Steven Julien is an artist and entrepreneur. In a landscape increasingly dominated by privilege and oneupmanship his story is a rare one. Over the course of his life he has made his way from growing up on a notoriously rough South Acton estate to rubbing shoulders with some of the best known musicians, and cultural practitioners of his day. The best, though, is still yet to come.


Like many of his generation Steven Julien’s early introduction to music came from partnering up with friends at school to form MC and dance crews. The spirit of teamwork and community have stayed with him since then. It was his first job, though, as a barber in Shepherd’s Bush, where he made a name for himself, with stars like Chris Akabusi, Pharrell Williams and Marcel Desailly turning to him for their fades. Through clever networking and hard graft honing his musical skills behind closed doors, he was able to attain a debut release on Eglo Records, the label that launched the careers of Fatima and Floating Points, in 2009, under his previous old pseudonym Funkineven.