X really did mark the spot for Barrie’s Steve Major.
The local singer has spent the last couple of months flying back and forth between Canada and Hungary, where he has been competing as a contestant on the Eastern European country’s version of the popular reality television music competition show The X Factor.
Major, who described his style as being a combination of “rock/pop/musical theatre” and likens himself to a mash-up of musicians such as Adam Lambert, Bon Jovi and Michael Jackson, made it all the way to the live shows, making it to the top six before being eliminated.
But he says he’s happy with how things ultimately ended up.
“The mentors there … were very well-known Hungarian artists involved with the show," says the 41-year-old. "I am going to be releasing a single in Europe with one of the mentors who I was working with closely who has a band called Valmar. They’re the equivalent of what Savage Garden was here back in the day.
“Milan was my mentor … and we are going to be singing together and we are going to be releasing it to the European market," Major adds. "He has millions of fans … so the fact I have the opportunity to work with him … I think it is going to propel me a little further in that European scene and in the Hungarian charts for sure. There’s nothing he puts out that doesn’t chart.”
Major grew up in the city before heading to Etobicoke School for the Arts, where he studied musical theatre. Over the years, he has landed leading roles in professional musical theatre on land and at sea, film and television, but it was during a trip earlier this year to connect with his Hungarian roots that he got what could arguably be his biggest break yet.
“I recently acquired my Hungarian citizenship and went back to Hungary to explore my family roots, and I got offered a spot on (the show). It was a great opportunity. I gained a lot of exposure and a great fan base,” he said, just one day after returning home following his elimination from the show.
“It was a cool, interesting and exciting opportunity," says Major.
It was also an interesting challenge, given he doesn’t speak much Hungarian.
“They were translating all of the Hungarian dialogue that the mentors were communicating throughout the show. There’s a law in Hungary that anything spoken on live TV has to be spoken in Hungarian, so I wasn’t able to speak a lot on the show other than the prerecorded stuff, which they translated and dubbed over me,” Major says.
Being a competitor on a live television show is an experience like no other, he adds.
“The studio is huge and the lights are world class.There are producers, directors and people running all around me giving me water and touching up my makeup," Major says. "It’s quite a surreal experience.
“But as soon as the cameras go live and you know how many people are watching you … I don’t really get nervous in front of a crowd because I’ve been doing it for so long ... but you still get sweaty palms and your heart races a little bit. You just want to do the best job you can do.”
After years of pounding the pavement in the Canadian music industry, Major is hopeful the exposure he gained on the show will help him gain further exposure in the European market, and that in turn will begin to open doors back home.
In addition to the exposure, Major says one of the most valuable things he gained from the experience was creating new contacts in the music industry.
“I really do think it’s so valuable to be in contact with people who can either propel you forward by bringing you up to their level, give you advice or connect you with the appropriate party who can put you where you need to be," he says. "That’s really what this industry is all about is the connections.
“That’s the biggest asset that I came away with from this show … the people I was able to meet and work with, and the courage they give you. They gave me a lot of inspiration and a lot of positivity."
Major says he wants the music he puts out to speak to people.
“The last song I put out was called Torn … and I put that out to draw more attention to what’s happening in Ukraine, because my wife is Ukrainian," he says. "That hit close to us … so I like to put out music that means something.
"Along the pop-rock genre is where my heart is at. I feel like that’s the kind of music that really comes from my soul.”
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