Steve Bjorklund a/k/a Steve Björklund a/k/a Steffan Bjorklund was born ca. 1960 in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He was an early figure in the first

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

music scene in Chicago. He briefly attended Roycemore School in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. His first known recorded appearance was in July 1978, as a guitarist-singer with the

protopunk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock genre and movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variet ...

- garage-New Wavish band The Rabbits, who opened a show in

Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg ( ) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 78,723, making Schaumburg the most populou ...

by power-pop up-and-comers Pezband. After the breakup of The Rabbits in the fall of 1978, Bjorklund formed the project band Strike Under with his brother, Chris. Strike Under produced one record, the 1981 5-track pressing, ''Immediate Action'', which received mixed reviews but has nevertheless been called an "integral document to the history of punk rock in Chicago." Strike Under featured Pierre Kezdy, who would later play with Naked Raygun and

Pegboy Pegboy is an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois with a relatively large cult following. They were founded in 1990 by John Haggerty (ex-guitarist for Naked Raygun), along with his brother Joe Haggerty (drums, formerly of The Effigies), ...

; the band, besides releasing its own record, also appeared on the seminal 1981 ''Busted at Oz'' LP, an historic document of the second wave of Chicago punk, recorded at the legendary club ''Oz'' before it closed down. Following the breakup of Strike Under, Bjorklund briefly formed another Chicago punk band, Terminal Beach. In 1987, Bjorklund's brother Chris, joined The Effigies, a more successful Chicago punk band fronted by Kezdy's brother John. Steve Bjorklund formed

Breaking Circus Breaking Circus was a post-punk band from the 1980s, based in Chicago and later Minneapolis, founded by guitarist and vocalist Steve Björklund. History Björklund had played guitar and sang for Chicago punk band Strike Under after a short stin ...

in Chicago; their initial EP release included the memorable song ''(Knife in the) Marathon''. He relocated to

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, where Breaking Circus continued. Breaking Circus was active through approximately 1988 and is considered an important example of early post-punk/ industrial music in Minneapolis. Later, Bjorklund was a member of Minneapolis band Balloon Guy. Bjorklund continued to work in the recording industry, with a number of punk bands in Chicago and Minneapolis, through the early 1990s, credited primarily as producer or as mastering re-mixer. Since 2010, Bjorklund has collaborated with bassist Steve Economou (drummer for The Effigies) and keyboard player LizB in the band High Value Target.

References

External links

Interview with Strike Under from the zine ''The Coolest Retard'', 1981
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorklund, Steve 1960 births Living people American male singers American punk rock musicians American punk rock guitarists American punk rock singers Singers from Chicago Guitarists from Chicago 20th-century American guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American male musicians