Bishop’s Stortford ‘synthfluencer’ Steve Hoole releases third Evenlode album, Paramedic Jukebox Club

Bishop’s Stortford’s answer to Brian Eno this month releases his third album.

Steve Hoole – better known as musician Evenlode – features a collection of melodic ambient electronic instrumentals, augmented by various orchestral instruments, field recordings and other found sounds, in the long-player, Paramedic Jukebox Club.

He described his music as film soundtrack-like pieces in the style of Aphex Twin, Harold Budd, Brian Eno and Hans Zimmer.

The 63-year-old, who has lived in Bishop’s Stortford for the past 20 years, jokes he is a “synthfluencer” and the “doyen of north-west Bishop’s Stortford’s burgeoning electro-orchestral scene”.

The road to releasing these albums has been a long one. Steve started in music around the age of 11, on guitar. Within a few years he had moved to bass guitar and was in a covers band with school friends.

On leaving school, he formed another band and started writing songs in the style of Squeeze and The Police. There was “a bit of a following locally”, but stardom was not to be.

At around this time the first wave of synthesiser bands, such as The Human League and Depeche Mode, were coming to prominence, and Steve started experimenting with home recording using cheap electronic keyboards.

With a limited budget, it was impossible to turn ideas into recordings that would attract attention from record labels.

Though still fascinated by electronic music, the disillusionment prompted a complete change of style and direction, and Steve joined a psychobilly band, The Catatonics, as the drummer.

They too had moderate success on the London scene, playing venues such as Dingwalls and The Rock Garden, but could not break through.

Disillusioned once more, Steve concentrated on his career in IT and his family, though making music remained in the back of his mind.

As technology progressed and equipment costs reduced, it dawned on him that he could at last realise the musical ideas he had first had 40 years earlier.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, the first album, Burning Ship, was recorded.

“I felt I’d finally achieved something once my music appeared on Spotify, though I didn’t expect anyone would listen to it,” said Steve.

“However, through a supportive community on social media, word spread and, when a payment arrived for the streaming royalties, it dawned on me that at the ripe old age of 60, I’d become a proper professional musician.”

A second album, Darker Patterns, was released last year, and this summer was spent working on the latest release.

Keeping things in the family, the album’s cover photo is by Steve’s wife, Sophia Spurgin, who, as a member of Bishop’s Stortford Camera Club, has frequently appeared in the pages of the Indie.

To accompany the album, Steve’s lifelong friend, author Kevin Acott, has written a short story.