Born in 1961 to a British mother and American father, Steve Chapman grew up in Saffron Walden, Essex. His father’s occupation as an architect guided his early interest in sketching, often helping with site surveys and initial drawings for plans. In 1977, Steve began a three- year City & Guilds Bricklaying Apprenticeship. His earnings from working with local Brick Gangs paid for travels around the USA and Europe.
March 1983 offered Steve a doorway into live music, working as a Drum Roadie with Spear of Destiny, a Band on the rise whose members included one of Steve’s oldest schoolfriends, Stan Stammers. With no cell phones, fax machines, or internet, Steve’s instamatic camera and doodle book were the only artistic equipment to join the Band and Crew as they toured endlessly through the eighties, guided by youth, wit & an instinct for getting the job done no matter what.
Steve’s touring career now spans four decades of moving around the globe, hitting arena and stadium shows with some of the biggest names in music. Recent clients include The Stone Roses, Richard Hawley, Royal Blood, and the Arctic Monkeys, to name but a few.
Here we are in 2021 & live music is at a standstill. With no touring in over a year, Steve has turned back to art, taking this moment as a chance to get deep into painting. His artworks vary in genre and composition, inspired by the people and places that chequer his time on the road. California pinks sit alongside moody Essex greys, forming an oeuvre of colourful, contemporary pieces.
“Without art I’m not sure where I’d be or what I’d be doing. The sense of achievement from even a single brushstroke is fantastic. The satisfaction and pleasure I get from creating on a long-term scale is overwhelming, and has brought about in me a new understanding, on so many levels.
I’ve always taken a paint kit on tour with me, but now I’m going to need to check in a separate piece of luggage to keep this ball rolling and never give up.
Until we can get back on the road, this is where I’m at. ‘looking for that great jazz note’, but on canvas.
Thank you SGC”
