B i o g r a p h y
Steven Chelliah’s musical journey started at the age of 6, coming from a lineage of Indian Carnatic music composers. Although a third generation Malaysian, his family roots trace back to Tanjore, India – the birthplace of Indian Carnatic Music.
Steven Chelliah holds two Bachelors Degrees from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Jazz Composition and Contemporary Writing & Production. It was his ambition to become a music theorist as a young teenager when he first discovered the works of Joseph Schillinger (author of The Schillinger System of Musical Composition) and George Russell (author of The Lydian Chromatic Concept). Both deeply influenced his musical imagination. Steven has also studied under the tutelage of Mike Stern ,Ken Pullig, Ted Pease, and Maria Schneider..to name a few.
He began his research and journey of developing the FuzAsian Method at the age of 16 – a process that became the forefront of his musical identity and journey from then, through to his Berklee years in Boston and leading up to his current musical endeavors in New York City where he has been a full-time performing musician recording artist for the past decade.
Steven Chelliah continues to build upon his strong musical foundations, expressing his improvisational and technical prowess as a fiery and virtuosic guitarist, while incorporating his masterful background as a composer and orchestrator into the art of songwriting. Steven is also a great vocalist and loves the music of the Bee Gees and Paul McCartney, who are both his favorite songwriters and vocalists. He is highly influenced by the great bands and artists of the 70's and 80's, namely Earth Wind and Fire, Toto, Chick Corea, and others.
Steven's album FuzAsian, showcases the Fusion/Jazz Guitarist's evolution as a Songwriter and Vocalist, where he seamlessly blends both backgrounds he has acquired into one cohesive musical statement. He strongly believes that good and well written music should not only be for musicians or purists, but for everyone. And that doesn't need to happen by compromising the music, but it is achieved by having a strong ear and strong musical sense of what 'gets' people.