Brief History -
Hello, I'm Steve. I was born in Sydney and come from a family of musicians. My paternal grandparents were dominant figures in the music world both in Sydney and Wollongong during the late 40’s and 50’s. My mother is also a professional pianist and accompanist. Obviously, this background in music has impacted heavily on my own musical experiences . I began my musical experiences through learning the piano and then after a few years joined the Parramatta City Band where I learned to play the Trumpet. This was a great experience. The band consisted of about 40 players from the ages of seven to seventy. As a member I participated in band competitions, local parades and of course, Anzac Day.
At the age of 14 I began to learn the guitar. I decided that this was the instrument for me and in a few short years began to perform in and around Sydney professionally.I played in a number of rock bands during the next ten years. The most reputable was a band called Copeland, we supported bands such as the Screaming Jets, The Choirboys, The Radiators, Spy vs Spy, Dave Graney, Blue bottle Kiss, Iota, Finiscad, 78 saab, and other reputable acts that were playing around Sydney at the time.
In the early 1990’s I delved into the writing and recording side of music. In 1995 I co-produced a CD for a singer called Morrie Khouri. I also got a bit of work writing jiggles for community radio stations.
In 1998 I was approached by a film producer and was recruited to compose music for an Australian comedy film called Murrabina. The project took 6 months to work on and I had to write and record 16 pieces of music. A real highlight of my musical career.
In that same year I formed a covers trio that was designed to perform jazz standards and pub standards for functions and hotels. It was then that I realised that I needed to learn how to sing so I started to get singing lessons from a opera singing teacher “Rohan Thatcher”. I’ve had several years of lessons, and this has enabled me to be able to perform as a solo musician.
In 2000, a gentleman by the name of Darren Nurick offered me a full-time position in a musical duo to perform at clubs in Sydney. I accepted and played with Darren for five years. We built up an excellent reputation in Sydney with the hotels, agencies and the punters in the pubs. We were doing around 150 to 200 shows a year. The duo ended 2005 as Darren decided to pursue his musical career in the United States.
In 2004 I was approached by the owner of a Greek Island resort on a holiday in Sydney and was offered a three-month contract to work in Greece during the Olympics. I accepted and had an amazing experience performing 4 nights a week on stage over looking a beach on the island of Ios. It was challenging having to entertain such a broad spectrum of people from all over the world.
During my time as a professional musician I have also completed a university degree in Business Studies, using my own business as a marketing example. Through my family and my own experiences I have been exposed to a broad range of musical genres. I look forward to sharing my knowledge, skills and experiences and using them to develop and promote musical experiences with others.
My Educational Philosophy -
I think that understanding how things work is necessary for students and makes the playing side of things make a bit more sense. I like to explain the theory behind the music so that students become free thinkers and are able to write their own songs, solos, etc and become all round great players, not just imitators. I do of course teach all this through music students want to learn.
My Musical Interests -
Anything and everything mainly. I love rock from the 80's and early 90's.
Styles of Music Taught -
Mainly classic rock along with some blues, boogie, funk, heavy metal etc but nothing in the classical or advanced jazz style.
