About

The Journey

When Steven was just a young man of 13, he began singing along to his influences. He started his first band, Chalice, when he was 15 years old. Joining a band was the push he needed in order to really see himself as a singer. Chalice wrote mostly 80’s metal sounding originals. Steven made good friends, saw the culture of metal and how it brought people together. Playing shows with friends and having the crowd cheer to your music is a feeling unlike any other and at that time, he knew he wanted to be a rock star. 

During this time, he did not play an instrument, outside of voice, and had trouble expressing his song ideas to a band full of instrumentalists. In order to express any musical idea, he would resort to humming a riff to the guitarist, or singing a beat to the drummer. There would be many times where the ideas would be lost in translation. This struggle eventually led Steven to pick up a guitar and become, not just a singer, but a musician.  

Chalice played many shows and had many great experiences and stories to tell, but by the time he turned 18 they disbanded due to musical conflicts. The members of Chalice remained friends and went on to follow their own paths. They still keep in touch and in fact the man who mixed Blayden’s first single was the guitarist, Jonathon Ortiz.

While Steven was learning guitar, his father was in a band called Savage Wizdom. Steven would watch his band play as a teenager and it was everything he aspired to be. When Steven was 18, he auditioned to be the bass player, (Yes, he still had to audition for his dad’s band). He had already known all of the songs by heart from being a fan for several years at that point. He stayed in the roll of the bass player for a couple years and then switched to guitar.

Being in Savage Wizdom gave Steven the opportunity to play more shows, gain experience in playing bass and guitar, and to write more songs. He made the decision to learn everything there is about music to focus on and improve his songwriting. He thought, “If music is the thing that will consume my life, then I need to fully engulf myself in the flames.” 

At the young age of 20, Steven began studying classical music at the University of New Mexico. One day he approached a professor to try and understand the mechanics of a high pitched, Rob Halford style, metal scream by demonstrating one in his office. He gave a strange look and his response was, “That’s very interesting”. Attending UNM was very different from the aggressive, loud, crunchy, noise Steven was used to hearing. The music had to be precise, well rehearsed, and each part was equally important for the piece.

Throughout college and after graduating, Steven continued with Savage Wizdom. They released the album “A New Beginning”, shot a music video, had several photo shoots, and opened for some big name bands including: Skid Row, Dokken, and Stryper. They played at some famous venues such as, The Whiskey a go go and El Rey Theater.   

From the moment Steven wrote his first song for Savage Wizdom, he wanted to do something on his own. He wants to present himself to the world as a singer once again. He has a vision that he wants to share with the world. All of his experiences have guided him to this project. The sounds of future songs keep echoing in his ears and he has a burning desire to make them reality.

“We will all need to brace ourselves, because the future sounds heavy.”

Steven Montoya