Portland, Oregon-based musician/engineer/producer Steve Drizos, a professional touring musician for more than twenty-seven years and studio owner, can currently be found behind the drums for Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons or helming the board at his SE Portland recording studio, The Panther. He recently released his sophomore full-length album, i love you now, leave me alone (Cavity Search Records).
Having worked with countless artists at The Panther, including Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Debbi Peterson (The Bangles), Spencer Tweedy, Chris Funk (The Decembrists), and Scott McCaughey (R.E.M., Minus 5, The Young Fresh Fellows), as well as his wife, The Decemberists’ Jenny Conlee, Drizos is no stranger to both sides of the studio, culminating in his debut solo album, Axiom, which was released on Cavity Search Records in 2021. Written and recorded during the start of the pandemic, Axiom was Drizos’ chance to experiment in the studio and make a solo album, playing most of the instruments himself. However, with i love you now leave me alone, he decided to demo everything and build a band around the songs, resulting in a powerful follow-up that finds the songwriter side of him growing and evolving, delivering another strong collection of eight powerful songs that find influence in 90s guitar-rock, pop, and folk.
Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of Drizos’ tune “Treading Water,” which he describes as being “about being addicted to constant chaos and turmoil around you, even though you might say, act, or pretend you don’t want it. It’s the illusion of feeling like you are in control of the disorder.” The track is an outtake from the i love you now leave me alone (Released Feb. 2024/Cavity Search Records) sessions and features Jenny Conlee (The Decemberists/Casey Neill) on piano, Tim Murphy (RoughCuts) on bass, Todd Wright on guitar, and Joe Mengis (Portugal. The Man/Eels) on drums. Hitting with a wave of urgent synth and piano, the spotlights Drizos’ dark and creeping vocal delivery before the band members gradually flow into the mix to make for a bigger rock tune that ultimately morphs into a sprawling work of power pop. There is even a chaotically exciting piano breakdown that segues into the final part of the song as Drizos sings over a softly strummed guitar. Ultimately, the song exemplifies the kind of musical journeys Drizos is capable of taking his listeners on.
LISTEN:
