Always the leader of the band, at 10 years old he set up a stage in his parent’s garage, complete with lighting, fake microphones and the like and took his rightful place as lead singer amongst the neighborhood boys.
He could often be seen taking David Ruffin’s spot on the Temptation’s My Girl. By 12 he had set up a secret clubhouse in his parent’s basement where Jimmy Hendrix Purple Haze could be heard blasting from deep in the catacombs.
He moved out of his parent’s house at 18 and his pad quickly became the go-to party central, where the best music could be heard blasting at all hours. His album collection numbered in the thousands, the mixed tapes were neatly catalogued by the hundreds, and every genre of music was celebrated. In 1973 he started working for Bill Graham Presents doing crowd control at concerts all over the Bay Area and his prowess as an all-league lineman came in handy many a time as he tossed drug addled concert disturbers into the streets.
This is a guy who also had tears running down his eyes every time he listened to the soundtrack from West Side Story. As Chick Corea would have it, the Romantic Warrior! When Stei and his lovely bride Jane were betrothed they both took the mic and sang James Taylor’s Shower the People together while an airplane towed a banner overhead “All Day Music”. When Stei and Jane moved to Deep Springs College (40 miles from Bishop on an isolated cattle ranch) Stei landed his first gig as a DJ, one which he continued with for the rest of his days when they moved to Quincy, CA and Stei had his much-loved Farmer Dave Show. We still have some of his recorded shows from that era, and his playlists by the thousands. Stei is now rocking it out in DJ heaven with his trusty dog Yaoh. Stei was our much beloved friend, mentor and musical guru. We celebrate his life, his memory and his music through K-Stei.
