Singer Steve Grand Is Just Being Himself

When Steve Grand’s music video for “All-American Boy” was released in 2013, he was celebrated as a gay male country artist.

The only problem is that he’s not really a country artist. By his own admission, he’s a pop singer, not a country star. The music video for his new song “Walking,” certainly proves his passion for pop.

Audiences will get a chance to decide which genre Steve Grand fits into when he plays tonight at Catalina Bar & Grill.

I recently spoke with Grand about his career to date and his acting debut in the Boyle Heights episode of Falling For Angels on HereTV.

From the moment All-American Boy came out you were hailed as a country artist. Is that how you see yourself?

I’ve always really just done what I do and I would consider that mostly pop. It’s very accessible, whatever you want to call it. I don’t actively push the country label because that’s now how I see myself. This [Catalina Bar & Grill] is my preferred kind of venue because I’m a piano guy. I love to sing and play and like all the good kind of banter when I’m not singing. This show is going to be a slightly more stripped down performance. I only have one other musician on stage with me. We’re going to play a lot of my music and some new covers that people will know and some old stuff.

Labels seem, at least for now, to be sticking to you. You are the gay singer, the country guy, the speedo fan. [His Instagram account is filled with images of him in his favorite underwear.] Is there a point where you just want to be known as a singer without those labels?

I just don’t think I’m very good at the whole image construction thing. So I just try to be myself. I just found that nothing seems to work than me being myself and whatever happens as a result is just what I have to live with.

Falling Angels: Boyle Heights just debuted on HereTV. Can you talk about your experience making the film?

I had such an awesome experience. I haven’t done a lot of stuff like that where I’m paying a character that’s not some version of myself. That was challenging and I’m so anxious and nervous and excited to see the final product. It’s so weird not to be part of the process. I could empathize with the people who were producing and directing on set. When I’m making my videos I’m wearing the hats. I’m acting, I’m producing, I’m writing the checks. It will be interesting to see how that comes out.

[Note: This interview took place a week before the episode, written and directed by Nick Oceano, debuted. It’s currently running.]

You once said that “a great song can take you back to the moment you first heard it.” And that experience of responding so emotionally made it clear what you wanted to do with your life. If you could do a cover of the one song that means the most to you and also best represents you as a person, what would it be?

I guess right at the moment, it’s been one of my favorite songs, is Lana Del Rey’s Ride. I think that song is so beautiful and before I even examined the lyrics, from a melodic standpoint it really moves me. I sometimes play that song. I just feel very connected to it.

You are about 14 years removed from the moment you said you knew you were gay. Given what you know now, what advice would you give the teenaged version of yourself?

That’s big. I would just say hang on. It’s going to be a wild ride. I don’t know if there’s a way to prepare someone for, for me specifically, I need to learn things on their own and I don’t take people’s word for it. That’s been good and bad. I need lived experiences and I need my own evidence. I’ve made my own experiences and what my values are.

Photo Credits:  Wiliam Dick/Allen Spiers