Interview: Steve Dadaian fully details new album featuring collabs with Dream Theater keyboardist, The Aristocrats' drummer and others

Written By Neil Shumate, OOTB Publications

Since the age of 14, Jersey’s Steve Dadaian has been playing electric guitar, and through his career—as a modern progressive rock, metal, fusion and classical virtuoso guitarist—he has achieved numerous accolades for his proficient work as a musician, including winning guitar competitions and opening for many notable acts such as Third Eye Blind, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen.

And, by day, he’s a dentist.

On the heels of this Friday’s release of his second LP, Revenant City—a part two continuation to his 2019 concept album debut, Follow The Light—Dadaian discusses the new record in full, including: album and song collaborations with Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater keyboardist/composer), Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats’ drummer), guitarist Claudio Pietronik, guitarist Redvard Dolanski, Michael Pahalen (SRVVRS’ guitarist), Kiko Loureiro (ex-Megadeth guitarist) and others; working with Ilya Nazarov for album art design (Starfield, Fallout, Metroid, Lord Of The Rings, Nintendo); overcoming challenges during the album process; and, he picks his favorite tracks.

How did the title come about for your second solo album Revenant City? Love the album art by the way!

Thank you! So, this album is a continuation from my ﬁrst album Follow The Light, which, like Revenant City, is also a concept album.

In the ﬁrst one, the main character was searching for an orb he heard in a legend that gave those who possessed it an unknown, supernatural power. He stumbled upon an abandoned citadel in the forest and, through a harrowing journey, escapes with his life and his prize.

The music serves as a soundtrack to the events outlined in the album’s story, which listeners can read with the physical production of the record.

Revenant City continues this story and also answers questions regarding the origin of the citadel, back story of the main character, etc.

The title references a ﬂoating city the main character ﬁnds while at sea after his escape. The residents of the city are the souls of those who were lost at sea and were on the brink of death.

Those who rule the city above have scouts below in the ocean to offer those a bargain, to perish at sea or serve the city. Essentially, the residents exist in a state between this life and the next.

The story goes into detail about who rules the city, its citizens (the Revenants) and the main character’s battles and adventure there.

Each song tells its own story and follows the events, as well provides a soundtrack. The booklet with the physical copy tells the story with original, color artwork to show what I was imagining while writing the text.

When recording this particular record and through the process, what challenges or obstacles, if any, did you come across and how did you overcome those?

There were numerous!

After doing my ﬁrst solo record I thought I had things ﬁgured out; as this was my second studio album [that] I essentially had done completely on my own (and hiring/working with people), I thought it would work well… but boy was I wrong!

Luckily, this album did see the return of some people I have worked with in the past regarding the orchestral arrangements, but I met and worked with new friends like Claudio Pietronik, Michael Pahalen, and of course Redvard Dolanski.

Our collaborations provided some of my favorite musical moments and I’m eternally grateful for their collaboration!

But, to the question, I did hire my original artist who gave me a timeline of four months to complete the artwork, but he disappeared mid-project… and after a year later, he eventually told me he could not complete the project.

While it was disappointing and unprofessional as a lot of time and money was wasted, it worked out for the best, because that led me to work with Ilya Nazarov, (lead concept artist at Bethesda Game Studios) who has done work for iconic titles like Fallout and Lord Of The Rings.

He did an inﬁnitely better job, completing the front and back cover, and took my concept ideas to the next level.

I worked with another very talented artist Yana Dmitruk for the inside packaging and booklet that brought the ideas of my story to life, also based on my concept designs.

I was ﬁrm that all the artwork had to be original with no AI usage. Their talents really helped to tell the story in a more complete way!

Additional challenges came with mixing, mastering, and the video.

I had an idea of how I wanted the record to sound, the production, and how I wanted it presented. I had difficulties in communication and getting things back in a timely fashion in the past from previous engineers.

Also, the songs were recorded over a long period of time, so compiling everything and mixing them was more difficult than normal.

I also had late collaborations with musicians I’ve worked with in the past, like Marco Minnemann, so when the opportunity presented itself, I had some songs re-mixed and re-mastered.

It took time to ﬁnd a new mastering engineer and I wanted the videos to be next level. I was fortunate to work with my friend Alex (from Blackwolf Imaging) who brought a cinematic level experience to the video that I haven’t had before.

So in the end, while there were challenges, everything worked out for the best!

On this album you collaborated with renowned musicians across the rock and metal spectrum! What band or musician would you still love to collaborate with in the future and why them?

Yes, this album was such a cool experience, because working with people like Jordan Rudess and Kiko Loureiro was fascinating to get a closer look into their thought process and approach to songwriting.

While they are known for having great technique and performances—which are without question—their sense of crafting a song as a composition is something that I also really respect.

Getting an insight into how others think and work at their level was really fun. However, for a future collaboration, since I love epic and orchestral sounds, working with composers like a Hans Zimmer or Joe Hisaishi would be really interesting.

I can see using different styles of my guitar playing to suit the sounds and emotions they convey with their compositions.

In the rock and metal world, especially being Armenian, it would only be right to collaborate with System of a Down!

However, the lead guitarist in me would also jump at the opportunity to work with the likes of Steve Vai or Pat Metheny!

What’s your favorite track on the new album and why that song?

Each track has such a special meaning to me because each one tells a story I think is important, and I was at a different point in my life when I worked on it.

So, much of the songwriting I think involves being a reasonably good storyteller as well. However, if I had to choose, there are a couple that really shine bright for me.

The track “Garden of Stars,” that I collaborated on with Jordan Rudess, is very meaningful, because he is not only a legend from everything he has done in his solo works, to his role in Dream Theater, he is a good friend and working with him in the studio never feels like work. It’s just fun.

Recording that song, from everything to watching him craft harmonized leads on the spot (he has perfect pitch) to recording video of him doing a solo in one take, is something I’ll never forget!

The song ebbs and ﬂows, showing some of the most brutal heavy moments on the record with some of my favorite clean, ambient ones.

It was also a collaboration with Redvard Dolanski, who was an integral part of the record, especially with his mixing and production!

The song “Tower of Waves” is a solo ﬁngerstyle acoustic song that is one of my favorite pieces I’ve ever written. Musically it’s varied, with haunting melodies, interesting rhythms, odd time changes and more, but are all cohesive.

I wanted to really tell a story with one guitar with different movements. I hope listeners can enjoy it from start to ﬁnish!

Lastly, the title-track of an album has to have something unique about it to earn that spot. “Revenant City” is a song, I think, if I had to pick one, that really encapsulates the essence of the record.

It has all the elements I love in instrumental music—from the catchy lead lines, heavy and clean rhythm playing, and epic orchestral elements. It makes a statement I hope will resonate with listeners as well.

What is next for you following this album release and your goals for the rest of the year?

I’m hoping to continue promoting the album.

I’ll be doing official videos for ESP guitars demonstrating their new offereings from their product line this year while showcasing passages from Revenant City.

I am planning to do some guitar clinics and continue writing and recording!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I’d like to thank everyone who helped create this record and any future listeners. I’m excited to bring this to the world.

Revenant City Credits

Cover Art by Ilya Nazarov

Electric/Acoustic Guitars - Steve Dadaian

Bass Guitar - Redvard Dolanski

Drums - Marco Minnemann

Keyboards - Jordan Rudess

Mixing & Additional Production - Redvard Dolanski, 6ound Studios

Mastering - Mike Kalajian

Pre-Order Album Here

https://stevedadaian.bandcamp.com/album/revenant-city

Follow Steve Dadaian

https://m.facebook.com/steveDadaianGuitar/

https://m.youtube.com/@stevedadaian