SMASH PALACE MEDIA

Interviews, Articles and Reviews

Steve Butler Interview by DJ Johnson, Cosmic Debris Magazine, September 1999

Taken from the article: 
Some Philly-based bands that still bring it all home 
by Jonathan Takiff, Daily News Staff Writer

Smash Palace, "Fast, Long, Loud" (Imagine). The Butler brothers are such devotees and apt emulators of British Invasion pop, I'm surprised their surnames aren't John and Paul. Or Ray and Dave. Recorded at the blokes' home studio in the wee village of Haddonfield, this glistening set of rock tunes will take the Kinks out of your neck on "Try" and "Everything You Bring." Or get you thinkin', hey, you gotta hide your (retro-pop) love away on "Let Me Go" and "Turn Another Screw" and the politically incorrect "It's All Because." Even the rhymes are Fab Four-like and way '60s, baby - "If you're ever alone, call me on your Princess phone." Smash Palace occasionally stretches beyond the tribute band phase, though I like 'em fine just the way they were - the long-lost sequel to "Beatlemania," proffering a newly unearthed, never-heard-before set of "classics"! B.

Talking With ...

"He was the coolest guy then," said Dochney, who is now a senior at Haddon Township High School, and once again has Steve Butler for a teacher.

"And," said Dochney, "he's still the coolest teacher."

Hold on just a minute.

When teenagers talk about teachers, there are all sorts of words they use: Weird, funny, bad (read: lots of homework), good (no homework).

Cool generally isn't part of the lexicon.

But then, not many high school teachers are in rock bands.

Indeed, it's a bit of a stretch to reconcile the man in the sober suit behind the classroom podium, lecturing about the waning days of World War II, with the black-clad lead singer of Smash Palace, the South Jersey group that is having something of a revival after its heyday in the early 1980s.

Butler smiles.

"I'm pretty good at keeping things real separate," he says.

But that's hard to do in the Haddons - Haddon Township, where the school is, and Haddonfield, where the 40-year-old Butler lives and where Smash Palace frequently performs.

It's not unusual for Butler to turn off the lights in his classroom at 2:30 p.m., spend some time with the school's guitar club - one of whose members recorded a CD in Butler's home studio last year - and then drive down Haddon Avenue to set up his equipment at Three Beans Coffee Co. in Haddonfield, where Smash Palace will play before an audience that frequently includes a good number of Butler's students.

So much for keeping things separate.

Actually, Butler seems to excel at the one thing that drives most midlife types crazy: combining work and family and a lifelong dream without imploding.

In the decade since Smash Palace disbanded (re-forming two years ago), Butler has finished college, started teaching, and helped raise a daughter, all while keeping music a significant presence in his life.

It's all a matter, he says, of adjusting your expectations.

"I used to think it was all or nothing," Butler said of the years when Smash Palace had signed with a major label, Epic, after only 10 months.

Butler was only 25, in his third year of college at Glassboro State, when the Epic deal came through, and visions of rock stardom filled his head.

"I thought, 'Wow, I just got signed by the biggest record company in the world. I guess I can wait on college,' " he said.

If the intervening years have taught him anything, he said, it's that "I could make up my own rules as I went along."

But before he could make up the rules, he had to figure out his priorities.

Which turned out to be:

His daughter, Adrienne, now 18.

Making a living.

And making music.

"Early on in my career, just raising my daughter and being a musician was really difficult," he said. "What I ended up doing was finding things where I could still be a musician and be active and play, but do it on my own terms."

For starters, he and his brother, Brian, decided not to pursue a major label when the band regrouped.

"With an independent label, you've got much more artistic freedom. . . . When you sign with a major label, if they say dance, you dance.

"But with an independent, you can say, 'I'll travel between Boston and Washington' " - a schedule that lets him avoid the weeks on the road that are so tough on musicians' families.

Butler also built a studio in his house, where he and Brian, who also lives in Haddonfield, can record their music. The brothers wrote nearly all the songs on their new album, Fast, Long, Loud, released last year by Imagine.

Steve Butler also plays with Mary Lee's Corvette, the band fronted by singer-songwriter Mary Lee Kortes.

When Smash Palace plays live, the brothers - Steve plays lead guitar, Brian has switched from lead to drums - are accompanied by Phil Rizzo on bass, Greg DiDonato on keyboard and DyAnne DiSalvo, the children's book author and illustrator, who also plays guitar.

Recently, they played at the Westmont Inn, in the last live performance at the tavern before it is torn down to make way for a steakhouse. It was a Thursday night, so the crowd was small but enthusiastic, moving to the music, calling out requests for covers.

Smash Palace ended up playing till nearly midnight.

Butler would be ready for the start of classes at 7:40 the next morning.

"I took a nap after school today," he said, as he packed up his equipment, "and I'll take one when I get home tomorrow."

"I would be doing this whether I got paid for it or not. A lot of times, people are, like, 'Wow. Are you still playing music?' But I don't feel like I have a choice. If I don't do this, I'm an unhappy camper."