Born on February 21: Steve Wynn still at the helm of his Dream Syndicate

The Los Angeles native, born in 1960, is well over half a century into his career. And he's lost none of his writing ingenuity or wit...

At a young age (he was barely 10), he didn't yet possess the mastery that is his today, but he was already coming up with some pretty crusty band names: first The Light Bulbs, then Sudden Death Overtime! He recounts in detail all these episodes in his musical trajectory (and many others) in his succulent memoir “I Wouldn't Say It If It Wasn't True”, published in autumn 2024. Of course, he hasn't forgotten The Dream Syndicate, the quartet with whom he finally reached success in the early '80s, with “The Days Of Wine And Roses” (1982) and “Medicine Show” (1984).

He was recently on tour, with only his acoustic guitar, to present “Make It Right”, an album that can be listened to as a complement to his book. And since he has a real talent for storytelling, here are a few selected extracts from his (long but fascinating) speeches between each song.

Steve recalls the excitement when the members of The Dream Syndicate were approached by Los Angeles label Slash Records to record for them. “We were going to be on the same label as some of my heroes such as The Gun Club, Green On Red or The Blasters. It was almost too good to be true. When they told us they had no real budget for us, it didn't dampen our enthusiasm. And when they added that we'd have to record and mix all nine tracks on “The Days Of Wine And Roses” in three... nights, from midnight to 8am, we simply replied: “We can do it.” And... we did!

Thanks to this initial success, Steve explains that he was courted by all major labels of the time, from Geffen to EMI. In the end, A&M won. Under the guidance of producer Sandy Pearlman (Blue Oyster Cult), the recording process was long and painful. “He made us start from scratch almost every day. It was exhausting, but the album eventually took shape. We weren't the same band we'd been two years earlier. Years later, I look back on that experience as a blank canvas on which a new band began to take shape.” The result is “Medicine Show”, undoubtedly The Dream Syndicate's finest album.
  

(Stéphane Soupart - Tr.: MH - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Steve Wynn at the Witloof Bar of Le Botanique in Brussels (Belgium) on the 17th of February 2025