Years active 1985–present Associated acts Dubstar Name Steve Hillier Music group Dubstar | Labels Food Records Website www.stevehillier.net Role Songwriter | |
Born 14 May 1969 (age 54) ( 1969-05-14 ) Origin Welling, London, England Genres Alternative pop/rock
Dream pop
Electronica
Dub Education Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School Albums Disgraceful, Goodbye, Make It Better, Stars: The Best of Dubstar | ||
Instructor Profile: Steve Hillier (Dubstar, Gary Numan, EMI Records)
Steve Hillier from Welling, South London, is a British songwriter, DJ and record producer who has worked with rock bands such as Keane, Landon Pigg and Mark Owen. Hillier is chiefly known for his work with the band Dubstar which he formed with Chris Wilkie and Sarah Blackwood in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1993. As well as writing nine of Dubstar's ten singles (including seven of their eight Top 40 singles [1] [2] [3]), he has also remixed artists as varied as Bebel Gilberto and Hooverphonic and released numerous solo recordings.
Contents
Early life
Steve Hillier was born in Southampton, England but grew up in South London where he attended Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. He had his first article as a journalist published at the age of twelve. He started DJing at the age of fifteen [4], playing alternative music in pubs and clubs in the London Borough of Bexley and surrounding areas including many events at Crayford Town Hall.
Career
Hillier left school in 1987 and following a short period working as a sales representative for Pinnacle Records in Orpington, Kent moved to Newcastle upon Tyne where he DJed and promoted nightclub events across North East England for nine years [5]. It was during this period that he met Chris Wilkie and Sarah Blackwood and formed Dubstar (see main article). He also wrote feature articles and conducted interviews for (now defunct) Music Technology magazine based in Cambridge, East Anglia. Notable interviews included Renegade Soundwave, Frazier Chorus and A Guy Called Gerald, all of whom were relatively unknown artists at the time of interview.
Hillier has written various songs for other artists, including Trentemoller, Flosstradamus, Mark Owen, Ben Ofoedu, Landon Pigg, Shane Lynch, and Karen Mok (for her Without You). In recent times Hillier has contributed features and reviews for Future Music and Computer Music magazines as well as being a featured contributor to BBC Radio 2's Sold on Song website.
He was a lecturer in songwriting at degree level at British and Irish Modern Music Institute[6] for ten years until 2015 and is a songwriting lecturer at Point Blank Music College[7].
Outside of his music career, Hillier is also a founding director of Man Bites Dog, the most award winning B2B PR company in the UK [8]
Songs
Not So Manic Now
Disgraceful
St Swithin's Day
Just a Girl She Said
The Day I See You Again
I Will Be Your Girlfriend
When You Say Goodbye
Not Once - Not Ever
No More Talk
Elevator Song
Wearchest
The View From Here
I
The Self Same Thing
Popdorian
Week In Week Out
Can't Tell Me
When the World Knows Your Name
Swansong
Cathedral Park
I Lost a Friend
Arc of Fire
A Certain Sadness
Redirected Mail
I'm Conscious of Myself
Say the Worst Thing First
Unchained Monologue
Bow Wow Now
My Start in Wallsend
Excuse Me Father
It's Clear
If It Isn't You