(Photo courtesy of HBO)
Little Steven Van Zandt may have made his name riding musical shotgun with longtime buddy Bruce Springsteen, but the Massachusetts native has always been a longtime cinephile. He not only made his acting bones playing fictional consigliere Silvio Dante to the late James Gandolfini in the storied HBO crime drama The Sopranos, but Van Zandt also played the lead in the cult Netflix series Lilyhammer and currently plays musical hero Jerry Vale in The Irishman. His love of film particularly skews towards the B-movie and blaxploitation genres and his love of film informed his latest album, Summer of Sorcery.
“Our art form wasn’t ever really meant to be video exactly. And this record in particular, is very cinematic. A lot of these songs are little movies,” he said.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer recently shared some of his favorite behind-the-camera artistes.
Martin Scorsese
(Nov. 17, 1942 – present)
“My immediate thoughts go to Martin Scorsese. He’s always been somebody that made you want to be a filmmaker. He’s one of those guys that carries that enthusiasm that you’re talking about with my radio station. He seems to carry that energy into his own movies.”
Robert Rodriguez
(June 20, 1968 – present)
“Robert Rodriguez is one of my favorite filmmakers. He has done what I always dreamed of doing, which is bringing back the whole B-movie sensibility. He’s the best in the world at that. I love Roberto Rodriguez’s movies.”
Michael Mann
(Feb. 5, 1943 – present)
“I love Michael Mann. He’s made a couple of my favorite movies. One is called Thief. It’s just an incredible movie. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. And he always has a vibe.”
Quentin Tarantino
(March 27, 1963 – present)
“Quentin Tarantino always manages to surprise you.”
