Steele Chabau is an electric and upright bassist based in Brisbane, Australia. His hard-driving groove and relentless creativity has branded him as one of Brisbane's go-to bass players.
Stylistically, Steele has excelled time and time again, from a long-time position in the Queensland Youth Orchestra to the Brisbane Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, from the electro-pop rock of The Shuttle Wreckers, to performing with singer/songwriter Bradley McCaw and the Friends of Hers.
Currently, Steele is pwning the South East Queensland music scene, while establishing the Union Musician's Consultancy. Pow!
sunday, january 4th the ivory trio
Albert River Winery, Tambourine. 12-3pm
saturday, january 10th friends of hers
Stomp Festival, Dunwich, Stradbroke Island.
friday, january 16th friends of hers
Shark Bar, Miami.
saturday, january 31st p.y. & the quadratic contingence
with West End Composers Collective & Peter B and The Homeless Souls. The Globe. Fortitude Valley.
Friends of Hers
A simple blend of pop, rock & jazz originals. Catchy, passionate and full of feeling with the ability to talk straight to your heart and a voice that will take you along for the ride.
Bradley McCaw - Brad Parker - Steele Chabau - Dave Bell
The Suits
The Suits are a new generation of covers band for a new generation audience. With a repertoire based closely on the incredibly popular Triple J Hottest 100 countdowns, they bust out a large majority of tunes from the dominating Australian artists of today, as well as revisiting great rock songs of the 90’s and 2000’s.
Bradley McCaw - Brad Parker - Dan Grindrod - Steele Chabau - Chris Vale
Horns o' Plenty
Funk, hip hop, and sexy groovy times.
Josh Hatcher - Peta Wilson - Steele Chabau - Dave Bell
The Shuttle Wreckers
Alex Monsour - Trent Waterman - Ben Henshaw - Steele Chabau - Clint Cochrane
Union Musician's Consultancy
The UMC strives to get young musicians the tools they need to get work in the Brisbane music scene without prejudice. Through our high quality products and unparalleled affordability, we aim to eventually standardise rates of pay for musicians across South East Queensland.
Priceless Gold From The Vault
We are the greatest band in the history of the world.
Brett Fahey - Dan Grindrod - Brad Parker - Joe Roberts - Steele Chabau - Cameron Scott
Albums & EP's
Steele has appeared on the following recordings.
Ebb & Flow
Maureen O'Brien - 2007
Self Titled
Susy Blue - 2007
Born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1986, Steele Chabau first picked up a double bass at 9 years of age. He needed help carrying it and could hardly reach the lowest note.
After learning the basics and getting an understanding of ensemble playing at Villanova College, Steele was accepted into the Queensland Youth Orchestra's Junior String Ensemble, at age 14, and later moved on to the Wind Symphony. In 2003, he received a scholarship to join the Young Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra, and soon found himself playing in both orchestras, despite the obvious rivalry between the two.
In 2004, Steele was accepted into the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University's bachelor of music program, where he would major in jazz bass--a subject he would only later realise he never knew anything about. He found the patience of teacher Helen Russell to be priceless. Helen found the stupidity of Steele to be equally priceless. Probably.
Between 2005 and 2007, Steele rose through the ranks to become Brisbane's best bass player. He didn't quite make it, but he was fortunate enough to play in some amazing bands--
The Shuttle Wreckers,
Brisbane Contemporary Jazz Orchestra,
LaDada,
Maureen O'Brien,
The Urban Quintet,
Shades of Blue,
Priceless Gold from the Vault,
Penelope and the Real Big Swing,
Bradley McCaw and Friends of Hers,
The Grand Scope,
LimoZeen!--all of which helped him to develop as a musician and as a performer. Either that, or he needed the cash.
The later half of 2007 saw him playing frequently with 2007 QMusic QSong finalists, electro-rock band
The Shuttle Wreckers. With their unique blend of explosive rock, electro-pop, and high-energy dance breaks, they headlined and sold out The Zoo, as well as playing support to the legendary Aussie rock band
The Angels. No way, get fucked, fuck off? It's true.
After graduating from the Queensland Conservatorium with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance at the end of 2007, Steele moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where he studied under kick-ass bassist, hard-swinging old mate, and all-round megadude, Whit Brown. He also made the Dean's List. Whatevs. From Boston, Steele founded an Aussie covers band
The Suits, and returned to Brisbane in June of 2008, to help it grow.
At the same time as playing with
The Suits, Steele partnered with Michael Jude and established Union Musician's Consultancy--a community focused project that strives to get young musicians into work by providing them with affordable high quality audio and video recording facilities, photos and websites.
Steele will be returning to Boston to complete another semester at Berklee College of Music on September 2nd, 2008.
For a complete list of all the people Steele
has ever played with, click here.
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