Steve Slimm is not only a renowned Cornish artist, but also an accomplished musician.
From the tender age of two Steve has had a natural passion for sound. His mother felt forced into hiding his first wind instrument, (being driven crazy with the sound of trumpeting), besides which a tin drum had already totally disappeared! Age eight saw him given a harmonica by Granddad Slimm, and age eleven a ukulele banjo by Uncle Den. From the age of twelve and his forced decision at school between art and music, he found that neither course alone could truly satisfy the deep need to express himself. He reluctantly chose one above the other and eventually got an o-level in art, but at the age of fourteen interestingly he was offered a choice between guitar and flute, decided on the guitar, but has subsequently also become an amazing improviser on the flute.
Steve’s music has always leaned toward the soulful, passionate and often melancholic (with heroes as diverse as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Leonard Cohen, John McLaughlin, Samuel Barber and Keith Jarrett – to name a few). He very quickly developed his own special style of acoustic guitar playing, which, whilst offering a cursory nod toward his early classical training, has more intrinsically absorbed a variety of authentic influences from jazz-rock and ethnic folk, especially the flamenco tradition.
Today sees Steve with his own sound studio, regularly making what he likes to view as ‘sound sculptures’ by skilful manipulation of a whole universe of sounds available to the contemporary musician, as well as recording his own natural outdoor sounds for inclusion in much of his work. His 2005 album ‘Tracks Across an Ancient Land’ was a courageous melding of the twin sides of his art, audio and visual, as the album was created as a soundtrack for a show of paintings by the same name at the Great Atlantic Mapworks Gallery in St. Just, near Penzance in Cornwall. The CD also contains a slide show of all the images from the exhibition, along with the sketches he made in preparation for the show.
Into the sound sculptures Steve will usually add live instruments such as guitar, flute or electric guitar, and often too his own voice. His most haunting and atmospherically beautiful album ‘Waiting for a Signal’ is the latest example of such work currently on public release. Like much of Steve’s recent music, there are strong elements of what could be called 'life enhancement'. Aside from some sublime moments of total transcendence, there are words, sometimes even subliminal, which act as a stimulus to the listener’s personal transformation. Steve explains that his music is deeply involved with the spiritual consciousness of universal wholeness, and ever seeks to elevate the listener's mind toward a realisation of oneness of human spirit, thus seeing and taking up its rightful place in the divine.
Steve’s music studio can be found as an anteroom off his larger painting studio space not far from his home in Cornwall. He tends to produce his own albums, but made an exception with the ‘Pause for Breath’ album, which was produced by the very respected Dare Mason of V.I.P. Lounge in Penzance, Cornwall. This 2006 album is a compilation of eleven profoundly poignant songs that track Steve’s spiritual path through a fall from grace, his overwhelming sadness, and a passionate determination to transcend. The songs, however, do not leave the listener feeling in any way an outsider to the experience, thus facilitating each listener to be moved along their own path. And ‘moving’ is probably the best description for the whole album. To quote another singer’s expression regarding this work in a message sent to Steve: “Steve, you really do bear the sadness of the world; but the catharsis you inspire enables the light to come through”. (Poppy Seed 2005) These clear songs cannot be fitted within either folk or classical genres, and can only be experienced for themselves. In this we are reminded of the timelessness of Nick Drake. There are just these three alone: the singer, the song, and the listener. Thereby honesty is allowed to shine through uninhibited.
Throughout the past decade or so, Steve has also been involved with other musicians in occasional projects. Some of these have been quite diverse. We find him working with West African musicians, improvising with performing poets, playing with a South American singer, in an avant-garde trio, etc. We hope to feature more of this catalogue in due course.
Finally, Steve's latest project involves film. Steve has been enthused toward the idea of film making for almost a decade, and has only recently (2009) made positive moves toward it. Inspired by fellow Cornish artist Andrew Lanyon (son of famous painter Peter Lanyon), who makes some very successful short films, and with whom Steve has been working as a a musician, Steve and daughter Emily have this year embarked on a new path of Video-making. The videos so far are contemplative/meditative in nature - involving the use of paint accompanied by his atmospheric soundscapes. They plan to move into other areas of video in due course.
In the meantime, we hope you will enjoy your own excursions into the soundscape of Steve Slimm, and feel for yourself that singularly personal connection with the mystery that moves such artists and composers to want to touch us as deeply as is humanly possible with their own special brand of humanity.
The SteveSlimm.Com Team
Steve's music at: Myspace.com/Steve Slimm
Video (including his music) at: YouTube/Steve Slimm
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