A Talk with Steve Pageot
- chenee01
- Mar 21, 2014
- 3 min read
Raised in Montreal, Grammy Award Winner, Steve Pageot comes from a musical family. His father Fritz Pageot plays bass, his uncle Guy Pageot plays guitar, his younger brothers Ric’key plays the keyboard (currently Madonna’s keyboard player), and Anthony plays the drums. Steve has been blessed to share his musical talents and entertainment industry business acumen with the world.
After graduating from Vanier College where Steve studied Computers and Electronics (his back up to music - if ever needed), he moved to New York to follow his passion of becoming a music mogul. Success came quick. In 1999 he produced “The War Iz On” for Krayzie Bone featuring Snoop Dogg, Kurrupt and Layzie Bone. The album went platinum. He then worked on the Drumline soundtrack with actor, producer, record producer Nick Cannon. In 2003, he worked with the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, engineering her song "Wonderful" off of her album So Damn Happy. His work landed him a GRAMMY!
Steve is a classically trained musician who has been playing the flute since he was 12 years old. You can hear him tonguing on the song "Listen" by Talib Kweli from the Ear Drum album. He is a man who never stops dreaming, and he follows his passion daily with a positive attitude and outlook on life.
CS: Was it hard to break into the music industry?
SP: I moved to New York from Montreal to break into the industry. But, I didn’t know how to get in. When I was trying to get in, there was a mysterious feel to it. It was like you had to know somebody who was already in. I’d work on my music, study publishing, copyright and producer contracts during the day and I’d go out to network at night. Justin's (Sean "Diddy" Comb's restaurant) was the place to be (laughs). Luckily, I met Awanda Booth who at the time was an A&R Executive at Relativity Records. She introduced me to music producer, Ron Lawrence. Lawrence worked with Diddy, Notorious B.I.G, Faith Evans & LL Cool J. It took me a while to land a meeting with him. In our meeting he told me he liked what he heard and that he wanted to hear more. I went back home to Montreal and worked on a lot of material. I put about 20 tracks on a DAT (Digital Audio Tape) and went back to New York with it. I learned a lot as Ron's mentee. I learned how to conduct myself as a businessman and how to gain the respect of others in the industry. Yes, it was hard and I worked really, really hard because it’s what I wanted.
CS: You won a GRAMMY?
SP: Yes, I won a Grammy (smiling) for engineering Aretha Franklin's song "Wonderful." I didn’t think I’d win a Grammy that fast. I thought maybe after being in the business for 20 years or something, I’d win one. But, I won a Grammy after being in the business for about 5 years. That was one of the best days of my life. I still look at my Grammy like, wow, I won a Grammy!
CS: Who do you most want to collaborate with?
SP: I want to work with Sting, U2, Madonna, Prince…the legends.
CS: What advice do you have for someone trying to break into the music industry?
SP: Study music! Go to music school and study music theory. Make sure you can play an instrument. Don’t give your music out for free and network!
CS: What do you do outside of music?
SP: I love to cook and clean. I can vacuum all day. I move furniture to make sure every corner is clean.
CS: What do you like to cook?
SP: Chicken, beans (Red Beans & Lima Beans) and rice. I boil the water, season the beans, let them cook for hours and then add rice. I really love to cook.
CS: What do you want your legacy to be?
SP: I want people to know that I followed my dreams and overcame obstacles. I never gave up no matter what I was going through. I want to be remembered for sharing my passion for music with the world.
CS: Any last thoughts?
SP: Yes, I’m doing a lot of motivational speaking focusing on music and I work with youth teaching them music. For the past 10 years I taught Music Production Workshops at The School of Audio Engineering (SAE). I’ve recently branched out on my own. I teach music theory to music production for all ages at Platinum Sound Recording Studio. http://www.platinumsoundny.com
You can reach Grammy Award Winner, Steve Pageot through Facebook or Twitter.
Twitter: @stevepageot
Photo Credit: Joseph "Joey Benz" Bellantoni
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