Serafina Steer (born 30 April 1982) is an English

harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

, pianist, singer and songwriter.

Early life and education

Steer is the daughter of composer Michael Maxwell Steer and stage designer

Deirdre Clancy Deirdre Clancy (born 31 March 1943) is a British costume designer. She has won the Olivier Award for Best Costume Design twice. She also won the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design for ''Mrs. Brown''. She started working in the London theatre in ...

. She started learning the harp at age seven and graduated from

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

with first-class honours.

Career

In 2007 Steer released a 7" single and an album entitled ''Cheap Demo Bad Science'' on

Static Caravan A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Us ...

records. Some tracks were recorded and produced in collaboration with Mike Lindsay of

folktronica Folktronica is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring uses of acoustic instruments – especially stringed instruments – and incorporating hip hop, electronic or dance rhythms, although ...

band

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, while some were recorded with Kristian Robinson, aka Capitol K. The album opens with a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

's "By This River" but all other songs are her own. In 2010 she released ''Change is Good, Change is Good'', again on Static Caravan. It was described by

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...

as one of his favourite albums of the year and well "worth a listen". Recording was interrupted when Steer's harp was stolen from her car. Benge made his collection of analogue synthesizers available to fill in the harp parts. Patrick Wolf described the album in ''The Observer'' as if "Stereolab and Shirley Collins made an album together about the trials of 21st-century romance." Later in 2010, Steer recorded the ''Bloody Hell'' EP with Paul Jones of Stolen Recordings. The EP features three songs from ''Change is Good, Change is Good'' and two new songs, and includes the art work of Polly Huggett and RWM Hunt. These unadorned "live" harp and voice recordings were intended as a watermark, after months without an instrument and then with a new make of harp. Her latest album is ''The Moths Are Real''. It is out on Stolen Recordings. It was produced by

Collaborations

Steer has appeared both live and on record with musicians including

Patrick Wolf Patrick Wolf (born Patrick Denis Apps; 30 June 1983) is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Wolf uses a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano, and viola. He is known for combining electronic samp ...

, Capitol K,

Cibelle Cibelle (born 1978), birth name Cibelle Cavalli Bastos, is a Brazilian visual artist and musician based in London, Berlin and São Paulo. They graduated in 2015 from the Royal College of Art in London. Cibelle has released four music albums and ...

, the Memory Band, Balearic Folk Orchestra,

James Yorkston James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist, ...

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Chrome Hoof Chrome Hoof are an experimental chamber rock orchestra based in London, England. The group was formed in 2000 by Cathedral bassist Leo Smee and his brother Milo Smee. Initially performing as a duo, their music was mostly electronic. Since ...

, Shimmy Rivers and Canal,

Leafcutter John Leafcutter John is the recording name of John Burton, a UK-based musician and artist. He makes frequent use of Max/MSP in his compositions. Much of Burton's style is based in computer music and use of samples of everyday sounds. However, he a ...

Simon Bookish Simon Bookish is the stage name of Leo Chadburn, a British musician and composer known for his work in experimental, electronic, pop, and classical music. His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 6 Music, and Resonanc ...

, and

Seb Rochford Sebastian Rochford is a British drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations. Early life Rochford was born in Aberdeen and has a large ...

. She has also worked with

and

Bat for Lashes Natasha Khan (born 25 October 1979), known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released five studio albums: ''Fur and Gold'' (2006), ''Two Suns'' (2009), '' The Haun ...

. She has also performed with her brother Sam Steer, who did the animation for the music video of her song "Tiger" in his room in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

. The

Branchage Branchage is a film festival held in the Channel Island of Jersey. The festival was founded in 2008 by filmmaker Xanthe Hamilton to bring film and arts to the island. It is a mix of site-specific film screenings held across the island in church ...

Film Festival, Jersey, recently commissioned Steer to compose a live soundtrack to a film of her choosing. Steer and her brother are working with PRS Women Make Music funding to create a psychedelic harp and stop-motion animation response to Kenneth Anger's ''Rabbit's Moon'', called ''Postman's Familiar''. In 2010 and 2011 Steer joined

John Foxx John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a ...

and the Maths for live concerts in London playing analogue synthesizers and bass guitar. In 2012 she appeared in the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—givi ...

's New Music Show 3.New Music Show 3 Program.
/ref> In 2013 she performed with

Manchester Pride Manchester Pride is a leading charity that campaigns for LGBTQ+ equality across the United Kingdom, predominantly in Greater Manchester. The Charity offers dialogue, training, research and policy analysis, advocacy and outreach activities focus ...

. In 2015, she formed a new band, Bas Jan. Bas Jan released their first album ''Yes I Jan'' in 2018.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Cheap Demo Bad Science'', 2007, Static Caravan *''Change is Good, Change is Good'', 2010, Static Caravan *'' The Moths Are Real'', 2013, Stolen Recordings *''The Mind is a Trap'', 2019, Vitamin Concept Records

EPs

*''Japan Tour EP'', 2006, Static Caravan *''Public Spirited'', 2008, Static Caravan *''Bloody Hell'', 2010, Stolen Recordings

Singles

*"Peach Heart" / "Mano E Mano", 2007, Static Caravan

Compilations

*''The Ground Bellow Me'' (Capitol K version of "Seven Bridge"), 2006 from Utrophia 03 Utrophia *''Cheap Demo Bad Science'' ("They Came From The Stars, I Saw Them" version) 2007, 93 Free CDs *''Uncomfortable'' (Capitol K version), 2007, Stolen Comp, Stolen Recordings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steer, Serafina 1982 births Alumni of Trinity College of Music Living people English harpists English women pianists English women songwriters Singers from London Women harpists 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers 21st-century pianists John Foxx and the Maths members 21st-century women pianists