Steve Hillier Biography

Steve Hillier from Welling, South London, is a British songwriter, DJ and record producer who has worked with rock bands such as Keane, Landon Pigg and Mark Owen. Hillier is chiefly known for his work with the band Dubstar which he formed with Chris Wilkie and Sarah Blackwood in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1993. As well as writing nine of Dubstar's ten singles (including seven of their eight Top 40 singles ), he has also remixed artists as varied as Bebel Gilberto and Hooverphonic and released numerous solo recordings.

Biography

Early life

Steve Hillier was born in Southampton, England but grew up in South London where he attended Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. He had his first article as a journalist published at the age of twelve. He started DJing at the age of fifteen , playing alternative music in pubs and clubs in the London Borough of Bexley and surrounding areas including many events at Crayford Town Hall.

Career

Hillier left school in 1987 and following a short period working as a sales representative for Pinnacle Records in Orpington, Kent moved to Newcastle upon Tyne where he DJed and promoted nightclub events across North East England for nine years . It was during this period that he met Chris Wilkie and Sarah Blackwood and formed Dubstar (see main article). He also wrote feature articles and conducted interviews for (now defunct) Music Technology magazine based in Cambridge, East Anglia. Notable interviews included Renegade Soundwave, Frazier Chorus and A Guy Called Gerald, all of whom were relatively unknown artists at the time of interview.

Hillier has written various songs for other artists, including Trentemller, Flosstradamus, Mark Owen, Ben Ofoedu, Landon Pigg, Shane Lynch, and Karen Mok (for her Without You). In recent times Hillier has contributed features and reviews for Future Music and Computer Music magazines as well as being a featured contributor to BBC Radio 2's Sold on Song website.

He was a lecturer in songwriting at degree level at British and Irish Modern Music Institute for ten years until 2015 and is a songwriting lecturer at Point Blank Music College.

Outside of his music career, Hillier is also a founding director of Man Bites Dog, the most award winning B2B PR company in the UK

Discography

Albums

2004	Stars - The Best of Dubstar
2000	Make It Better
1997	Goodbye
1995	Disgraceful

EPs

Year	Title
2000	Self Same Thing

Singles

Year	Title
2006	"Outrageous" recorded by Karen Mok
2004	"You Only Live If You Try" (CD and 7") recorded by Mark Owen
2000	"I (Friday Night)"
1998	"I Will Be Your Girlfriend"
1997	"Cathedral Park"
1997	"No More Talk"
1996	"Stars"
1996	"Not So Manic Now"
1995	"Anywhere"
1995	"Stars"