Conversations with Stephen Pappas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Pappas.

Hi Stephen, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been a musician for 33 years and a professional musician for about 10 years. My father is a classical guitar teacher and composer. I grew up hearing renaissance era pieces of music throughout the house. When I was In elementary school I was obsessed with Walkmans and CD players. I was always off on my own with headphones on listening to local pop radio. I found mixing and production fascinating. I started to understand the relationship between bass and guitar in a song and how those things related to the vocal melody and what the drummer was playing. Sometimes I would hear one thing going on in my right ear and something different in my left ear like a repeating vocal or a big reverb on a guitar. It seemed like magic and I had no idea how those effects were done but wanted to know. It wasn’t until my freshman year of high school that I decided to commit myself to the guitar. I spent thousands of hours watching DVDs and going to concerts and studying different artists and guitarists. I took in as much inspiration as I could. When Youtube and Myspace came around that changed everything for me. I started to see that the internet was slowly circumventing the music industry and that I could make connections with people from other states and share ideas with like-minded people. The internet opened up opportunities for DIY artists like myself to have a platform and reach.

I am a songwriter at heart, it’s my true passion to write songs with memorable melodies and hooks. I had a lot of song ideas but I didn’t have the studio knowledge or the gear to record my ideas. I met some like-minded local musicians that introduced me to “self-production”. That was the beginning of a personal awakening for me. I realized that I could take the power Into my own hands in a home studio environment and have complete artistic control and ultimately release songs on the internet and build a catalog. I started making demos back in 2011 of the current album that you hear today. In those early days I learned as much as I could and over time I decided I wanted to be a music producer. My goal at the time was to write and record my own album and use that as a resume to break into the music industry. So I wrote the best batch of music that I could and themed a story around it. (I’m really into motifs in music and recurring themes). In the spring of 2016 I met a singer named Daniel Tompkins based out of England. He’s the lead singer for a band called TesseracT. Dan also runs an online vocal coaching school. I decided to take private singing lessons with him over Skype as a part of his vocal coaching program. I wanted to sing my own songs and be conditioned enough to track in a studio. In the fall of 2016 Daniel introduced me to another producer named Randy Slaugh based out of Salt Lake City. Randy has worked with artists like David Archuleta and bands like Periphery, so it was a real honor to have Randy involved. Those early demos came in handy and opened the door for me to work with highly respected musicians. I’m lucky that they liked what I was doing and they were willing to get involved. I took private lessons with Daniel for three years and tried to be the best student I could be. During that time I invested in my own personal studio and learned from Daniel how to record and edit my own vocal takes. For 14 years I worked retail jobs to support my dream. I would go to work, save money, and come home and write with my brother Mike who is the drummer for our band Centre Piece.

Around the time I met Daniel, I also met a mixer and engineer named Josh Roman who owns and runs Mind Rocket Recording Studio. I spent my time from 2016 – 2020 saving money and recording my album Lullaby. It was a grind. I was being coached by music industry veterans while working a day job and recording in a professional studio while doing pre-production at home. I was also booking shows across Ohio and taking my project live. 2018 to 2020 was very difficult. My mother was an 8-time cancer survivor and wrote a book called “Courage Hope and Healing”. She passed away on March 2nd, 2020. My album took on new meaning and became a concept album based on my faith after living with a sick mother for 30 years. In the fall of 2020 I finally released Lullaby and vowed to carry on my mother’s work. I now have a platform to share her story and testimony along with my own testimony.

I’m currently working as a liaison for Mind Rocket Recording Studio and doing artist consultations from home and taking on production work. I am also the director of the Columbiana Performing Arts Center’s School of Rock program. In between, I am writing and rehearsing with my band and booking gigs, and releasing new songs for our fans. Our Current lineup is Dom Mikula (Bass) Todd Margo (Guitar) Michael Pappas (Drums) and myself on guitar and vocals. Our MacBook pro also comes with us on stage and handles backing tracks like strings and synths. We just put out a new song called “Scars”. So far it seems to be a favorite.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. You have to be willing to make sacrifices and accept the suffering along the way. You have to be good at budgeting your finances and staying logical when you make decisions. Staying humble and grateful will get you ahead especially when you are suffering for your art. Writing and recording while taking care of my mom was extremely hard and it took a real toll on my health physically and mentally. When one person gets sick in your family it affects everyone around that person. I went into financial debt and lost twenty pounds and my coworkers at my day job were helping me buy groceries. I developed ulcers and IBS. I didn’t let my health hold me back from finishing my album. I sang and gave it my all on this record. I remember there were days at the studio I felt like I was barely hanging on. I think I’ve entered a grace period now, some sort of providence under God. It took extreme suffering and turmoil to get here. I was making regular trips to my doctor around my work schedule. Working a day job to support this was tough.

I don’t know how I survived in that environment as well as I did while also managing a band, taking care of a sick mom, taking voice lessons, communicating with producers from different countries or states, staying on top of my voice, booking gigs, and bringing my pre-production to Mind Rocket for mixing late into the night. Even getting things like the artwork right and writing the lyrics was all a part of what felt like birthing pains. It’s a process most will never understand unless you have done it yourself. I would like to write a book about it. I’ve seen a lot from my short time in the music industry. You can’t come into an industry like this with a know it all attitude and expect the right industry people to enter your life.

A negative mindset won’t get you very far and if your cutting down other artists you are asking for your plug to be pulled. Doors will open if you can just enjoy the ride and trust God. Surround yourself with successful people that are living right and have a positive mindset. Get away from the dream killers and don’t become one yourself. The best advice I can give anyone looking to get started is to be coachable and seek out teachers that have a good head on their shoulders and are passionate about sharing their knowledge.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m currently leading the band Centre Piece as a singer, songwriter, and executive producer. When not performing, I also work as an artist consultant and producer/liaison for Mind Rocket Recording Studio owned by Josh Roman. I’m here to help artists through the record-making process with the goal of publishing professional releases. From my experience I help artists theme records and craft songs as a hands-on producer, arranger, and editor. I am also the director of the Columbiana Performing Arts Center’s School of Rock program. I teach rock guitar technique and composition along with scales, modes, music theory, and much more. I also work from home as a publishing, marketing, and music business consultant for bands and solo acts.

My experience within the music industry has made me a valuable teacher with numerous contacts. I began my journey as a guitarist having spent many years recording songs and working in studios. I then decided to write, produce and publish my own music including my album called “Lullaby”. My band has two published releases available through Sentric Music (U.K.). One full-length album and my band’s new single called Scars are available on Spotify and Apple Music. I studied vocal science for three years under the mentorship of singer Daniel Tompkins from the U.K. band TesseracT. I previously studied guitar under my father Steve Pappas, an Ohio-based finger-style guitarist, composer, and teacher.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
If you want to support me directly please go to my website and buy a copy of Lullaby. If you would like to stream my music you can find it on Spotify and Apple Music under Centre Piece. I would also listen to our newest single called Scars. Follow and subscribe to my social media and Youtube. If you’re looking for any of the services I described please get ahold of me or come take private guitar lessons with me at the Columbiana Performing Arts Center.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.centrepieceband.com
• Instagram: @Centrepieceband
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/centrepieceband
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC848IckgHlhf8fXJVITWJCg
• Other: www.linktree.com/stephenpappas

Image Credits
Kellie Dunham and Paris Adrian