This is another demo version of a new song. This track is particularly close to my heart, and i used a different instrumentation and style to best capture it: Bass drum played with soft beater-Snare played with fingers-soprano & treble recorder lines-Nylon string guitar.
(All parts written and performed by Stephen j)
This track deals with the only thing that really scares me.......... Losing my little family

Beef in the Street

Another of the three tracks produced by Laurie Latham (Squeeze/The Police/The Blockheads) I spent a long time trying to figure out why i procrastinate so brilliantly INSTEAD of writing and recording music......

So i tricked myself by writing a song about procrastination!

I absolutely LOVE the horn parts in this track and give my thanks to John Martin for his help in getting them from my brain and onto paper (where they can be played by 'real' horn players!)


The Emperor of Excuses

This is another recent demo, recorded in my bedroom/my mum's house/the back of the van. Not as yet managed to put live drumming down, but hope to be recording this properly very soon. For the woman in my life, i count my Lucky Stars.
(All parts written and performed by Stephen j)

This is the only 'Love Song' I've ever written......................(yes it's a love song)

Lucky Stars

This is a very recent demo recording of one of my newest tracks. Recorded in a combination of places including my bedroom, the back of my van, and my workplace, my trusty (but ancient) laptop and I give you........... Kings & Queens 
(all parts written and performed by Stephen j)

'We're all Kings & Queens if we choose to believe'


Kings & Queens

Paper Mountain was written at the emergence of the 2009/2010 financial crisis. I got a little sick and tired of turning on the radio to hear nothing but doom and gloom from 'experts' and the like, and it got me a little down.
(recorded at Jack-in-the-Box Music)

Are we the British people addicted to misery? Feel free to give me your thoughts

Paper Mountains

This track is taken from a live show at 93ft East in Brick Lane, London. Here i am with my full 8-piece band: The Luckies doing what i love to do......... Making people dance!

When i was a kid, i used to ring the bell on the bus constantly until the bus driver went mental. I did  it a few years ago in a fit of nostalgic hysterics, and the bus driver did indeed.................. go mental! 
'if you don't like the bell then don't drive the bus'........... I probably would have gone mental myself, and i apologise to all bus drivers/milkmen/park keepers/bowlers/joggers/police persons and general folk i may have caused upset to in my wayward youth................ Still, Mustn't Grumble!

Musn't Grumble

The Hours is one of three tracks produced by Laurie Latham (Squeeze/The Police/The Blockheads). 
This song was written as an ode to lost beauty. It seems that we have become so narrow in our vision of beauty as to exclude the vast majority of the population from that vision. This results in low self-esteem and apathy But we're all beautiful! It may sound trite, but I'm afraid it's true. So lets all cheer up and hug each other more 

The Hours

Stephen j is a talented multi-instrumentalist & songwriter, performing both as a solo artist and with his band The Luckies. Drawing influences from far and wide, Stephen performs a mixture of soulful and mellow material, with bouncy head-bopping pop grooves, always with an insightful lyrical depth and wit so seldom seen in these days of throw-away pop music. 

This page contains both finished material and demos. The finished material on display here was Produced by Laurie Latham (Squeeze/The Police/The Blockheads) and recorded at both SARM West and Helicon Mountain Studios. The demo's are recorded in a mixture of places, from Stephen's bedroom and the back of his van, to the drum room in which he teaches kit/percussion and Live Band Workshops. 

All of the material here, as well as some other as-yet unrecorded material, will eventually become a part of his first album. 

stephen j

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