 The See Saw – Abbey Road in the Attic There are ambitious people. There are dreamers. And there are people obsessed: Michael Steinitz, known in his Salzburg home town as Stootsie has already been following his pop obsession since his teenage years (that was some time ago in the eighties), with unprecedented consequence. As there are few contact points with pop history in Salzburg, he brought it home bit by bit. His home studio in the attic, which Stootsie named Aston Manor resembles a collection of pop memorabilia. Countless guitars, antique amplifiers and a ton heavy Hammon organ. The See Saw make rich use of this arsenal when they are crafting their numerous instrumental arrangements, either there or at the Flow Studio where guitar player Max Koegl earns his crust. Whilst recording their new album "After Sunset" , the band had to put up losing their bass player Paul Reichel. Meanwhile, however, the cast featuring Koegl, Stootsie and drummer Robert Schoblocher reduced to a classic power threesome have proved their worth when they played a gig at the legendary Troubadour in Los Angeles. Since 1999, the See Saw have been travelling to and fro across the Atlantic and appeared in San Diego, Orange Country and LA. The LA Times called them the "Arnold Schwarzenegger of guitar pop" ( ed says: hehehe!). After Sunset is the rare case of an Austrian production which can show a American distributor. The perspectives of the band have widened in the USA. From the exclusively classical British singer-songwriting of the earlier years, now one can also hear references to the Byrds, the Beach Boys and early Tom Petty in this sunny but also melancholic universe. However, Stootsie makes it clear: "What I like in America are still the anglophile US-bands". On the day of our conversation, he had bought the new record by Paul Weller. "To me, this is still an event" admits the man who once spontaneously presented Weller with a rare Gibson guitar. "Not because I wanted to copy his music. However, it is beautiful to see that someone is living his life with style". And much the same can be said about Stootsie as well. the See Saw Records: The Extended Play years 1996-2000 Free Fall Records After Sunset (2002) Free Fall Records This article originally appeared in Now Magazine. October 2002 Robert Rotifer original text website |
