| Steve Parkin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Stephen R Parkin |
| Genres | alternative rock |
| Occupations | musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Associated acts | Vinyl Autopilot Eskimo Joe Jebediah Basement Birds |
| Website | www.steveparkin.com.au |
Stephen R Parkin (born 29 April) is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter. Originally from United Kingdom he was raised in Perth. He has been in various bands including Autopilot and Basement Birds. He co-wrote material for Eskimo Joe's 2009 album Inshalla, which peaked at number one on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Chart. One of the tracks, "Foreign Land", won 'Most Played Australian Work' at the APRA Awards of 2010.
Stephen R Parkin was born on 29 April. His first band, Vinyl, released a glam rock styled EP Lazeryouthanasia (1996) and subsequently played the 1997 Big Day Out festival nationally. Parkin formed Perth based group Autopilot in 1998, whose 1999 EP Pure Gold Baby received a four-star review in Rolling Stone magazine and has been cited as an influence by contemporary WA rock and pop acts. Autopilot released their second EP Out of the Sun in 2001.
He formed Steve Parkin & the Foreign Films and in 2005, which released an independent album Sandytown to critical acclaim.[1] The group toured Australia to promote the album in 2005 and 2006.
During 2007 and 2008 Parkin played keyboards and guitar in studio sessions and a touring band for Kevin Mitchell (Jebediah) who performed as Bob Evans.[2] Parkin has co-written for other acts, including Little Birdy, and five songs for Eskimo Joe's 2009 ARIA number one album Inshalla.[3] "Foreign Land" from the album won 'Most Played Australian Work' at the APRA Awards of 2010.[4]
Parkin is a member of Basement Birds, with Mitchell, Josh Pyke and Kavyen Temperley (Eskimo Joe).[5] They released their eponymous album in 2010 independently, which reached No. 12 in August.[6] Described in the press as a collaborative folk-pop "supergroup", Basement Birds toured Australia.[7] The album was a publishing milestone, being the first in Australia to be released in bundles online through Apple's iTunes store.
Parkin is signed to the Dirt Diamonds label (co-owned by Eskimo Joe and Catherine Haridy), and has released a solo album Mighty Big Light through Warner Music Australia on 22 April 2011 (Good Friday). His first Single Turn It Around was released some weeks prior on iTunes and has received radio play on Triple J. Undoubtably his most popular Live Performance (As faithfully requested by "Table 26") is a song from this album called California. In the lead up to the release Parkin has released some You Tube clips filmed from his home with acoustic performances of some songs off the new album.