Stephen was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1961 where he explored the realms of part singing and existential angst at his parent’s Christadelphian Church. At 21, he took up the double bass purely by accident (his brother needed one to be babysat) and began playing in local jazz bands.

Two years in London which were largely spent at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club was followed soon after by a move to Sydney to study at the Conservatorium jazz school in 1989. Stephen played with Bobby Gebert, Kate Swadling, Billy Field, and various other Sydney jazz artists before his musical career took an unexpected turn when he joined world music singing group Voices from the Vacant Lot in 1991.

As well as travelling to festivals and learning songs from Bulgarians, Georgians, South Africans and Tanzanians, he discovered a love for teaching singing which led to the establishment of his first community choir in 1993.

In 1996 and 1998 Stephen was co-director of the Choral Sea, a singing event at Sydney’s Town Hall with over 700 participants. Stephen also became a highly sought-after choir and workshop leader, facilitating workshops throughout Australasia.

He worked as musician for Sydney Playback Theatre from 1995 to 2000, and also with an East Timorese cultural group in Cabramatta over a similar period. These two experiences led to him composing the music for the NZ made documentary “Punitive Damage”, the soundtrack of which was nominated for a Nokia NZ film award in 1999.
 
In 2000, his career took a sudden new turn when he successfully unblocked himself and began writing songs. He presented his debut concert “This was nearly my life” at Eastside Parish in 2001, and spent much of 2002 recording his first solo CD “Burning Slow” at BJB studios in Surry Hills.

A spell in the Blue Mountains resulted in the formation of the Spooky Men’s Chorale, a long held dream of Stephen’s to create a boofy, highly tuneful and occasionally foolish male singing ensemble. In the meantime, he continued to lead Sydney choirs, notably “Another Roadside Attraction” who appeared twice on TV backing Mark Lizotte and Paul McDermott. Other notable teaching commitments in this period include the choirs at Woodford and Canberra folk festivals, Summersong music camp, Rhythmsong (WA, 3 times), Wintersong (Blue Mountains, 6 times), 3 weeks of teaching in the UK, and regular workshops throughout NZ, including the inaugural Acappella Aoteoroa (2003).

In 2003 Stephen undertook a tour of UK choirs, working with 15 community choirs over a three week period, with an emphasis on introducing them to Australasian and Pacific music and developing their ensemble skills.

2004 saw a move to Melbourne to take up a position for the Boite as musical director of the Millennium Chorus, an annual singing event at the Hamer Hall involving a choir of 350 and many of Australia's best world and acoustic acts. In 2004 they presented "Rongo", a celebration of music from the Pacific resion, and in 2005 "Azadi", an exploration of songs of freedom and liberation.

Stephen also took over two Melbourne choirs, and somehow managed to keep up his Spooky Men obligations which suddenly escalated, with a CD and highly successful appearances at Woodford, Canberra and many other major festivals.