Tales Behind the Creative, Episode 12: Stephen Maynard

On the twelfth installment of Tales Behind the Creative we welcome local music teacher, Stephen Maynard. Teaching guitar lessons for almost twenty years now, Maynard has a strong passion for music especially in the genres of melodic tunes such as indie rock and 1950's jazz. He even partakes in the complete opposite realm of genres of hardcore rock, especially thrash metal. 

Along with teaching, Maynard is also known for the well-known Vinyl Nights he has hosted around town at venues such as Jekyll & Hyde's. He is also an enthusiast of other local artists as he shows his support in attending shows at places such as Basement Transmissions, The Brewerie, and Open Mic Nights around town. Besides music, Maynard is also entangled within the skateboarding scene as he was the co-owner along with his partner Iggy of the 2189 Skate Shop that was open for business in the year 2011.

During these trying times, Maynard has taken a moment to himself by working out doing some jump roping as well as getting outside to skateboard when the weather is nice. When it's not so hot out he can get caught up playing video games, trying to fix his sleep schedule, teaching virtual guitar lessons and of course working on the evolution of his own musical talents. He has hopes of starting a band once this is all over, especially with the potential involvement of his good friend Chris Head. He has found some challenges in his musical career during this time in finding out what comes first from lyrics to riffs, to the bass, and so much more – as he can't actually meet up with people to work on production, which is key in the development of any musical presentation.

His perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic is that there is absolutely too much media hype. With overpopulation and food shortages in multiple parts of the world, he feels that this is the law of nature taking hold and that this needs to happen as other diseases have done the same in the past. We should continue to abide by the safety precautions put into effect but not to live in total fear as "we are here for a good time and not necessarily for a long time." As a person who strives to make people happy and enjoy the positive in life, he passes along words of advice that  we should take the time to learn and be nice to one another and to "not be a dick!" Help each other out by loving one another as you never know what someone may be going through. We are all stronger together at the end of the day.

So if you are looking for an uplifting time filled with laughter and fun you can reach out to Steve via his Facebook and Instagram as well as emailing him at stephen.a.maynard@gmail.com to obtain information pertaining to taking guitar lessons with him.