Conversations with Brett LeVine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brett LeVine.

Hi Brett, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I began my music journey when I was 13 years old when my next door neighbor, a musician herself, told me “you are a guitar player.” I had a lot of music I loved but I had never played a note. She loaned me an acoustic guitar and without any kind of instruction from her, I started down the path. There is little about the guitar that is intuitive and like many people, my initial attempts were fraught with confusion and discomfort. After a summer of struggles, I returned the instrument. It would be another two years before the impulse to try again would return. When it did, it was much more fervent. I had found a video of Eric Clapton performing “Layla” and I was in awe of the tone he was able to extract from his Stratocaster. I knew I had to be able to do the same.

My practice quickly consumed all of my free time. I was rarely without the guitar, playing before school, between classes, and late into the night. I began jamming with kids from school and found that the experience of playing music with others, being in a band, was really what I wanted to do. Over the years, there were a number of standout moments that affirmed that this was what I was meant to do. On my 17th birthday, I went to the Roxy with a group of friends from high school to see Steel Panther, a hair metal band. For reasons I still can’t comprehend, the lead singer picked me out from the crowd and called me on stage. He asked if I could sing, I said “no, but I can play Van Halen!” I got handed a guitar and for the first time in my life I was preforming on stage. I had never played for more the two or three people at once and here I was in front of 500. We played “Runnin’ with the Devil” and after the indulgent solo I took, I jumped off the stage and crowd surfed to the back of the room to a great applause.

I graduated in from Rollins College in 2023 with a degree in Business Management and returned to LA to attend the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University. After a brief period studying at KAIST in Seoul, South Korea, I received my Masters in 2025. In that time, I practiced voraciously and was in a short-lived band called Magnolia Manor. I began to realize that whatever I was going to do in life, music and the guitar had to be a part of it. It was during this period that I was playing more than ever, 8-12 hours every day. Another breakthrough moment for me was being featured in a video at Normans Rare Guitars. Some of the best players in the world go there to be seen and on a random visit, Norm asked me to play an original tune fo mine in one of their videos. That gave me the confidence to try and take my aspirations as a professional guitarist more seriously. That one video led me to attend my first NAMM show, the largest music industry trade show, where I’d secure my first endorsement from a Japanese guitar maker called Red House. It also connected me to my now mentor and friend, Tim Pierce, an industry legend and master guitar player. So I’ll always be grateful for that opportunity.

Today, I run my business Steel String Studios, out of my home studio here in the Hollywood Hills. It enables me to run recording sessions, host jams, write music, film content and fully serve the muse every day.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A creative life in inherently not a smooth one but it’s the bumps in the road that give it meaning. One of my earliest creative struggles came when I tried to record my first album. In 2019, I left LA to attend Rollins College. The pandemic struck the following spring and I returned home. I had the idea to record some songs I had written and after borrowing some equipment I had gathered the guys from my high school jam band, Moth Trap, to play with. I had no real recording experience and had very high ambitions; a recipe for disaster. We worked from 12-12 six days a week for the whole summer and ultimately came up with nothing to show for it. There were fundamental flaws in the recordings, time alignment issues, phasing problems, and it left me defeated. I would return to college that fall and I basically left the guitar on its stand. The failure of the project left me scarred for some time and unwilling to practice the way I once did. The positive outcome here was that I was able to focus on everything else life and college had to offer at that point. Eventually, I did return to the instrument, this time with my horizons having been broadened. I’m very lucky I had gone through that period because it gave me the contrast and the drive necessary to pursue music the way I do now.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Right now, my home studio is available for recording sessions on an hourly basis. I can record guitars, bass, keys, and most importantly, great sounding live drums all in one room. I’m available for virtual session work if a client just needs guitars added to existing tracks! I’m also producing content for brands I work with including Signature Sound Deluxe, Voodoo Labs, Royer Microphones and other companies I think deserve more attention like Red House Guitars and HTJ Works.

What sets Steel String Studios apart is that it can capture very high quality recordings in the lo-fi manner that is so dominant in the music culture today. I have some of best equipment in the world coupled with a great sounding live room which makes recording a full band super easy. I also have access to some of the top players in town so if a client needs great other musicians, they’re a text away!

Something I’m proud of is the ease of which I can get any guitar sound I need just from my desk. I have some really good gear here which enables me to recreate classic tones from the past or come up with brand new sounds that haven’t been heard before with just a few switches.

Any big plans?
I’m very happy with where I am at the moment but I’m working on getting a new band together. I hope it can follow in the Jam Band tradition of relentless touring and performances. My greatest musical influence is the Grateful Dead and to walk down that trail they blazed for us and to keep playing that music has long been a goal of mine. I’m writing some new music right now and really enjoying working on my singing. So my next goal is to be able to develop a presence in that world and grow my reputation as an improviser.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://steelstringstudios.info
• Instagram: @brett_levine

Image Credits
Koutn Hagopian