Steve West (musician)
| Steve West | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 8, 1966 Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | Matador, Echostatic |
| Associated acts | Pavement, Marble Valley |
Steve West (born December 8, 1966 in Charlottesville, Virginia) is an American rock musician known for being the drummer for Pavement. Since Pavement broke up, he has also become active as an artist in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He is the subject of "Westie Can Drum", a B-side released on the Pavement single "Stereo".
A native of Charlottesville, Virginia, West went to high school with future Pavement bandmate Bob Nastanovich, whom West met when he was fourteen. 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 Whitney was Stephen Malkmus, another of his future bandmates in Pavement.
West was tapped to join Pavement in 1993, after the band dismissed their old 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. While in Pavement, West was frequently criticized and disparaged by Malkmus for not being technically proficient enough. West has been described as an "infinitely more competent" drummer than Young, although Young himself disagrees.
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. 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."
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