We recently connected with Steven Kinchen Jr and have shared our conversation below.

Steven, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I have worked on so far is probably our newest song “I know you want me”. This song is about the commitment I made to my wife when we said “I do” to remain faithful to her even when temptations are everywhere you look. Frontmen tend to get a lot of attention, and with that attention comes a lot of opportunity to fail. Marriage is choosing every day to love that person more than you did yesterday, and this song allows me to openly speak about this on stage and publicly declare my love for my wife whenever we play it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My brother and I grew up in a musical family, we have always been around music and always knew we would do something with our gifts. We started exploring musically with other artists in our high school and college years, and then we ultimately decided that we wanted to have control over our own vision. We have been playing music under the name “The Band Melrose” together since 2020, and we have grown so much since then. The band is comprised of 4 members, Steven Kinchen Jr., lead singer and guitarist, Nathan Kinchen, drummer and producer, Nick Troncoso, bass, and James Hartman, lead guitarist. Nick and James, though not blood related, have become like brothers through playing music and sharing experiences together. Our main mission with this project is to share the love we have for music with anyone who will listen. We intend on you to have a good time at our shows and leave with memories you will cherish.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing other people be impacted by your art. For us, music is an emotional experience so you are trying to invoke feelings of joy, pain, love, suffering, and seeing it help or affect people is what makes it all worth it. We love hearing people share stories with us about how our music helped them through a hard time, or made them remember someone they loved. We have to remember that art is all about people, and when it stops being about the human experience, it stops being art.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

If I could go back to my younger self and tell them one piece of advice, it would be to be an active part of your local scene. When we started, we would try to actively engage with new local artists that we wanted to play with via social media, but that didn’t lead to much growth for the band or any friends or contacts in the scene that were helpful. It wasn’t until we started going out to local shows as an audience member, paying a door fee, supporting the people you want to support you, that we started to see growth. The best part is that while you are making connections that will be helpful in the future, you are also investing in the scene you are trying to be apart of and people notice that. Local music and art scenes can often be toxic and cutthroat. Change that. Support your scene, and your scene will support you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/thebandmelrose?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=b852452d-aea1-4bb3-ba02-8121831b65d0
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebandmelrose/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebandmelrose/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/thebandmelrose
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5zifeEnw5IhCIsoVVEjkww?si=3zZl4WYBRwSvjp2iwNLjfg