Stevie J Mayer is a prolific Australian songwriter with a catalog of over 200 songs.
Good Times
For the first 20 years of his adult life he played in piano bars, bands, played studio sessions and created a catalog of over 3,000 backing tracks (which is still distributed globally today). He toured the world and had some great times musically, playing on some big stages and supporting many leading acts either in bands or as a soloist. In his early years in Sydney he worked with Alan Thorne (producer for Paul Kelly) and recorded tracks in Trafalgar Studio. He played up to 10 gigs a week with 3 gigs on Friday’s alone! Typical gigs were from piano bars in Kings Cross to ski resorts and touring bands, with a few studio sessions here and there. Things were looking good!
Lean Times
As the years rolled on, cover gigs lost all appeal and Stevie found himself in the midst of raising a young family, with not nearly enough income for them. He felt he owed them more than chasing his pie-in-the-sky dreams, so to pay the bills he quit music, got skilled up and took on a variety of corporate roles. Time to grow up! This inevitably saw him pause his one true love – songwriting. At one point, he was so disillusioned with music that he threw away all his original song books that contained hundreds of pages of hand-written songs and his precious 24 track, two inch master tapes! Suddenly, he was back to square one, with nothing to show for 20 years of effort.
Present Time
Before Stevie threw out all his works, he managed to write and memorise over 200 original songs. Now armed with a studio and time to record, he is on a mission to record and release one song each week on Sunday – from his back-catalog. And now, after all this time with his songs collecting dust in his mind, many of these new recordings are finally starting to win high praise and acclaim from some serious music industry stalwarts.
Genres
Stevie writes across many genres. From Country to Rock and Blues, hints of Jazz and plethora of Instrumentals and Piano Ballads (as might be expected after spending so many years in piano bars). He’s even got his own version of a Piano Man style song. He actually wrote this live, while playing to a rowdy crowd of drunks!
Influences
His all time favourite musicians and songwriters have always been Paul McCartney & John Lennon. In his view it is them first – and daylight second. No one else has ever made such an impact on music as these two geniuses. Other influences are (in no particular order); Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Billy Joel, Elton John, Ray Charles, Carole King and Australia’s iconic Cold Chisel and Little River Band to name a few. Have a listen to half a dozen songs and you’re bound to hear these influences leap out of your speakers.
Muso, Artist or Songwriter?
Stevie is a multi-instrumentalist playing no less than 7 instruments – so he usually finds it easier to play every instrument you hear on the recordings on this site (with a few exceptions). He has also played thousands of gigs in venues all around Australia and Europe. Yet, despite his considerable playing and performing experience, he very much considers himself – much like Carole King herself has stated – to be a Songwriter first. He sings, plays and performs, merely to get his songs released and heard. It’s all about the songs.
Opportunities, Licensing, Collaborations
At the time of this writing, Stevie J Mayer is unsigned and owns all rights to his music. He is therefore able to offer quick one-stop authorisation for any sync licensing, collaborations, co-writing opportunities or recording with or by other artists.
If you’ve made it this far, I sincerely thank you for dropping by and spending some time here. I would be thrilled if you find a song here that truly resonates with you.
Enjoy!