In March 2020, Melbourne singer songwriter and one-time frontman for The Sports suffered a stroke.
Stephen said, “I was always a natural singer and assumed I could just sing as long as I wanted. After the stroke, I had a lot of rehab to learn to walk and recover fine motor skills on my left side. I couldn’t really play guitar anymore. I did some vocal therapy and found my tone still good but the control and breathing the hard part. I learnt I if I sang more slowly and more quietly it sounded better. I have to focus more and keep to different parameters.”
It was this reinvention of himself that inspired Stephen to continue working and the result is a new album ‘100 Years From Now’. The album was produced by Stephen’s good friend and I’m Talking co-founder Robert Goodge. “Robert and I have been good friends for many years,” Stephen says. “He’s probably the most musical person I know and he was really patient getting me to record lines over and over until he was satisfied.
“I’ve had to accept now that things aren’t going to be the same but they can still be good and work with what I’ve got. Robert just kept turning up to record so I felt obliged to keep going but he and Simon really gave me confidence I could do it.”
For the music video, Stephen commissioned Melbourne director Mark Bakaitis who has captured these heartfelt images of Stephen for the single ‘Carry Your Heart’.
‘100 Years From Now’ will be released on 5 May through Cheersquad Records.
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