Steve New

Steve New (16 May 1960 – 24 May 2010) was an English pop music guitarist and singer, who performed with a number of punk rock and new wave bands in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Rich Kids. Born Stephen Charles New,^[1] in the 2000s he changed his name to 'Stella Nova', whilst performing with the arthouse band Beastellabeast.^[2]

Early life

Born in London,^[3] New received his formal education at Quintin Kynaston School in St. John's Wood, London, and started playing the guitar with the London Schools' Jazz Orchestra at the age of 14.

Career

He first came to notice for his talented lead guitar playing style in the midst of London's punk music and fashion scene in the late 1970's. At the age of 15 he auditioned for the scene's preeminent band the Sex Pistols as a potential replacement for Steve Jones.^[4] When the bass player Glen Matlock was ousted from the Sex Pistols in 1977 he invited New, now aged 17, to join a new band that he was setting up entitled Rich Kids as its lead guitarist. Whilst Rich Kids was musically gifted and innovative and influential, it failed to find commercial success and broke up in 1979, and New's career was undermined beyond this period by long-term narcotics use.^[5][6]

He subsequently played as a jobbing session musician with a number of acts including Vicious White Kids (1978), Public Image Ltd, Gen X in 1980, on Iggy Pop's Soldier L.P. (1980), during the recording of which New assaulted David Bowie ^[7] who was acting as a quasi-producer of the record at the time. He also worked with Chrissie Hynde and Kim Fowley. In the early 1980's he rejected an offer to play with Duran Duran at its inception. He also recorded under the performance alias of "Shooz".^[8]

Having relocated to the United States of America in the 1980's, by the late 1990's he was resident in Los Angeles, but failed to find musical success there, and ended up homeless living in a car for a while, before returning to England.^[9]

In 2001 he released a long-player entitled Here Comes Everybody.^[10] In the early 2000's he formed a new experimental synth pop band entitled Beastellabeast which released two self-produced L.P.'s, With Bestellabeast (2004), and Stars & Wronguns (2010).^[11] He also worked again with Glen Matlock, whose solo album Born Running (2010) was dedicated to New,^[12] and featured New's last recorded work.^[13]

Death

Afflicted with what would prove to be terminal cancer,^[14] New performed live for the last time with a reformed Rich Kids at the Islington Academy in London on 7 January 2010, at a testimonial concert organized for his family's finances.^[15][16][17] He died of cancer on 24 May 2010 in his 50th year.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Personal life

New married once, the marriage subsequently being divorced with one daughter; he also fathered a son from another relationship.^[22] In the early 2000's New adopted transvestism, a decision which he psychologically associated with the successful breaking of his 20 year long narcotic habit around the same time, and re-named himself Stella Nova.^[23]

References

External links

• Beastellabeast's MySpace site
• Final Rich Kids concert, and photos