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Steven Severin

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Steven Severin, born Steven John Bailey, is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He was born in 1955, grew up in Archway and moved to Bromley at the age of eleven. In 1971 he discovered the German band Can, and at fifteen he saw Captain Beefheart in London, which affected him deeply. His favourite writers were William Burroughs and Jean Genet. His name comes from a character of Sacher-Masoch's who is mentioned in Venus in Furs by The Velvet Underground.

Music and breakthrough

In 1976 he founded Siouxsie and the Banshees with Siouxsie Sioux, as bass player. He co-wrote the music and supplied many lyrics, beginning with Voices, the B-side of Hong Kong Garden. With the group he recorded eleven studio albums. In 1983 he made the side project The Glove with Robert Smith of The Cure, with the album Blue Sunshine, an experimental whole with psychedelic and pop-art references, on which Jeanette Landray sings. The album reached number thirty-five on the British chart in 1983.

Influence

After the end of the Banshees in 1996 he founded his own label RE: and released instrumental albums through his website. He made music for silent films, such as The Woman in the Dunes, Vampyr and Blood Of A Poet, and in the late 2000s and early 2010s performed live solo to film footage. He continued to release albums later too, such as The Bedlam Variations in 2024. His work runs from post-punk to film music.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Hong Kong Garden by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Notice the striking, tight bass line and the bright guitar fragments that together define the post-punk sound.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists