Tune for top of the class- Ferntree Gully singer Che Steer is among the state’s top up and com

By Casey Neill
A FERNTREE Gully soul singer will this month step on stage with Victoria’s top young performers.
Che Steer has been selected to sing in a music solo performance showcase after getting outstanding VCE results in the subject.
He almost missed the opportunity after illness came close to stopping him sitting his final exam.
But the 18-year-old pushed through to record straight A-pluses.
“It was pretty unreal,” he said.
He’ll sing blues piece Georgia on My Mind and jazz classic My Funny Valentine at the 13 March concert.
He said he was nervous about taking to the stage with Victoria’s best young musicians and singers.
“But I’m just going to have fun,” he said.
Che had to present six songs in his final exam but disaster struck when illness left him unable to speak just days before the big test.
“When I went in there I wasn’t expecting to do very well,” he said.
“Then I went in there and it just all happened, and then the next day I couldn’t talk again. It was so weird.”
Che said being surrounded by music was the key to his success.
“And just really respecting how it works and paying attention to the details of it,” he said.
Che only discovered his voice in his school choir at age 16.
“But I always had the musical bone,” he said.
His uncle is a singer.
“I obviously got it from him because mum and dad can’t sing at all or play an instrument,” he said.
“He wants me to find my own groove instead of nurturing me to the point where I’m just following him.”
Che names soul singer Donny Hathaway, Amy Winehouse, Marvin Gaye, Louis Armstrong and Aussie Sam Sparrow among the singers he looks up to.
“I’m probably a mixture between Donny Hathaway and Amy,” he said.
“My voice is kind of rough.”
He plans to do some recording this year before auditioning for music colleges in London.
“A lot of the colleges here are either classical voice or straight jazz,” he said. “And if you don’t really want to do either of them there’s not really much in terms of uni courses.”
“But in London it’s much more diverse these days in terms of the music scene and I think I’d learn a lot more just being over there with such a range of musicians.”
He has a recording contract in his sights.
“But when you get signed very young they kind of mould you at first,” he said.
“I think it might be wise to wait a year or two. But whatever happens, happens I guess.”
Che will perform in the Top Class Music Solo Performance at Melbourne Recital Centre in Southbank on 13 March.
Readers can visit www.melbournerecital.com.au or call 9699 3333 for bookings.