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Breaking out of the Bublé mould

It takes a certain kind of voice to be hailed as the next Michael Bublé, but it doesn’t hurt when you get to perform with the man himself.
Stephen Scaccia
North Burnaby crooner Stephen Scaccia has had the honour of performing with his inspiration, Michael Bublé – twice. Now the 22-year-old singer has released his debut EP, No Longer Frozen, stepping away from covers and into his own original music.

It takes a certain kind of voice to be hailed as the next Michael Bublé, but it doesn’t hurt when you get to perform with the man himself.

A few years back, North Burnaby vocalist Stephen Scaccia sang at the opening of the G&F Financial branch on Hastings and Carleton. He had no idea he’d be doing a duet.

“(Bublé) was in the branch, taking pictures with people, and I got to speak with him beforehand – I was absolutely starstruck, but then I had to go onstage and music comes first,” recalled Scaccia. “I just remember seeing people start to scream in the crowd, and then out of the corner of my eye, there he is onstage. It was so cool.”

That’s right. Bublé joined him onstage – not the other way around.

Scaccia had no idea he’d perform with Bublé that day, nor did he know he’d join the Burnaby crooner just a week later. Bublé invited Scaccia to the filming of his Christmas special, and midway during the show, he spontaneously brought his protégé onstage.

“He said, ‘Oh, I’m tired of singing Christmas songs – let’s do something else,’ and in the middle of that, he called me up – ‘There’s a kid here who sings, come up here,’” said Scaccia. “I got to do a full song with this really intimate crowd, with his family there, and it was with his full band, which was so cool. I thought I was just going to be watching his Christmas special.”

Scaccia, now 22, has since gone from the stage to the studio, putting together his first EP, titled No Longer Frozen. The seven-track record is a year-and-a-half in the making, put together under the guidance of Grammy Award-winning producer Ian Prince.

“He had no idea who I was, but he had heard of me through someone he used to work with and asked me to sing a demo for him,” said Scaccia. “I sang for him, and then after that, because he noticed that people were kind of buzzing about my voice, he was like, let’s work on an EP together.”

The album alternates between more classical R&B Bublé-esque tunes to poppy dance tracks – a bit of a detour from what he’s known for.

“I started out as a crooner, and I think that’s what a lot of Burnaby knows me as,” said Scaccia, who’s humbled by the endorsement from Bublé and the comparison.

“When we were making this EP, I knew I kind of wanted to venture away from the comparison a little bit and develop my own identity – I wanted to have a little bit of that more adult pop content in there, but at the same time, I wanted to embrace the fact that I am only 22 years old and embrace my fun, young side of music.”

While putting the album together was a lengthy process, Scaccia is thankful for the opportunity to work with Prince and other talented musicians.

“This was actually my first stab at songwriting, and I got to write with such an amazing producer,” said Scaccia. “I feel like I learned a lot.

“At the end of the day, I’m just so proud of myself for getting through it and finally doing something I’ve always wanted to do. I was just waiting for the resources, and miraculously, it came to me.”

No Longer Frozen is now available digitally on iTunes and Amazon. Stay tuned to stephenscaccia.com and facebook.com/stephenscaccia for show announcements.

@jacobzinn