The Step Kids

The Step Kids

The Step Kids are a trio from Bridgeport, United States, active since 2009 and associated with Stones Throw Records. The group consists of Dan Edinberg, Jeff Gitelman and Tim Walsh. It works as a collective rather than a lead-and-support act, with all three members writing and singing and sharing equal input across the songs.

Formation and approach

The band develops its music through a collaborative process in which any lyric, melody or idea may come from any member. Dan Edinberg plays bass and keyboards, Jeff Gitelman contributes vocals and guitar, and Tim Walsh plays drums. The group records, engineers and produces its own music on reel-to-reel equipment.

Background and influences

Before forming the band, the members build up more than a decade of musical experience. They grow up on the East Coast jazz and R&B circuit and later work in a range of settings, including sharing stages with 50 Cent and Lauryn Hill, touring internationally with the indie punk band Zox, scoring films and commercials, and producing solo albums.

Sound and releases

The Step Kids’ music combines punk and jazz with West African music, 1960s folk, neo-soul, classic soul, funk and 20th-century classical elements. Their self-titled debut album reflects this mixed style and their equal collaborative method, and the band describes its work as a form of 21st-century psychedelia centred on the group as a whole.