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KarlSölve Steven

  • Composer
Profile-Karl-Steven.jpg

Growing up in Auckland with a filmmaker father (Geoff Steven) and writer mother (Carin Svensson), Karl Sölve Steven decided at age 10 he would be a musician. He went on to become the frontman of the highly acclaimed funk group Supergroove (amongst other acts), work in music production and compose prolifically for film and television. Working out of his home in Thames, Waikato, his extensive composing credits include films Bookworm, Pike River and Uproar; TV series Black Hands and 800 Words; and numerous shorts, often for the web series Loading Docs. He is a multi-award winner for screen composition at the APRA Silver Scroll Awards.  

Screenography

Flagfall
2025 Composer Short film
2025 Composer Film
2025 Composer Film
Queer Aotearoa: We've Always Been Here
2025 Composer Series
2024 Composer Film

Awards

2024 APRA Silver Scroll Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
Best Original Music in a Feature Film (shared with Jason Smith): for Never Look Away 
Best Original Music in a Series (shared with Rob Thorne): for Black Coast Vanishings 

2023 APRA Silver Scroll Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
Best Original Music in a Feature Film: for The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

2021 APRA Silver Scroll Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
Best Original Music in a Series: for Black Hands

“I’m completely open to all sorts of stories, from documentaries to horror films, but I’m always very alert to the artistry involved in how they’re told. Cinematography is something I connect with especially strongly...”

Karl Steven discussing his work on Pike River withRolling Stone Australia, 14 November 2024