with the music. In his bio he speaks a little more seriously about his
craft. "My hope is that it will move people toward the worship of Jesus. I
think maybe the whole point of what God wants to show people through us is that
you don't have to be the most perfect person in the whole world for God to use
you. When you take a close look at us, it doesn't make a lot of sense because
we're just seven scatterbrained kids who aren't all completely organized into
the evangelical church, who don't know the lingo, and who until recently didn't
even know that there were other people serious about expressing their faith
through modern music. And yet God is using us." "There
are very few bands that have the musical credibility to be able to play
anywhere, in front of any crowd, and really win them over on the strength of
their musical brilliance," says Squint Entertainment label head Steve
Taylor. "For some people who aren't Christians and are antagonistic to the
whole idea, I think their lyrics are a bitter pill to swallow." ninetyandnine.com
ã 2001, Cara Baker -------- Cara Baker is ninetyandnine.com’s Associate Editor. |
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