Steve reflects on helping to bring down apartheid and working with Springsteen

He’s the long-time pal and E Street Band sidekick of Bruce Springsteen, star of award-winning TV series The Sopranos and Lilyhammer, and now Steve Van Zandt wants to teach the world about rock ’n’ roll.

With last year’s storming Soul Fire,Van Zandt reactivated the solo career that began when he left Springsteen’s band on an extended sabbatical in the 1980s.

And activist Steve – who organised the all-star 1985 antiapartheid anthem Sun City – has launched the Rock ’n’ Roll Foundation and the educational TeachRock.org, featuring lessons based on the entire history of the music he lives and breathes.“We have everything covered, every single genre,” says Steve, 67. “And we’ve been able to enlist five thousand teachers and continue it in Europe also.

“It’s our way of just saying thank you and showing gratitude to teachers in general. We’re doing this for a lot of reasons. One of which is to make up for the torture I put them through in grade school.”

Van Zandt sacrificed financial security with Springsteen to go down his own politically active route before returning to The E Street Band at the end of the 90s.

“You work for 15 years for something, finally get there, and then walk away from it when you get your first decent pay cheque, that’s kind of foolish. On the other hand, would the South African government have fallen inevitably? Probably. But we certainly took a few years off of it.”

Van Zandt keeps busy with his own fantastic 15-piece band, has just signed a contract for a new TV series and has his own radio show. With Springsteen on an extended solo Broadway run, The E Street Band is on hold, but Steve is ready to serve, when the call comes.

“You just never know when,” he says.“I’ve learned through the years you don’t wait for it.

“You just go ahead and do your own thing. When and if it comes, you make the moves necessary to accommodate that. Bruce remains a priority for me.

“I’ve been very lucky to arrange my TV shows around his tours. Considering I did The Sopranos for 10 years and Lilyhammer for three, to miss only two months of touring out of those 13 years I think is quite a good record.”