Paddy Steer

Paddy Steer

Paddy Steer is a Manchester-based musician associated with experimental and electronic music. He appears across the city’s music scene in a range of roles, including bass player, drummer and Hawaiian guitarist, and often combines several of these parts at once.

Homelife

He is best known for Homelife, a project that releases five albums and develops slowly in his attic studio. Homelife’s music combines intricate writing with a warm sense of wonder, moving between songs and instrumentals. The project involves many contributing musicians and is performed live as a small orchestra for distinctive concerts.

Other work and methods

Steer’s attic studio functions as a working space for more than recording. He builds instruments, repairs junk, makes animations and constructs robots there. His work also includes a solo instrumental project called Dragons Breath, recorded alongside the song-based Homelife album Exotic Interlude.

Dragons Breath connects with his interest in animation and features dense, cartoon-like music with frequent changes in texture. It is described through references to the sound of Carl Stalling’s Looney Tunes scores, children’s paintings and mechanical, makeshift construction.

Musical character

Steer is described as a quiet, craft-focused musician whose output spans performance, composition and visual and mechanical invention. His work is linked to a wide range of musical activity in Manchester over time.