Stephan Hogan – So Long California

By starrymag | February 22, 2021

By: Robert Warren

 

 

Q) How would you describe yourself as an artist?

 

A) An eclectic songwriter with a love for the music that came out of LA in the 1970’s. Guitar and melody forward songwriting with harmony stacked singable choruses. I’m 100% California country. Soaked up the LA influences as well as Bakersfield and Laurel Canyon. I don’t try to be like anyone else. Just being myself as much as possible! I’m someone in search of meaning and new levels of enlightenment through life and music. Happiest when traveling and injecting those experiences into songs.

 

Q) Your dad being the person who inspired your love for music, what is it that he did to inspire you as an artist?

 

A) He always believed in me from an early age. He never said having a big dream was weird or crazy. Never told me to have a plan b and has always been wind in my sails.

 

Q) You have mentioned in the past that one of the songs you wrote that is most special to you is “Nomad Melody,” how come this song is special to you?

 

A) This song is special because it’s the tune that really was a cornerstone to my “sound.” I feel like I captured who I want to be as an artist in that song. It was also the first song I wrote for my album “So Long California.”

 

Q) Having done music since you were five years old, getting inspired at 15-years-old then writing this new single “So Long California,” why is this song important to you right now?

 

A) This song is important to me because it’s a culmination of finally growing up and heading to Nashville to chase my dream 100%. There are also a lot of people moving out of California for various reasons and I see the song connecting with folks headed to other places.

 

Q) Right before “So Long California,” you actually hopped in your wife’s VW Jetta and drove across the country to follow your dream, how would you describe that experience?

 

A) Hard! Fun and rewarding but difficult. I let go of the good to go for the great. Cali life was comfortable and I’m one of those people that is repulsed by complacency. I find that you don’t grow when you are comfortable. For some reason people are afraid of discomfort and even pain. I have welcomed the challenges associated with this move. Knowing that it will produce in me a man who can weather any storm and have staying power in the music business.

 

Q) What did you learn from that experience?

 

A) I learned that life is a marathon and not a sprint. You don’t just move to Nashville and become famous. You move to Nashville and start at the bottom. You may have been the big dog back home or a big fish in a small pond. But in Nashville you’re a small fish in a huge pond and you gotta earn success.

 

Q) What lyrics mean the most to you in your new song “So Long California?”

 

A) “We were small town kids in the trees, raised on scripture and burnt CD’s // this town looks the same but the love is gone.” I feel like these lyrics capture the sentiment of moving on. However, I still having nothing but love for CA. Still my fav place to visit.

 

Q) Now you’ve also got an album called So Long California, which tracks hold a special place in your heart and why?

 

A) They are all my children so it’s hard to pick favorites, but “Nomad Melody,” “So Long California,” “Gypsy Girl” and “Buzzin And Believin” are my favs. All tracks I wrote myself and there is a purity in that.

 

Q) When was your favorite moment of working on this album?

 

A) Having produced the album myself there isn’t a singular seminal moment that stands out, but when things would fall into place on a track, I would experience great satisfaction. When it comes to writing guitar parts for example, there are thousands of different ways to play a guitar part for a song…You gotta let the song tell you what it wants and sometimes that process is hard. Other times it’s like magic.

 

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to your new album So Long California?

 

A) I hope they get inspired to hit the road. The album is comprised of many traveling songs. And those kinds of songs are my favorite to write. I would also hope that the album might inspire the listener to take a chance and maybe do something they’ve been thinking about doing. Maybe taking a leap of faith and moving or following a dream. I could tell folks to do it or I could live it out and I hope that my life is a testament to my music.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters of you and your music?

 

A) I hope my music speaks to you. I hope you see yourselves in the songs. I hope you come to a show someday and we can sit down and talk. I love people… I love meeting people and I care deeply. My mom always told me since I was little, “You’re a people person,” and though I like solitude and time by myself, I equally love meeting the fans of my music.