Parkin was born in the UK and moved to Australia at the age of nine. He began writing and recording music in his late teens in Perth, Western Australia.
Music career
Vinyl
His first band, Vinyl, released a garage-glam-rock styled EP, Lazeryouthanasia, in 1996, which was produced by Ben Glatzer. The band subsequently played at the 1997 Big Day Out festival. They were signed to a distribution deal with but released only the one EP.
Autopilot
In 1998 Parkin formed Perth-based "pop and roll" group Autopilot, along with Hugh Jennings and Jayde Smith and their debut 1999 EP, Pure Gold Baby, received a four-star review in Rolling Stone magazine, high rotation on Triple J and radio networks, and Autopilot have been cited as an influence by other contemporary WA rock and pop acts. Autopilot released their second EP, Out of the Sun, in 2001. The EP's have since been re-mastered and are available on Bandcamp.
Steve Parkin Solo
He formed Steve Parkin & the Foreign Films and in 2005, released his debut solo albumSandytown. The group toured Australia to promote the album in 2005 and 2006. Parkin released a second solo album, Mighty Big Light, through Warner Music Australia on 22 April 2011. The first single, "Turn It Around", was released on iTunes prior to the album's release and received national radio play. He has released several online recordings through Bandcamp.com Parkin currently has no plans for further solo recordings or touring. He continues to write music for other artists.
During 2007 and 2008 Parkin played keyboards and guitar in studio sessions and in the touring band for Kevin Mitchell who performed as Bob Evans.
Co-writing
Parkin has co-written a number of songs with other acts including Gossling, Lewis Watson, Ruby Boots, Shihad, is signed as a songwriter to Universal Music Publishing Group and also co-wrote five songs on Eskimo Joe's 2009 ARIA number one album Inshalla. "Foreign Land" from the album won 'Most Played Australian Work' at the APRA Awards of 2010.
Basement Birds
Parkin is a member of Basement Birds, with Mitchell, Josh Pyke and Kavyen Temperley. They released their eponymous album in 2010 independently, which reached No. 12 in August. Described in the press as a collaborative folk-pop "supergroup", Basement Birds toured Australia. The album was a publishing milestone, being the first in Australia to be released in bundles online through Apple's iTunes store.
Awards
Alongside his Basement Birds band members, Parkin was responsible for the attainment of the 1st place award for the "AAA" category in the 2010 round of the International Songwriting Competition. Basement Birds were also nominated for an ARIA award in 2010. As a writer for other acts, he has contributed to two ARIA accredited platinum No 1 albums and two ARIA awards As a co-writer for the song, "Foreign Land", Parkin received an APRA award for "Best Rock Work" and "Most Played Australian Song" in 2010 with the band Eskimo Joe.
Management/Record Labels
Parkin is signed to the Dirt Diamonds label. He signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group in July 2012 Parkin is currently self-managed, his albums are available from iTunes and on Bandcamp.
