Steve Bjorklund a/k/a Steve Björklund a/k/a Steffan Bjorklund was born ca. 1960 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He was an early figure in the first punk rock music scene in Chicago. He briefly attended

Roycemore School Roycemore School is an independent, nonsectarian, co-educational college preparatory school located in Evanston, Illinois serving students in pre-kindergarten through Grade 12. The school's current enrollment is approximately 240 students as of 2 ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

. His first known recorded appearance was in July 1978, as a guitarist-singer with the

protopunk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wi ...

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

-New Wavish band The Rabbits, who opened a show in

Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg ( ) is a village mostly in Cook County and partly in DuPage County in northeastern Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 78,723. Schaumburg is around northwest of the Chicago Loop and northwest of O'Hare I ...

by power-pop up-and-comers

Pezband Pezband was an American power pop band, formed in 1971 in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The ensemble began in the fall of 1971 when four Oak Park musicians teamed up to jam on covers of songs by The Yardbirds, Kinks a ...

. After the breakup of The Rabbits in the fall of 1978, Bjorklund formed the project band

Strike Under Strike Under was an influential Chicago punk rock band of the early 1980s. It was started by Steve Bjorklund (vocals, guitar) after the demise of The Rabbits. The principal musicians, besides Bjorklund, were his brother Chris (guitar), Pierre Kez ...

with his brother, Chris. Strike Under produced one record, the 1981 5-track pressing, ''Immediate Action'', which received mixed reviews but has nevertheless been called an "integral document to the history of punk rock in Chicago." Strike Under featured

Pierre Kezdy Pierre Kezdy (January 4, 1962 – October 9, 2020) was an American bass player, known for playing with various Chicago punk bands, including Naked Raygun, Pegboy, Strike Under, Arsenal, and Trial By Fire. He was also the younger brother of E ...

, who would later play with

Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered by many to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk rock and credited with creating “the Chi ...

and

Pegboy Pegboy is an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois with a relatively large cult following. They were founded in 1990 by John Haggerty (ex-guitarist for Naked Raygun), along with his brother Joe Haggerty (drums, formerly of The Effigies), Larry ...

; the band, besides releasing its own record, also appeared on the seminal 1981 ''Busted at Oz'' LP, an historic document of the second wave of Chicago punk, recorded at the legendary club ''Oz'' before it closed down. Following the breakup of Strike Under, Bjorklund briefly formed another Chicago punk band, Terminal Beach. In 1987, Bjorklund's brother Chris, joined

The Effigies The Effigies were an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. The band played its first show in 1980 and was active initially for approximately a decade, undergoing multiple personnel changes with frontman John Kezdy the only cons ...

, a more successful Chicago punk band fronted by Kezdy's brother John. Steve Bjorklund formed Breaking Circus in Chicago; their initial EP release included the memorable song ''(Knife in the) Marathon''. He relocated to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, where Breaking Circus continued. Breaking Circus was active through approximately 1988 and is considered an important example of early post-punk/

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

in Minneapolis. Later, Bjorklund was a member of Minneapolis band Balloon Guy. Bjorklund continued to work in the recording industry, with a number of punk bands in Chicago and Minneapolis, through the early 1990s, credited primarily as producer or as mastering re-mixer. Since 2010, Bjorklund has collaborated with bassist Steve Economou (drummer for

) and keyboard player LizB in the band High Value Target.

References

External links

Interview with Strike Under from the zine ''The Coolest Retard'', 1981
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorklund, Steve 1960 births Living people American male singers American punk rock musicians American punk rock guitarists American punk rock singers Singers from Chicago Guitarists from Chicago 20th-century American guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American male musicians