Steven Shaefer

Steven Shaefer (1986- ) is an American composer/scorewriter, multi-instrumentalist performance musician and producer. While having been born and lived most of his life in Northern Virginia, his musical career jump-started in Cincinnati, Ohio where he moved in 2002.

Throughout primary and secondary school, Steven was immensely involved in music. He had stints with various instruments including clarinet, violin and voice before ultimately deciding to focus solely on saxophone. He played in a number of high-profile public school ensembles including the William Mason HS Wind Symphony. During high school, he picked up the electric guitar for the first time and it slowly became his other serious passion outside of symphonic music. He played in basement bands throughout the latter half of high school and his first few years at The University of Cincinnati. It was there that he met Bandmate/Labelmate Dustin Chow and co-founded experimental jazz fusion supergroup Where They Landed in 2007.

Intense live performances and thought-provoking musical composition were stalwarts of the Where They Landed repertoire. Shaefer's involvement with Where They Landed saw him expand not only his range of influences and collaborative ability and but also the depth, scope and function of his compositional abilities. He began writing symphonic accompaniments for some of the band's material, including for the 2009 ethereal, filmic representation of the song "Today". The piece, an experiment fusing the arts of audio recording, concert performance and HD cinematography, would later earn Shaefer and Chow a National College Emmy and give a jump start to their fledgling Cincinnati-based production company, TodayCincinnati Productions.

The following summer would see a lot of changes for Shaefer after plans to move to New York and leave his life in Cincinnati behind fell through. Personal and financial issues ensued, adding further to the doubt he created in his friends and bandmates, all directly contributing to the September, 2010 breakup of Where They Landed. Several months went by with no musical involvement before joining popular local Rock/Hip-Hop band Gold Shoes in early 2011. Soon after, Shaefer co-founded electric folk/post-rock band Young Heirlooms along with Chow and fellow well-known Cincinnati musicians Chris Robinson and Kelly Fine.

As of June 2011, Shaefer and Chow are in the process of re-founding Where They Landed and are currently writing a new full-length album.