Karl Steven is a New Zealand/Swedish composer writing primarily for film and television. His work has received multiple awards, including Best Original Music in a Feature Film (APRA Silver Scrolls 2020/2023), Best Original Score (NZTV Awards 2018), and Best Original Music in a TV Series (APRA Silver Scrolls 2016 and 2019).
Karl dedicated himself to music from a young age, making recordings with his parents’ old reel-to-reel tape recorder, building 'instruments', and gradually acquiring synthesisers, samplers, and sequencers along the way. At 17, he worked as a trainee sound engineer at Mandrill Recording Studios, working extensively with tape and early digital technologies. Around this time, he began composing theme music, soundtracks, and scores for films and producing recordings for artists such as Bic Runga, Thorazine Shuffle, and The Vietnam War. He has written for, performed in, and toured extensively with several groups, including Supergroove, The Drab Doo-Riffs, Heart Attack Alley, and Queen Neptune. In 2013, he was the recipient of the APRA PDA award for film and is an inductee in Te Whare Taonga Pūoro O Aotearoa, the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
