Interview: Steve J. Allen tumbles down the rabbit hole of time
The musician speaks candidly about time and his seven-year hiatus.
If the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that we’re all prisoners of time. Whether you’ve already crossed the threshold of enlightened perception about time, witnessing days and eventful markers feeling shorter, or you’re in the throes of the process, it’s a transformation we all eventually undergo. There’s real biological reasons for this — and you could argue time is nothing more than an illusion, as musician Steve J. Allen has certainly learned in his own life. “It sounded like some cute hyperbole,” he recalls of the first hearing this notion. “Now, the more I have contemplated it, I’m starting to see more what this means. Time is weird, it’s crazy, and it’s usually not what we think.”
With his new song “Other World,” and most notably the accompanying music video, Allen comments on time’s merciless hand and its guiding presence in our lives. “Some memories are creeping back again / Through the maze of ecstasy and pain,” he sings with a chilling solemnity. “Silhouettes are in the distance coming over the hill / Skeptical nostalgia leaves you crippled in the den.”
Time, as it appears, relinquishes us from the past and its thorns of pain, yet we, naturally wistful creatures, linger on the ghosts that seem to haunt our waking lives. In the visual, helmed by Marwah Ghazi, Allen centers time in literal imagery; he leads the viewer through a Hall of Time, dusty displays of clock faces and such images as The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland line the sequent. It’s almost dream-like in its immersion but swings as a heavy-weight champion does in the ring. Originally, “Other World” was written about “a school friend who I hadn’t seen for ages,” shares Allen. “I heard he was coming off an addiction. Just like an individual having a drug addiction, when the pandemic happened, I heard the song for the first time for ages.”
The song quickly morphed into something completely different. “It felt like the world was coming through a similar addiction of the old way of doing things, and going through the withdrawals of grieving the old way of living,” he continues. “‘Other World’ was unreleased and on the shelf for a while and was a little unexpected for me for it to be such a pinnacle part of the album with the video going with it, too.”
“Other World” bookends Allen’s new record, Contrast, out everywhere now.
Below, the singer-songwriter discusses the pandemic’s impact on perception of time, the seven-year break between projects, and lessons learned
In “Other World,” “skeptical nostalgia leaves you crippled in the den” is an especially sharp line. What’s its meaning?
Nostalgia is having fond memories, and during the process of struggle and change, it may be hard to trust those memories to be true. So, the fight keeps him enslaved in the drug den.
Was it always the plan to get a bit weird and surreal in the video? Why approach an otherwise serious song in such a way?
It kind of just happened that way. We just used our environment and played with whatever ideas and props we had around us.
How did you come to work with Marwah Ghazi?
We crossed paths on some projects. It was an intuitive nudge to reach out to her. I felt she’d be a fun person to bounce some ideas off of, and when we spoke more in depth, I loved her outlook and passion for creating film. I really liked the work of hers that I had seen.
Do you surmise the past one and a half years have altered our collective perception of time?
2020 and 2021 certainly altered our collective perception of everything. I don’t know how much the last year and a half, specifically, has had an effect on time, but our addiction to convenience, ease of global travel, instant communication, and explosion of technology we are ever more impatient. Much of society wants everything now, and that seems to alter our perception of time. Can you imagine a teenager these days having to use a rotary phone dial to connect with a friend? They’d go insane with anxiety. When I think of how far we’ve come in 60 years, I then think how it may be another 60 years from now. It baffles the mind.
Will we be able to get back to before-times?
Great Scott… Get me a Delorian and a flux capacitor stat… Why would we want to? Our education system is out of date, and our financial system is out of date. You name it, it’s out of date. What comes next will be based on what we create now, and we will always have new things that make the old stuff obsolete in every area of life.
What led to seven years between records?
I took a gradual, unexpected break from music, and it kind of started when I asked myself, “What do I really want in life?” Music was always a default response, but I questioned it and found myself diving into the rabbit hole of the predicament of the human mind. I realized there was a lot I wanted to change about my life that I was unaware of, so I ended up studying how to change my mind and spent years studying it, and continue to do so, because it’s one of the most fascinating and curious things. It was a very organic and much needed break ..
Do you think you may release more frequently going forward?
I think so. I’m not sure when I’ll get back in full swing. I have more stuff to play and record and have many ideas I want to bring to life. Plus, I love touring, so I definitely want to get back on the road again… All in good time.
Ultimately, what are your personal takeaways from the recording process of this record?
Mostly, it is the wisdom to let something be, even if it’s not exactly perfect. Collaboration and letting go of control have been significant for me with this album.
