Steve West (musician)

Stephen West (born December 8, 1966)[1] is an American rock musician, best known for being the drummer for Pavement. Since Pavement broke up, he has also become active as an artist in Rockbridge County, Virginia.[2] He is the subject of "Westie Can Drum", a B-side released on the Pavement single "Stereo".[3]

Steve West
Born (1966-12-08) December 8, 1966
Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
GenresAlternative rock, indie rock
InstrumentsDrums
Years active1993–present
LabelsMatador, Echostatic
Associated actsPavement, Marble Valley

Early life

A native of Richmond, Virginia, West went to high school with future Pavement bandmate Bob Nastanovich; the two first met when West was fourteen years old.[4]:48 He then attended Virginia Commonwealth University, where he majored in art, before moving to New York City and working as a security guard at the Whitney Museum. One of his coworkers at the Whitney was Stephen Malkmus, another of his future bandmates in Pavement.[1]

Career

Pavement

West was tapped to join Pavement in 1993, after the band dismissed their original drummer, Gary Young. West's first performance with the band was on their 1994 album Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain; he remained in the band until they broke up in 1999.[1][5] While in Pavement, West was frequently criticized and disparaged by Malkmus for not being technically proficient enough.[4]:177 West has been described as an "infinitely more competent" drummer than Young,[6] although Young himself disagrees.[7]

Marble Valley
Main article: Marble Valley (band)

While a member of Pavement, West started a solo project, Marble Valley, of which he is the frontman. Marble Valley released its debut album in 1997.[1] In 2010, Marc Hawthorne of SF Weekly described Marble Valley as "...a strange bird, playing around with pop, postpunk, psychedelics, rap, and whatever else it can get its hands on in service of songs that can go from weird to weirder."[8]

Personal life

As of 2003, West lived in rural Virginia with his wife and children.[9]

References
  1. Ankeny, Jason. "Marble Valley Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  2. Allen, Mike (2017-09-08). "Pavement drummer, Steve Keene show work at Roanoke College". The Daily Progress. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  3. Patterson, Troy (2010-03-18). "Pavement's Greatest Hits". Slate. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  4. Jovanovic, Rob (2004). Perfect Sound Forever: The Story of Pavement. Justin, Charles & Co. ISBN 9781932112078.
  5. Itzkoff, Dave (2009-09-17). "Pavement Will Return". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  6. Groot, Joey (2014-04-16). "6 Great Bands with Unconventional Drumming: Pavement, the Velvet Underground, and more". Music Times. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  7. "Straight Outta Stockton: Life Lessons from Pavement's Gary Young". Noisey. 2015-08-19. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  8. Hawthorne, Marc (2010-06-23). "Pavement's Promise". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  9. Hogan, Mike (2003-02-01). "Stephen Malkmus". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
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