Sean Steinfeger w/ corto.alto
Your musicality must come from somewhere. Does someone in your family play an instrument or had a large vinyl collection? How much was music part of your life when you grew up?
Noone in my family has ever played an instrument, and my family didn’t really listen to much music growing up. It’s kind of something I just fell into on my own and became obsessed with at a young age, I used to listen to music all the time on my headphones.
You started making sampled hiphop beats back in the days. How old have you been by then, what equipment did you use and have you ever released anything of it?
I started sampling and making terrible beats on one of the first iMacs that we had in our school music department, I think it was on garageband. And no, I didn’t release any, thankfully!
What hiphop acts have been the biggest influence on you and your production back then?
A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers… anything 90’s that heavily sampled jazz.
Your first instrument was a guitar. Tell us how old you were and how it came about?
I started playing guitar after one of my mates Laurie got one for his birthday, I thought it was the coolest thing ever and wanted to be better than him at it, being a competitive 10 year old boy. I think my parents thought it was going to be another phase, like my BMX bike or football.
What happened in between the time you started making hiphop beats and your enrollment at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland by the age of 16, where at 21 you became the youngest ever undergraduate jazz graduate?
I was getting pretty into jazz and improvising, mostly on trombone, I was listening to a lot of classic jazz records and trying to get my chops together to be able to play the horn properly.
Why did you choose the trombone to become your ”main” instrument to study?
I really didn’t want to play trombone, it came about after my primary school was giving instruments from the wind orchestra away to kids and giving them lessons. I chose Alto Sax, Tenor Sax and Trumpet as my top 3, and drums as my reserve. I was off school with an illness on the dates they allocated instruments to all the kids, and the only thing they had when I got back was a trombone, I remember being super upset as I thought it was the lamest thing ever, and still do in a way.
As a multi-instrumentalist you currently play guitar, bass and synths next to the trombone. How do you manage to rehearse all of these instruments in your everyday life so you don’t get rusty on one of them?
I just make music whenever I have free time to do so, and I’ll always be switching between things when I produce, but I’ve never really had a solid practice routine for bass, guitar or keys. Trombone, I try to play everyday.
Next to playing all these instruments, you also compose, record and produce your own music. How many hours do you sleep in average and how good are you in structuring all these different layers of work every day?
I usually get enough to be honest, around 7-8 hours. I don’t do anything other than make or play music, so I can’t complain about sleep!
It seems like you have music on your mind 24/7. What do you do to switch off your mind and think about something else, to calm down or to get other inspiration?
I always fall into the trap of making music all day, and forgetting to go outside, eat, etc. So I’ve been trying to exercise a bit more this year, going for runs etc. Apart from that I’ll hang out with my girlfriend or friends and watch a good thriller.
Your debut album “Bad With Names” is out since October ’23 and has already gained a lot of good critics. How long did it take you to compose and record it and how does it differ from your previous EPs?
It took me around 2.5 years from writing the first track to having the masters ready. It was a pretty painful process at points, but also a massive learning experience and joy to make. It’s a lot more produced than my previous stuff and a lot more thought and care was put into the sound selection and arrangements in the tracks in comparison to previous releases. I’m also super excited to move on from it, but it’s an album I’m still very proud of making. It’s a real stamp in time in the Glasgow scene, as there are so many amazing Scottish musicians on there that I’m lucky enough to call my friends.
corto.alto is called being part of the “buzzing Glasgow jazz scene”. Who else should we keep on our radar in terms of releases?
Matt Carmichael, Graham Costello, Helena Kay, Tao.
What’s on your heavy rotation at the moment?
Marquis Hill, Knxwlodge, Hiatus Kiayote, The Altons.
Have you ever played in Berlin before with any project and what have you heard of Club Gretchen so far?
I’ve played once before with a funk band but never with corto.alto, I’ve been to Gretchen a few times and always loved the vibes so much, it’s such a cool room with great sound and lovely staff.
What does the Berlin audience can expect from your upcoming concert on 18th March?
They’ll have to come to find out.
corto.alto live @ Gretchen.
Click here for details: https://gretchen-club.de/detail.php?id=2717