INTERVIEW: Stevie What?

Image by Caroline Jones

Some songs are written to connect and heal us, others are written to tell stories, and some are written in an attempt to piece together the hazy memories of the time you dramatically fell down a wormhole into another dimension and became a holiday salesman on the planet Pokitaru, from the 2002 Playstation 2 game Ratchet & Clank 1.

For Stevie What?, it is predominantly the latter. Having tumbled through the galaxy, the songs presented to us see Stevie trying to battle his sudden amnesia and piece together moments from his ordeal, slowly trying to make sense of thewhole experience. Forgetting his own name, but remembering the core values of package holiday salesmanship –his performance is about more than just the aliens and interactions he has on the way, but it is certainly to be experienced live.

Having originally been conceived as an EP, Stevie now brings to Newcastle Fringe Festival a theatrical retelling of his journey: “It came together piece by piece, it started as just performing the songs and slowly more props got added and the memories became more vivid.”

Within the fully fledged theatrical performance, Stevie reveals everything he can from his time in another dimension, the best way he can. “It wasn’t until I first donned the suit that I realised that a full theatre production was the right way to tell my story. Once the suit was on, it became clear what needed to be done.”

The unexpected and unknown seems like a firm theme in Stevie’s newest project. “There’s a lot of questions about what it is or what it could be, and I’ve never been one for answers. Questions are good, uncertainty is good, having people a little confused and unsure is all part of the process. I don’t want to say that it’s a night of music or comedy, because it is and it isn’t any of those things.”

Somewhere in the middle of it all, we have Stevie’s experience. Now aided by theatrical props and visuals, with a couple of cameos sprinkled throughout, the show is centred around the songs which piece together the world he was thrust in. “It is funny, the songs that make me the most emotional,and the songs that I think connect with people, are the songs that dig deepest into the Pokitaru lore. It’s definitely interesting that the most impactful tracks are often the most detached from reality.”

Talking music, the performer admits: “I think the dream would be to be referred to as Mac DeMarco in space.” The influence is clear in the layers of guitars which soak the tracks, with other influences including Connan Mockasin and Paul Cherry. The track titled ? serves as a reliable introduction to the universe that Stevie What? explores throughout the show. The sound is minimalist, with synth-drowned beats and a very nonchalant delivery, harking back to the Japanese shibuya-kei scene. The lyrics are dry and simple, as the narrative hooks you in. With an EP dropping in August, Stevie’s Fringe show at The Lubber Fiend on Tuesday 29th July is the quickest way to access the recollections of possibly the only human to have traversed the galaxies in such a way.